Trance Sessions Toronto is quickly gaining a foothold in the Toronto trance scene. This past weekend, Toronto warmly welcomed a name that I had not seen live in quite some time. We were blessed with a 6-hour open-to-close set by Neptune Project, at Populus (formerly Toika), and boy was it an eventful night.
I arrived at approximately 11:30PM. My apologies for being a little late; when you go with four male friends to Korean BBQ, you’ll be surprised just how long they can sit and eat grilled meat for. When I entered the club, I was greeted by a number of familiar and friendly faces. This is always a welcome experience and is one of the main reasons I love trance events in Toronto. The venue was moderately full and it stayed at this level throughout the night, even into the late hours of the night. It seemed that the majority of people attending had planned on staying for as much of the 6 hours as they could, showing their appreciation for Neptune Project, and trance in general.
Dan Willis, one of the NP duo, was behind the decks and things were already underway. I noticed quickly that Dan is one of those artists that loves what he does. He was active, he was into the music, and he did not hesitate to interact with the crowd, smiling at them as we all smiled back. I had to giggle when I read my notes after the event, as they said the event was “high energy but not of the cheesy sort”.
Shortly after I entered and said hello to everyone I knew, a friend of mine caught an old Cosmic Gate track ID from the early to mid 2000s, titled Should Have Known (Great catch Dave Scott!). At this point, I knew we would be treated to a great track selection, composed of both old and new.
As the night progressed, the pace incrementally picked up and the smiles on peoples’ faces grew bigger. The night had felt like a social gathering, almost like a family holiday, with an extremely great soundtrack. I enjoyed spending time with friends, chatting, and dancing. I must admit though, people are much too generous; I’ll have to thank you all for the drinks! The staff was also incredibly friendly. I had to giggle though when I asked the female bartender on duty for a whiskey sour and received a glass with ice, a shot of whiskey, and a shot of sourpuss, complete with a straw.
At around 1:50AM, Dan started dropping some well-known tracks that captivated the crowd. We heard Alone Tonight by Above & Beyond featuring Richard Bedford, and one guy in the front row was overcome with emotion! Motorcycle‘s As The Rush Comes, and OceanLab‘s Clear Blue Water were also widly well received. Dan had put together a set that, to me, felt like a perfect tribute to the many generations of trance.
As 4:00AM drew near, we knew the night would soon be coming to an end. The crowd was still almost as thick as had been for most of the night. At this point, Dan played a song that I did not expect to hear, but appreciated greatly. The peaceful and ambient beauty of Above & Beyond’s Sun in Your Eyes signalled that Dan was wrapping up. There is something so comforting about this track for me, so it’s a pleasure to hear an artist be able to mix it in with appropriate timing. The music was faded out, and of course the crowd begged for one more track. As an encore, Dan played another OceanLab favourite, Secret.
Once the music ended, we took a trance family group photo with Dan but with all the excitement, nobody stood still while it was taken, so many look motion blurred. A number of us were fortunate enough to meet him, as he hung out for a bit after the show allowing people to take selfies and chat with him. I was pleasantly surprised at how humble and generous he was. He thanked us for coming to his show, and even thanked us as a whole for bringing him back to Toronto. We ended up sticking around for another 20 or so minutes outside, while he shared his trail mix and coconut water with us, and then thanked us again and waved out of the vehicle as he was whisked to his hotel. At the end of it all, we walked away happy to have been able to support such a great person, DJ, and such a great event!
A huge thank you to Trance Sessions Toronto for the solid booking and for the invitation to have our team covering as part of the family. We can’t wait to see what else you have in store for us in the future! Catch the next Trance Sessions show on December 10th, 2016 as they bring Airwave to Populus! For more information, check out the event page and buy tickets here.
Photos from the night are up and can be found here! LIKE the fan page and feel free to browse, tag, and comment!
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Nicole Robertson – EDM TOR
