Until recently, trance has been a rarity in the Guvernment main room. There are only a handful of times the genre echoed throughout the walls of the legendary venue. More often than not, it is something that is spoken about when reminiscing about nights that will on forever, like Markus Schulz’s open to close set or any one of the times Armin van Buuren has graced the decks. But on Saturday January, 25, 2014, one month after Christmas, Toronto trancefamily received its true Christmas present—Aly and Fila.
The uplifting vibes were radiating from walls, warming you before you even passed through the doors. Although everyone could have anticipated the euphoria that would blanket the dance floor, I don’t think anyone was actually prepared for what was about to occur.
Joe Manzone and his partner in crime, Fab Strong, took a break from house to indulge in trance as they opened for Aly and Fila. There isn’t much I can say about Manzone and Strong that hasn’t already been said. They’re both incredibly talented and accomplished DJs capable of opening, closing or headlining any event, and Toronto is very lucky to have them as resident DJs.
Photo Credit: Aly & Fila’s Team Egypt Official Facebook Page
Precisely at 1:00am, Fadi Naguib (whom we all know as Fila) took to the decks. Unfortunately, Aly cannot join Fila on tour as he has suffered a severe ear injury that prevents him from listening to loud music. However, that didn’t stop his other half from throwing down one of the most uplifting sets I have ever heard. There was no warm up. It was straight to the 140 bpm euphoria-inducing tracks everyone was salivating for. Fadi controlled the excitement and energy by throwing in songs like IIO‘s Rapture; allowing the crowd to breathe, grab a drink and ready themselves to be thrown back into the fold. Rapture was mashed-up with Stresstest ensuring that crowd didn’t get too relaxed. This was a constant theme throughout the night as each mash-up brought with it the calming voice of a legendary trance vocalist juxtaposed against the eccentric, hard, fast 140 bpm bass line that characterized the Future Sound of Egypt. Songs like I Don’t Deserve You (Guiseppe Ottaviani Remix), Satellite and Big Sky engaged the crowd, reaching deep down into their vocal chords and pulling out the lyrics loud enough to hear them echo over the music.
Photo Credit: Aly & Fila’s Team Egypt Official Facebook Page
Then, the moment the entire crowd had been waiting for. You could hear everyone take a collective, deep, emotional breath. As you looked out over the crowd, everyone stood waiting for those momentous lyrics to reach their ears. The emotion in the room was palpable. “With a simple smile, a gentle touch, you gave us everything..” Ramelia, the epitome of vocal trance. This was my most anticipated moment of the night. I just closed my eyes and the let music work it’s magic as I was blanketed in emotion. Time stopped and all that mattered was the people that I shared this moment with. I opened my eyes and the moment had passed. I was quickly reminded that you’re supposed to dance on the dance floor as Fadi continued his set. We were provided with many great tracks more, including Aly & Fila ft Sue McLaren’s Mysteries Unfold.
Earlier, Fadi responded to a fan tweet reassuring him that he would play a 3 hour set. He went above and beyond anyone’s expectations and played from 1:00am to 5:00am. Four hours of the most blissful, uplifting music one will ever hear.
LINKS:
Jeet Ghoshal – EDM TOR
