Alan Walker Brings The WalkerVerse to Echostage

Image Courtesy of Dean Robbins

By Dean Robbins

Electro house DJ Alan Walker brought his Walkerverse tour, in support of his 2022 two-part EP Walkerverse, to D.C. venue Echostage on October 21. Echostage opened in 2012 and was created to be a middle ground between a traditional club and a concert venue like The Anthem. 

The vice president of venues and sponsorship at Club Glow, the parent brand of Echostage, explained this innovation to me when I interviewed him before the show.

Ever since then, it has been a race. “It’s just more, and more, and more. And then I think that’s the biggest thing in electronic clubs and music everywhere is…it’s more. It’s more lasers, it’s more cryo, it’s more everything everywhere,” Matthew Cronin said. 

The show itself was a brilliant showcase of the “more everything everywhere” aesthetic. Every song and remix literally casts the whole space in a new light and vibe. 

Alan Walker was supported by local DJ Evan Wilder and Canadian future house DJ Dzeko (former member of the duo Dzeko & Torres). Wilder appeared to play the longest of all the acts from 9 p.m. to around 11 p.m., but that may have been the anticipation. 

The main act finally came on around 12:30 p.m. Walker played a selection of remixes and greatest hits, including his megahit “Faded.” His remixes included popular dance hits like Abba’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme” and Reel 2 Real’s “I Like to Move It,” best known for its inclusion in the Madagascar film franchise. The DJ, who hails from Norway, gained much of his popularity on YouTube, where a few of his songs, including “Faded,” have over a billion views. The video component played on the theme of the Internet and technology, with the stage turned into  The Matrix-like stream of code at certain points. 

His stage persona was the biggest of the night, with the headliner often getting up on the deck platform [where the DJ mixes] and instructing the crowd to clap their hands. Cannons shot out confetti multiple times during the set. If there is one word to describe the vibe: bombastic. 

Alan Walker wears a white hoodie and a white fabric mask in an emphasis of anonymity, evoking hacker groups and being hidden behind a screen. One of the last songs has visuals depicting an army of anonymous people, placing the audience in the context of an unseen, covert movement.