Photographs by Dakota Arsenault.
The atmosphere at Maison Mercer was electric as everyone anticipated the start of Netsky’s set in Toronto on February 5th. The venue consisted of a main dance floor, with two elevated VIP levels that encompassed the DJ booth, and allowed for fans to get as close as possible to the artists.
His opener was an artist known as Sniper, who did a phenomenal job of hyping the crowd and getting them prepared for the opener. One aspect of this performer that I thoroughly respected was his use of CD’s as opposed to the traditional method of USB hubs to play his set. This method requires a significant amount of preparation. His set got increasingly funky as it went on with a lot of spin back usage. Towards the end of his set it was clear several brand new Sniper fans would be leaving the club that night.
Netsky took the booth and hooked up his hub. The room exploded with excitement as the 26-year-old Belgium native stepped up to the kit with a huge smile, interacting with the crowd with any opportunity he had. He laid out bass heavy tracks; including three renditions of his 2015 hit Rio. The crowd was energized by the fluid sounds coming out off Maison Mercer’s unbeatable Funktion One audio system. The sounds vibrated through the room as Netsky mercilessly hammered melodic drum and bass into the excitable crowd. The hypeman for the Netsky and Chill tour was Script MC, a UK native who has a natural talent for pumping up the entire venue. Script MC made each patron feel like he’s looking right at you. Netsky, towards the end of his set, started playing some of his better-known material, such as Memory Lane and Everyday.
The performances, lighting and overall aura of the event reinforced my continued confidence in Destiny and Embrace’s event coordination skills. They’ve got a stronghold on Toronto electronic music culture and it’s clearly well deserved. The combination of the two organizations makes for one hell of a party.
Thanks to Embrace Presents for media access.
