EVENT REVIEW: Darude’s Moments Album Tour at BETA Waterloo on 19-09-15

Saturday night on King street in Uptown Waterloo is the place to be if your looking for something to do. Numerous choices of bars are found in this area, but none stand out more than the old Waterloo theater sign brightly indicating BETA Nightclub Waterloo is open.

Having been a student in the area before, it was a great feeling to be going back into BETA Waterloo. It was often the weekend spot for myself and many others looking for an incredible night out. Tonight was no exception, everyone’s anticipation had built for the show with Darude making his return to BETA. This time around, Darude is on tour for his fresh new album “Moments,” after an 11 year album hiatus. “Moments” was released just last month, still very fresh off the presses, there was no place better to dish it out than at BETA.

Walking into the club during Adam Spears’ opening set, I was greeted by the same great atmosphere I experienced back during school. The high ceiling has its own unique circular lighting truss, a bar that extends the length of the floor, and a Dynacord Sound System dominating the four corners of the establishment. I had returned home.

Adam Spears always offers his talent opening for BETA’s fantastic shows, and there is no other who is better for the job. Adam usually dishes out progressive tech and house to warm everyone up for the evening. The energy level was perfect for an opening set and made it super easy to enjoy. Adam’s performances get better and better each time as the young resident has incredible promise as an artist. We were treated to a lively track selection including JL & Afterman’s Blue which features vocals from the iconic Eiffel 65 song I’m Blue (Da Ba Dee). Groovier selections like Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South’s track Meich were also heard.

 

Shortly after, the man of the evening, Darude, stepped onto the stage. It was around 12:15AM. He dove right into the new album playing his track Be With You Tonight featuring vocals by Will Sly! Shortly after he played his other new song, Turn The Light On, which also features vocals by Will Sly. This created an amazing transition bringing forward more energy with the driven synths in the track. The Dynacord system thundered away in sync with the precision lighting professionally fired by Chris Leslie, the Production Technician. The energy of the set started off at a high level and remained that way thanks to Darude’s new sound!

Having caught Darude live in the past at this very same venue, I know his sets are always very enjoyable. In this installment, Darude’s new sound is welcomed wholeheartedly by the energetic crowd. Throughout the set, Darude sampled in his own classic sounds along with many other classic trance sounds. It was a very fun set with tons of diversity while always maintaining original Darude musical elements. His track Feel The Beat was unleashed on the crowd early in the night and the break beats in the middle of the track mixed in with his classic trance sound was incredible to hear live!

Darude switched gears into some trance-house and big room trance afterwards. He pulled out the club mix of Above & Beyond‘s song Counting Down The Days receiving incredible crowd reaction. The track has a great combination of trance elements infused with all the Anjunabeats goodness.

1AM marked the point where Darude got fancy with sampling while keeping the energy at a blaze. At 1:10AM ATB‘s synth bends from his track Don’t Stop were heard, it was perfectly cue’d into his mix. The classic trance sounds really gave a nostalgic character to his show. Darude does not stop there, he unleashed the legendary vocals from Tiesto‘s classic track Just Be afterwards! The entire crowd was blown away in awe of what we were hearing from this man!

The tracks on Darude’s new album “Moments” primarily feature vocals, Supersized is one of the exceptions to this. It showcases powerful synth leads which really grab your attention. He kept up the mix with more tracks that followed this trend.  Throughout his set, Darude was boosting up the crowd vibe with signs and his GoPro while interacting with the crowd. He even had the crowd help him create a sample by chanting “WE LOVE BASS DRUMS” at 1:45AM!

Darude dropped one of his major album tracks shortly after 2AM. Beautiful Alien, featuring vocals from AI AM, was heard loud and clear, the track exploding with classic sounds from his legendary track Sandstorm! He started winding down his set afterwards and we knew the closing was near.

At 2:20AM Darude played Christian Q & Shokstix‘s remix of Coldplay‘s song Fix You, the club became a sea of hands in the air while the crowd sang to the lyrics. What was on my mind, and probably everyone else’s at this point, was this: Will Darude drop Sandstorm? Well, to that, only Darude had the answer. He expertly used the sample he captured earlier from the crowd to create a BETA Waterloo version of Sandstorm on the fly! The combination was deadly, the crowd “loves bass drums” and Sandstorm to its fullest extent. The proof was there at the end of his set at 2:30AM. The legendary track Sandstorm was played by the brains behind the masterpiece. We heard it live from the legend that is Darude.

After the set, Darude headed down on the floor to meet and greet the Tri City Rave Community who provided an incredible crowd interaction with him throughout the night. The set really displayed his DJ and production ability that has grown through years of experience. This dance music veteran is stronger than ever.

“Moments” is a clear indication of his departure from the original trance driven sound that he was well known for in the early 2000’s. The album displays a multitude of styles found across electronic music, and this new approach by Darude allows him to have a very unique sound. This day and age it is important to distinguish yourself from others, Darude fully incorporates this aspect while retaining certain original elements of his classic sound.

Thanks goes out to BETA Waterloo for another amazing show, and to Adam Spears for an incredible opening performance. Of course to Darude, thank you for another incredible show at BETA. We all look forward to the next time you are in our area, and back at BETA Waterloo!

You can listen to Darude’s new album “Moments” on Spotify by clicking on this link. As well, photos in the article were taken by the photographers at BETA, and you can find the album on their Facebook page when it is available.

LINKS:

Darude
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Soundcloud
Youtube

Adam Spears
Facebook
Soundcloud

BETA Waterloo
Facebook
Tickets

 Edmund Wong – EDM TOR