Location: Washington, D.C., USA

Capacity: 3,000

echostage.com

Heralded as a hybrid nightclub and concert space, and drawing inspiration from electronic music’s warehouse roots, Washington D.C.’s cavernous Echostage is a seminal venue in the East Coast dance music scene. Founded in 2012 by GLOW, the city’s longest-running electronic music promotions company, Echostage opened with the mission of entertaining the local, burgeoning dance music fanbase as well as accommodating the expanding technical needs of live acts. As such, the GLOW team selected the 30,000-square-foot venue thanks to its large main room, which features unobstructed sight lines to provide a mesmeric sound and lighting experience. With a capacity of 3,000 attendees per night, Echostage is Washington D.C.’s largest nightlife concert venue.

Echostage brings the festival feeling to the nightclub year-round, allowing attendees to escape the East Coast weather conditions while still enjoying full-scale production they’d be hard-pressed to find at another indoor venue. Utilising a D&B V-Series audio system and a massive 14-by-40-foot LED screen, Echostage employs a bevy of lasers, cryo jets, intelligent lights and confetti cannons. Last year, Echostage upped the ante when they upgraded their D&B sub amps to powerful four-channel D80 amplifiers which doubled the amount of available power — up to 48,000 watts on the subs alone. The home improvement also included the installation of a new main 30-by-16-foot hi-resolution LED wall.

The venue’s talent programming runs the electronic music gamut, with global headline acts such as Diplo, Galantis, Alison Wonderland, Sasha & John Digweed, Kaskade, Rezz, DJ Snake and even Shaq taking centre-stage during this last year alone. World-renowned names like David Guetta, Tiësto, Above & Beyond, Hardwell, Skrillex and Armin van Buuren continue to return to the club for frequent performances, consistently met by packed dancefloors.

Thanks to expert architectural planning and layout design, there’s no bad place to view a show in the house. A clear line of sight from everywhere mean patrons can watch the performances from anywhere they choose in the behemoth space, including the two 60-foot bars running along each side of the dancefloor, the VIP mezzanine area above, or even in the middle of the swelling crowd. The all-encompassing audiovisual experience curated by Echostage promises a good time for die-hard dance fans and clubbing connoisseurs alike.

Having first landed in the chart at number 38 back in 2013, Exchange has been rapidly climbing places ever since — breaking into the top 10 two years ago. Our 2019 poll finds Echostage on the march once again, now snatching second place from Ibiza superclub Ushuaïa. This marks the first time there’s been no White Isle club in the top two since 2010 (when the UK’s Sankeys MCR and Fabric held the spots) and is the highest a North American venue has ever placed.