EVENT REVIEW: Ashley Wallbridge FourPlay @ NEST 10-01-20

The 10^th of January was not the best day to be out in Toronto, yet I knew if I did not get to Nest that evening, I was certainly going to miss out on an enthralling experience. Despite the heavy rain in Toronto, Electric Escape pulled off yet another edition of U4RIA in a grand fashion. Over the past few months, the team at Electric Escape has been striving to host some of the biggest international acts, including Standerwick, Bassjackers and Mark Sixma. For this edition of U4RIA, they decided to book the UK born, progressive trance legend, Ashley Wallbridge, for an extended 4 hour set. You can believe me when I say it was completely worth it! Upon reaching the club, I was given a warm welcome by the Electric Escape team who processed my media access in no time and helped me get through the entry. As this was my first-time visiting Nest, I was astounded by the light and sound setup. Furthermore, I was impressed by the clean environment, friendly bartenders and sociable management. Everything was just in place to provide any raver the perfect experience. That was when I realized the night was going to be nothing short of an insane and melodious party filled with some good trance music.

Kicking things off for the night was none other than Adrian Dobbs a.k.a A.D. The Kid, the local wonder boy. I first had the chance to listen to his music when he opened for Oliver Smith last year in London. With his groovy tracks, clean mixing and innate skill of keeping the crowd always grooving, I instantly became a fan of his and waited patiently to listen to his set once again. It is always difficult to play the first set for the evening as the crowd is still walking in and reluctant to start dancing, but Adrian specializes in this scenario. His set at Nest was pleasure to the ears and the crowd could not resist but to groove on the dance floor. Some of my favourite tracks from his set were Grum‘s The Ascent, Estiva‘s Morpho and Bryn Liedl‘s Ascension.

Taking the decks right after A.D. The Kid was another local boy who goes by the stage name Deecee. Known for spinning quality progressive trance hits, Deecee picked up right where Adrian left off and kept the groove going, starting his set with slower, progressive trance. As the set went on, he gracefully pushed the BPM and churned out tracks like Purple Haze‘s Bergen and Super8 & Tab‘s Mega. Deecee had the task of getting the crowd ready for the main act and he unequivocally rose up to the challenge.

It was just past midnight with the crowd expectant as the anticipation grew in the club. Having released a significant number of bangers in the past, the ravers at Nest eagerly waited for the arrival of Ashley. Lo and behold, at 12:15 AM, Ashley Wallbridge took the stage! He did not waste any time and blasted the speakers with his signature song Lionheart. This man knew how to convert the atmosphere. It was electric! 4 hours of resounding trance music. His set ranged from progressive trance to a bit of psy trance and a few big room trance hits. Ashley’s energy on stage was unparalleled, nothing like what I had seen before. The moment he played his commercial hit CVNT5, a track by Ashley and Gareth Emery, the crowd simply became ecstatic. This man meant business. Hammering down tracks like Ashley’s On the Move and Flyby, Gareth Emery’s Laserface 2.0, Tritonal‘s Getaway (Ashley Wallbridge and Gareth Emery Remix), Andrew Rayel, Chuckiess & Whackboi‘s Kick, Bass & Trance, Ton TB‘s Electronic Malfunction (Paul Denton Remix) and Tiesto‘s Lethal Industry (3bird Remix), his extended set at Nest in Toronto was a treat to all his fans. One of his upcoming songs, Still Alive, was something that I was really excited to hear. A beautifully woven rendition featuring the vocals of Evan Henzi, Still Alive is probably one of his biggest tunes; this song was written while he was recovering in the hospital quite recently. It surely takes a mastermind and sheer talent to come up with such tunes even in your worst situations. Salute to Ashley!

Closing the night off was Steven Su a.k.a Daisuke. Ashley had raised the bar, but Daisuke did not fail to impress. Dishing out heavy uplifting tunes combined with uplifting melodies, Daisuke’s set was the perfect end to the night. A man who knew his music so well that the ravers of Toronto did not want to leave even though it was well past 4 AM! In my opinion, that is what it takes to be a good DJ, to ensure the crowd never wants to stop partying, and Daisuke took care of that in a fine manner. The event came to an end just past 5 AM and as I left the club, I was ecstatic and content with the 7 hours of trance music. A huge shout out to Electric Escape for hosting this, to all the fans and ravers who came out even in the harsh weather to support all the artists, and most importantly, a huge shout out to all the artists who did such a wonderful job at ensuring the night was a memorable one for each and every one of us. EDM TOR eagerly awaits the next edition of U4RIA.

TRACKLISTS:
A.D. The Kid
Kasper Koman – Hi (Cid Inc. Remix)
Pobsky – Lianne
Anton Make – Divo
Betoko & Alex Kaspersky- Pluttonya (Wally Lopez Remix)
Christian Smith – Motor
Oscar L – Inferno
Gardenstate – Journal Space
Estiva – Morpho
Grum – The Ascent
Rodg – Derange
Bryn Liedl – Ascension

Deecee
Fatum – Petra
New Order – Blue Monday (Mad Frequency Bootleg)
Above & Beyond – Black Room Boy (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
Above & Beyond – On A Good Day (ilan Bluestone Remix)
Fatum, Genix, Jaytech & Judah – All In
FUTURECODE – The Network
Seven Lions feat. Fiora – Dreamin’ (Sunny Lax Remix)
Markus Schulz & JES – Calling For Love (Marcus Santoro Remix)
Cosmic Gate & Orjan Nilsen – Fair Game
Paul Oakenfold & Cassandra Fox – Touch Me (Beat Service Remix)
Purple Haze – Bergen
Super8 & Tab – Mega
Genix – Mr. H2O
Andrew Bayer vs. Above & Beyond – From The A.I. (Ivan-Skicin Mashup)
Cosmic Gate vs. Third Party – Like This Body of Conflict (Cosmic Gate Extended Mash Up)
Orjan Nilsen – Once There Were Raves
Armin van Buuren vs Shapov – La Resistance De L’Amour
Omnia feat. Tilde – For The First Time (Ben Gold Remix)
Dash Berlin feat. Sarah Howells – Go It Alone (Andrew Rayel Remix)
FUTURECODE & Roxanne Emery – Dancing In The Rain
4 Strings – Take Me Away (Dave Neven Remix)
Gaia – Inyathi

Ashley Wallbridge
Ashley Wallbridge – Lionheart
Ashley Wallbridge & Gareth Emery – CVNT5
Ashley Wallbridge – On The Move
Ashley Wallbridge – Flyby
Gareth Emery – Laserface 2.0
Tritonal – Getaway (Ashley Wallbridge and Gareth Emery Remix)
Andrew Rayel, Chuckiess & Whackboi – Kick, Bass & Trance
Ton TB – Electronic Malfunction (Paul Denton Remix)
Tiesto – Lethal Industry (3bird Remix)
Ashley Wallbridge & Nash ft Evan Henzi – Still Alive

Daisuke
Greg Downey – Elephant
Key4050 – Alka (Bryan Kearney Remix)
Key4050 – Prometheus
Indecent Noise – Contact
Bryan Kearney & Plumb – All Over Again (Karney Dark Dub)
Indecent Noise & Lostly – Cosmic Spirit
Gentech – Feel My Love
Joint Operation Centre – Fugitive
Lost in Noise – 303 Stalowa Street
ndecent Noise – No Rest for the Wicked
Chris Connolly – Bogeyman
Will Atkinson – Dog With Six Dix

LINKS:
Ashley Wallbridge
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