The party never stops in Canada, even when the weather conditions are harsh. Mon- treal has been graced with their successful winter festival, Igloofest every year, but 2013 was time for Toronto to add to the winter festival line up. Cue Brrrrr! Winter Mu- sic Festival, curated by Electronic Nation and Uniq Lifestyle at the MCA Flats, the same location that hosts the Canada Day weekend blowout Digital Dreams. Brrrrr! set out to give Toronto a taste of festival season a little earlier into the year with added layers and warm drinks. Blending an interesting mix of big room electro-house, techno, tech-house and deep house, this festival tested the willingness of Torontonians to brave the elements for a taste of winter raving fueled by hot wine and lots of bass.
As we arrive at Echo Beach, the stage and lights stand out against the Toronto skyline as the music pounds from a distance. The ticket gate at MCA allowed for a quick and easy entry; with lots of staff working tickets and security, we were able to pick up our will-call passes and get through the check in under 5 minutes. From the front gate, a short walk took us past a few food vendors and the photo-op ice sculpture that lined the pathway to the second stage (we take note of the taco stand for later), where Nitin was warming up the slowly growing crowd of people who cut out of work early to take advantage of a full night of deep and tech-house at the Redbull tour bus stage, which also hosted Deniz Kurtel, Miss Kittin and headliner Osunlade on the fi rst evening. Eager to explore the layout in its entirety, we continued our way toward the main stage while taking in the sights and checking out the costumes of a few die-hard winter ravers.
Over by the much more elaborate main stage, the elevated VIP areas on either side of the dance fl oor included patio heaters and private bars, while the rest of the crowd was able to warm up around a fi re pit, or inside the heated Corona dome which held around 250-300 people. Luckily we got in the dome around 6:30 which left us 30 minutes to enjoy $5 reduced-price drinks until the 7pm cutoff (not of service, just of happy hour – or “chaud time” as they called it). The heated dome provided a lounge experience with couches, tables and promotional material. It didn’t completely drown out the music but you could also have audible conversations with your friends inside. Lining one side of the back of the dancefl oor were a number of huts dedicated to dif- ferent drink vendors, both alcoholic and non – including hot cider and hot chocolate, beer and liquor, and our personal favourite: hot wine.
The festival’s dual stages were programmed quite well over the weekend. On day one the stage near the entrance accommodated all the techno talent while the main stage had all the electro and progressive house DJs: Moby, Mord Fustang, Moguai and Jokers of the Scene. Day 2 was reversed, with Dubfi re, Magda, Chus & Ceballos and Justin Martin rocking the main stage, and the Generation Wild Tour holding down the smaller Red Bull stage. Friday evening had a lot of house energy, though the 5pm starting time meant that the crowd didn’t thicken up until mid-way through the night. Both Moguai and Mord
Fustang played fresh but familiar electro-house jams that had the crowd locked into the main stage action, but without a doubt the headliner of night one: Moby, stole the show. The vocal sample from “Natural Blues” pierced the crowd as he started out with a number of big electro bombs, followed by the “big, bombastic” records that he alluded to in our interview. The conclusion of Moby’s performance left the crowd somewhat in shock, as he took off his shirt and stood up on the DJ booth, with several members of the audience following suit, check out the shot in our top 5 instagram pictures.
The second evening felt much more refi ned than the previous, though the festival as a whole was much busier. Techno took over the main stage; the low frequencies had everyone moving, and the attendees were there purely for the music. The second stage also had a lot more activity on the Saturday, with the Generation Wild tour taking over the Red Bull stage. Mikael Weermets and dBerrie played great opening sets, priming the crowd for Danny Avilla and Deniz Koyu, who both laid down their progressive fl a- vours and big electro basslines for the crowd. But by the time Dubfi re got behind the booth, most people fl ocked to the main stage, a wonderful closure to the event.