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Stolen from the MTL forum:
Here is what Markus Schulz had to say
"Bal en Blanc, Montreal - Sunday April 4th (Technically Monday Morning!)
I wasn’t able to get too much rest when Trance Energy was over, because I was straight on a plane heading back across the Atlantic to one of my favorite cities in the world to play, Montreal. Easter Sunday in Montreal means only one thing - the incredible Bal en Blanc.
Last year’s event was very special for me. Not only was it my first appearance playing at the event, but I was also given the task of remixing the event theme, Dressed in White - a track which became one of the biggest GDJB World Tour anthems in 2009.
The passion and connection I have with the Montreal fans is very unique. They live for all night clubbing, and that is why Bal en Blanc runs until noon the next day. My set wouldn’t actually begin until 7am Eastern on the Monday morning, so I had to almost keep myself ticking over on the European time zone from Saturday.
Got checked in, had dinner and a sleep. Then I woke up at around 4am and started getting ready. The event was being broadcasted live on Afterhours FM, so I was able to listen to the first half of Ferry’s set on the laptop and get an idea of what the atmosphere was like. I was going to have to draw on all my experience of playing in Montreal in the past - between Stereo, Red Lite and last year’s BEB, in order to create the right mood for my set.
I knew that I had to generate an almost afterhours-like vibe for the set, but only in a massive arena full of 15,000 people. A very unique situation! The one thing I have learned over the years however is that the Montreal faithful love everything chuggy - they love their dark and moody basslines with a little bit of hard tech thrown in for good measure.
Just before 5:30am and I was ready for the occasion, and of course, Dressed in White. As I arrived inside the Palais des Congres, I saw a familiar friend from last year - the Godskitchen Boombox. I was just praying that it wasn’t going to be a high stage!
Many of you will have heard the set live or had the chance to listen to it throughout the week, and I have to say that it was one of the best gigs I have had for a very long time. Everything that I had planned and prepared was getting a response. I hadn’t played Dressed in White for a little while, but I dusted it off and gave it a spin in the early phase of the set. As the morning went on though, I really was able to take the crowd down the rabbit hole. There were tracks in my set that would get reactions in Montreal and you wouldn’t get those reactions in any other city in the world.
I’m so grateful to all of the Coldharbour Montreal peeps that stayed with me and enjoyed the journey until 10am. It was a pressure cooker, because I knew that with the time I was playing, if you lost the crowd at any time, they were going home and going to bed. Good friend Sied van Riel came on straight after and let rip on the hardcore for the final 2 hours.
I sincerely hope that I don’t have to wait too long for my next Bal en Blanc experience."
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