"Why don't you be the artist and make me out of clay? Why don't you be the writer and decide the words I say?"
On September 6th, Rdio and TIFF presented a live concert featuring Ellie Goulding and HAIM. Checked it out with C - was overall a pretty awesome evening!

July 12th fell on a Thursday back in 2012. L dropped me off at the train station after work (timing was tight - she had to run back to the office right as we were about to leave to grab some documents proving that she was single in preparation for her upcoming marriage to her German beau. #internationalmarriageproblems? - but luckily we made it with a bit of time to spare). As we zipped down the Autobahn, she told me about how nervous a bunch of the other people in the office were about her driving. Yeah...
The Thalys train takes just over three hours to reach Paris from Cologne. The bright red and pink seats were a little jarring. And because Thalys services France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, all the announcements were made four times: in English, French, German and Dutch.
It was already dark by the time we reached Paris Nord station, since it was past 10pm by this point. A few months prior to this, a few of us had been joking late one night about how it'd be pretty cool to spend Bastille Day in Paris. That toss-up plan was about to materialize - S and L were set to arrive in Paris the following day.
*Street art photo previously featured as part of this post.

As a follow-up to 2012 in review, it's time to recap 2013:

JANUARY

• There was no reprieve to be found in January; right from the beginning, the year started off as go-go-go
• Made some foolish mistakes, but at the end of the day, it was still a good learning experience
• Ended the month feeling optimistic and resolving to do better

I didn't do the greatest job at keeping up with blogging this year, so there's probably a ton of stuff that I've missed in this summary, but oh well, it is what it is.

Here's to 2014!

2012 was huge for a number of reasons (mostly because of the many firsts that took place): living on my own for the first time, taking my first solo international flight, moving to Germany, being in Europe for the first time, backpacking around, traveling to five new countries, etc. 2014 is already set to be a monumental year, if not the most monumental year yet - finishing university (undergraduate studies, anyway), convocation, moving... (There'll [almost definitely] be [at least] one major move [if not two] this upcoming year.)

To pull a line from my first post of 2013: "But 2013 is a learning year, an improving year, an ongoing process." I think it's fair to say that in hindsight, that statement has held true. 2014 will still be a work in progress (but then again, isn't everything? Isn't there always room for improvement?), but it's also set to be full of the greatest adventures yet. Beyond excited for sure.

Here we go :)

Flume (Sydney, Australia) played a live set at The Opera House earlier this month on September 5th, with Touch Sensitive & TOKiMONSTA (LA, California) as special guests. I got there and met up with E just as TOKiMONSTA's set was starting, and then M & J met up with us before Flume's set started.

After missing Zedd at the Hoxton the last time he was here back in November, I bought my ticket well in advance this time (i.e. immediately after M tipped me off that tickets had gone on sale).
On Friday, March 22nd, Sound Academy was completely packed; I believe at point Zedd said there were 700 to 800 people there. The crowd was a bit more mixed than the usual electronic events at smaller venues; this review of the November show mentions a clubbing crowd and lack of adequate dancing room, which also held true for this show.

Andy Ares was the first opening act, and did a great job pumping up the crowd. KOAN Sound, a duo from Bristol, UK, was up next and kept the party going (unfortunately didn't manage to snap any photos of their set).
Finally the musical maestro, Zedd, took the stage himself. By this point, the energy on the floor was practically palpable.

The set was exactly what you would expect from Zedd - an upbeat selection of his own tracks and remixes. The classics, Clarity, Spectrum, Stars Come Out, Shave it Up, etc. were played, of course. Notable remixes included the likes of Titanium and Swedish House Mafia. The light show was fairly spectacular as well, and really contributed to setting the vibe.
Zedd worked some insane build-ups to drops. The crowd turned into a writhing mass, helpless but to follow his command. In such a large venue, it made sense that he had to be on an elevated platform, but at the same time, it was kind of a bummer that he was so far removed from the crowd.
Whenever he spoke, the crowd roared in approval. When the final track fizzled to its end, the crowd demanded one more song. And the leader compiled, commanding everyone to sit down, building up the music, and then the sweat-drenched crowd surged to life, jumping hard enough to bring the place down.
Overall, Zedd played a phenomenal set, as could be expected. With a packed line-up of three relentless acts, the show was one unending wave of energy.

