Didn’t do it Justice

Unless you’ve been living in a hole the last few months, you already knew that Ed Banger’s flagship electro duo, Justice, made a sold-out stop at the newly opened Circa nightclub this past Friday. What you probably didn’t know is that if you have their album Cross and a Craigslist account, you could have heard “the show” and been $60 richer.

The set itself strayed little from the album, which really makes one wonder what the live show is for. That said, Cross is an excellent album. If you’ve never heard it, you should buy it immediately.

Known for their heavy rock influence and flashing white cross jammed among an excessive stack of unused electronics, the aesthetic for a crazy dance party was well represented. Unfortunately, the extremely overcrowded mosh pit could only squirm as kids attempted to “D.A.N.C.E.” while couch-surfing VIPs apathetically looked on from an aquarium invasively perched beside the stage. In fact, it may have been in this very aquarium that the duo sat for the unannounced hour-and-a-half delay following Aussie openers Midnight Juggernauts.

Bringing their recent album Dystopia to their first-ever Canadian appearance, Midnight Juggernauts played an energetic, dance-inflected rock set fitting for the Halloween season. Slowly but surely, the unexpectedly sparse crowd warmed up to their set, and by the time the “Juggerz” jammed out their final tune, Circa was certainly rammed to capacity.

The show was originally booked at the neighbouring Republik nightclub but was moved to Circa in a failed attempt to comfortably accommodate the overwhelming demand for tickets. In the giant building formerly known as Lucid, Circa is international club mastermind Peter Gatien’s recent contribution to the Toronto scene. But set deep in dirty clubland, groping ran rampant, and I witnessed least one fight before leaving the area.

Ultimately, all the necessary tools were present to create an excellent show, but enduring the long, sobering delay amongst the high-density clubber crowd caused even the true Justice fans to resort to having one more cigarette and then watching the show from the back.