It was a cool & breezy Saturday afternoon in September and although summer isn’t officially over yet, it certainly felt like fall. I’m heading to what was supposed to be an end of summer pool party at Muzik Pool Bar, which has now been changed to a soiree inside Muzik Nightclub due to the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature. This should come as no surprise to Torontonian’s because she has been especially moody this summer. I’m not sure what the EDM God’s did to piss her off but she has managed to rain down on every outdoor event I attended during this abbreviated patio season. Digital Dreams, RAIN, Veld, RAIN, Electric Island, RAIN. Hopefully she cheers up in time to minimize the snowfall we receive this winter, I’m not optimistic.
Unfortunately the organizers didn’t change the start time of noon so I’m already way late and have surely missed openers Jay Force& Paul Quzz. I’ll have to consider hitting up CZ (Comfort Zone) in the near future because Jay Force’s sound always makes for a great party. When I finally did arrive it was shortly before four o’clock and there’s no lineup outside. The entrance wasespecially quiet as the only people standing in front of the velvet ropes and red carpets were a few cops and a giant security guard. It felt awkward walking into a club in daylight but not nearly as awkward as I felt upon initially walking into the brightly lit room where the show was to taking place underneath a glass ceiling. Luckily Muzik is a very sexy club, from the décor to the classy cliental; the atmosphere was pleasing to the eye, even when illuminated by sunshine beaming in through a transparent ceiling.
As I begin to acclimatize to the foreign atmosphere, I heard some familiar sounds pumping out of the giant bank of speakers behind the perch of a suit-clad security guard. Weiss’s My Sister was playing and the rhythm was instantly soothing my daylight clubbing anxiety. I glanced over at the DJ booth and notice Toronto favorite Addy controlling the decks. He’s easy to recognize sporting his signature flat cap and moving along to the rhythm that had completely abolished my sunlight skepticism. There’s a certain comfort level gained from the knowledge that the man in the booth is a veteran with a proven track record of playing the ideal music at the optimal moment to create the perfect groove. Everyone is dancing and I catch myself taking advantage of the sunlight as I admire the moves of one young lady who’s doing some serious shaking in high heel boots and glossy skintight jeans. Addy really had the crowd geared up as Mark Knight entered and began to setup.
By five o’clock the venue is nearly full and Mr. Mark Knight is ready to take over. He wastes no time getting into the goods as he opens with his remix of Chris Malinchak’s If You Got It followed by his new single In and Out. The atmosphere was electric and Knight knew it, he could barley keep the smile off his face whenever he peered up from the turntables to see how the crowd was responding. I’ve been listening to Mark Knight’s records and radio show for years so I had rather lofty expectations and they were easily surpassed.
I would love to know if his set was prepared or if he was playing on the fly because you could tell that he was focused on ensuring every sound was perfect as he fiddled with the knobs on the mixer while referencing the screen of his laptop. When he did have his head up engaging with the audience you could tell that he was clearly enjoying himself every bit as much as his fans were. At no point did the set drop off, it rolled on at the same pace for two hours. He dropped an epic remix of Sweet Dreams followed by Danny Tenaglia’s Music Is The Answer. I checked the time, it was almost seven o’clock, the Mark Knight experience was almost over. This was upsetting because it was clear that Knight could have perpetuated the intensity of the vibe for at least another two hours. I took out my camera and captured the drop of his final track.
My disappointment was short lived as Toronto DJ/producer Mark Vidovikinstantly fired off some tracks as warning shots to put the crowd on notice that this party was not over. I observed many of the people exiting literally stop in their tracks. I overheard multiple groups discussing who was now in the booth and what the new plan was for the evening now that Vidovik had captured their attention. Having not been familiar with Vidovik prior to this event I was literally shocked at how he was able to follow up a set from one of the best DJs in the world. You could tell that anyone who had come out to dance was staying to take advantage of the extra room on the now spacious dance floor. Well, there was no noticeable drop-off the vibe certainly changed as darkness set in and the beats got a little harder. The Toronto DJs song selection made for an excellent transition into what became a more traditional evening party as he played Balls by Coyu. As tired as I was, I stayed almost until the scheduled ending of nine o’clock, it was tough to leave during such a great set. I planned to see Mark Vidovik again at CODA, as he opened for Sydney Blu, alongside two of my other local favorites Jay Force & Jonathan Rosa, this past weekend.
Adele is the owner of Tranceported. She manages and maintains the social media and the photo and video teams, and has been shooting our event photos since 2011. She has been a fan of Trance music since the mid-90s and started this website (formerly called EDM TOR) in 2012.
