| angelgirl |
Thought you might be interested in reading this. Aaron's review of LOL for XPANDER was just thrown up on the site. Sounds like a great party. Was I at this? Just kidding. Had a blast at this year's Labour of Love.
Thanks to SHAYA for his fabulous pictures!
Labour Of Love Festival 2004 by AARON MOSSEY
http://www.xpander.nl/index.cfm (look for the party review section on the site or just read below)
DJ's: Mark Oliver (Can); Ferry Corsten (HL); NU-NRG Live (IT); Infusion Live (Aus); Deko-ze (Can); Nic Fanciulli (UK); Sander Kleinenberg (HL); Deep Dish (USA); Andy C & GQ (UK); Tee Bee (Nor); DJ Icey (USA); Freq Nasty (UK); plus many local DJ artists.
September 05, 2004
Guvernment, Toronto, Canada
Rating : 8.0 out of 10 Aaron_Mossey
Comment: What started as a relatively contained local event on a September night in 2002, The Guvernment's Summer's End festival (as it was originally titled) celebrated Toronto's underground music scene in the guise of lamentation over the end of a tantalizingly short Canadian summer. Now, three years on, with name changed to "Labour of Love", this monstrous one night music marathon has grown to become a beacon for hedonists, freaks, club kids and party people all over North America and beyond.
Infiltrating the labyrinth of rooms and lounges of the entire Guvernment complex, close to 20,000 strong absorb the eclectic styles, euphoric atmosphere and strange sites within this musical orgy of 12 hours and countless international DJ's, live acts and stellar local upstarts. The event has become known as a sensory superhighway, intertwining massive sound systems, visual excess, and all manner of tactile delights into one clubbing experience. With that in mind it was time to immerse into the debauchery.
As one closed in on the venue, it was quickly apparent that this was to be no less massive than previous years. Not yet even inside, the eager party person was cleverly confronted with a Cirque-de-Soleil style spectacle awash with trampoline artists, Fire-eaters, and a large outdoor music tent leaking down tempo Balearic house to the cued up masses outside the club. If one looked skyward, they were greeted with several large outdoor projection screens cycling through the set times and rosters for the various rooms; a brilliant addendum to plan out one's musical travels through the massive "Guv" complex and a service subsequently copied in all the main rooms inside.
Entering under a large arch adorned with "Labour of Love" stars, the sea of bodies made it's way into the Kool Haus, the largest of the venue's rooms. From here, massive bass frequencies massaged the limbs and set the tone for the evening from much loved "Guv" resident, Mark Oliver. Due to the fact that headliners, Ferry Corsten, Sander Kleinenberg & Deep Dish all were also playing at a Cream festival in Montreal straight after, all three were booked for early time slots so they could be immediately flown out after their sets. Knowing this, Oliver wasted no time in whipping up a frenzy with some hard Progressive and Techno setting the stage for Trance pioneer, Ferry Corsten.
At the same time, moving through the hallways and passages one could spill into the Guvernment room to witness the first Toronto appearance of skyrocketing DJ/producer and KISS FM newcomer, Nic Fanciulli aka Skylark. This room was set for a crazy night of House, Progressive and Breaks from the likes of Sander K and Toronto favorites, Deep Dish, and the young Fanciulli lit the fuse early, dropping heavy and thick house beats to a growing and fully engaged crowd. Primed and ready, albeit early (11pm) for this nocturnal lot, Sander K took over the room with force and some crazy Progressive openers. Ratcheting up the energy with each brilliant bit of programming, Sander soon dropped some of the biggest tracks of his and any set with remixes of Blur'song 2 and Prodigy classic Smack My Bitch Up, sending arms to the heavens.
One of the most unique aspects of the night occurred at this time with Sander apparently employing video DJ tools to sync tracks to lyric-laced videos on and around the stage, cheekily morphing the dance floor into a giant beat driven Karaoke bar. Amazed onlookers were left marveling at this new aspect of real time video DJing? A topic best left for another time but something possibly set to charge over the horizon of electronic music.
Escaping to the upper levels of the venue, the DnB/Junglist massive freaked out to a list of local and international beat masters in The Drink room. The energy and hype, a tangible entity, they all awaited the genre pioneer and virtual scene demi-god Andy-C from the UK. Further up on the open air Skybar, it was a breaks-fest with Heavy-hitters, DJ Icey and Freq Nasty twisting spines through the best in funky and Nu-Skool breaks.
Descending back into the madness, heat and sweaty bliss of thousands of gyrating souls, Ferry Corsten was leveling Kool Haus with a darker tech-trance side of his arsenal, weaving in many of his own productions. The roof was nearly lost as he dropped in his own track "Punk" and the new Leama & Moor remix of classic Ibiza anthem, "Li Kwan-Point Zero" to a crazed sea of people.
Now, fully riding the momentum of Corsten's 3-hour set, the live acts were set to hammer the stage and that they most definitely did. Italian performers, NU-NRG frenzied the loyal crowd, still buzzing from their appearance at Viva, earlier this year. Playing an inspired set of hard trance, much of which they created, they turned many new heads to their sound and the hour past oh so quickly, such is the way with great things.
Well into the night, personal favorites, Infusion finally powered up their gear and set a deliciously evil eye on the pulsating crowd. With instrument lead, Jamie Stevens in shirt and tie, theirs was a dark and rumbling office. Despite the heat, the Auzzie lads signature energy rippled through the adoring crowd as Manuel Sharrad layered the vocals over some of their biggest club monsters as well as previewing some of the their latest artistry forthcoming on their new studio album. Tracks like "Legacy" and "Do It To You" pounded out in that live unrehearsed sound they have championed all over the world and they somehow managed to push the crowd ever higher, regardless of the headline acts ahead of them!
At all angles, levels and rooms, music was swirling in a symbiotic dance with its receivers as Deep Dish closed the event in the "Guv" main room. The duo created a perfect journey through their myriad world of House music and set a perfect balance of style and energy on the soul of the event. From friends supporting local DJ's to loyal fans traveling leagues to bask in the beats of A-list blokes, it truly was a festival for the music and the joys it creates. And as the morning sun has, so many times, embraced the tired bodies on the exodus of a fabulous party, one could not help but think that in no small part, this year's "Labour of Love" was just that.
Photos: Shaya G |
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