The promoters for this event were taking a bit of a risk with their plans for a 50/50 split of dubstep and drum & bass in a not-huge Toronto club space, but it worked out amazingly from my humble point of view.

I'm not a big fan of the dubstep sound personally, there are a few tracks I like but it generally feels like DnB that has yet to drop...

Anyways, the guys from Sinister Sound put the right elements together for an excellent night of darkside beats, and even my jaded ears didn't mind the slower pace of 130-140 bpm tunes while the night got going.

Local dubstep crew 40Hz were brought in to reinforce the club's sound and they did a spectacular job of filling the room with crisp clean basslines and snappy drums, all without that afterparty-tinnitus feeling.

 

The DJ booth was properly arranged at the back end of the club facing the drinking and dancing crowd of about 90 by night's end. An intimate vibe this was.

I arrived about 10:30 to see system operator Spyne getting the night started with some deep and spooky dubstep, I couldn't tell you what tracks they were, but it was a nice way to kick off the evening.

Following him, the promoter for the night, Sabotage got up to flex his skills behind the decks, playing a diverse selection of beats as the club started to fill up.

12 midnight brought SPL, the main event of the evening, to the stage for a two hour journey through electronic music. Playing through more than half his slot with some super-heavy dubstep beats, it was an excellent display of talent and skill, and honestly gave me a bit more appreciation for the whole sound...

In truth though, I was there to see his DnB performance, and it was everything I was expecting. Massive and dark-as-fuck assault was crashing through the system at a furious pace, and the crowd reacted in kind.

I got the pleasure of closing the night out, keeping the energy high with a bunch of techno-dnb. I had a blast playing out, though following Sam (SPL) is not an easy thing to do! Just after 3am I was asked to wind it down, so with the 4/4 kick of a techno track dropping into silence, we headed out the door.

Hands sore from slapping the walls, voices strained from yelling, beers spilled from dancing around like kids, faces hurting from smiling and laughing, it was everything a good party should be, and definitely one for the books. Little events can be pretty special, and I'm happy to have been involved.

Springtime in Toronto is pretty hectic for the electronic music community, so expect a bunch more event reviews as the season progresses!

Words: Ty Dubcomm
Photo: Maria Jose Govea

 

• SPL

Related Links:

• Toronto Drum And Bass Awards
• N.E.C. - Triumph Event Review (Canada)
• Review: Theory, Toronto
• Review: Respect, Los Angeles
• Dig Deep at Fluid Review

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