In what I can only describe as one of the biggest electronic music events of the summer, this year’s World Electronic Music Festival – more affectionately known as WEMF – was absolutely stacked with great artist. Fans endured the long wait on Friday afternoon and a little bit of rain here and there, but the talent for the first day was enough to keep people going.

The fuzzy boots, oversized glow sticks and creative costumes were out in full force as soon as festival-goers had their tents up, and what a better way to start off the night than to the vibrations of Dr. Ozi, Robb G and D-Monic? Two Fresh were amazing as expected, and had a wicked set for a bit of a smaller crowd. Center Camp was in motion all day with sets provided by the likes of Mickey D, Lady Bass and our good pal Charlie Darker, who I got to talk to on Saturday night while he was watching friends and fellow DJs perform.

As the sun creeped beneath the horizon, fans began to make their way towards the ground rattling bass and amazing music as 12th Planet took to the Tower of Destiny with his hip-hop-infused tracks. On the other side of the field, electro husband and wife duo Mr. and Mrs. Smith brought some more progressive music. I had personally never heard of this group (and had no idea that “Mr. Smith” is the fantastic Christopher Lawrence until he played on his own later that night), but their set was fantastic and had me jumping around like crazy. Just after that, Toronto trioKeys N’ Krates kicked it up a notch with their creative live set which featured DJ, drummer and keyboards.

The bass kept going with SPY and Datsik on the Tower.

By the time Datsik took over the decks the sun had descended low enough that the true magnificence of the Tower of Destiny could be demonstrated on this the first night of WEMF 2012 – and what a spectacle it was, providing a secondary sensation to the pounding drops resonating from the speakers. At midnight, one of the most recognizable Canadian names in dubstep – Zeds Dead – appeared from behind the Tower screen and provided me with the pleasure of catching “White Satin” live a mere 10 feet away.

Another legendary producer I was absolutely thrilled to see was Wolfgang Gartner playing across the field on theTime Stage. If you’ve been a fan of his from the get-go, he played some great hits off Weekend In America, likeSpace Junk and Shrunken Heads, along with his best music to date.

Before crashing for the night following a day of bass-epicness, I returned to Center Camp, where Andy’s Ill and Halifax native Eviction blew the speakers off the tent and thrilled the crowd. The weather dropped down and the wind was fierce, but everyone kept warm by bouncing up and down all night long.

For the first day of WEMF, and my very first experience at this amazing festival, I couldn’t get enough of it, and neither could every other camper. My body was sore from dancing, I had lost my voice and the main stages, as well as the community stages kept the bass rocking me down to my bones. Needless to say, I was absolutely pumped for the next day and fell asleep with the biggest grin on my face.

Photo by Antony Doniewski – Full album here.

Read the story on theknwldg.com here.