WEMF bows out. The FINAL World Electronic Music Festival JULY 18 – 20, 2008 Madawaska, Ontario

After 14 years, the World Electronic Music Festival (WEMF) is coming to an end. The 2008 edition of North America’s largest and longest running festival of its kind is returning to its roots with a massive three-day, two-night outdoor party that will welcome back many of the top DJs and electronic music stars who got their start at the legendary music fest. “Having been a rite of passage for a generation of fans, musicians and party people, WEMF has come full circle for its epic conclusion,” says co-promoter Jesse Brown.
“WEMF was the first successful multi-day electronic event in North America,” says founder and DJ Ryan Kruger, “and its longevity has proven that the music we love was never just a fad but rather a way of life for a large part of our generation and those that came after.” While Kruger says recent WEMF’s have seen close to 5000 people gathering to party, this year’s final WEMF saw 1000 “super early bird” tickets sell out within a single day—even before any information had been released about the line-up of acts.

The astonishing 200+ acts now announced for the festival are a mix of exciting new talent and longtime WEMF favourites, many of whom returning for the first time in years. The major headliners include:
Christopher Lawrence, an American DJ ranked #4 in the world on DJ Magazine’s Top 100 in 2006, describes his sound as “underground progressive house and techno trance with a groove.” He last appeared at WEMF in 2002.
Andy C, a UK icon crowned Best DJ by Drum & Bass Arena for the 7th successive year (a record) and named as one of the top ten “ultimate power” club figures by dance music bible Mixmag. New to WEMF, he’ll be working the crowd with a stunning three-hour set on three decks.
Max Graham, an Ottawa native who hasn’t played WEMF since 2001. He combines pure house music and promises “a roller coaster ride of funky basslines, energetic rhythms and uplifting melodies.”
Freq Nasty, a UK breakbeat innovator who’s become a legendary presence at music festivals around the world, notably Burning Man. Arriving to play his first WEMF, his reggae-tinged sound carves radical aural geometry out of uncut bassline material.
There will be many other performers making their debut at this final festival—exciting acts like Toronto favourites Manzone and Strong, trance legend Stoneface and 102.1 The Edge chart-favourites USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seekers)—but what will really make this last WEMF a historic weekend is the return of some veteran performers and crowd favourites, like:
OS/2 and Mystical Influence, who’ve both played all 14 years
Mark EG and Chris Liberator, regarded as “WEMF legends”
Anabolic Frolic, who publicly vowed six years ago never to play the festival again
Jelo, who got his start at the third event
Mickey Finn, not seen at WEMF since 1999
Dr. Trance, a rave pioneer now coming out of retirement for one last classic set
Arguably the most dazzling comeback at WEMF will be that of Steve Towers, part owner of Sound Academy (formerly The Docks) and owner of Towers Productions. He’ll be building the incredible stages this year, long after getting his start working on the very first WEMF in 1995. Towers promises a spectacular, over-the-top concert setting, featuring massive lighting, sound and robotic arms that has never done on this scale before in WEMF history and that would rival the Virgin Festival.
Four spectacular stages, over 200 performers and thousands of fans camping out for three days will need a whole lot of space. The promoters have found it in Madawaska, Ontario—a farm town just south of Algonquin Park. Like in its classic beginnings, the festival’s exact site will remain secret until a week beforehand. Promoter Jesse Brown says, “Being the final WEMF, we wanted to take it back outdoors to the type of site that made WEMF famous—a scenic location with ample space for parking, camping and the biggest party of its kind in Canada…a completely outdoor experience, literally in the middle of nowhere!”
Kruger says the best part is the give and take: while the festival enjoys a large, safe and secure environment with woods and a beach, Madawaska will gain from $750,000 to $1 million in economic benefit from the thousands of educated and enthusiastic 18-34 year old music lovers visiting from all over Canada and the US. This final festival, says Brown, will be a weekend to remember: “Camping, dancing, enjoying the company of friends and the music that brings us all together!” There’s nothing else like it, says Kruger: “The energy is electric!”

Why stop now?
After 14 years we felt it was time to move on to a new challenge. WEMF was the first successful multi-day electronic event in North America and with its longevity has proven that the music we love was never just a fad but rather a way of life for a large part of our generation and those that came after. I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do and now its time to focus on other projects – many of which also involve music, festivals and changing the way people perceive the world around them!

What is taken into consideration when booking the artists/DJs?
This one is all about us! We chose the acts that we like and combined them with hundreds of names from the past 13 years. If nothing else its going to be the best weekend of music I’ve ever produced!

Most memorable moment over the first thirteen years?
At our first event at around midnight on the first night a tornado ripped through the area destroying the circus tents and flattening the sound system. We were obviously devastated and figured our lives were over but come Saturday morning our sound people had put enough equipment back together to get one stage going. This fact went out on the Toronto radio stations and people flooded into the event. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and established the event as a thing of legend in many minds!

Memorable character who sets themselves  apart from all others.
This has to be Mark EG. The man is a ball of non stop energy on stage and leaves a path of destruction behind him. Likely most famous in Canada for cracking his head open while smashing a turntable over head at WEMF in Sauble Beach he is usually found jumping on the decks, biting records in half, screaming insults at the crowd while giving them the finger.

Best Steve Towers story.
Haha - he will kill me because he hasn’t had a drink in more than a decade but the WEMF on Christian Island saw him have quite a few and at some point on Sunday morning he decided to see exactly what the main sound system would do - he cranked up the legendary S4 Wall of Sound and managed to blow 90% of the speakers! I don’t think he was the most popular guy in the office the next week but he likely just blamed me!

What did it take to get Dr. Trance out of retirement?
There is a long term WEMF trivia question that asks who has played every event. The answer used to be myself (OS/2), Mystical Influence and Dr. Trance. Since his retirement 3 years ago it just been the two of.  All I had to do was remind him of his importance to the event and the amount of people that had asked to see him one last time! Who could resist being part of history?

What’s next?
We started the Cutting Edge Music Festival (www.cemf.com) a few years ago. Its a four day camping festival in Grand Bend. While its focus is cutting edge rock, we have added  a dance element as well. Our goal is to see it grow into the Coachella of Canada one day!

www.wemf.com