In DJ Mag’s Top 100 Clubs poll for 2021, Echostage was voted the World’s No. 1. For the first time, the Washington, D.C. superclub has topped a globally recognized poll of the world’s best clubs.
The nightclub industry has been hit hard in the 16 months since the last Top 100 Clubs list, with venues around the world shut down due to Covid-19, with many still waiting to reopen and some never will. The clubs that have survived have done so through innovation, fan support, and, let’s be honest, a little bit of luck.
As more of the world’s dancefloors began to fill once again, DJ Mag launched the Top 100 Clubs poll under the unifying belief that now was not the time to hide clubs away. The poll was reimagined in conjunction with the first Top 100 Clubs Virtual World Tour, which was created to celebrate and support nightclubs all over the world.
Clubs in the Top 100 The Virtual World Tour featured a variety of online performances. From DJ sets from empty clubs, classic sets from clubs at their peak, through to live performances from clubs that were able to open legally and safely. Each set came with a support directory containing fundraising links from clubs all over the world.
Echostage, the World’s number 1 Club according to Dj Mag
Cities like New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles are likely to come to mind when you think of the American dance music landscape. Nonetheless, Echostage has made Washington DC the ultimate destination for clubbers from across the country. The venue — launched in 2012 by District Of Columbia promotion company GLOW, on the site of what had once been DC Tunnel and DC Star — has steadily risen up the league table, thanks to its state-of-the-art sound, synapse-sizzling visuals, and a level of production that would put most festivals to shame. Echostage has transformed clubbing in the United States by bringing in international talent and booking the biggest American artists to perform both live shows and DJ sets on its massive hybrid stage.
Echostage is a 30,000-square-foot venue with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a No. 1 venue. The sound system is a d&b audiotechnik V-Series with D80 amplifiers, pumping out 48,000 watts of superior sound, while dazzling lasers, confetti cannons, and cryo-jets further stimulate the senses. A VIP mezzanine perches above the dancefloor, outfitted with a plethora of bottle-service tables, while a warehouse-inspired space is flanked by 60-foot bars.
Echostage’s attention to detail is matched by the artists it presents well-known figures from the dance music world. Before the pandemic, the club hosted performances by REZZ, Armin van Buuren, Eric Prydz, Black Coffee, and Claude VonStroke, demonstrating the venue’s adept bookings across house, techno, trance, progressive, and EDM styles, as well as Lorde, Miley Cyrus, and Cardi B.
