EVENT REVIEW: Juventa and Estiva at RYZE Nightclub 07-26-14 by Rory Harrison

By the time I arrived at RYZE Nightclub Saturday July 26, Baranov was warming up the crowd. Already the club was quite packed, and people seemed eager to see the two headliners. However first things first, a cheeky Baranov opening set that Toronto #trancyfamily is growing all too familiar with. He played his usual progressive goodness, some growling basslines intertwined with the catchiest of melodies. I noticed that he likes to play exclusive tracks that aren’t always the most well known, but he always throws in a few crowd favourites. Another excellent set I must say, and by now the club was packed from wall to wall.

A big cheer went up as Juventa entered the DJ booth around 1 o’clock and we knew it was time for the main event to begin. As his biggest hit to date, we all knew that Move into Light would be dropped at some point. As Juventa first touched the decks a familiar melody rang out across the club from the powerful Dynacord speakers, cheers rang out as we realized he was actually opening with it. As the night progressed he dropped a few more Enhanced gems and then came another highlight, his brand new track with Kelly Sweet, Superhuman. There are some powerful vocals on this one and it sounded great to hear it live.

Juventa, although known for his genre bouncing and versatility, stuck within the progressive trance genre for the most part to the delight of yours truly and as per the theme of the night. There were a couple drops though that wandered into the electro/big room realm and while some purists might take issue, the majority seemed more than happy to soak it all up and continue dancing. One such track was Alive by electro pop stars Krewella, and to be honest I caught myself humming along, most of the crowd were belting out the popular track.

Another amazing singalong was prompted a bit later on when he dropped on of last year’s biggest tracks, Strangers, a collaboration between Myon and Shane 54 and Seven Lions. Another highlight was the drop of Mat Zo’s Pyramid Scheme, together the entire club rocked the funky beat in unison. One of the last tracks that I remember him playing was an unknown version of Air for Life, a track that holds a special place in many of our hearts.

After Juventa it was Estiva’s turn to wow the crowd. He opened with a track he actually did with Juventa, their remix of Now or Never by Tritonal. His set had a very similar catchy fun vibe to Juventa and he stuck to the progressive trance theme as well for the most part. He wasn’t averse to playing some big room cheese either and I am quite sure I heard Krewella at some point for the second time that night. He also played a mashup of Bruno Mars Locked out of Heaven with popular banger Release the Kraken by Chris Schweizer. I was extremely pleased to hear smash hits Liberate and Everyday, both tracks household names by progressive god Eric Prydz.

He expertly moved from Everyday to a track with one of the most powerful drops of 2013, Audien‘s Wayfarer. For sure a proper highlight of the night, and another singalong prompter was a catchy Audien remix of chart topping Pompeii by breakout Britpop band Bastille. I think the whole crowd went crazy when Estiva surprised everyone with a cheeky drop of Daft Punk all time favourite hit One More Time. He then transitioned into Easy by Porter Robinson. Despite all these amazing drops my favourite one came at the very end when he gave us all a serious dose of feels. Just when we thought he was wrapping it up for the night he played I Don’t Deserve You by Paul Van Dyk mashed up with his own hit Dinodrums. I ran to the front for this one and you could see how much fun he had dropping this gem, really getting into it and jumping up and down behind the decks.

Overall this was a stellar night among great friends and with some gorgeous trance music. On a personal note I finally managed to get a close friend out to his first show, knowing he was a big fan of Juventa. Safe to say he had an amazing time and I’m one hundred percent sure the majority of the patrons that night were in complete agreement. See you at the next trance “Upryzing” whenever Balance Inc. decides to bless trance family again!!!!!!

LINKS:

Estiva
Website 
SoundCloud 
YouTube 

Juventa
Website
SoundCloud
YouTube

Rory Harrison – EDM TOR