The Soul of Montreal

SUDBEAT MONTREAL

To begin, THANK YOU to friend Vishal, who expressly asked me to put my words to the evening 😉 les voicis.

So this Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, SUDBEAT made Montreal Underground resonate to the deliciously deep and energetic rhythms of great South American progressive house with Maestro Cattaneo himself at Piknic, and then with his runner-up and no less great master of progressive for 30 years, SimplyCity who delivered a powerful performance at Stereo for his birthday!

The dancers who made it to Piknic AND Stereo could have danced to almost 16 hours of SUDBEAT, without realizing it. That’s why the whole night was a continuation of the day, perfectly fluid and on the same loving current, carried by the conscious Egregore of underground benevolence. Crowd harmony was remarkable throughout the dance steps, and in general, it was very respectful of the environment and the vibe of the dancers.

The wonderful consequence is that “Montreal Underground” was powered by two MASTERS who each delivered impeccable performances that rank among the great gatherings of the finest consciousness and most exquisite humanity there is.

I don’t know about you who were there, but it was an enchantment and a real pleasure to experience every moment of the great rendezvous at Cattaneo, under a radiant sun, and with an absolutely extraordinary musical backdrop, which connected the thousands of people present to themselves, and to the Great Whole for a few moments of dance.

Everywhere in sight, happy faces, freedom and joy! The gratitude and benevolence, the sharing and smiles, all around you, were radiant and without doubt the most beautiful proof of this community that exists and recognizes each other without necessarily knowing each other.

We are united by what i call the Spirit Of Underground Living (learn more about it The 20 underground ethical principles)

Everywhere, there were only happy people dancing and dancing their lives away to the rhythmic undulations induced by SUDBEAT’s music.

I give 10/10 to Cattaneo for his entire performance at the picnic, which was synchronic with the sunset, the whole music was in absolute phase with it, the power of the sound, the hypnotic edge, the abandonment of choice in the music, it was spectacular.

At several points, I said to myself : that this was a perfect manifestation of the joy that unites us.

you who are living a very intimate moment, immersed in the biggest crowds of all, give thanks for the immense privilege of having the conditions in place to allow the emergence of these phenomena, which emotionally mark each of us by their perfection.

Gratitude is the word.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN ALL SIMPLYCITY…

A birthday so satisfying for the dancers!

So, after a wonderful afternoon of Friday the 13th dancing to the sound of the Maestro, it was logical to continue the musical ecstasy without radical break, by going to find the exceptional talent of this Montreal DJ who has acquired an international position by working closely with Cattaneo himself, among others on his label SUDBEAT.

In other words, for those who may be discovering this DJ, you should know that SIMPLY CITY publishes and plays its music all over the world WITH Cattaneo’s label, SUDBEAT.  That’s why, if you add his ten hours of playing to Cattaneo’s six hours, Montreal was treated to 16 hours of SUDBEAT’s South American spirit on Friday, September 13, with its magnificent progressive structures, long and powerfully articulated.

That’s why at Stereo, we benefited from an extension of the piknic in some way, and witnessed the quintessence of a mature and ready DJ, who offers the best of all his talent, all his experiences and also all his confidence and HIS posture, all night long. It was HIS birthday, but it’s US that he spoiled with a flawless performance!

You know, Simply City is a veteran DJ from Montreal, who works with immense humility by opening for many of the greatest DJs in the world like Cattaneo himself or Digweed for example. But in his role as an opener, he never really gets into the swing of things, since “all he does is prepare” the room for the guest, and it takes immense restraint and know-how on the part of a dj to do a good opening without taking over the space…

While locally he does openings, this guy also plays everywhere else in the world, he goes on tour with Cattaneo across South America or Europe and he plays in front of huge crowds. He has everything necessary to be THE DJ, and Friday night was all to his credit, simply impeccable, and even beyond, all the way.

For his birthday, he gave all his power and all the strength that progressive music can deliver in a perfect 10-hour sequence, without ever losing the rhythmic or structural coherence of the long cycles, and that is quite an art!

Most of the people I danced with on Friday shared a moment of grace between themselves, the music and the moment, which can’t be invented.

For the record, the way Simplycity ended his night after a little greeting around nine in the morning, while pointing his finger in the air to say “one more”, or “one moment it’s not over…” and MY GOD it wasn’t over! It was the CREAM of the night!

In this extension that existed only trough his energy to keep going, he created something there, a moment that qualifies to enter the category of legends of the night…

It is in this last musical line that his experience, his absolute understanding of the moment, and his perfect mastery of the technique of rhythm and sound allowed him to catch up, recover and send the dancers even higher.

Each of the pieces of his last hour were significant and carried a great historical sense of all the eras of music. And he played them masterfully! Like ME by REJ, OMG! or THE END, by the Doors!

Those who witnessed his night to the end will understand, looking back on the very last hour, how epic and out of the ordinary it was.

/////

Follow me… according to my conception of what we call a maestro, in our underground culture, the title of maestro appears not for lasting a night, or even for having given a remarkable performance. No, this title is earned and deserved, it appears over the years in the absolute mastery of the fundamental music, and of a great shot punctuated, often by numerous variations and remarkable or even brutal repeats exactly chosen, which play with the dancer’s mind and consciousness to bring him back to the surface, and plunge him back into long rhythmic sequences without interruptions. There’s no such thing as a fluke: everything is thought out and mastered in advance!

The Maestro knows how to capture the spirit of the dancers and not lose it, for a long time. Hours, ideally… the maestro knows how to make you fall to the point of almost giving up, but catching you, never letting you fall, to take you even further inside.

Cattaneo is a maestro, Calderone too, Tenaglia, they are geniuses of time. //////

As the hours go by, a trust is built up between the DJ and the dancers, who know that he will carry them along with a heavy, dirty base, and thus push the Dancer to abandon himself completely and deliciously to his master of ceremonies, who feeds him without letting rhythm and structure down. It’s a symbiosis between the DJ and each soul dancer, and when this trust and abandonment of the crowd into the hands of the DJ, who can follow them for hours, is established, absolute magic sets in and the complicity becomes incredible between people who all know they’re there in a moment that doesn’t exist.

And it’s here that the great masters eventually reveal themselves…

And on Friday evening, taking all my personnal observations + the after party discussions we had about it into account, I would definitely award the title of “Grand Master” to Simply City for its excellence, and its very professional posture behind the tables, always calm, aware, concentrated, while regularly looking out at the crowd, beautiful contact. That’s why he never lost the connexion.

The final was an absolutely memorable moment for those who were there right to the end. You gave it your all, sick to death! Quite simply, at the finale I think everyone was dancing with everyone! And when the all dancefloor sang “Happy Birthday Cesar” Just delicious!

Of course, none of this would have the same hypnotic force without the excellent lighting effects that fill the space like organic matter. Bravo Luc for your diversity and your mastery of your own instruments, with which you sculpt space like magic.

Great work by the maintenance team, no excessive dragging, a bottle-free floor, great discipline from the dancers, no predators, rather beautiful smiles exchanged and a great deal of complicity from one end of the floor to the other.

Stereo, you were MAGNIFICENT for Cesar Romero’s BD party, thank you!

You need to be told sometimes 😉

Thank you Mike and Tommy for making it all possible!

Thank you (((Staff))) for welcoming us

L’ÉTIQUETTE S.O.U.L UNDERGROUND – LES 20 VALEURS ETHIQUES The 20 underground ethical principles

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