On the 7th of March, 2020, the 6th edition of Monkey Buzinezz’ Trance Unity took place in Montreal, Quebec. Featuring a total of 19 DJs between 3 rooms and 13 straight hours of trance, the highly-anticipated event brought top-tier acts from around the world and the greatest local talents together for one night of non-stop high-energy trance bliss. The Heaven Room featured eight uplifting trance specialists. The Hell Room took us somewhere dark, starting deep and progressive and moving into acid and tech trance as the night went on. The Earth Room provided us with the best in classic trance, piquing our nostalgia and inspiring many passionate sing-a-longs. There was a special feeling at Trance Unity that you just don’t get at other parties. It’s was exclusive – with artists playing unreleased tracks and bootlegs. It’s was intimate. It had that underground feeling that made you really appreciate that you are a part of something incredibly special.
**No pictures – No Videos – No recorded sets – Live the moment – Experience the rave**
The TRANCEPORTED team collected track IDs during the event for the annual Trance Unity playlist! Listen along here while you continue to the review below:
The longest night of the year and somehow it went by in a flash. I had no idea what was through the doors at Circus Afterhours, but somehow, on a subconscious level, my body was prepared to give itself to the night and let the trance take over. Typically before a marathon event like this, I try to arrive early and make sure I’m well-rested and well-hydrated (an important Trance Unity survival tip). Unfortunately, I was too excited to take my usual pre-rave nap. I made it to Montreal in time to have a good meal with the TRANCEPORTED team before the event started. We arrived at the iconic rue St-Catherine after-hours club shortly after the doors opened at 10pm. I was determined to survive from start to finish no matter what! We were greeted by the club’s resident unicorn in the interior lobby as we followed the warm, progressive sounds of Montreal’s Tomac who was tasked with setting the scene. 3lau’s track Toyko ft. XIRA was playing as we walked towards the back of the Heaven Room. There were already a number of people making moves and getting their bodies acquainted with the dance floor. Heaven was draped in white and bathed in blue lights; from time to time, the light caught a shimmer of glitter in the white fabric decor making it appear to twinkle. Delicate chiffon angel wings were suspended from the ceiling, and when the laser light passed through they appeared to take the shape of the flowing petals of an orchid in bloom. Within the first 10 minutes of arriving, Tomac was laying down beats so deep there were people making out on the dance floor. It’s hard to deny the massive vibes of the Anjunadeep catalogue. Track’s such as Tinlicker’s Vanishing (Dosem Remix) and Ben Bohmer ft. Monolink – Black Hole (Martin Roth Remix) were irresistibly sexy as the crowd rhythmically swayed and swooned. Gradually the pace picked up with tracks like Gabriel & Dresden’s Coming On Strong from their recently released “Remedy” album and Alex Sonata and The Rio’s fresh Armada release, Atlantis. The melodies swelled and the beats persisted culminating in the perfect closer, Tomac’s track with Nikhil Prakash – Pressure. The set up was perfect, transitioning flawlessly to the next act, Garuda heavy-hitter Ashley Wallbridge.
Meanwhile in the Hell Room, the first act of the night took their place behind the decks. The staggered start to the event was carefully planned. A constant stream of people entering the venue spread themselves across the different rooms, never allowing one room to reach capacity (the only exception being Ferry Corsten, but we’ll get to that later). The Hell Room was the first room you come across when you enter the venue and those that showed up after 11pm were welcomed with progressive sounds of melodic techno provided by Ottawa’s Niles Baxter and Monkey Buzinezz’ own Chris Hammond, aka Hamm. In stark contrast to the ethereal Heaven Room, the Hell Room was dark. It was moody. Visually, it had an air of foreboding, decorated in skulls and drenched in red lights… There was something magnetic. It drew you in close and wouldn’t let go. It became clear to me immediately why the Hell Room is so wildly popular. The vibes were serious and captivating. And the beats? Relentless. From the start I felt the pull of this room. The bass was heavy and the rhythm coursed through my body. Subtle melodic shifts in tracks such as Nicholas Van Orton’s Rack Punch kept my mind engaged and craving more. While I’m not super familiar with the world of melodic techno, this experience really helped me understand it and appreciate its subtleties. Baxter and Hamm wove their sounds together flawlessly, painting an incredible soundscape of innovative melodies with tracks like Cid Inc’s Fear and Square.
