Echostage

Reviews 4

JO

Joshua Versoza

Been on an EDM kick for the past 1.5-2 years... I dabbled with some trance in high school, and Ive always had tracks scattered throughout my workout playlists, but Im pretty much a newbie to the stuff. That means no raves (or any of the associated naughtier aspects to "enjoying the music") for yours truly all throughout the fun years; Saturday, 3/26/16, marked the first EDM rave Id ever been to. The road to the Echostage was all a relatively impromptu affair. My brother has been quite the EDM fan for the past few years, with his musical tastes pretty much influencing mine for the past couple cycles. So when I visited him on his bday a couple weeks back, he exclaimed "KSHMR and Tiësto are playing at Echostage, Id totally wanna hit see them." Seeing as how I could kill three birds with one stone (with the purchasing of tickets for his bday, as well as attending a rave for the first time ever, and ultimately using this experience as a "practice session" prior to hitting up EDC Las Vegas later this year), I jumped at the opportunity. So, perhaps Im not the most qualified person to speak as music venues where one could enjoy shows such as these, but I had a blast here. We arrived relatively early at 10 (doors opened at 9, with bro and friend wanting to get there early so we could have a good spot for the opening act). Place was barely half full when we got in, so we were able to snake our way just a few paces from front and center. Good call on that, as the place was pretty much as packed as a sardine can just a half hour later. However, I was able to observe the place prior to "packed-to-the-gills" status, and I was definitely a fan of the set up. Big room, with bars to the left and the right, with VIP balconies (I would assume) on top of those. Pretty sexy if you ask me. And a tall boy Heineken running about $7 aint a bad deal (maybe those NYC prices just made me callous to drink pricing). Huge speaker towers to the left and right of the stage (and speakers scattered everywhere else Im sure) made for some booming (but not deafening) noise; definitely some world class sound quality on those. But thats pretty much all I can speak to about the venue (aside from "sketchy neighborhood" thats mentioned in most of the reviews for this spot. Other than that, the music, the light show, and the crowd will pretty much make (or break) your night here. Since Tiësto was here for the time that Im writing about, the crowd was a bit douche-y, with my one friend (who aint a newbie to these kind of things) saying that it may have been the "douchy-est, most ratchet crowd" hes dealt with (to be honest, I expected a lot of contact, especially since we were near the front, but apparently it was "particularly bad" on my first time). My philosophy was to roll with the blows, and throw back an elbow/push back just so theyd know that the our group of three deep was not one to be pushed around. The music (especially from KSHMR) and the light shows were pretty phenomenal though, so it was easy to get hyped with the rest of the crowd despite receiving such a high rate of contact. I had a great time here, def makes me excited for my next show (here or elsewhere).

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DO

Donovan McKenzie

I went to see Twenty One Pilots (for the 3rd time) at Echostage on September 8th for the Blurryface tour. The concert was amazing, but the environment was very, very sketchy. Its in the middle of probably one of the fewest spots that people venture through DC. (AKA, it was a warehouse area.) The staff was seemed cool. As we were waiting in line 4 hours before the doors opened, they were giving out free water this day, because the heat outside was un-Godly. Although, once we got inside the venue, the AC was on very low. They barely turned in up for the capacity of the people in the venue. (4,000 people). Also, once the opening act, Finish Ticket, jumped on stage, everyone was pushing their way toward the stage, which I expected, but I also expected for security to take care of the matter or at least alert the artist of what was going on. People were getting crushed, some started to faint, and I could have sworn multiple fights were about to break out because of the pushing and security was just standing there. (But they jumped in the crowd and almost elbowed my head trying to escort some kid out for using a Go Pro...) All and all, I enjoyed my time there. I saw one of my favorite bands play and learned a new technique on avoiding crazy crowds, but I would not suggest someone to go see a concert here. You can tell this place was made, specifically, for an EDM concert or late night shows, or Dubstep shows, shows like those, but if you wanna catch a band like Twenty One Pilots or anything else like that, trying catching them at another venue.

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HP

Hp Bb

Physically the venue is really good. Very large dance area where you can position yourself to your liking - work your way up front if you like the being-packed-in-like-sardines front row concert experience, or stay in the offskirts to the sides or back if you prefer more air and room to dance. Smoking area out back is okay I guess, although def not fancy, just a gated-in area of the back lot basically, with no seating. Second level has tables and nice seating if youre the type of douchebag that gets table service. Worst thing - as many have already stated - is the location. I wouldnt walk there alone for sure. Im always with one or two buddies at these shows and we usually take the risk and park in the ghetto blocks surrounding the club. Been there probably 4 times with no problems yet, but I always have a nervous feeling in the back of my mind. Your other alternatives are paying for parking, which is just a ripoff and you get crammed into whatever little crevice they can find to put cars - I really dont think many of the parking areas were intended to hold cars lol. Of course you could take metro, but I think the nearest stop is like 12-15 blocks away... Drinks are crazy expensive - no surprise there - but itd be nice if theyd do some before-midnight specials or something like other places do... Overall this place is ok I guess. Physically very good venue but hampered by horrible location and, Im sad to say, a general vibe of greed going on, particularly with parking, drinks and the ticket prices

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AL

Alan Williamson

The venue itself, once inside, is a modern, clean small venue. No major complaints. However, what lets this venue down is its location. It is situated in an industrial estate. Normally not a problem, however, the only classy place, is the gentlemans club next door. After that, the neighborhood is run down, broken windows etc. Parking is a complete nightmare, with parking touts basically vying for business which is nothing more than using the local business parks around about. The place does not give off any sort of safe vibe. We parked about a 15minute walk away, in a residential neighborhood, behind the police station. It was a completely different tone from the venue, and after reading the reviews here on Google, were confident that all windows and wheels would still be there after the gig. Which they were. Even if you do decide to throw your luck in with the parking, there was a huge amount of queues to get out as its only a small road, at the end of a traffic light letting people out. There is no catering outside the fast food places (MacDonalds, KFC, DunkinDonuts) that is around the corner. Advice: get someone to drop you off and pick you up at MacDonalds and you will have a great night.

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