We entered the Koolhaus and true to form, I wasn’t disappointed with the decorations.  There is no “standard” look for the Koolhaus—every all-access event it shows a different side.  Whoever was in charge of decorating this room —kudos!  The place looked fan-freaking-tastic.  Massive draperies came down from the lofty ceilings with intelligent lighting above creating bizarre cool patterns on the underside of the fabric.  VIP bottle service stations lay dotted throughout the setup providing intimate areas—something really tough to do in the cavernous Koolhaus.

Once we had our whole group together, we then started to play the “Hey, WTHDYG” (where the hell did you go?) game.  Oh, I’m sure you’ve played this game at large EDM events. You know, where you meet up with a group of friends, and then you spend the rest of the night texting them ‘hey, where the hell did you go?’ and trying to find them.  Ok, here’s my advice. If you hit a large venue…Don’t look for your friends unless you have to.  Just relax, sit back, have a good time, and you’ll likely bump into them in short order.  I know so many people who have ruined many a night just trying to find people all night among the thousands thronging through all-access events. Can I get an Amen?

I picked up one of the handy set –time cards provided at the door and marked off all the DJs I was hoping to hear.  Mark Oliver, Toronto’s killer big room sound resident… Infected Mushroom – live band music meets EDM… Sander Van Dorn—gotta get in my hard pounding Trance…Exacta, high energy House! …and MSTRKRFT!

The problem with a large event like this is its simply impossible to see everything you would like to see—there’s simply too much happening at once.  In this same trend, it’s difficult to give a DJ set your proper, undivided attention.  You end up suffering with some form of extreme ADHD, running from room to room, worried about missing a single amazing moment.  It takes some real discipline to sit back, pick your room, pick your sound and enjoy the ride.

Here’s my quick and dirty run down of the faces I saw:

Mark Oliver – This guy is so seldom talked about on the message boards and in the underground scene…he really did pioneer the EMS in Toronto, and is a master behind the decks.  Resident of the main room and total crowd pleaser, he warmed up the Koolhaus nicely.

Infected Mushroom – Ok.  I tried.  I tried!  I stayed for a while and I tried to keep an open mind while wave after wave of sonic anger pounded into me from these guys.  I couldn’t take it—and I got the hell out of dodge.  This kind of heavy rock meets Techno isn’t my cup of tea.  They have a huge following though—the crowd was going nuts for them!

Jelo – It’s Jelo.  Pure love.  ‘Nuff said?  Talk about energy. And that air horn!  Nice.  Sic. House. Beats.

Baby Joel – Co-owner of Toronto’s much-loved-club Footwork, and definitely skilled behind the decks, he had me with the Tribal tunage he was dropping in the Orange Room.

Manzone & Strong – I had just heard a killer set by these guys at Hotel the following week, and man did they deliver again in The Drink. 

It’s their backyard, baby, and they know how to work that room like no one’s business.

The Roaches a.k.a. Nathan Barato & Carlo Lio) – Probably one of my favourite sets of the entire evening, Nathan and Carlo totally delivered some solid, solid beats all of our bodies, and the room went off for them.  These guys are golden, and they can do no wrong.  It was awesome when Carlo came down onto the dancefloor to greet and dance with his friends and admirers.

Exacta – Definitely my vibe for the night.  I loved every moment of this guy’s set, up in The Drink, and it definitely satiated my need for good beats. 

This is the second time I’ve heard Exacta, and he really hit all the notes this time around.

And at that point, I had to call it.  My tortured ribs had finally had it, and I hadn’t even had my fix of hard-hitting Trance I love at these events.  We made our way down to the Koolhaus, my battered and bruised body bouncing bountifully off of bodacious bodies (I really wanted to see how many ‘b’ words I could use in there).  Walking into the Koolhaus, my ears were instantly perked by the sweet type of music I had looked forward to all week—it was Sander Van Doorn behind the decks, and there was nothing I could do but find a spot in front of a massively oversized and completely ridiculously loud speaker and dance for just a few more minutes.  It seemed perfectly appropriate to bump into IllNada from Trance Addict and dance it up hard for a few more minutes.  After that, I had to call it quits, much to my disappointment. The drive home was painful, but I felt we had done the definition of Decadence some justice with our evening/early morning activities.  We went home happy, battered and not altogether defeated.  It was a good day.

I did notice this Decadence seemed quite a bit smaller than the year before; several rooms were closed:  Deluxe Lounge, The Gallery; no DJ in the Acid Lounge and portions of the Koolhaus were completely blocked off.  I wondered if they anticipated lower numbers due to CiRCA and other events in Montreal, and adapted the environment so people wouldn’t be so spread out.