People could hear the music from a block away and electro lights lit up the entire street. A very diverse crowd, mostly comprising people stopping in after some drinks at the bars, stopped in to see what all the commotion was.

This past Saturday night, The Venue in downtown Eau Claire was home to a building-rocking production, called “Soirée de Folie,” put on by the Chippewa Valley Electronic Music Society (CVEMS).

The lineup featured Josh G, Felon, URF, and many more local electronic dance music (EDM) artists.

Included in the long list of performers was Jake LaTendresse, an area stage manager, also known as DJ Silver C. LaTendresse said he started DJ’ing in the sixth grade, long before all the other performers even knew what a DJ was.

LaTendresse said he met Brad Nelson, also a stage manager, and they started the event to bring the community of electronic producers together to perform.

“Beats and Brushes,” a similar event including local music and artists, used to be held before the creation of the new production “Soirée de Folie.”

“We try to bring together people that play electronic music and people that like electronic music,” LaTendresse said. “There is definitely a huge demand in Eau Claire, but it is still underground.”

LaTendresse said in electronic dance music you can just be you, you don’t have to act or dress in any particular fashion. He said EDM is so diverse and is “multi-genre.”

“There used to be this thing called PLUR: Peace, love, unity and respect,” LaTendresse said. “People could just get together and dance and let their bodies feel the music and not be judged.”

Upon walking inside of The Venue, one could immediately feel the vibration of the bass like a shock throughout their entire body. Others seemed to feel the same as they were dancing with no regard to the people around them.

LaTendresse said Eau Claire is kind of closed to the idea of EDM music so CVEMS have to put in their best effort to try to make it bigger. They are currently trying to lock down a permanent venue so they can continue providing monthly shows to the local public.

Being in the business for so long, LaTendresse said he has never heard of an EDM production giving back to the community in the way that they do. Twenty percent of the door earnings went to the local Feed My People Food Bank.

“It’s pretty cool to be able to give back to our community,” LaTendresse said. “It is great if we can keep it local so people can go to local bars and restaurants, eat and pre-funk and come to our local production.”

The next event planned is the Azara’s pre-420 show on the main stage at The Plus on April 7.

For more news on upcoming events, follow the CVEMS’s Facebook page or directly contact LaTendresse, DJ Silver C, at djsilverc.podomatic.com.