Ever After Music Festival celebrated its 5th year with its biggest offering to date. With over 32,000 attendees across 3 days and 3 stages, the event showcased why Ever After is one of Ontario’s best festivals. The bass-heavy line-up boasted heavy hitters like Kill The Snails, Excision, G Jones, Noisia and many more.
While most attendees hit the event to headbang and go hard at the main stage, this year I opted to take a different a route. Part of the magic of Ever After is the fact that in addition to their main Excalibur stage, they also feature a local Ontario stage, while their On The Grand stage hosted 3 unique takeovers: The Dub Arena, UpsideDown House and ChopUp Hill. With time tight on my end I could only swing one day and knew the UpsideDown House takeover was a can’t-miss.
Shot by @ndkimages
The stage itself presented a great vibe from the outset. Placed at the bottom of a hill, the space allowed an ample paved dance floor with bars on either end. The area was surrounded by a grassy hill that acted as a natural amphitheatre and the perfect chill spot for anyone looking to enjoy the music while kicking back.
Perched atop of the hill was EA EATS, a stellar selection of food vendors inspired by Asian night markets, slinging international fare that ranged from kabobs and Pad Thai to Fried Squid and my personal favourite Korean Fried Waffles with ice cream. Festivals sometimes miss the mark with food offerings, forcing concertgoers to choose between pizza and hot dogs, so this level of variety should not go under-appreciated.
The food selection was solid and the space was great but how was the music? Even more impressive. I arrived mid-afternoon and caught the end of Wax Motif’s set as he delivered bangin’ house beats with an underlying hip-hop swagger. After he hopped off stage, I had the pleasure of connecting with him for an interview (which is coming soon) before popping back out to see the legends Chocolate Puma rock the crowd.
From there Dirty Bird’s Justin Martin brought the grooves before Chris Lake ramped things up even further. Each act impressed but it was Green Velvet’s sunset set that really stood out. The man is a legend for a reason and his performance at Ever After reminded everyone why. From his smooth transitions to the expert selection, Green Velvet is the type of DJ that can rock any crowd with ease. As the sky got darker, his set got dirtier, truly matching the music to the overall vibe.
While some may scoff at me for missing a few dubstep icons in favour of some house, I can assure you that my decision paid off greatly. The next time you’re at a festival don’t be afraid to stray away from the main stage.
Oh and thanks to Ever After’s set times I was still able to catch Excision’s headlining set to get a little headbanging in. It was Ever After, after all.
Shot by @ndkimages
Feature image shot by @stassie.v