JANUARY

• Started the chronicling on this blog   
• Saw Brodinski & Gesaffelstein perform at Wrongbar on their Bromance tour

Saw Faber Drive perform live on November 23rd, 2012 at the 100th Grey Cup Festival with J. We'd gone to Cavalcade of Lights the previous weekend in an attempt to catch Dragonette, but we'd estimated the timing incorrectly (set times weren't posted online, unfortunately) and showed up literally just after she finished. So we made sure to show up plenty early this time, and wandered around the street festival for a bit.
^ We got to sit in a Snowbirds cockpit, which was pretty cool. Lots of complicated switches, gauges, dials, etc.
It was a pretty great set - lots of energy, on key, engaging. Unfortunately it was super windy and chilly that night, so the crowd wasn't huge. (Although on the plus side, that meant we were able to get pretty close to the front).
Both J & I got to touch Dave Faber's hand, which was pretty cool. We also managed to snag some guitar/bass picks (Krikit's & JP's). At one point, about mid-way through the set, Faber switched his toque for a blond wig from some guy in the audience.

JP shredding

All in all, Faber Drive played a great show!

We've resolved to go to more concerts/shows in 2013. Afterwards on the way home, J & I lamented again how we'd also missed Zedd the previous month - we were both totally down to go, but then dallied in purchasing our tickets and show sold out. Double bummer because his latest album, Clarity, is maybe my favourite of 2012. And, y'know, the kid's German and all...

Caught Flight Facilities at The Hoxton last Friday (October 19th) with M, A & F. They're a pair of Australian DJs/producers. In contrast to the Brodinski & Gesaffelstein concert earlier this year, I bought my ticket for this a month in advance - and it certainly surpassed expectations!
I was first introduced to Flight Facilities' music back in March of this year by somebody that I used to know. There's a great vibe to their tracks, very original, chill and engulfing. Going into this, I was already expecting a great set, based off of their singles.
But it actually turned out to be pretty phenomenal. The transitions between songs were flawless. The entire night it felt like we were just dancing to one continuous song, it was that smooth. The lead-ins and fade-outs were very well done.

Synchronized sleeve-rolling - you know it's about to get real when!

Crave You (ft. Giselle), Foreign Language (ft. Jess) & With You (ft. Grovesnor) are all super catchy singles in their own rights, but the remixes that night were on a whole other level. Just wow.
All in all, it was a pretty epic night; great company, great music and great fun. (& I've put my Flight Facilities sticker on my iPad case - the first, but hopefully many other stickers will be joining it soon!)

Attractive Australians.

There always seems to be a fine line for when to recap events. Immediately afterwards, there's the afterglow that you just want to bask in alone. Waiting too long leads to forgetting some of the finer details and the atmosphere left behind though.

In any case, as part of the Bromance Tour, Brodinski & Gesaffelstein, two French DJs, played at Wrongbar last Saturday (Jan. 21st, 2012). Amazing experience, great music, excellent night.

I bought my ticket online a bit before 9pm, which is pretty spontaneous for me. M & L can make a pretty convincing case though, and I'm really glad I went. It was the first time I'd been to a DJ-centric live event/rave (if we're not counting seeing Far East Movement at Kool Haus in April 2011).

Alas, we forgot to get a photo of the three of us before leaving. Really good timing on just catching the streetcar, and we got into line around 11pm. And then we were stuck outside waiting for a good forty-some minutes in the cold, which was a bummer (and we missed Destructo too). We get inside finally and find out coat check is full too. So with our coats and a beer each, we start making our way towards the front.
With a few minor blips at the beginning, mostly everyone was there for the music and it was just a great time. We spent pretty much the entire time dancing up at the front. The music was great, the dancing was great, the DJs were great. French DJs, oh man. And as it was the Bromance Tour, it was really adorable how Brodinski and Gesaffelstein were helping each other out on the equipment and stuff (excuse my lack of lingo knowledge).

Rynecologist made a ton of hilarious faces on stage too. So many cigarettes though! Seemed like they went through maybe a pack each? The fun went on until sometime just after 3, and we cabbed it back just prior to 4am, all hyped up and high on music and dancing. All in all, a great experience that left us all in consensus that we should listen to M more often ;)
With 8MP, the iPhone 4S has a decent camera, but it has nothing on DSLRs. The Anonymous Society posted better photos.