Day 1: Arrived for Deniz Kurtel's set but had a hard time enjoying it because you could hear the main stage blasting electro for pretty much the whole set. Miss Kitten played great and her live vocals were a nice touch. I felt bad for Osunlade because it looked like everyone ditched off to catch Moby on the main stage who was in a word... offensive. He started off with a decent track sampling Natural Blues then played nothing but ear piercing electro. On top of that, his mixing was sloppy and he was wearing a hat. I paid to see your bald head and hear your hits. STICK TO YOUR LIVE SET! The fact that Osunlade's dance floor was practically empty because of his set was nothing short of insulting.
Day 2: Enjoyed Justin Martin's set. C+C started off with a hint of drums and basically played none for the rest of the set. So disappointing. Most of the set was generic tech-house but managed to top their Digital Dreams set (not saying much) which was filled with fluffy remixes. Magda came on next and there was finally a vibe after her first beat dropped. She set it up perfectly for Dubfire who played really well. I really need to see this guy play an extended set at Stereo some time.
Overall: Had a lot of fun but the attendance seemed to be lacking quite a bit (main stage was barely half full at it's peak). The selection of food was excellent and the prices for merch was laughable ($30 for a scarf:haha:)} The lighting on the main stage was well done and made for some videos/pix.
After party (C+C @ Moskito): Arrived to Moskito at around 12:15 to a $20 cover (with my wristband) so the info from the facebook event was a crock of as it said it would be $10. Christina Cruise had the room half asleep with her slow beats. Man, this girl is a ing SHOW OFF. She wouldn't stop posing and actually like a what you'd expect from a playboy model. Even when C+C on, she was standing on something behind them, waving her arms like a valley girl. She had some booth bunny up there with her the whole time acting the same way. At 12:45 she picked it up and started pretty good. C+C's set was better than their set at Brrrrr but had a severe lack of drums. I understand that tribal is practically dead now, but there's no reason they can't play drummy tech-house instead of the tech-house they play that sounds like every other tech-house dj out there. The sound of drums made them who they are today and they're just another in the long list of djs that have turned their back on that sound. It's so frustrating knowing that every time they play stereo they bring the tribal big time and every time they're in toronto they deliver another "toronto tech house" set. On top of that, their flow was all over the place - they played an Alan Fitzpatrick track (video 3) followed up by a Plastic Dreams remix (vid 3 from Brrrrr). WTF is that about? I think they replayed half their Brrrrr set @ moskito. Could they really not program 3 hours of music for one night? After they finished, Brent Hayward and Johnny Batts came on and absolutely killed it. Really hard tribal from back in the day had us going bananas on the dance floor. Thank you for saving the night, boys! As for C+C, they're dead to me in Toronto unless they're playing a late set @ an after hours. Their Hallowe'en set and Canada Day @ Guv come to mind as being memorable.
kotsy
techno_addict
I went only on friday and had a LOT of fun !!!!! I really liked Deniz Kurtel set (much much better than last time I saw her at FW when she played before audiofly) and also miss kittin did an amazing set !!! so glad I went out for that. Vibe was great.
I had more fun at Brrrrrr than at digital dreams... really had a great time there.
Thanks for all the videos!
Guest
Loling hard at your review Chris :haha:
Forever Forward
Day 1:
Showed up at 7pm to see the start of Moguai's set. Very small crowd to start. I'm familiar with the track Moguai opened with, but due to my paucity when it comes to identifying tracks, I don't know its name. He played a couple of good songs that got me moving before I headed over to the Red Bull stage to hear Deniz Kurtel.
I moved to the left side of Red Bull's dance floor since noise coming from the main stage made it difficult to fully immerse myself in Deniz' set if I positioned myself anywhere else. Deniz played a really cool, fun and groovy set. Definitely got my blood flowing and my body moving. Had to periodically remove my toque to cool down, despite the cold. I think the organizers adjusted the sound levels at some point during this set as it seemed I was better able to hear Kurtel and not be distracted by whoever was playing at the main stage. At around 8pm, Miss Kitten hopped on the decks.
Miss Kitten undeniably played the set of the night. A truly incredible 75 minutes or so! So banging, so fun, so danceable. She provided her own live vocals for a number of the tracks, and it seemed like she was having a great time and successfully experimenting with her vocal cords and the microphone. My friends and everyone else at the stage were absolutely loving her style.
