Kaskade: Trick or Beats, Halloween Weekend, NYC.
One of the most memorable experiences in my love affair with EDM was being a part of the total mayhem that took place last year on Mischief Night 10/29/10 at Roseland Ballroom, one of New York City’s most impressive indoor concert venues. Calvin Harris and Kaskade opened for the ever-progressive, tech-trance-electro madman himself, Deadmau5. The combination of these three producers performing for a crowd of dressed up ravers was utterly ghoulish, and I knew that Kaskade’s reunion show this year was not one to be missed.
Kaskade (Ryan Raddon) released his seventh studio album Fire & Ice on October 25th, featuring notable talents Skrillex, Dada Life, Dan Black, Neon Trees, and Skylar Grey. The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top 200 and is truly a testament to the last ten years of Kaskade’s career. This American DJ has been on an epic journey throughout the last decade sharing his deep progressive house music with the world, finding a home and great global success with Ultra Records. This album is his seventh heaven, perfectly embodying his evolution as an artist. Fire & Ice comprises of two discs where each track is paralleled in a fire and ice dimension. Each “Ice” track is the more personal, slow, heart-wrenching & simple version of the song, complemented perfectly by the “Fire” version that offers the fast, more aggressive club version. The impact of these two discs intertwined together creates a mix of fire and ice that can only be described as cosmic.
Openers for Kaskade on Friday night were Le Castle Vania, MNOR, Sleepy & Boo, and Alesso. I arrived with my fairy princess clan right as Alesso began, and the high-energy reaction in the crowd was immediate. Alesso dropped the full-length version of his newest track “Raise Your Head”, his own beautiful beat “Nillionaire”, a mash up of Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream”, and his hit with Sebastian Ingrosso entitled “Calling”. Alesso ended his set with his remix of Swedish House Mafia’s “Save the World” which escalated the crowd’s excitement to the next level. I was very impressed with Alesso’s set and am looking forward to seeing his future performances & where this DJ’s style will progress.
The set change between Alesso and Kaskade only took ten minutes, but these minutes felt like an eternity to the crowd of revelers anxiously awaiting the electronic journey Kaskade was about to embark on with us. Kaskade took the stage and opened at 2 am with the first track off his new album entitled “Eyes” featuring Mindy Gledhill. The impact of a sold-out Roseland all singing along to this gorgeous groove was such a beautiful moment that it actually brought tears to my eyes. And the beauty had only just begun.
Swept away on Kaskade’s epic electronic fantasy, we were taken through Fire & Ice – hit with both discs intertwined together & stimulated aesthetically with the most beautiful graphics on a massive & innovative visualizer screen. My favorite tracks to womp out to were “Turn it Down” with Rebecca and Fiona, “Lessons in Love” featuring Neon Trees, “Lick It” with Skrillex, and “How Long” with Impetto and Late Night Alumni. Kaskade proved to be nothing less than a magician as he took us on a journey through what resembled the rainbow road in Mario Kart, with lasers sparkling across the room in shades of vivid neon, and even acrobats coming down on top of us from circular structures hanging down and rotating from Roseland’s ceiling. It was pure devastation on the dance floor as Kaskade continued to play through the morning with what seemed to be an endless amount of magic that he needed to share with us. After finishing up his new album in its entirety, Kaskade played all of our old favorites – notably “Raining” with Adam K and Seasun, “Move For Me”, “Angel On My Shoulder”, and “It’s You, It’s Me”. At 4 AM he of course busted out his heart-wrenching spell “4 AM”, and then right as I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion and was on the verge of feeling physically violated, he intelligently blasted “Don’t Stop Dancing Girl” which really brought me back to life! Those dedicated enough to withstand Kaskade’s massive endurance were rewarded when he closed his 3-hour set with “I Remember”, a fan favorite produced by him & Deadmau5. It was the perfect end to an enchanting electric evening.
I did not attend Saturday night’s show as my fairy wings were pretty droopy after dancing from 12 to 5 am in a torrential blizzard of fire, but I heard that despite the ice NYC weather brought – Kaskade still managed to melt the concert goers on his second consecutive sold-out show with another ghoulish night of his tricks and firey beats. Kaskade completely annihilated Roseland Ballroom; so next year, don’t trick yourselves – buy tickets to this now annual event and experience the beats of a lifetime surrounded by NYC’s mischievous EDM family.
Stay Fresh Bumpers.
All my love,
Jazzy Jess
- SHARING IS SEXY
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