Decadence, which has been around since 2004, has been a natural stop for electro heads and partygoers celebrating the coming of the long weekend, and this past Easter long weekend was no exception. The tightly-packed event at the Guvernment featured 19 big-name acts including hometown favourites MSTRKRFT and Carlo Lio, as well as international DJs like American producer Steve Aoki and Italian duo the Crookers.

Around 11 o’clock there was already a throng of people dutifully lined up around the building, jittery with anticipation. At about midnight MSTRKRFT came out blasting, pumping out several of their new tracks like “Bounce” and “Vuvuvu” from their latest CD, Fist of God. They also incorporated older hits from their debut disc, The Looks, to their set list.

Fans were going ballistic and at different parts of the night crowd-surfing ensued. At one point I couldn’t help but stare at the stage mesmerized by very distracting dancing mascots, which was reminiscent to Circa Nightclub’s roving freaks of French Fries, only the furry bunny was fenced off only to appear on stage without any fan contact.

Next up, Crookers clamped down on the crowd with more Ed Banger released remixes like Busy P’s “To Protect and Entertain”. It seemed like every set came into a culmination getting better as the clock ticked. The concert proved that every DJ was on its own a highlight, and Decadence catered for the diverse crowd. Yet the highlight of the night was hands down Steve Aoki.

The half-brother of model-turned-actress Devon Aoki, the Los Angeles-based DJof Japanese-descent continues to spawn major club hits from both established singers and artists like Lenny Kravitz and Snoop Dogg as well as more indie acts like MSTRKRFT and The Von Bondies, who both have released songs from his record company Dim Mak.

Aoki’s sets are always rhythmically flashy and electro heavy. At Koolhaus, Aoki could be seen sitting on the stage’s cream-coloured couch, working double-duty as he partied with friends and prepared the next few songs on his Macbook for the Toronto crowd. Spinning at one of the city’s biggest clubs, Aoki sustained the stream of accolades he is known for in the music industry, which was evidenced by jumping and screaming party revelers still out during the wee hours of Good Friday.

photography provided by Joyce Wong

reported by Chris Jai Centeno