Escape Psycho Circus Delivered the Halloween Experience of the Year [Event Review]

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American Horror Story. Stranger Things. The Walking Dead. Penny Dreadful. Nowadays, terror/horror shows and series are hugely popular. And why not? Studies have shown that it’s a great workout that releases adrenaline in a good way. Therefore, we were surely not going to miss out on Insomniac’s Escape Psycho Circus after last year’s experience which proved that music, horror, and a good old fashion scare harmoniously perfected is just what everyone loves.

Aside from the four tents of the Psycho Circus that included Ghouls’ Graveyard, Cannibals’ Tea Party, Chopping Block, and Slaughterhouse, there were plenty of frighteningly good activities that you could stumble upon. Whether you wanted to take a spin on the haunted carousel, watch a performance of gruesome freaks and tricks in the circus tent, or have a witch read your cards to see into your future (for better or worse), the possibilities were there. As soon as you entered the grounds, every single plant, lamp post, and haunted gate was adorned transporting you into another reality.

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However, if you had the guts, and weren’t afraid to lose your mind, the primary mental challenge of the festival was surviving The Asylum. The 32,000 square-foot maze took the last seven years of Escape festival themes and created 30 rooms of terror, featuring 120 performers and 20 sound systems to scare the living shit out of you. However, don’t think that you could call your friends or family, or claw your way out of trouble, for Headliners that dared to enter had to relinquish their bags and property, as they were fitted into a straightjacket along with a Hannibal Lecter mask and were led through insane asylum rooms, bloody and gory bathrooms, and grounds that would shake and awaken as the undead tried to keep you there forever.

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When it came to cutting the metaphorical rug we all came to dig our feet into, Escape had the perfect combination for whatever you were into all weekend long. The Chopping Block on Friday held down all those hardcore ravers looking for something a little more fast paced with the likes of Angerfist, Coone, and more. But our feet seemed to drag us all about, thriving between Slaughterhouse, Cannibals’ Tea Party and Ghoul’s Graveyard every few hours. With Shiba San standing on a massive creepy clown stage with darting frantic eyes at Slaughterhouse throwing down mashups of today’s rap hits and his very own funky tech Dirtybird beats including his classic track “I Like Your Booty” which pushed the speakers to the absolute max.

We did a little creep into Rezz’ deep and dark filled bass and then headed over to Cannibals’ Tea Party to sink our teeth into an intense and high energy set done by the legendary DJ Skream.

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Factory 93 hosted Cannibal’s Tea Party on Friday for Day one, and they transformed the Citrus Building into a dark and alluring dance hall for all of your tech house and techno needs. Minimal lighting and a stage production and screen that rivaled every other stage, it was the text book setting for those dark and dirty beats. Factory 93 decided they were tired of the old school disco ball, and replaced it with a monster size diamond with black reflectors, and Green Velvet put it to good use during his set, blasting it with every green laser and beaming light they had in the house to let you know it was time to boogie.

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Playing iconic tracks like “Flash (Eats Everything Remix)” to bringing out Shiba San to drop their new track “Chance” from their Fearless EP they were having their own dance party behind the decks. No matter how many times we’ve see him, it’s a non-stop dance party that brings out the best vibes in everyone. Joseph Capriati also went b2b with Jamie Jones to close out Friday night, and they brought the heat, with the two of them leaning heavily into a darker techno realm that we hadn’t seen from Jamie Jones before.

The Chopping Block had a major costume change Saturday, getting the switch up to trap kings and dubstep heavy hitters like Loudpvck, Slushii, and more. We were treated to the likes of Blackgummy at Ghoul’s Graveyard who threw down a magical crossover set between progressive house and industrial. He is the perfect fit for the mau5trap label, and brings his own electrifying sound that has been continuously turning heads since his first release on mau5trap in mid 2015. To the man, the myth, and many alias legend Eric Prydz, it was a dark and very tech heavy set, that shows the current mood and direction of his releases whether they are as Cirez D or many others. The set was missing many of his classic vocal house tracks that many may have been eager to hear, however it clearly illustrated his current focus that we hear heard in his recent EPIC Radio series and releases such as “The Accuser.” Search parties were sent after his set to find all of the missing jaws that had dropped strewn all over the dance floor.

While we rehydrated and got back into it, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see Berlin’s techno producer, DJ, and label owner Alex Ridha, aka Boys Noize live closing out the Chopping Block. It’s been years since we’ve been able to catch a live set, and holy shit was it worth the wait. Starting off his set with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” from beginning to end, it was a full throttle mix of heavy electronica and techno that was the perfect ending to day two.

While we can’t mention our love for every artist that we were privileged to see (because this review will then be longer than the Bible), in short, every artist did an impeccable job with their music, Insomniac did every single detail inside of the festival justice, and the costumes, Headliners, food, The Asylum, and everything else that we haven’t mentioned was more than on point. Insomniac continues to raise the bar incredibly high for every single festival around the world, and for that, we’re thankful. Thank you to all of the Insomniac staff, their PR, and whoever else we worked with while covering the festival. It was another smashing year at Escape, and we’re already in our costume planning for next year as we speak.

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http://escapehalloween.com

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