A talent as accomplished as Kaskade can at times be burdened by their own success. Superstars like Tiësto, Steve Angello, or Deadmau5, given the opportunity, would undoubtedly jump for the chance to return to their roots and play in a small and intimate environment for fans that have been along for the ride since the beginning. Peering through Kaskade’s release catalog exposes everything from drum and bass, to deep and tech house, to what the world knows him as today: the melodic, synth-laden progressive house maestro that has both touched and moved millions of people across the world. With the announcement of the It’s You, It’s Me Redux tour, Kaskade would mark the 10 year anniversary of the It’s You, It’s Me album with a nine-city tour bringing it back to the venues where it all started.

Looking back a decade ago, house music was still an underground phenomenon. Today the overflow of genres and subgenres add more confusion to the equation than clarity. A little more than a year ago, Kaskade released his Fire & Ice album and the second of the two disc release featured tracks mixed down to the more minimal and deep house form. You could tell this was a passion project for him, and it shined light on the world in which Kaskade used to live for newer fans.

When Kaskade announced the “It’s You, It’s Me Redux” tour, his goal was to bring it back to the early days — before festival culture became what some would call overblown and to a time seeing a high caliber DJ in a small room was feasible. Tickets sold out in seconds and lines formed in front of the venue hours before doors opened. Cielo, New York’s legendary dance music club, hosted the one-off occasion to only about 300 or 400 fortunate fans.

Kaskade took to the decks at midnight and played just over three hours. He opened his set with the lead single off the 2003 album, and continued to play to the deeper, classic grooves that he promised. He followed “It’s You, It’s Me” with “Everything,” living up to the tour’s title, and forged ahead with “Ice” remixes to “Llove” and “Eyes.” The night was laden with authentic and organic house for the duration of his set.

Kaskade –  It’s You, It’s Me

Kaskade – Everything (Big Room Mix)

Kaskade – Llove (Kaskade’s ICE Mix)

As the night pushed on, Kaskade used Cielo’s blank canvas to drop modern day deep anthems like Mark Knight’s “Alright” and Hot Since 82’s remix to Yousef’s “Beg” — receiving an overwhelming approval from the fevered crowd. He went track to track without any hiccups; the packed crowd was too busy taking in the occasion to even notice. Towards the end of the night, Kaskade played Sebastian Ingrosso’s edit to Julian Jabre’s house classic “Swimming Places,” summing up the theme of the night with one of the genre’s most famous, timeless, and enduring releases.  One thing’s for sure: if you were at Cielo for this show, you were part of an experience that is not likely to repeat itself anytime soon. As dance music’s popularity continues to grow, rooms as small as Cielo may be even more difficult to come by — let’s see where were are in another ten years.

Mark Knight – Alright (Original Club Mix)

Yousef – Beg (Hot Since 82 Future Mix)

Julien Jabre – Swimming Places (Sebastian Ingrosso Re-edit)

Tags: Cielo, kaskade, Redux

Categories: Music