Kaskade | Redux | Dynamic Show Review | Washington DC | 5.3.13
It’s you, it’s me…it’s redux?
Yes it is! Life is about the unexpected. Those moments in life when you live off the cuff — those moments are true, those moments are real, those moments cannot be replicated.
Overtime once you’ve reached a certain level in your respective career those moments of spontaneity become more uniform and repetitive. As a Dj, once you’ve reached that level, those smaller more personal gatherings turn into big room crowds and massive festival stages with its VIP bottle service and high ticket prices. In the meantime, an internal compromise arises once you’ve reached that status, between playing music that satisfies this massive crowd or keeping with your artistry maintaining to push boundaries. Sometimes those boundaries cause you to reflect and go back to what got you there in the first place.
This is what happened when I had the fortunate pleasure of catching Kaskade on his It’s You It’s Me, Redux Tour at U Street Music Hall last Friday in Washington, DC. Described as a concept to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the album bearing the same name as the tour title, it was an opportunity for Kaskade to go back in time when the stadium crowds didn’t exist and he was playing smaller intimate venues for 200-300 people. It was an opportunity for him to reflect and touch base with his foundation.
Having been a big fan of Kaskade over the years it was easy for me to be excited about this show once I found out I had tickets. So much so I booked a flight from Miami three days prior — again living life unexpected, but so worth the experience.
Once I showed up at UHall it was a surreal experience. Gone were the lights that accompany most ultra-nightclubs, stripped down was the production that’s associated with playing any set at a major music festival and what was left was one dj, a few decks and a couple hours in the early morning to take us anywhere he wanted to go.
And, “it got deep.” No big drops, no booming build-up, no heavy-electro pumping through the speakers, just a stripped down sound of old-school beats and deep house. For fans of a lot Kaskade’s newer albums this might’ve been a complete let down, but for those true believers of dance music it was refreshing, embracing and welcomed. Kaskade, didn’t disappoint running through much of the Redux album while maintaining the tempo and vibe all night, throwing in newer favorites, remixed to stay in tune with the atmosphere he set out to create. Two definite highlights for me were “It’s You and Me” obviously because it’s been on heavy rotation since he announced this tour and the fact that the venue wasn’t oversold. You had room to groove, had room to socialize and breathe — big ups to UHall for keeping it light on people and big on space to dance.
The lasting impression and take away from this experience is that, we hope more of our favorite record spinners take this approach to playing music in more intimate settings more often. Music is freakin’ awesome and if you have an opportunity to connect with your fan base on a smaller scale, do it! It’ll completely change people’s relationship to your music. We all came away with a better appreciation for Kaskade’s talents, and some amazing memories that all happened — unexpectedly.
Writer | Ditto Ramirez
