Despite the weather this past Saturday night, I managed to haul myself to The Guvernment for Mat Zo’s Toronto stop of his Damage Control World Tour. The club’s main room is somewhere I had not been before, and I was definitely feeling intimidated by the large venue (the massive amounts of snow falling all day and night didn’t make it any easier, either). However, I picked myself up and ended up having the time of my life.
Upon entering The Guvernment, I found myself immediately overwhelmed by how crowded the room was; merely getting to and from places such as the bar or bathrooms was not easy and required lots of patience. I managed to assimilate myself into the vibes by enjoying myself in the Acid Lounge located at the back; though I’m not largely into the tech house genre, the place still had me really enjoying myself due to the intimate atmosphere and the VERY energetic and happy ravers dancing to the music. At 1:30, I heard loud screams from the other room and knew it was time to see Mat Zo.
Never seeing Zo live before, I didn’t know what to expect. He has such a range of musical styles that he produces, and collaborates with artists of different genres. And on his Damage Control album, he seems to have expanded his style even more; there are elements of house, electro, trance, dubstep, and even some nice down-tempo tracks sprinkled in between the more dance floor oriented ones.
Mat Zo also kept things interesting by inserting singular tracks with different tempos, including some hints of moombahton, trap, drumstep, and of course, his own track Caller ID. Some other treats throughout the night included Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction (versus a breakdown that included an a ccappella from Blur’s Girls and Boys), a remix of Zedd’s Stay the Night featuring Hayley Williams, and Dada Life’s Kick Out the Epic Motherf***er near the end of the set.
And of course, let’s not forget the reason Mat Zo is touring in the first place. Almost every up-tempo song from his album was played, including Pyramid Scheme early on in the night, followed later by Easy, Lucid Dreams, and during his encore, The Sky. Zo also played two of my personal favourites: his beautiful collaborations with Arty, Mozart and Rebound.
If you came to the show hoping to hear some of the older, more trance-oriented tunes like Zo’s remix of Lifted by Tritonal, the incredibly positive Frequency Flyer, or even a tune as old as The Fractal Universe, you would have been sorely disappointed. Mat Zo put on an absolutely incredible show – one that will definitely be stuck in my mind for a while.
Richard Granholm – EDM TOR
Be sure to buy Mat Zo’s debut album, Damage Control
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/damage-control/id728931104
The next event at The Guvernment will be Tommy Trash on Saturday, December 21st, 2013. Tickets are available here: www.inktickets.com/edmfix2 and guestlist is available by tweeting @EDM_TOR or inboxing our facebook page.
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