This past weekend marked the third anniversary of Project Glow in Washington D.C.’s RFK Stadium. Check out our review of the festival itself here. In addition to the already stacked lineup, the festival offered seven amazing pre and afterparties for attendees to explore during the weekend taking place at staple DC venues EchoStage & SoundCheck. EDMTunes was able to attend the Wax Motif Preparty and the highly anticipated Zedd B2B Knock2 Afterparty, both of which took place at EchoStage. The venue was voted the best venue in North America in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll in 2021 and despite not taking the title this year, they still provided us with world-class production, one of the best sound systems in this hemisphere and an amazing time. Both events (including the sold-out Zedd B2B Knock2 event) felt full, but not overcrowded, bathrooms were clean and efficient, and there were plenty of bars and service spaces for drinks and refreshments.
Wax Motif
Australian Tech House and G-House producer Wax Motif has been a titan in the scene and is no stranger to curating his own events. This intimate show was held in 360 style. Support acts included Koster, TOBEHONEST and VNNSA. This was a Tech House lover’s dream event and the vibes were amazing. People were respectful, the music was pumping, and it was a great appetizer for the long weekend of music ahead. In his 2-hour set, Wax showed off some amazing new IDs and edits that he would not normally be able to play in a 1-hour festival slot. It was amazing to be able to see what he has been cooking recently.
Zedd B2B Knock2
When this B2B event was announced, internauts lost their minds! Knock2 has been slowly taking over and is a rising artist known for his versatility and high-energy sets. His ability to connect with his audience is unmatched in the scene right now. Zedd is, well, a legend in the industry and one of the OG EDM pioneers. His work in the 2010s led to the popularization of EDM and contributed to the commercial success of so many after him. However, Zedd is NOT known for playing live with others, and he is almost always only seen solo in shows and festivals. It came as a surprise to many that he would be sharing the stage with one of today’s rising stars.
The two artists’ styles worked extremely well together. I will admit I had my doubts about Zedd’s ability to match some of Knock2’s energy, but those concerns ended up being unwarranted as they were both able to blow my mind drop after drop. The two ducked and weaved between almost all genres in the EDM spectrum and played everything from EDM classics to current hits, to completely unexpected mashups left and right that kept everybody on their toes.
The afterparties were (in all honesty) the most fun I had all weekend. Looking forward to what the next batch of Project Glow events will bring in 2025.