- Photo Credit: Rasidel Slika / rasidel.com
Earlier we posted our TheBeatMill Manifesto, in which we promised to never sugar coat any reviews and to give them fair assessments. I can safely say I left Studio Paris Sunday night buzzing (not from any substance), and more excited to write this review than I ever have been. I opted to see Justice over Kaskade on Sunday night at Lollapalooza, but I couldn’t think of a better way to finish out Lollapalooza weekend than the Kaskade after party at Studio Paris. Everything I had heard about Studio Paris was that it was such an amazing venue, and the best club in Chicago. I can safely say that it was the best club I’ve been to in Chicago.
Luckily for us, our hotel was right around the block from Studio Paris, which is the top floor of the Paris Club restaurant. We walked to the front of Paris Club, only to find out we had to go a block down, and into an alley to gain entrance into Studio Paris. As we walked up to the alleyway entrance, we found about 50 people waiting to get in. Security was strict, as they should be, seeing that tickets were selling on stubhub for $250 for guys and $125 for girls if you didn’t have a table. While we were waiting to get in, one of the bouncers came over and yelled that nobody was getting in unless they had a ticket or a table, luckily we were one of the few to gain entry.
Photo Credit: Rasidel Slika / rasidel.com
Walking into Studio Paris, they directed us through a door and through a series of what looked like maintenance stairwells, this was a first for me. When we finally walked through an unmarked door, it put us right into the main bar area with the main room on our right hand side. As I peered across the bar into the other room, I was able to see the screen behind the DJ booth, but was unable to see a DJ. As the place was buzzing waiting for Kaskade to come on, we grabbed a drink and tried to find our way towards where the DJ booth was.
When we walked into the main room, there were tables lining the whole room, packed with beautiful women dancing on top of the booths. There also were a row of tables that faced directly towards the DJ booth that looked the same. Looking up, you noticed that there were synced LED walls hanging from the glass retractable roof above them. Peering between the thin LED walls, you were able to see the stars above your head, setting the stage for an amazing night.
Photo Credit: Rasidel Slika / rasidel.com
Shortly after Kaskade came on the decks, Skylar Grey came out to make a guest appearance. Having sang on some Kaskade’s tracks, we knew we were in for something special. Soon after, the beat to Kaskade ft. Skylar Grey- Room For Happiness came on, and Skylar began singing the track, what a perfect way to get your set started. Having seen Kaskade’s Freaks Of Nature tour, I was expecting something completely different, and Kaskade really showed his DJ prowess by playing tracks that I didn’t expect from him at all.
Given that Kaskade had 2 hours to play, he took full advantage on building a set that took you on a journey. From early on in his set, Kaskade played tracks that had a much more tech influence, and then moved into some big room house, and even finished with dubstep, something that I didn’t expect from him.
About 30 minutes into his set, Kaskade dropped a beautiful sequence of tracks that included Steve Angelo & AN21- Valodja, into Tim Mason- Anima vs. Kaskade- Angel On My Shoulder, and Alesso- Raise Your Head. With Kaskade going full force on the crowd, it was easy to see who was there for the music, and who was there to be seen. The one drawback of the crowd was that it seemed roughly half of the crowd was there because it was the cool thing to do, not because they wanted to see Kaskade. Luckily there were some true fans, some had come straight from Lollapalooza, and some even wearing Kandi. Everyone was extremely respectful of one another and I only encountered one annoying crowd member, but I couldn’t hold his incessant jumping against him because I’ve been there before. This was one of the best sets I’ve even been present for.
Later in the evening, some of the tracks that really stood out to me were Ellie Goulding- Lights (Feenixpawl Bootleg), which was the first time I had heard it, The Joy Formidable- A Heavy Abacus (Qulinez Remix), and John Dahlback- Embrace Me (Dirty South Remix), all of which were dropped at perfect times throughout the night. After playing through a very big room section of his set, Kaskade started playing some tracks that I don’t think the crowd knew what was coming. The massive tune Federico Scavo- Strump (Tujamo Remix) featured a sick trumpet section that immediately got my feet moving, from which he mixed into a techy favorite of mine, Gregor Salto- Azumba. Kaskade was really putting together an amazing set, and the monkey squeals in Azumba had me laughing, seeing the people that were slightly confused by them.
Photo Credit: Rasidel Slika / rasidel.com
Unfortunately by this time, all of the lights were starting to come on, since it was 1:45AM. At that point I heard the intro to Kaskade- Eyes come over the speakers which delighted me, only to drop into a dubstep remix of the track I had never heard. As the crowd started to clear out, Kaskade closed his set with Deadmau5 & Kaskade- I Remember (Caspa Remix), an ending that was completely unexpected for me but more than welcomed. As security cleared everyone out, I able to confidently say that it was one of the best sets I had ever seen, and Kaskade has solidified himself as one of my favorite DJ’s. I cannot wait to see Kaskade again, and I cannot wait to go to Studio Paris again.
