Igloofest: Week 2 Recap

After a hot first weekend that provided us with awesome acts like Buraka Som Sistema, A-Trak and Mala, it was going to be hard for the second weekend to top it, but it did, in a big way. On Saturday night, more then 10 000 fans flocked to the site in the Old Port, making it the first ever sold-out night in the history of Igloofest. The stellar lineup may have helped them reach such an achievement. The three days featured big names like Tiga, Pearson Sound, Sébastien Léger, Terence Fixmer, and Max Cooper, all guaranteed to make the fans dance all weekend long.

Friday, January 20th

Friday night got started with the sounds of Seb Fauteux and Max Reynolds who played a groovy set. The duo mixed an upbeat and well-balanced blend of house, techno and some disco, an excellent recipe for a cold night where temperatures hovered around -15°C. You can catch them at the Fizz Factory and Beat Boutique nights at Le Salon Daome on Mount-Royal Boulevard.

They were followed up by the brilliant UK DJ/Producer and Hessle Audio head honcho, David Kennedy, aka Pearson Sound, who was playing in front of a Montreal crowd for the second time in a year. He played a nice set with loads of great tracks, but it felt as if he was holding back and his set never really peaked; considering the immense talent that he’s blessed with, his set never really reached it’s full potential. Luckily, German DJ D. Diggler saved the night by continuing along the same pace as Seb Fauteux and Max Reynolds, making the 9000 plus fans dance the cold winter chill away. I didn’t know what to expect from Diggler, but he turned out to be a pleasant discover. I’m looking forward to hearing more from him.

That same night, I discovered the sounds of electro-swing music being played in the Virgin Mobile Igloo for the first time. Electro-swing is the merging of 1930’s swing music with bass heavy electro songs, making it a very enjoyable and interesting new genre to discover. DJ’s Khalil, Eliazar, Don Mescal (all part of the Speakeasy Electro Swing nights) got the Igloo packed –there was a big line up just to get in.

Saturday, January 21st

Hakim Guelmi opened the Saturday night edition with his own blend of techno and tech-house. He is a regular of Piknic Electronik, Igloofest’s summer counterpart, so you may have heard him before. Last summer, Max Cooper got stuck in the wake of Hurricane Irene and unfortunately had to cancel his Piknic Electronic show. Fast forward five months later; he now gets the chance to perform for the Montreal crowd at Igloofest. The UK DJ brought an assortment of techno and house beats that kept people dancing throughout the set. He was certainly one of my favourite DJs of this year’s edition. But Saturday night was Sébastien Léger’s nights. The French DJ was highly anticipated. Léger’s Chicago/Detroit inspired house got the crowd so worked up that I think he even trended on Twitter at one point. On stage, you could see his energy, as he danced along while mixing his tracks.

It was a great way to end the second weekend of Igloofest, and the last one promises to be a record breaker as well. If you missed this past weekend, I feel sorry for you, but you better not miss the third one.

-MNJIVR hosts AutoBeat every Tuesday from 10-11pm