A rainy summer Friday created high anticipation for Menno De Jong at RED in the evening. With a short entrance line I got in quick; it was nice to be back at RED night club. I have been to this venue in the past and can recall numerous positive experiences. The club has a really nice feel to it, very modern and also fairly new. The club definitely does not disappoint with its English designed Funktion One sound system. Let’s not forget about the ceiling with controlled LED lighting which makes this venue very unique in Toronto!
I made it in time to catch Zack Mia’s opening duties closer to 11:30pm. The club was not too busy, getting around to greet the trance family was easy and as always, a pleasure!
I settle in to the middle right with some friends. The energy level was an interesting mix, seeming almost too heavy for the crowd. Mia started off with some psy-trance styled tracks and then moved his way into some uplifting with vocals. The set bounced back and forth between a few styles which gave off different reactions from the crowd. I personally would have preferred a more progressive opening set with steadier flow and energy build before Menno. The crowd slowly but surely built up as I patiently awaited Menno to grace the CDJs.
At about 12:55AM we see a very tall and unmistakeable figure preparing in the booth, Menno De Jong. At 1AM Menno fades out the last track from Zack Mia and starts off his set with some hard, progressive psy-trance. There were lots of tech elements in the initial track selection. I would say the BPM started off at around 136 or so and slowly made its way up to 140. The crowd went wild for the opening to welcome Menno in Toronto style! When 1:30AM rolled around, Menno started getting darker and heavier with his set and didn’t let up one bit!
At about 1:45AM, Menno started to gather up some more melodic offerings, the energy ever so still present from his start. He unleashed a personal favourite, Transwave – Land of Freedom the Liquid Soul Remix!
At 2AM, still collecting my jaw off the floor from Land of Freedom, Menno doesn’t give me any chance to recover and throws down his track Creatures of the Night (Adam Ellis Remix)! The whole club went into vocal mode and sang along. The vocals from Noire Lee are very angelic. It’s perfectly synchronized with the spacious sound from the breakdown.
Immediately following Creatures of the Night is another all-time favourite of mine, Andain – Beautiful Things (Fady & MinaRemix). During the huge breakdown in the track all you could see was hands in the air from everyone waiting for the powerful release at the drop!
Menno was relentless with the vocals and I give all the power to him. Some serious uplifting with Matt Darey – See the Sun (Dan Stone Remix) was dropped around 2:30AM. The vocals by Kate Louise are pure magic and the crowd once again was singing along wholeheartedly! The trend continued with Plumb – Need You Now (Bryan Kearney Remix) much to the delight of our Manager, Adele.
For those who crave the dark and dirty psy, Menno reeled us in with that Subculture sound from Sean Tyas – Da Doo Da Dah at about 2:45AM! As well, Menno dropped Orkidea – Purity (Sneijder Remix) after that, the breakdown is an absolute monstrosity and the drop itself is on some other level!
Around 3AM things got more interesting as a BB2B with Menno, Shane Halcon and Zack Mia began! The dark psy theme continued and each DJ played two tracks or so. For the Markus Schulz fans, Loops And Tings by Markus & Ferry Corsten was also unleashed in the final hour.
The show ended at 3:255AM but was quickly followed by an encore. Menno was wrapping up his in-ear monitors but the fan who won the meet and greet yelled out, “You promised me you will play All I Wanna Do!” and then the crowd urged Menno on, “Yeah! You promised her!”. Menno smiled at the crowd, he can’t back down from his promise he made her so he played Aven – All I Wanna Do (Adam Ellis Remake) and she was elated.
And with that, the night ended. The crowd walked out satisfied into the cool night air, but I feel we all could have kept that party going longer! Thank you to Menno De Jong, the supporting DJS Shane Halcon and Zack Mia, and the team at RED! I look forward to their next trance offering on Transit Fridays.
