Alan Walker Brings The WalkerVerse to Echostage
Photo by Dean Robbins
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.
