I have never been so proud as I was proud of everyone there last night. Thank you each and everyone who made it out to Group Hug. I want to especially thank those who made that party possible; Phil from Phryl and his partner Michelle from Detroit (and everyone else involved on his side), as well as Will and Tommy(silver1) who took care of a lot of the running around, picking up DJs and such. I want to add that everyone involved in the party did so for no other reason that to be there for a friend.
I don't have to tell you how shitty these last few days for me have been. Having cancelled the party, Phil had offered to do a little something with our UK talent since they were coming anyways, plane tickets bought and such, so within a couple of hours he made the neccessary arrangements to put it all together. What I couldn't do was involve Hullabaloo in anyway, which meant I couldn't promote it through our main page or infoline. Which made getting the word out difficult since no one really knew what the hell was going on (well, those not on our message board anyways). and to complicate things other 'replacement' parties sprouted up only confusing people on where to go. But our decision to not promote it normally was a wise move, since when the police cought wind of it they were furious. They thought I was trying to pull a fast one or something and simply move Hulla somewhere else. So to avoid risking having this party shut down just by my mere presence I was unable to attend till halfway through the night. I sat at home baby sitting the phone waiting for hourly updates from Phil. Finally things seemed calm enough that I could probably come without much notice.
When I arrived all I can say is that by that point I was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. But it did my heart a lot of good to see the smiles and everyone having a great time as soon as I entered the building. Right away when people spotted me I would get lots of hugs and support from everyone, which I needed.
I'm told that all DJs played great sets that night and I was pleasantly surprised to see my good friend Arthur (atro) tearing up the dancefloor
. Poor Arthur gets stuck working my door at every Hulla, so this was one of the few times he was able to come out and enjoy himself at a party with our DJs.
When it was time for me to start my set my heart soared looking at the crowd and hearing everyones cries of support. It was quite the moment and emotions were running high. I played the best I could, beeing so exhausted and all, and dropped some older classics which everyone hasn't heard in a while to a roar of approval
played a bit of new stuff, and then pulled Shooting Star and Eye Opener out of retirement for this special night
. Finally when it was time for me to wrap it up e-by-gum gave me the microphone. I'm not good with the mic, but it was very touching to hear the crowd go from huge noise making to silence to hear what I had to say. and your cries and spontaneous cheers really mean so much to me. I had to fight back the tears looking out on such a beautiful site as yourselves just beaming back love and support at me. Thank you. You've given me a memory I will never ever forget. I couldn't think of a more suiting song to end my set with than Heart of Gold and came down into the crowd only to be approached by everyone, one hug after the next, words of support from everyone. Everyone singing and dancing, arms around each other, if there were ever a moment that would capture what Hullabaloo is all about, it was there and then.
I have no idea what the future holds for us, but like I promised last night, Hullabaloo will bounce back from this and we'll be stronger than ever. But until then, all of your support and kind words make getting by all that much easier.
If there's one thing I've learned through all this, it's that I've really learned who my friends are, and I will never forget each and every one of you that rallied behind me when things got tough. You can take pride knowing that I may not have had the strength to continue with Hullabaloo and that all our future accomlishments are only possible because of your support during this time. Thank you so much.
[This message has been edited by anabolic frolic (edited April 16, 2000).]