In the next room over, Ashley was hammering the Heaven Room with his and Gareth Emery’s remix of Signum’s classic, Coming On Strong. Miraculously, the rooms at Circus are moderately capable of self-containing their sounds despite the venue being completely open. Linking the two main rooms were another pair of chillout rooms; one was a lounge filled with couches and disco balls, the other was a popular room filled with large wooden swings suspended from the ceiling. The only time I saw the swing room empty was when all the bodies found their way to the dance floor for Ashley’s track with Darude, Surrender. He followed this up with his and Emery’s remix of Ed Sheeran’s pop ballad, Castle On The Hill, then shocked me with the 2012 Maison & Dragen reboot of Robert Miles’ trance classic, Children. It was around this point in the set I noticed the crowd began to thin. An exodus was taking place. A mass of faithful Montrealers began to migrate towards the staircase because it was time for the local hero and Trance Unity mastermind, Ramy Barghoud, aka Bargz, to open the Earth Room with his first and only live DJ set, done in honour of his late friend’s life. I would never have guessed this was his first time DJing in front of a live audience. With an incredible selection of trance classics and flawless mixing, Bargz played it off like a pro! The vibes in the Earth Room were otherworldly despite its lush terrestrial decor of leafy vines and a wash of green light. There was something very relaxed about this room, and it had nothing to do with the BPM. Everyone was there to show their love for the classics and pay tribute to our trance origin story. As an opener, Bargz was a master at setting the scene. The audience was hanging off every single classic beat from the first note of Andrew Bennett’s Age Of Love, through DaHool’s Meet Her At The Love Parade, all the way to the very end of his final offering, Armin Van Buuren’s The Sound of Goodbye (Simon & Shaker Remix).
Downstairs Ashley was still going strong and the crowd was living for it. He dropped his 2020 release, Still Alive, a track he wrote in the hospital, a moment in time when he didn’t know whether he was going to live or die! When I asked attendees to tell me their favourite moment of the night, this was one of them. Toronto’s own A.D. The Kid responded with “Ashley dropping Still Alive… Magical Moment”. And truly, it was. The crowd was in love and Ashley was giving it right back.
The energy and positivity was hitting it’s first peak of the night as Ashley wrapped up, taking a moment to thank the crowd and welcome Ruben de Ronde to the stage. I was personally very excited for this set, having seen Ruben perform a number of times the previous year and taking interest in many of the incredible releases coming out of his label, Statement! Music. He opened his set with a familiar track, the intro mix of his track with LTN and Kimberly Hale, Moment of Truth. He followed that up with a fresh track from his Statement! Music label, One Last Time, a song by the Los Angeles duo, Elevven, who are currently picking up steam and making waves across the trance scene. This was not the only appearance Elevven made in this set. Ruben treated us to a few of his collaborations with the duo including Shadow of Us and Lucky Penny (which was brilliantly mashed up with Camelphat & Cristoph ft. Jem Cooke – Breathe). A mere 15 minutes into his set we were treated to one of those special euphoric Heaven Room moments when Ruben dropped his remix of Gareth Emery & Standerwick’s track, Saving Light, featuring the breathtaking vocals of Haliene. Haliene truly has the voice of an angel and it rang clearly across the room and straight into the heart. Not even the discordant chorus of enthusiastic ravers singing along could overtake that light.
At 1:00 am, while Ruben continued to dominate the Heaven Room with tracks such as Trinity (a collaboration with FUTURECODE), change was afoot elsewhere in the venue. In the Earth Room, Montreal’s JCP took over and started laying down some filthy tech beats. While this is more the type of vibe I would expect from the Hell Room, I was certainly not bothered, nor was the crowd of people absolutely eating up every single beat! Late in his set he threw in a little foreshadowing, with a track from the highly anticipated Hell Room master, Mark Sherry. The energy level was dialled up, and I’m pretty sure the polar ice caps were melting because JCP was bringing that global warming heat to the Earth Room! After his time was up, he came right out to the dance floor for hugs. Love was strong in the Earth Room.
