Igloofest Recap >> Weekend One

Igloofest! January 16 - February 8, 2015 >> Presented by Sapporo

Igloofest, Montreal's premiere winter music festival, kicked off its 2015 edition on Friday, January 16th in the Old Port. This wintry outdoor rave has hosted the biggest names in electronic music since 2007, and its popularity has grown so much over the years that Igloofest has since become a leading event in the city of festivals. An extra weekend was added to the fest last year in order to accommodate the tens of thousands of party-goers ready to brave the cold and snow, and this year the regularly scheduled Thursday through Saturday has been bumped to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so we all can take advantage of four full weekends of music and dance!


Welcome to Igloofest

The first weekend of Igloofest began in typical subarctic fashion with temperatures falling to minus 24 degrees Celsius on both Friday and Saturday. This didn't stop festival goers from gathering outside by the Sapporo main stage opening night to enjoy the warm beats of Brazilian producer Gui Boratto, and the dynamic Dutch duo Detroit Swindle. Electronic musician and Montreal legend Fred Everything brought some deep house to the Videotron stage on Friday, and the party continued well into Saturday with Kill Frenzy and J. Phillip from the Los Angeles-based label Dirty Bird Records playing back to back, with Justin Martin closing out the night.


Scene Sapporo

The thermometer slowly began to rise to a slightly-more comfortable minus 15 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, and some light snow greeted SoCal native The Gaslamp Killer on his first visit to Montreal in three years.


The Gaslamp Killer

Sporting his signature fuzzy beard and hair, The Gaslamp Killer set things off with an awe inspiring 90-minute set filled with electronic, hip hop, and even a few punk and psychedelic rock riffs mixed in for good measure.

The set included new tracks from his upcoming album, which were well-received by the crowd. His tremendous performance went by so fast, and left the dance floor primed and ready for Chicago natives Flosstradamus.


Flosstradamus

Flosstradamus, comprised of DJs J2K and Autobot, have gained much attention for their high-intensity remixes of many hits, most notably 2012's Major Lazer hit "Original Don", a remix that catapulted them into the spotlight, and the duo later signed to Fool's Gold Records. Flosstradamus inherited a pumped up crowd ready for more musical mayhem, to which they were more than happy to oblige with a bass-heavy musical gamut of Juke, trap, and dubstep.

The Flosstradamus boys got the crowd into a footwork frenzy, building momentum with each track. It got so hot on the dance floor that steam started to rise from the dancing fans who formed one big mosh pit at minus 15 degrees Celsius.


M.Bootyspoon

Meanwhile, the same thing was happening with an all Montreal line up on the Videotron stage. Raw Records founders Thomas White and Dear Lola kicked it off with their distinctive fast-paced, bassy sound, and M.Bootyspoon ensured that the momentum would continue. ASL Singles Club co-founder Project Pablo closed out the night with classic RnB and house flavoured beats. A great set by Project Pablo, who visited CJLO back in November and played a live two-hour set on my show AutoBeat.


Project Pablo


The Gaslamp Killer in action


Flosstradamus gets the crowd pumping


Smile!

One down, three more to go! Be sure to follow @CJLO1690AM on Instagram for our Igloofest coverage, and check out the full gallery on CJLO's Facebook page.

 

--DJ MNJIVR hosts AutoBeat every Thursday from 11:59 PM to 2 AM, only on CJLO.