Electronic dance music, better known as EDM, has been gaining quite a following in the Philippines.
Last year, David Guetta and Alesso rocked the Mall of Asia Arena; earlier this year Swedish House Mafia made a stop in the Philippines for its One Last Tour; and next month Avicii will make his second visit to Manila.
Other DJs who have stopped over include Porter Robinson, R3hab, Dirty South, Dash Berlin, and Ferry Corsten.
On April 27, fans will witness an EDM dance party like no other, because it will feature seven international DJs.
AfroJack, Apster, Alex Gaudino, Cedric Gervais, Cobra Starship, Dev, and the JumpSmokers, plus Filipino bands Sandwich, SpongeCola and UrbanDub, will perform at the CloseUp Summer Solstice Music Festival at the Mall of Asia open grounds.
For 12 hours—4 p.m. to 4 a.m.
—CloseUp Summer Solstice will have nonstop music with a mix of local flavor, mainstream hits, party-rocking beats, and remixes.
Humble beginnings
From humble DJ beginnings in Holland, Afrojack has become a Grammy Award-winning, platinum-selling producer. Afrojack has collaborated with the likes of Guetta (co-writing and producing the worldwide smash hit “Titanium”). In 2011, he cowrote and produced “Give Me Everything” for Pitbull and Ne-Yo. He has also worked on Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls),” and is the man behind Grammy-nominated remix of Leona Lewis’ “Collide.”
In 2012, he launched his North American “Jacked” tour with multiple sold-out shows. On top of his own shows, he headlined both EDC NY and Las Vegas attended by over 300,000 people, as well as the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Tomorrowland and many other major festivals throughout Europe.
‘The Doctor’
No music festival is complete without a DJ who knows how to make trademark summer tracks. After transforming Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” into a club anthem, Alex Gaudino, aka The Doctor, has been unstoppable, creating hits such as “Destination Calabria” and “What a Feeling” featuring Kelly Roland. He has collaborated with Taio Cruz, Taboo of Black Eyed Peas, Jordin Sparks, Mario and Jay Sean.
Sheer talent
The brightest star rising from the prolific Dutch House Scene, Apster has already turned the heads of big players Steve Aoki and Afrojack. Sheer talent has gotten Apster multiple collaboration work with industry greats, propelling him into thriving international dance scenes including Italy, Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria, Aruba and, now, Manila.
‘Kings of the Dance Floor’
Jump Smokers, composed of DJs Flipside, Reydon, Roman and Johnny Digital, have been nicknamed as “Kings of the Dance Floor” because of their work with Pitbull (“Don’t Stop the Party”), Usher, RiRi and Mariah Carey.
Owner of dance anthems
From collaborations with Kara Dioguardi and Ryan Tedder, to featuring Leighton Meester on “Good Girls Go Bad,” Cobra Starship owns the dance anthems of this generation, with its sights set on the next wave of dance hits.
Hit songs
From being the youngest DJ to get a residency at Paris’ Queen club, Cedric Gervais has moved on to perform in high profile clubs Liv in Miami and Marquee in Las Vegas. Currently his two hit songs “Molly” and his rendition of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” have topped various dance music charts.
Lone female act
Dev is the voice behind “Like a G6,” “Bass Down Low,” “In the Dark,” and several Cataracs songs. She’s the only female act in the lineup.
Hometown crowd
After landing in the lineup of international festivals such as Hollywood Bowl and the Clockenflap Festival, Filipino band <S>andwich will now play before a hometown crowd.
Sponge Cola has gone a long way from its earliest gigs in Katipunan covering Madonna’s “Crazy For You” to appearances at the Globe Concert in Taiwan, the Du World Music Fest in Dubai, and the Beale Street Music Fest which also featured Al Green and Lupe Fiasco.
Urbandub has shared the stage with international acts Lost Prophets, New Found Glory, Simple Plan and Deftones in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai.
Tickets to Summer Solstice are available in all Ticketnet, Ticketworld and SM Tickets outlets. Log on to www.closeupsummersolstice.com.ph.