Osunlade closed out the Red Bull Stage. I listened to him play some really soulful and groovy house--melodic and chilling beats. Danced for about 30 minutes before heading over to hear the start of Moby's set.
Moby opened off well, playing a track that got me jumping around and dancing. I was really into him for about 15 minutes, but then I just found his style too repetitive, "hard", and fast. Sounded like I imagine Tiesto sounds these days--just kind of high energy crappy. I went back and forth between Osunlade and Moby a few times. Moby did drop a remix of Porcelain, which was special. And, as I was on my way out, across the pond and heading towards the parking lot around 10:40pm, he dropped Josh Guru Project's "Infinity", a song that stopped me dead in my tracks for sentimental reasons, and I stood there watching from afar with a smile on my face.
I went to Moskito for a bit afterwards to see Osunlade. He's good at what he does: soulful, groovy house, but I just found him a bit too mellow and low key to dance at a club to. On the plus side was the fact that the sound in Moskito was top notch! But, If I could do it again, I would have gone to see Deniz Kurtel at Footwork instead.
Looking forward to Justin Martin, Chus & Ceballos, Magda, and Dubfire tomorrow.
Day 2 Review:
Dubfire is a ing gangster! Haha even while wearing a peacoat, bright blue pants and a Burberry scarf, that man's music makes me feel like a thug! So much attitude in what he plays! Banging, jumpable, danceable, heavy-ass dark techno! The bass was Earth rattling and I could feel it in my pelvis and my heart. His sounds got me so jacked that I was dancing in the phosphacreatine metabolic pathway on at least two occasions. Just ing awesome.
The women of the weekend really kicked ass both nights. I already wrote about Deniz Kurtel and Miss Kitten in my day 1 review, and last night, Magda was incredible! Her mixing is beyond seamless. She played some really funky and awesome tunes. After hearing her set, I thought it would remain the highlight of the weekend, but as I said, Dubfire stole the show.
I caught about 35 minutes of Chus & Ceballos' set, which was really fun and pumping. Happy that I've finally heard them play. Despite their many appearances in our city, I had missed them every time prior to yesterday.
Really great weekend, and I'm appreciative of Electronic Nation doing something new and different like this festival. Turnout was smaller than the organizers had hoped, I'm sure. Seems like Torontonians don't like the cold (does nobody snowboard!?), and perhaps the youngins didn't appreciate the lack of cheese.
Considered going to Footwork after for The Junkies, Magda, and Dubfire--what an insane lineup!!--but I had gotten my fill of dancing for the weekend by the time Dubfire finished at Brrrrr! How was FW? I'm guessing it was rammed.
Nobbie Q
Lack of attendance is a double edged sword. You get room to dance but then there's less energy. Still nice to see the explosion of festivals in tdot and people trying new things. Who would of thought of an outdoor festival in winter?
Chus came down to Seoul without Ceballos back in November...I totally missed it cuz I didn't know about it. I wonder if he played more drums here.
PurpleHaze
Nice media coverage, Kotsy.
Sik track - anyone have an ID on this? Droopy and drugged out...
Damn, nice intro to Dubfire's set. Grinding and bassy as from the get go. He's super consistent these days.
Ceballos dropping some chuggy dark tech - I know it's not tribal lol but it sounded super dope on the Dynacord system Saturday night!
Hats off to Johny Batts and Brent Hayward for a hugely unexpected set....they brought us the drums back! Opened up with a remix of DJ Chus - That Feeling. That was amazing - the look on C&C faces was priceless lol :wtf: Is it that hard to sprinkle a few old tracks here and there? Really?
Overall the soundsystem at Moskito was top notch. No complaints except I think C&C could've turned it up a tad more during peak time. But the sound was so crisp I didn't care too much. They played alright, but they really didn't have any flow. Killed a good buzz more than once. I noticed that Ceballos is stepping away from the fluffier tracks and playing darker these days.
I vote that Johnny Batts and Brent Hayward bring back JaxX Houze since they know where it's at drum-wise! :toothless
The Rattler
Not into long reviews so I'll keep it short
Day 1)
Spent most of the time at the small stage, Moby was a giant let down besides a few of his own tracks and Lucky Date - Six 16. Miss Kitten was a really fun set to listen to and Osunlade while a bit slow was nice to listen to. I caught pretty much his entire set but was cold as hell since there was no crowd to break the wind a bit.
