3 Contiguous Sets to Check out at Shambhala 2016

Words by Rigo Ruta

Shambhala looks to continue its surge as a world-class exhibition of West Coast electronic music culture. Despite its rising notoriety, as they sold out tickets in record time, Shambhala has a remarkable ability to preserve its intended environment. The wandering soul prospers at Shambhala, with all stages running the entire weekend and an unrivaled atmosphere even when away from the music. It’s important to look past inevitable conflicts of your favourite artists and appreciate just how stacked this lineup really is. The potential to discover new artists is made possible at such a festival. Each stage acts as its own production team, allowing them to fully curate the schedule like a setlist in of itself to create distinct environments (read our 2015 review here) It becomes important that different sets build off each other. With this, we would like to suggest three cardinal back-to-back sets that can act as anchors to a successful weekend.

Caspa and Rusko – Excision | The Village | Friday | 12:30 am -3:30 am

Bass music has always been a way of life for many of those at Shambs and remains the core tenet of the festival’s distinct culture. Names like Bassnectar, Skrillex, Pretty Lights, and Datsik are just a few examples out of the colourful collection of Shambhala regulars. This year, bass heads are rewarded with a rare set from Caspa b2b Rusko. Two is always better than one, right? For a closer to home flavour, the Shambhala constant, Excision, cannot be overlooked. His sets harness the sheer power of PK Sound and the wild energy from the crowd. This stage will be banging all weekend but these are two sets not to miss.

Rusko b2b Caspa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csHjptN4IcQ

Excision:

Excision slaying The Village in 2015

Felix Da Housecat – Green Velvet | Fractal Forest | Sunday | 10:30 pm – 1:30 am

An afternoon of the Fractal Funk Jam, a Shambhala classic, will ensure a crowd grooving just in time for a 3-hour stretch of Chicago house veterans Felix Da House Cat and Green Velvet. Their animated personalities matched with non-stop funk-inspired house and thumping techno will do the Forest justice.

Felix Da Housecat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABGg7Malyzk

Green Velvet:

What So Not – Destructo | Pagoda | Sunday | 2:30 am – 5:30 am

The Pagoda has the most consistent and dynamic flow out of the Shambhala stages. t\This year some of the most exciting talent the globe has to offer will be gracing this stage such as: Boys Noize, Gorgon City, and Marshmello. Although the knees will be shaky and the mind hazy, one must remember that Shambhala is a marathon and its worth leaving a little extra in the tank for the final two acts. What So Not looks to top an explosive fan-favourite set from two years ago as the talented Emoh Instead should prove his personal growth without Flume at the helm. Following this, Destructo’s highly anticipated “Sunrise Sermon” will surely be a gift from the G-House Gods themselves. I am not sure what exactly to expect from this set, but Gary Richards, the king of HARD events, sure knows how to throw a party.

What So Not:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9U9EgrUITI

Destructo:

Top 5 Best of the Rest: