With another summer come and gone, another season of Electric Islands has concluded. For those of you that haven’t attended this festival yet, you gotta save the dates next summer because it really is the best techno-based entertainment Toronto has to offer. A beautiful locale, great vibes and heavy techno. What more could you want on a summer afternoon?
This past year, we were treated to 5 awesome festivals featuring both EI regulars and fresh new faces. In the most recent two-day September edition that HOL attended, international acts such as Loco Dice, Charlotte De Witte and Lane 8 brought the heat. Although I did enjoy Loco Dice and Charlotte’s hard hitting techno sets on Day 1, my favourite of the day was someone I was previously unfamiliar with. Miami’s Danny Daze pleasantly surprised me and was my favourite set of the day. He started off with the standard EI flavoured techno but he got experimental and played some UK garage and dub among other electronic genres. Electric Island is a techno festival first and foremost but I always appreciate when DJs introduce other genres into their sets.
Day 2 was headlined by Nicole Moudaber, Lane 8 and Justin Martin. My favourite set of the day was Lane 8 for similar reasons as Danny Daze. I had a fucking blast while Nicole Moudaber was ripping it but on a sonic level, I appreciated Lane 8’s set far more. He played a lot of his own songs which generally have a more poppy sound to it but he worked it well mixing his melodic sound with techno. We had seen Lane 8 last time he was in Toronto so were prepared for this level of craftsmanship. More time was spent at stage 2 on the second day which is always enjoyable. Local acts were consistent throughout the weekend at stage 2 and had the crowd grooving. I was really happy they introduced a second stage last year and I wouldn’t mind seeing Electric Island accommodate its further growth in popularity by adding yet another stage.
Overall, it was a great weekend capping off a great season for Electric Island. Luckily for us fans wanting to cherish those summer vibes, Toronto’s got one more festival for us this season.
Jamie Jones returns to Toronto on September 23rd for Paradise in the park. Get your tickets here!