Day 2)
Caught the last 10min of Addy's set so I cant' say much. Justin Martin was pretty fun, C&C were okay... Just okay, I'm kind of getting frustrated with these guys because with their huge reputation I expect more. Magda was the , loved her whole set. Dubfire's opening literally blew me away and I stayed right till the end for that.
Weird highlight of the weekend for me was the guy with a mysterious white substance all over his upper lip and nose walking passed one of the police officers who in turn rolled his eyes in the most hilarious way of all time.
Espresso
We went Saturday and it was meh overall, cool and fun concept, but the lack of people attending just says it all about the execution, makes me wonder if they even broke even? we were trying to estimate how many people were there and didn't seem more than 500-600 but maybe another 100 in the dome?
C+C were the best from we saw, Magda and Dubfire's music is better suited for a dark and smaller venue (like Footwork) not a winter outdoor concert venue , specially when everyone is freezing their asses off (although i saw so much sketch and drunken folks falling and pushing people that i don't think anyone cared what was being played lol), Dubfire's monotonous 4/4 beats got boring after the first 45 minutes and we left around 10:30
hopefully next yer will be better
samhouse
Day 1: Only stayed for a couple of hours...Miss Kitten was my favourite and that really seems to be the consensus. Moby...opening track was solid...started getting excited and then ......big fail!!!!! we left after the second track thats how big a fail it was.
Day 2: Justin Martin had his good moments and then some not so good moments. I did like the haunting nature of his music...it was quite beautiful at times. C&C were slightly disappointing. Certainly expected more after the pretty decent start...its almost like they were pumped up..dropped a couple of drummy tracks and then it got too cold and so did their music.... We saw most of Magda and i have to say she was phenomenal. I did not expect her to play chunky and funky as she did and she was easily my favourite set of the festival. Must see her play a longer set in a more afterhours setting. Didn't stay for Dubfire since we'd seen him so much but really wishing we had.
Afterparties: The plan was to go home...rest for a couple of hours and then head to Moskito for some more fun. We got as far as home and then once we had de-thawed, there was just no desire to go out again.
Overall: Great concept and I'd probabaly do it again if the lineup was right. To me it really wasn't about the number of people there or even the music. Just being with like minded people with the snow squalls blowing in off the lake sorta half dance half shuffling was a unique experience. I would say for next year they should push the visual art aspect a little further with a few unique installations through the grounds similar to Nuit Blanche.
an_an
Dubfire and Magda both played great sets at Brrrrr! That's it I really cared to catch. It was well worth it though. I thought the organizers should have had more areas like the dome for us to lounge and escape from the cold. More ice sculptures required as well! The mulled wine at the festival was amazing. Except I had to wait for a bit when it ran out, until they re-stocked. I really didn't expect such a small turn-up. Maybe a bigger line-up next year might bring in more crowd, given they consider continuing with Brrrrr.
As for the after parties I really wanted to catch Dubfire and Magda at Footwork but my friends insisted on going to Moskito. I enjoyed Chus and Ceballos's set a lot. I wasn't expecting them to play techno tracks, and they sure did surprise me there. Personally I didn't enjoy the closing acts- Brent Hayward and Johnny Batts. Their sound was pretty outdated. I might have enjoyed it in 2008-'09. I didn't get why Addy didn't play after Chus and Ceballos? He was scheduled to play before Chus and Ceballos but I guess Chus and Ceballos wanted to get done with their night. Christina Cruise's set had not flow whatsoever. I was pretty disappointed by her. I have caught better sets from her in the past, at CZ even.
Forever Forward
Kotsy, I'm impressed by how still you keep your camera. I only take videos so I can recall the sounds. The visuals are nauseating as a result of my dancing haha.
After watching some of your clips, I realize how cool the light show was at Brrrrr! With the CN Tower for a backdrop, it really was an optical treat. Your clips also make me contemplate how funnily people respond to sounds. It's a contemplation I've had numerous times, as I'm sure many TA members have had as well, but I find it humorous how people (including me) will start jumping up and down, bouncing around, gyrating, and making all sorts of movements in response to some sounds emanating from a set of speakers. Clips on mute and silent raves are even funnier.