Back downstairs in the Hell Room, there was something sinister brewing. Master of all sounds dark and progressive, John 00 Fleming took his place behind the decks. John is a master of open-to-close as he carefully curates sonic journeys taking you places in your mind you didn’t know existed. I was unsure of what he was going to bring to the table in his 2.5 hour time slot. The first time I walked into the room there was this droning 123 BPM progressive rhythm that I expected, overlayed with arpeggiated synth gradually building to a crescendo. And then the piano came in. It was drenched in echo. The melody was slow and tortured. I could feel this track in every fibre of my being. This was Diamandy’s aptly-named track, Elegant Sadness (Stan Kolev Remix). He followed this up with 8Kays – Inside (Jerome Isma-Ae remix), a track featuring ominous melodic elements and distorted bass juxtaposed with the haunting vocals of Diana Miro. Over the course of the first hour of J00F’s set, the tempo gradually increased. The shift was subtle, and I don’t think the crowd even noticed. They were so wrapped up in the soundscape J00F was building that they were completely unaware they were dancing harder with every passing moment. Time was meaningless in this room. It was impossible not to be swept up in the sensual complexity of J00F’s genre-bending style. In the first hour, the pace picked up to 126 BPM with tracks like Laura Van Dam’s future house stunner, Skyfly. As the night pressed on, the atmosphere evolved. We heard tracks from progressive house veteran Jerome Isma-Ae (Reflection, ft. Alastor) and Eric Prydz’ genre-defining progressive house alias, Pryda (The Hoax). By the end of the second hour, we were teetering on the edge of 130 BPM with J00F Recordings’ dark techno producer Eeemus’ track Dunes of Kaatrah.
Author Anna Middleton glowing beside DJ Ruben de Ronde – TU 2020
Back in Heaven, Ruben de Ronde continued to deliver. He played a number of tracks I expected; his hauntingly beautiful collaboration with Estiva, Rainbow, and the killer Giuseppe Ottaviani remix of his track Games ft. Louise Rademakers to name a few. He also threw in a few surprises along the way. I never expected to hear the gorgeous Above & Beyond and Spencer Brown track ft. RBBTS – Long Way From Home, and my jaw dropped when he unleashed Gaia’s In Principio.
After wrapping up his set (with Armin van Buuren’s mashup of Estiva’s Dinodrums and Paul Van Dyk’s I Don’t Deserve You ft. Plumb), Ruben made his way to the VIP section to hang out and meet with fans. He towered over me but still made an effort to crouch down so I could get a good selfie with him. He was kind enough to laugh at my vaguely mocking t-shirt featuring him and Armin van Buuren with rubber chickens for heads.
As the VIP section clamoured for the opportunity to chat with Ruben, the crowd out in front of the DJ booth thickened. I could feel the anticipation in the air. “Ferry! Ferry!” chanted the crowd as a familiar face popped up from behind the decks. Ferry Corsten opened his 3-hour epic with his 2019 collaboration with Kristian Nairn – a re-imagination of his 1996 Moonman track, Galaxia. This gorgeous atmospheric beauty was the perfect way to set the tone for what was to come. I saw Ferry perform when I attended Transmission as well as in Prague under his alias System F. To see him now, in an intimate setting, playing an extended set, as himself, with no restrictions – this truly was Heaven! Ferry’s set gave me everything I had hoped for – a 3-hour retrospective of his career diving deep into his history of aliases, remixes, and collaborations, highlighting some treasures from his label Flashover Recordings, as well as giving us a taste of his current projects. He gave us System F (Solstice), old Gouryella (Anahera, Walhalla), new Gouryella (Surga), mid-2000s Ferry (Beautiful, Take Me), tracks from his concept album, “Blueprint” (Waiting ft. Niels Geusebroek, Wherever You Are ft. Haliene), tracks from his Unity project (Flanging w. Purple Haze) and an incredibly moving unreleased remix of Above & Beyond’s Thing Called Love. He was clearly thrilled to be there and have the freedom that only Trance Unity gives. He even played a request from the lighting tech for Virtual Self – Ghost Voices (Solis & Sean Truby Rework). This was the Ferry Corsten of my dreams.
