We arrived at Toika around midnight, entering through the entrance next to the parking lot. There were a few dozen people already in attendance and more were filling in by the minute. It was dark in the small venue; there weren’t any lights other than the glow coming from the washrooms, the projections behind the bar, and the visuals behind the stage. My good friend Adèle (who is also the manager for EDM TOR) happily introduced me to some of the people I didn’t know. I was surprised to see a few familiar faces from the Toronto Psy-Trance events I’ve attended, since I had read on the event page that Scot Project was going to play Classics and hard trance. I didn’t have a clue what I was in for, aside from Adèle telling me that I would like it. I honestly didn’t believe her.
Adrian Marshall and Phillip Pereira. Photo by Adele Desloges for EDM TOR.
Upon entering, it was Flux who was warming up the crowd with a variety of trance beats that had psychedelic characteristics to them. I listened and watched him play for about an hour, all while noticing he was increasing the intensity with tracks such as Leave Me Alone by Neelix (the Simon Patterson Remix) which gave Scot Project a perfect chance to transition into a killer opening track.
Scot Project started out hard and heavy with an intense bassline and a classic trance melody to follow up after Gary Flux’s impressive set. The tracks were very similar to psy-trance but lacked the key psychedelic sounds that I would normally like to hear in a track. That didn’t stop me from dancing all night long, though. Scot Project sampled in some old school tracks everyone knew well, such as Flight 643 by Tiesto, Satisfaction by Benny Benassi and a fun remix of Daft Punk’s One More Time that had everyone moving.
Scot Project at Toika. Photo by Adele Desloges for EDM TOR.
The night ended in an absolute blaze of glory. The last few tracks played were pure strokes of genius which sounded like something I would have heard ten years ago. Some of the tracks Scot Project played included Twisted by Svenson and Gielen, Scot Project’s remix of Cold Night by Thomas Rubin, a remix of Ding A Ling by Yoji Biomehanika, and Sacred Cycles by Pete Lazonby.
The crowd cheered as Scot Project finished his last track and said his farewells to the Toronto TranceFamily. Some fans took some photos with him at the end of the night while others decided to head home to their safe havens. I have to say, I did not expect to have as much fun as I did that night! I found the crowd and Genesis team were very friendly, and the sound system was clear and booming which put me in a good mood right from the start. Hopefully, Genesis Entertainment will throw more trance events in the near future. It was an entertaining night that was full of good vibes. I’m glad I was talked into going. Photos from the night can be found on our Facebook page here!
Hard trance is a genre I’m not yet familiar with, but the sound waves at Toika have captured my attention profoundly. This night opened my ears and mind to a new style of music to dive into.
LINKS:
Scot Project
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Soundcloud
Youtube
Gary Flux
Facebook
Soundcloud
Phillip Pereira – EDM TOR
