Justice / Midnight Juggernauts

The influx of France’s hottest export coincided almost too perfectly with the opening of Toronto’s new Mecca, the long-awaited super-club CiRCA. Dominating the city’s October headlines, for many stepping into the giant multi-room edifice was enough to appease clubbing compulsions, but resident promoters A.D/D. did their job bringing in Ed Banger sensations Justice to christen the club fittingly. Aussie retro futurists Midnight Juggernauts fit the bill nicely as the support, giving the Toronto crowd a sneak peek of their yet-to-be-domestically-released debut, Dystopia. Songs like "Road to Recovery,” an amped up house/rock hybrid, and the muscular space disco of "Into The Galaxy” found the trio warming up the stage and easily earning some new fans. The build up for Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay’s entrance felt eternal, but when the lights dropped, the signature cross lit up and the colossal intro to "Genesis” announced their arrival, 2000 or so sweaty bodies went bananas as soon as the track snapped into its robotic stupor. From there on in it was in Justice’s hands to keep the party blazing and the duo sequenced the night without falling into a predictable formula. They teased with a piano intro to hit "D.A.N.C.E.” and even when it kicked in full blast, Gaspard and Xavier made sure to keep their version fresh from the original. Not shy on displaying the overdriven synth riffs and the battering beats of their † album, they also kept the surprises coming, mixing in Klaxons and their slaying remix of Metallica’s "Master of Puppets.” It was the one-two punch of their Simian collab "We Are Your Friends” and "Waters of Nazareth,” that earned the biggest response, igniting a warm, communal sing-along. As thrilling as it was, Justice couldn’t quite reach the towering bar set by their heroes Daft Punk two months earlier. But on this night they proved that maybe one day they could top a pyramidic robot extravaganza. Maybe.