The room was crowded. Ferry fans packed the space from front to back and it was hard to find space to breathe. I took this opportunity to slip away upstairs to see what was happening in the Earth Room. One of the most incredible things about this year’s edition of Trance Unity is there was never a lull – never a moment where I thought “I’m not feeling this, maybe I’ll go check out something else”. I often found myself torn between rooms because every single artist was playing at their absolute best. In this moment, as it turned out, there was more Ferry Corsten than I could’ve asked for. While Ferry himself tore up the Heaven Room, Karl K-Otic dropped classic Ferry upstairs on Earth (Beautiful). He followed this up with some highlights from Armin van Buuren’s catalogue such as his classic track Shivers (Rising Star Remix) and a few tracks from his side project with Benno de Goeij, Gaia (J’ai Envie De Toi, Status Excessu D). He rounded out his set with Energy 52’s Cafe Del Mar (Three N’ One Remix)
As Karl K-Otic ended, Ottawa’s Sheridan Grout was ready to take his place behind the decks. His fanbase was out in full force tonight with custom printed merch displaying their love. As one of the faces of AVA Recordings, Sheridan has been tearing up the scene with his releases and remixes, but this was a chance for him to pay homage to his trance forefathers. The energy in the room was electric despite it being 4 am. This was Trance Unity. We weren’t even halfway through. Sheridan brought an incredible spirited performance to the Earth Room with ace track selection and skilled mixing. The first half of his set was very Garuda-heavy, with tracks such as Gareth Emery’s Arrival ft. Brute Force and Ben Gold & Tritonal’s 2012 collaboration, Apex. Later on he busted out some vocal trance classics; I am completely powerless to this genre. We heard John O’Callaghan’s classic track with Audrey Gallagher, Big Sky, as well as Dash Berlin’s Shelter (Photographer Remix). At 5:30am, legendary 4 Strings started their classics set (their first performance of the event) while Ferry Corsten was still going strong in the Heaven Room below.
Elsewhere in the venue things were getting very serious. All hell was breaking loose downstairs as the undisputed King of the Hell Room had taken over. Mark Sherry has dominated the Hell Room since the event’s second year running. His Montreal performances are legendary every single time and this was no exception. He brought an energy to the stage of which I can’t find the words to describe, and everything he throws out into the universe comes back tenfold from the crowd. They feed off each other, back in forth, spiralling into the most glorious mayhem. When I stepped into the Hell Room, Mark was up on top of the table pumping up the crowd the way he does best. Even coming off an injury and in a great deal of pain, there was no stopping him! He hammered the Hell Room with 2.5 hours of tech and acid trance, most of which was unreleased, along with some treasures from his Techburst label such as The Chicago Loop – Boom Boom and Tea Vukovic – Be Willing. He spoiled us with a preview of some new material from his hard techno side project with David Forbes, Thick As Thieves and room was eating it up. The bass was heavy. The beats were relentless. The crowd was wild and untamed. It was plain to see why so many people rave about Mark’s Trance Unity sets. When I asked for highlights of the night, one person responded, “the complete insanity that was Mark Sherry’s set in Hell Room. Words cannot describe it”. Another responded with “Mark Sherry ended my existence”. I saw someone in the Facebook event page state “I used to think Mark Sherry was a God. Now I know he’s an absolute demon”. There is a special love for Mark Sherry in Montreal, and I know the feeling is mutual.
It was nearing 6am and Ferry Corsten’s journey was coming to a close. Before he left the stage he got on the mic to express his appreciation. “Who knew 3 hours could pass that quickly!?” he exclaimed before welcoming the maestro to the stage – Giuseppe Ottaviani. I had preemptively changed into my custom Giuseppe’s pizza t-shirt for this occasion and I was ready to see the Italian trance god himself take up the decks. This was not a Live 2.0 set, or even his new Live 3.0 concept. This was rare and special. Giuseppe was about to play us a DJ set and I was amped. He opened up with his newest addition to the Slow Emotion family, the (at the time) unreleased Slow Emotion 4. I expected him to bring a lot of material from his 2019 album, “Evolver”, and he did play a few (Empty World, Colours) but it was far from dominating. He played a number of his post-“Evolver” singles such as Time to Play, Keep Your Dreams Alive, as well as some of his earlier material like Only A Heartbeat Away ft. Tricia McTeague. For me, the highlights of his set were his incredible remixes. Much earlier in the night we heard his masterful rework of Ruben de Ronde’s Games, but this is far from his only remixing triumph. His remix of Ascension’s Someone is an absolute stand out and his skilled treatment of Armin Van Buuren’s Something Real took a radio-friendly EDM track and drenched it in trance. He even treated us to a taste of Canadiana with his remix of Chicane’s Don’t Give Up, featuring the vocal talents of Bryan Adams. Later on in his set, he dropped a fresh mash-up of Dash Berlin’s Never Cry Again with Andrea Mazza’s Booster. Giuseppe never fails to impress me! I saw him perform six times last year in six different cities spread across four different countries and he still manages to leave me in awe each and every time! Near the end he treated us to his mashup of the Gigi D’Agostino classic L’Amour Toujours, and GO Music release Manuel LeSaux & Unbeat – EVO. Inside Circus, we were in our own little euphoric bubble of trance, lasers, and darkness, but outside it was morning and time for the sun to rise. Giuseppe’s closer rang truer than we knew at the time as he really did play Till The Sunrise.
