Ultraspin 10 was the first rave I attended by myself because my friends just didn't like the main DJ of the event. It must have been one of the best sets I ever heard DJ Yoji spin. The party was held at the Koolhaus (part of the Guvernemnt Nightclub Complex). Due to the shitty picture quality on my phone, UTstarcom PPC6700, I was limited to only take video and grab a bunch of pictures of my new friends after the party. DJ Yoji's style and music are one-of-a-kind and will leave a serious imprint on the dance scene for years to come.

YOJI (formerly known as Yoji Biomehanika with aliases such as Mutant DJ, Ozaka Oz, Bionico and BIOMEHANIKA) is a popular Japanese trance/hard trance DJ. Characterised by his striking clothing style, manner of entertaining behind and in front of the turntables, and being the driving force behind a style which he calls "Tech Dance", YOJI is one of the most popular Hard Dance DJs in the world. Although mainly creating music in solo productions, YOJI has frequently produced tracks in collaboration with Romeo Toscani in the form of remixes and 4 original tracks. YOJI has made a big name as one of the icons of the underground electronic music scene, particularly in Europe after his gigs at big events including Sensation, Mystery Land and Dance Valley. His residency at GIGA in Japan has also given him a big following in his home country. YOJI has also played at events in the US, most recently at Southern California's Electric Daisy Carnival in front a crowd measured in the tens of thousands.

Definitely one of the best parties I have ever been to. Sensation Black 2006 by ID&T was a mental rollercoaster ride from 10pm till 7am in the Amsterdam ArenA where 40.000 party animals had a blast. My brother and I arrived right on time to see Kai Tracid's set before The Prophet torn the house upside down. Unfortunately I lost my brother and friends once I left to order beers. The minute I turned around at the bar I witnessed utter chaos. Try to find someone in a crowd of 40.000. So I drank all the beers and continued partying by myself. I made some great footage throughout the night. Guess what, finally when the party ended I ran into my brother at the exit, we actually left the jam at the same time. What are the odds.

Sensation Black slowly builds up the pace, starting from hard trance, hardstyle and then hardcore gabber. Sensation Black is always held in the second weekend of July. All attendees are required to dress completely in black. Notable DJs that have appeared at Sensation Black include Showtek, Angerfist, Headhunterz, Marcel Woods, Chris Liebing, DJ Lady Dana, DJ Luna, DJ Zany, The Prophet, Technoboy, Tommyknocker, Yoji Biomehanika and Mauro Picotto.

An incident occurred at Sensation Black, where DJ Rob Gee and his live band Ampt performed at the event against the recommendations of the majority of ID&T's staff, and were subsequently booed and catcalled during the performance, which was more rock/metal oriented. Slight mayhem ensued as a member of the audience climbed onto the stage and hit Rob Gee himself. The rest of Rob Gee's performance was cancelled and ID&T's manager, Duncan Stutterheim, later acknowledged his mistake in allowing Rob Gee to perform against the wishes of his employees.

Full set videos from the event:

• Technoboy
• Showtek

Yoji was back in Toronto and to celebrate that my friends and I reserved a booth at Guvernment Nightclub to go all out. We decided to relocate the party to Skybar which is on top of the Guvernment and looks like a big outdoor party patio. Unfortunately it started raining but at that point we already finished our bottles and prepared to move downstairs to the main room.

Once in the main room I got in touch with one of the promoters which secured me access to the VIP back area of the stage where Yoji would eventually be spinning. Around 2AM he arrived on stage and played some great tracks throughout the night ranging from Techy Techy to some weird Tetris song and his older much better stuff. Some of his songs always give me goosebumps when I hear them.

Yoji has an unique skill when it comes down to making electronic music. I recorded some great clips from the event and videomixed them together while mxing the audio as well. It was absolutely unbelievable that I was able to talk to Yoji after his set was done, probably around 5AM. Luckily he understood my Japanese and we ended up exchanging some words. His makeup is definitely one of his main trademarks. You barely see a DJ nowadays that truly creates such a unique style.

I also met Dutch DJ Steven Quarre who just came back from another show in Canada and was basically relaxing in the VIP area waiting to fly back to Amsterdam after the show, so it was quite an international night. Eventually I walked with both DJ's and the managers through the back doors where a cab was waiting to take both superb DJs back to the airport.

Flashback to Yoji's best set @ Sensation Black 2004

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6
• Part 7
• Part 8
• Part 9

Ultraspin is one of my favorite events in Toronto. The lineup has usually top notch DJ's like Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Paul Oakenfold or Yoji. We arrived already half trashed but still energentic enough to take the roof down. Lots of muscle flexing and grooving went on while we made our way to the stage. My buddy pulled off an intense glowstick show in front of Mike that left him mesmerized for days. Blank & Jones were the highlight of the night.

Wrapping up another photo compilation since I got back from Japan. I was quite depressed the months after my return but tried to have as much fun while enjoying great company from my friends in Canada. DJ Yoji was back in town so enough reason to party hardy.

A few Fall Events of 2009:

• Kiss the Sky boat cruise
• Century Room Sundays
• Halloween Pumpkin cutting
• Cooking showoff (Onigiri, Sushi, Katsukare). The Japanese obsession was persistent.
• DJ Yoji @ Guvernment, the 3rd live show