Horrific tragedy has once again befallen the dance music scene in Washington, DC as roughly around 12:15AM on January 2 an attendee at Echostage fell from the second floor VIP area to the first floor standing-room only area below, landing on his head and sustaining severe cranial injuries following serious blood loss. Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Department and emergency medical personnel arrived to the scene, and the event was immediately halted.
The event being held at the venue was the "MEGA DC Massive" featuring a lineup including UK-based bass producer Flux Pavilion, Dutch trap producers Yellow Claw, UK-based Circus Records head (with Flux Pavilion) Doctor P, Los Angeles trap/bass duo Slander, Montreal-based rap/EDM producer Snails, and more. Some reports say the event was haulted in the middle of Yellow Claw's set, while others say Yellow Claw's set had apparently just completed with headliner Flux Pavilion scheduled next. Pavilion's set was cancelled and all attendees were asked to leave immediately.
sending love out to DC, It sucks that i couldn't play but my thoughts are with the kid in critical condition. wishing him some strength.
— Flux Pavilion (@Fluxpavilion) January 2, 2015
Drug use issues are being hotly debated via social media as the cause of the not-yet-officially named reveler leaping to his near demise. If confirmed, this would be the second major drug-related tragic occurrence in the DC Metropolitan area in under 12 months including Merriweather Post Pavilion's Mad Decent Block Party which saw two attendees die due to overdosing on MDMA. Of course it bears mentioning that both Echostage owners Antonis Karagounis of Panorama Productions and MEGA DC-affiliated event promotion company Steez Promo had a hand in Laurel, Maryland's successful Moonrise Festival—a two-day event held August 9-10, 2014 that occurred without any serious drug issues or deaths reported. There have been no public statements as of yet from Echostage management or the promoters, but Do Androids Dance has contacted both and will update this story with quotes from both as they are made available. While reports initially stated that the attendee has jumped from the balcony, a woman identifying herself as his sister is tweeting otherwise: 
UPDATE Echostage has released a statement regarding this situation, reiterating that patron safety is #1:
The woman who says she is Cody's sister has also posted a tweet regarding Cody's condition:
#PrayForCody he needs it guys keep sending your prayers his way, we need a miracle.
— Allie Tjaden (@yeaokcool) January 2, 2015
The DAD team is praying for the best in this tragic situation. We'll continue to keep you posted on new developments regarding Cody's condition and what transpired at Echostage. UPDATE @yeaokcool posted a picture of Cody in the hospital:
I love and NEED you Code PLEASE pull thru, prove to these fuckers that you can do the impossible like you always do. pic.twitter.com/uchOLyMFFw — Allie Tjaden (@yeaokcool) January 2, 2015
UPDATE In sad news, it looks like Cody has passed away:
I just lost the most important person in the world to me
— Allie Tjaden (@yeaokcool) January 2, 2015
The staff here at DoAndroidsDance sends our prayers to Cody's family right now.
UPDATE Over on LXVXLS, John Wallace opened up about what happened at Echostage with his friend, Cody Tjaden. While there has been speculation about drug use and Cody trying to crowd surf from the balcony, John says that "[t]he rumors need to end here, now, and today," and gave the following account of what happened to Cody:
At the start of the night, we all had the mindset of letting loose for once at a show instead of working uncontrollably. Up until Yellowclaw’s set, that’s exactly how we spent our night. We had good drinks, mediocre dances moves, and tons of laughter. At around 12:30am, Yellowclaw dropped one of their most popular songs “Shotgun” and Cody was pumped up and loving life. During this track Cody picked up our ice bucket and tossed it in the air as an act of celebration. A celebration identical to popping champagne on New Years Eve, if I must say so. During this process, the bucket started heading over the railing and into the crowd below us. Being the sincere and loving person Cody is, he leaned over to grab the bucket before it could fall and hurt anyone, but unfortunately fell over the railing at the same time. Cody landed directly on his head which lead to blood everywhere and severe head damage. While in the hospital, Cody was unconscious and at zero brain activity for the majority of the day. From a sleepless night to an even earlier morning of mourning, we didn’t know how to feel anymore. We were all numb to the bone with only one thing on our mind: Cody leaving the hospital alive. At around 5:40pm Cody passed away. The doctors did the very best and keeping our friend alive and safe, but it just wasn’t enough. Cody not only lost his life trying to protect others, but lost it in such a gut wrenching manner. I wouldn’t wish this feeling we all have on anyone else.
He also mentioned that a charity fund has been set up for Cody's family; they aren't trying to raise too much ($5,000), and almost a quarter of that amount has been raised. Again, our condolences go out to Cody's friends and family.
UPDATE It looks like ANOTHER fund has been set up for Cody's family, as well as the opportunity to purchase special t-shirts:
donations can be made to http://t.co/SA4YYhkyNm & http://t.co/YAxaSRE0fQ you can also donate by getting a tshirt http://t.co/9NS6jLv8tu
— Allie Tjaden (@yeaokcool) January 3, 2015
