One of the United States’ premier music festivals, Electric Forest will return to Rothbury, Michigan for its 11th edition from June 22-25, 2023.
Each year, the joint production from Madison House Presents and Insomniac boasts one of the most immersive festival experiences on offer in the U.S., with fantastical art installations and an expertly curated lineup that merges the best of the EDM and jam band communities,
Electric Forest 2023 will feature headline sets from A-list dance music acts like ODESZA, Chris Lake, ILLENIUM, Zeds Dead, Ganja White Night, Lane 8, Rezz, Above & Beyond and more.
Electric Forest always has special surprises in store for the roughly 40,000 fans who attend each year, and festival organizers have once again booked a number of special limited-run performances from big time artists, in addition to these great headliners.
Here are four special sets that fans won’t want to miss at Electric Forest 2023.
1. Apashe (Live Brass Ensemble)
Montreal-based composer and producer Apashe‘s anthemic bass tunes blend EDM production with orchestral and classical music.
Having performed all over the globe and solicited remixes of his tracks from a plethora of top artists, Apashe returns to Electric Forest for the first time since 2016.
This time around Apashe’s Forest performance will feature a live brass ensemble: a show concept that he debuted at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival last October, and is set to take on the road for five tour dates this fall and winter.
If the footage from Apashe’s previous shows with the ensemble is any indication, the horns in this performance will totally amplify his already beautifully cinematic set.
2. Rusko B2B Dirty Monkey
After debuting this dream B2B during Subtronics‘ show at the Phoenix Raceway in April, these two stalwarts of dubstep will bring their wonderfully wonky sounds to Electric Forest this year.
Over a decade ago, UK-born producer and DJ Rusko played a vital role in the rising popularity of dubstep in the United States, bringing over the iconic wobbles from the London undergound.
In a bass music landscape where aggressive sounds rule the scene, Rusko stays true to the groovy origins of dubstep in the UK.
Spinning alongside Rusko is Dirt Monkey, an impressive producer whose punchy sound design speaks for itself. A steady figure in the scene for more than ten years, there is no corner of music that Dirt Monkey won’t touch from dubstep, to house, and drum and bass.
The pair collaborated on the dancey dub reggae track “Quarantinis” for Rusko’s 2020 Sauce EP, but have leaned far more D&B heavy in both their production and performances in the years since.
With the genre growing in notoriety this year, expect them to throw down the nastiest D&B of the weekend with classics and new tunes from their pair of ever-expanding catalogs.
3. SVDDEN DEATH Presents: VOYD
Harrowing dubstep act SVDDEN DEATH will finally get to bring his iconic VOYD performance to Electric Forest this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the festival—and his set—from going ahead in 2020.
VOYD—which SVDDEN DEATH described as “basically the deathcore version” of his already dark project in 2021—features some of the most theatrical production in all of bass music, with extensively planned visuals, lighting, lasers, and even performance stunts from the DJ himself.
Be warned, this set brings some of the angriest bass on earth. SVDDEN DEATH is known to meticulously craft his VOYD sets to build as much suspense as possible before unleashing pure dubstep and riddim chaos onto the crowd.
VOYD sets feature primarily unreleased music and super exclusive edits of SVDDEN DEATH’s sinister sounds. Think slower, darker, scarier.
Though the intensity of this performance is not for the faint of heart and its motifs can be somewhat divisive, there is no denying the sheer impressiveness of its spectacle. If SVDDEN DEATH is aggressive, VOYD is downright evil, and his devoted fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
4. Bob Moses (Club Set)
Composed of Vancouver musicians Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, Bob Moses’ ambient and moody blend of house and indie rock has led the pair to critical and mainstream success with charting radio hits, a Grammy nomination, and a massive reputation for seamlessly woven live performances.
Coming a long way since their start in the Brooklyn underground—and returning to Electric Forest for a fourth time—Bob Moses will play their highly-touted club set: a dancier, more spontaneous DJ set that features classic house heaters mixed in with their original productions.
While the club set won’t include their live band, the pair have explained that their club sets often act as a hybrid show, where Tom can still sing and play guitar over instrumental versions of their tunes.
Largely unique from one performance to the next, Bob Moses’ club set will bring added dancefloor flavor to their exquisitely crafted soundscapes.
Featured image credit: Anthony Norkus.
