What an amazing way to end the legacy of Guvernment Nightclub, the club that has put Toronto on the map in the EDM scene over the past 18 years, and many years prior. The doors opened around 9:30 p.m. to efficiently maximize the flow of the sold out crowd into multiple entrances of the venue. I arrived at 10 p.m. on the dot, and stood in the cold line for no longer than a half hour. As I got closer to security, a chunk of my line was told to move over to the Haven entrance, so I was swiftly brought into the venue, ID’d and checked, and finally relieved to be out of the cold.
When I got inside Haven, the washrooms were clean, the upstairs balcony was already filling, and the venue was mildly full. I made my way to Acid Lounge immediately to buy water, and stood in the long line for coat check which wound its way to the staircase going to the balcony, near Chroma. Although the line was long, it moved steadily, and I was ready to dance by 11 p.m.
Manzone & Strong opened for the evening, and played Higher by Destructo and the Skrillex remix of Benny Benassi’s track Cinema among many other popular tracks. Their set was the most energetic, had people moving and grooving, and their infectious energy rubbed off on the entire venue. They played from the booth upstairs, as it was safe to assume Mau5 didn’t want anyone to touch his equipment which he had been preparing for months.
Mau5 made his way to the stage at 1 a.m. and greeted fans by acknowledging Toronto Rave Community, and their respect for resident DJ Mark Oliver, by presenting him with a golden plaque in his name, which Deadmau5 contributed $5,000 towards. This was an act that felt right to the entire community, and it was the least we could do for all the amazing years Mark Oliver has dedicated himself to the Guvernment as a resident DJ.
Deadmau5 began his set with a slow build and demonic visuals, which seemed to reference Dante Inferno’s circles of hell. Soon the track Avaritia became familiar and the energy picked up. The visuals got more intense, and the music was very progressive, and very mau5. If you’ve seen him before then you already know that not all of his music is danceable at times, because it tells its own story and depends on one’s patience to hear the smooth transitions and builds.
A third way through his set, he revealed his robot arms – one on each side of the stage – but they were headless and peculiar. He had them moving as a test run for about 20 minutes or less during his set, which only built up our curiosity more.
Then the Mau5 heads were attached to the robots. They would blink and chomp and move around throughout the set as Joel’s puppets. They were cute and seemed like an extension of his tracks coming to life through these characters. It was a performance like no other. Joel finished his coffee and hilariously threw the empty cup into one of the bots’ mouths.
Deadmau5 played an extended version of Moar Ghosts n’ Stuff, dropped Bleed, and the much anticipated 20 minute version of Strobe. Strobe was magical and had everyone in awe. I saw many fans in tears while swaying back and forth.
Upset and realizing all of this, I made my way to Chroma, found some Electric Forest family, and danced for a bit longer before leaving the venue. Mau5 closed with See Yah, which only seemed fitting since INK Entertainment will be moving Guvernment’s sound system to The Sound Academy where the legacy will continue on.
I didn’t get to see Mark Oliver play. I was honestly too upset that I wouldn’t be able to capture any more special moments of the evening. But I heard he did not disappoint. He played until 7:30 a.m.
Guvernment is gone, but the love for music never dies. That venue held so many memories for at least 3 generations, if not more. I hope Toronto is up for the challenge of finding somewhere else that’ll keep us on the map in the EDM scene. But no matter where the music goes, the people will follow. And that’s all that really matters.
See yah!
LINKS:
Manzone & Strong
Facebook
Fab Strong’s Twitter
Joe Mansone’s Twitter
SoundCloud
Deadmau5
Facebook
Twitter
SoundCloud
Livestream
Instagram
Serafina Thoma – EDM TOR