Trance Unity has been an annual event for the past six years but only the last three editions have featured a special classics set in the Earth Room by one of the international talents. In 2018, it was Super 8 & Tab. In 2019, it was Richard Durand. This year, the guest holding this honour was none other than the legendary trance duo, 4 Strings. This was a pair I never thought I would have the opportunity to see live, and now, due to the magic of Monkey Buzinezz’ stellar booking decisions, I could see them perform twice in one night! They played nearly back-to-back sets in the Earth Room and Heaven Room with only a half-hour of downtime in between. Now, I did hear a few complaints that there was a bit of overlap in content between their sets, but realistically, this was unavoidable. With a majority of their greatest tracks being in the realm of classics, you couldn’t expect them to play only new music in the Heaven Room. Even still, they managed to strike a balance by presenting some different remixes of their tracks in each room. As expected, their mixing was flawless and their stellar track selection flowed like the tears of the veteran trancers whose dreams were coming true. I met someone who drove up to Montreal all the way from Boston specifically to see 4 Strings. When I entered the room they were playing their 2018 update of their classic track Diving. Following was a remix of Robert Miles’ Children that I’d never heard before which featured a choral arrangement in place of the plucky guitar melody that accompanies the main piano melody. I have scoured the internet for this one for weeks and it refuses to reveal its identity to me. The Earth Room set was absolutely packed with trance gold, including Binary Finary’s 1998, Above & Beyond’s remix of OceanLab – Satellite, Tiesto’s Just Be, Mauro Picotto’s Lizard, Lemon & Einar K’s Anticipation, and DT8’s Destination. Late in their set they surprised everyone and dropped Sandstorm, which I overheard various people talking about excitedly all over the venue. I was pretty bummed to have missed out on that moment, but this was far from the only treasure they brought to Circus that night.
At 7am, the King of the Hell Room relinquished his throne as Sean Tyas took the stage to a sea of his degenerates, all amped and ready to go after Mark Sherry’s incredible set. As I was heading to see Tyas, a tall, dark figure in a full demon mask told me in passing, “Never leave the Hell Room”, and I understood. There is something so alluring about this room and its journey from dark and moody progressive and melodic techno, gradually building to a climax of acid and tech trance chaos. For me, Sean Tyas was a perfect bridge between Heaven and Hell as he brought some of his own tech and psy rooted tracks, but also a number of his incredible remixes of uplifters. He was playing his unreleased remix of Paul van Dyk and Alex M.O.R.P.H.’s Voyager from Paul’s 2018 album “Music Rescues Me” when I entered the room. He followed this up with one of his VII releases, the 2019 track, Chrome and then his track with Shelby Merry, Someday. Despite it being well after sunrise, the Hell Room was packed and the party was still going strong. This is certainly not uncommon in Montreal, but generally the parties don’t even start until 2am, making Trance Unity the ultimate test in endurance. Hell Room survivors were rewarded for their tenacity with 2 full hours of Tyas. While I love his originals, his remixes and reworks really stand out for me. We were treated to a number of these brilliant transformations including his remix of Insigma’s Open Our Eyes and John O’Callaghan’s track featuring Kathryn Gallagher, Mess Of A Machine. He also played his rework of KhoMha’s remix of the Veracocha classic, Carte Blanche. The dance floor was burning up!
