Massive electronic music show coming to West Edmonton Mall

By Isaac Kaplyuk

EDMONTON- A new event to Edmonton known as “Act A Fool” promises to pack as much entertainment into West Edmonton Mall as possible, making it  the biggest event of its kind in Canada.

The brainchild of Kyle Ritcey and Nick Samlack of All Blown Up Inc, the April Fool’s Day electronica concert has been an idea a year in the making.

“We looked at music we were interested in, saw that no one was really pushing it forward, and just wanted to do something on a really  big scale,” said Samlack.

Big scale is right.

The event will feature three rooms, 28 DJs, dancers, jugglers, body painters, midway carnival games, contortionists and musicians. Ritcey and Samlack said they wanted something similar to large-scale, week-long outdoor festivals such as Shambhala in British Colombia, one of North America’s largest and most popular electronica festivals.

“We wanted to bring the music festival aspect to the show,” explained Ritcey.

While the genres of dubstep, glitch-hop and drum n bass are enjoying more popularity now than ever, local DJ and producer Spencer Burgess said events like “Act A Fool” will help people appreciate the music more.

“Most of my friends when they first heard it didn’t like it, cause they were hearing it on crappy speakers, so of course it’s gonna sound kind of crummy on bad speakers,” said Burgess. “When people hear it live they like it a lot better, and I think events like “Act A Fool” will help get more people to appreciate it.”

Ricky Anderson, a resident of Thorncliff in west Edmonton, didn’t appreciate the sounds of bass music like dubstep until he attended a live show.

“When I first heard dubstep, it sounded like bass and a bunch of noise, and it didn’t really impress me,” said Anderson. “Then, I went to a Bassnectar concert and it completely blew my mind. The sound and the vibe is completely different when you’re actually there. With all the other things going on at “Act A Fool” it’s sure to be something new to Edmonton, and I’m stoked.”

Although the event is in its first installment, Nick and Kyle have already made plans to keep the event going in west Edmonton for the next few years.

And, while the event promises to have a large turnout, the pair’s main intention is to put on a show with good music and vibes that’ll keep people coming back.

“Ultimately, we’re not really in this for the money, by any means.” said Samlack. “We’re just really in this to have a good time, break even at the end of the day, hopefully, and push forward music that we all care about.”

The first annual “Act A Fool” event will take place Friday, April 1st at the Edmonton Events Centre located in West Edmonton Mall, and will be an 18+ only event.

View a video slideshow of DJ Spenny B playing a set after the jump.