"Ed Banger Records Presents Justice: A Cross the Universe Tour"

Show: October 29, 2008 @ Circa, Toronto, ON.
It’s 8am, I’m still bleary eyed from the night before and I’m lucky to have just caught my train to take me back to school on this chilly Thursday morning. It was merely five hours ago that I finally peeled myself from the chaos that was Circa’s dance floor. I wanted to write this article with as little time removed from last night’s events in order to give justice (pun intended) to what was simply a mind blowing affair of electronic debauchery.

Rewind twelve hours and my life was altogether much more normal than it is now. I knew it’d be worth the drive to Toronto from London for the night to catch three all stars of the Ed Banger crew in all their sound ripping glory. So why have they graced Toronto with their presence? The purpose of this two month tour that sees stops in fifteen cities is to promote the release of ‘A Cross the Universe’, a documentary film that follows Justice’s 2007 world tour using fan submitted content.

Managing to slither my way front and centre from where the turntables were set up on stage, I knew it was an omen from the DJ Gods that this would be a special night indeed. First up was So-Me, who is Ed Banger’s resident graphic artist responsible for all their cover art as well as direction of their music videos. If you’ve seen Kanye West’s video for ‘Good Life’, you’ve witnessed the work conjured by this talent. And oh, he just so happens to know a thing or two about DJing as well. He fared well in getting the crowd amped for the main event, throwing down the likes of Boys Noize and Crookers to get people swaggering on their feet.

Witnessing Justice take to the stage is probably like attending Church with the Pope presiding. It is a holistic experience in the religion that is music. Clad in the usual black leather bomber jackets and looking suitably unkempt, Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard D’Auge illicit a kind of emotion from the crowd that borders on dangerous. It was all the security personnel could do to prevent the throngs of people from stampeding over the security barriers and onto stage. All the while, the French duo just taunted the audience with their spinning heavier tune after heavy tune and in their gestures to just bounce that much harder. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such energy within a crowd of concert goers as when ‘Phantom Pt. II’ was dropped or when the MSTRKRFT rendition of ‘D.A.N.C.E.’ made its way to the tables. In typical Justice fashion, the conclusion to their almost two hour set harkened back to the roots of their love for music, with Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What It’s Worth’ taking to the airwaves, which drew to the emotional appeal of what I’m sure was all in attendance.

Following up one of the top acts in dance music requires an experienced turntablist at the helm, and there’s none more suitable than Mr. Ed Banger himself, Pedro Winter a.k.a. Busy P. The former Daft Punk manager is a God on the tables, spinning a battalion of filthy electro-house tracks that assaulted the senses. Most notable for me was his mash up of two personal favourites, SebastiAn’s ‘Greel’ with the Soulwax edit of MGMT’s ‘Kids’. Busy P provided an epic send off for a night that has left me contemplating the merits of becoming hearing impaired.

To the naysayers who claim that DJs have no musical talent whatsoever, I’d think witnessing a trio of this caliber would have one reconsider in a heartbeat. In the meantime, I’m going to savor the ringing in my ears on this stunningly uneventful train ride back to normalcy.


www.myspace.com/etjusticepourtous
www.myspace.com/busyp