The night may have been winding down upstairs in the Earth Room, but it wasn’t going to go out without a bang. Montreal’s Carl Muren was in charge of closing duties and he made sure to squeeze every last drop of classic goodness into his set. He opened with PPK’s classic ResuRection and he took off from there. We heard so many essential trance tracks in this last hour on Earth, such as Rank 1’s L.E.D. (Let There Be Light), Dash Berlin’s ‘Til The Sky Falls Down, Solarstone’s Seven Cities, and of course the Sweeping String Remix of Motorcycle’s As The Rush Comes. He closed his set with a track I didn’t know I needed – Pulser’s Cloudwalking (Astral Remix) turned out to be the most beautiful sendoff as the Earth Room closed its doors for Trance Unity 2020.
Back downstairs, the Heaven Room welcomed the classics-lovers with open arms. 4 Strings began their second performance of the event and eased their transition with a treasury of gems. It was such a joy to see these legends perform, twice! It isn’t very often that I hear a classics set without hearing Take Me Away (Into The Night), but to hear this track being mixed by its creators was truly such a treat. They dove deep into their catalogue, featuring tracks such as Wondering, In The Middle Of A Dream ft. Denise Rivera, and their remix of Trance Classics It’s A Fine Day ft. Icara. Their set culminated in a truly magical moment for me, as a friend and I hugged and danced and we sang along with DJ Sammy & Yanou ft. Do – Heaven. After 11 hours of pure trance bliss, it wasn’t too hard to see, we’re in heaven!
The last act of the night in the Hell Room had taken over. In stark contrast to what was happening in the Heaven Room, Jam El Mar brought with him the most sinister, filthy techno beats. The bass was so heavy you could feel it in your bones. He opened his set with a song called Hardcore by Dino Maggiorana & T78, really setting the tone for what was to come. A large proponent of the crowd had been there since the room opened and they intended to be there until the last beat dropped. Early on, he unknowingly paid tribute to one of my Trance Unity 2019 highlights with Tempo Giusto’s Paradigm Shift. He also played a really lovely re-imagination of Eduard Artemyev’s theme for the 1979 Russian film, Siberiade. The track in question is Resurrection (Reinier Zonneveld 2020 Remix). You may recognize the melody from PPK’s classic trance track, ResuRection, which lifted the melody from that movie theme. We were also treated to Bart Skils’ remix of Push’s classic Universal Nation and Mark Sherry’s track with Scot Project, Acid Air Raid. While I’m not super familiar with techno in general, I do know Miss Kittin & ANNA – Forever Ravers and the crowd was eating that up. The dance floor was alive with dark figures moving in the shadows. While the morning sun blazed outside, the air in the Hell Room was thick with techno vibes. Towards the end of his set, Jam El Mar dove into his own catalogue with his tracks Evo and Electronica. He closed out the Hell Room with his classic track as one half of the duo Jam & Spoon, The Age Of Love. After a full 12 hours of madness, the Hell Room was closed, but this is not where our story ends.
It was 9am. At this point I’d been awake for 26 hours. Dancing for 11. I am delirious. My body and my heart are in control. It was the moment I’d been waiting all night for – Factor B was up next and I absolutely could not contain my delight! He opened his set with his dreamy collaborative journey with Craig Connelly, Tranceatlantic. This track it hits me straight in my heart; a melody so beautiful and pure I felt like dropping to my knees and sobbing uncontrollably (a bit dramatic, yes, but you can’t deny the power of those eternal Factor B breakdowns). When he dove into one of the tracks from his new alias, Highlandr, I still wasn’t prepared. I remember it specifically, as I texted a friend, “This is the longest breakdown of my life. I’ve died and gone to heaven”. This is what Factor B does best! He hammers you with these high energy 138 beats, then comes at you with the most beautiful melodies. They build and build gradually, welling up inside your heart until they reach that point where euphoria takes over, and the only thing keeping you from floating off the dance floor are those pounding kicks keeping you grounded. He played a number of his uplifters that night including Anything (For You), Immerse (with The Thrillseekers), Synergy (with Giuseppe Ottaviani), and an ID remix of his track White Rooms. This was Trance Unity; this was his chance to show off his versatility and hit us with something we didn’t expect… and he delivered. Factor B gave us a taste of his flawless mashups and back-to-the-future updates such as Factor B & The Thrillseekers – Into The Last Light (Factor B Mashup) and The Thrillseekers mash-up of Solarstone & Scott Bond’s Red Line Highway and Factor B’s Back-To-The-Future Remix of Chicane’s Autumn Tactics. There were a few delightful surprises in there too such as the Above & Beyond Club Mix of Madonna’s What It Feels Like For a Girl and the Super8 Bangin’ Remix of Carrie Skipper’s Time Goes By. At some point in the night (I’m not sure when) he dropped a track that nearly killed me. Again with the dramatics, but when he played this particular Highlandr ID for us, I was quite literally clutching my heart and holding back my tears.
