The duo (aka Bruce Karlsson and Nick Sember) were described as breakthrough producers of the year by Above & Beyond in 2011. Signed on the Anjunabeats record label, they’re known for their hit track Boom and remix of Armin Van Buuren ft. Ana Criado – Suddenly Summer. Norin & Rad have played on some of the world’s biggest stages such as Ultra Music Festival and EDC Las Vegas. Most recently they played at the first TomorrowWorld, the weekend before their Ottawa debut. With them coming to one of Ottawa’s hottest nightclubs, I knew I wanted to finally see them live.
When I arrived at 11:30pm, Ottawa local Kyle Landry (founder of OTS Productions) was spinning on the decks. The crowd enjoyed Landry’s set filled with a mixture of Trance and Progressive House. It was my first time seeing Landry spin live, and I felt he successfully set the tone for the evening. Friends of mine who have seen Landry countless times mentioned that he really knew how to get the crowd going. The dancefloor began to quickly fill up with people, and anticipation grew for Norin & Rad to hit the stage.
By around 12:30am, the spotlights and screens on stage dimmed for Norin & Rad’s set. The duo burst onto the decks opening with high energy and hard hitting tracks. Within minutes of their set, they dropped a remix of Tiesto – Love Comes Again. You could hear the crowd singing along to the timeless trance classic. As their set went on, they lay down a wide variety of electronic music tracks. Some songs dropped by the duo were Skrillex – Scary Dolly Dub, Mat Zo – Alive, Martin Solveig – Hey Now, and Martin Garrix – Animals. They even played the classic Beastie Boys – Intergalactic. With EDM being still relatively new to Ottawa, not too many pure Trance tracks were incorporated in their set. Their set had more of an electro house and big room progressive sound. The crowd evidently loved what Norin & Rad had to offer and passionately danced the night away. Near the end of their set Norin & Rad previewed their brand new track which has yet to be released.
Overall, Norin & Rad’s set brought a variety of electro-house, big room progressive, a bit of trance, and even a taste of Dubstep for their Ottawa debut. It may not have been the expected Trance night some fans expected, however they still delivered an entertaining performance. The duo packed their set with energy from start to finish, and interacted with the crowd. Norin & Rad are sure to reach new heights and flourish within the Electronic Dance Music scene.
Links
Derek Yeung – EDM TOR