Those two hours flew by in a flash. Before I knew it, I heard that first sustained note of Factor B’s track Crashing Over, signalling the end. We still had one final DJ to go. The honour of closing out the night went to the French master Ferry Tayle. Still floating from the previous set, Ferry Tayle continued the tradition of making my heart sing with the most gorgeous uplighting sounds as well as physically making me sing with some of the best vocal beauties. I can’t help myself. Tracks like Aly & Fila’s We Control The Sunlight and Luminary’s Amsterdam (Super8 & Tab Remix) are irresistible. Ferry Tayle dropped his mashup of Above & Beyond’s Good For Me and Aly & Fila’s Nubia, which was was a special moment for a Trance Unity first-timer I met: “This song means a lot to us. My partner mixes it quite often when he’s DJing, so experiencing it together at our first Trance Unity was definitely the cherry on top of the trance sundae”.
It was so incredibly beautiful, and the love in that room at that time was insurmountable. Ferry Tayle took us through a memorable trance journey with some of his most incredible tracks such as Fremont (with Elucidius), Lost in Memories (with Xijaro & Pitch), and Find Your Paradise featuring the vocal talents of Clara Yates. We also got a taste of some of his incredible remixes such as his 2019 remix of Solarstone’s Seven Cities, and his remix of Aly & Fila’s Sunrise At Cala Bassa. As it was nearing close (noon), the dance floor began to thin out. Those remaining, myself included, took full advantage of the new space. We were going to enjoy every last second! When 12pm rolled around, Ferry Tayle showed no signs of stopping! We danced like our lives depended on it. 13 hours had passed since the beginning of this wild night and those of us that remained were treated to a completely unexpected bonus hour from Ferry Tayle, cementing him as a legend in the Trance Unity history books! Tracks such as Driftmoon’s Renaissance kept our bodies moving, and Ferry Corsten’s Gouryella track, Anahera, fed our souls. I lost all sense of time and space as I sang along to Above & Beyond’s Sun & Moon, dancing erratically and joyfully across the floor.
When the lights came on at 1pm, the concept of time suddenly came rushing back to me. The realization I had danced for 14 hours took hold. I came to Trance Unity with the goal of making it from open-to-close and I somehow managed to surpass that by an entire hour. For such an intimate gathering, it was amazing to see people coming from far and wide (I met some attendees who travelled up from Las Vegas). I’ve talked to so many people about this event since it happened. I see it mentioned on a regular basis in Twitch chats during DJ live-streams and always have to connect. While everyone had their own favourite moments of the night, one resounding commonality is a feeling of gratitude. Every single person I’ve talked to has the same thing to say – we are so incredibly lucky to have had Trance Unity as our last event of 2020. Walking down the stairs at Circus into the hustle and bustle of downtown Montreal I felt that gratitude – even then, as well as a sense of accomplishment. We emerged from the darkness into the piercing gaze of the midday sun, blissfully unaware of what a gift we were given that night – one last dance before a worldwide pandemic put us all in a lockdown. Thank you to the entire Monkey BuzineZz team for putting together another incredible annual Trance Unity event.
Check out the Official Trance Unity 2020 video below!
LINKS:
| Heaven Room | Hell Room | Earth Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tomac Spotify Ashley Wallbridge Website Spotify Ruben de Ronde Website Spotify Ferry Corsten Website Spotify Giuseppe Ottaviani Website Spotify 4 Strings Soundcloud Spotify Factor B Soundcloud Spotify Ferry Tayle Soundcloud |
Niles Baxter Soundcloud DJ Hamm John 00 Fleming Website Spotify Mark Sherry Website Spotify Sean Tyas Website Spotify Jam El Mar Website Spotify |
Bargz Mixcloud JCP Soundcloud Karl K-Otic Website Soundcloud Sheridan Grout Website Soundcloud Spotify Carl Muren Soundcloud Monkey Buzinezz Website |
