Brenda C's review: "i've been going since H1 :) loved everyone even though the damn happy hardcore athems sometimes scrap mne the worng way, but hey, in exchange for such a fun party and one sick set of brutal hardcore a la Brad D!!!!! ..."
Laura Hicks's review: "Over 24 hrs later i'm so sore i can barely walk, i still have yet to catch up on lost sleep, and my ears are ringing so loudly i can't hear anything else. But did I have a good time??? Oh YEAH!!!! ..."
Little Andrew's review: "I've never been to a Hullabaloo party before but it was a refreshing change. ..."
Sara Mills's review: "It is an 9 hour drive to Toronto from Boston and we couldn't have picked a better time to do it. ..."
Styles069's review: "I just got home from the party, and all I can say is that it left me very impressed! ..."
Vergel Evan's review: "hullaballoo once again was a party that had the least amount of attitude and frustration. ..."
I know a lot of you Torontonians know the temple well, but for those in NYC who don't, well, it's a great venue for a rave. On the top floor, big wide open space, with no pillars to obstruct the view. The DJs/MCs were on a stage, and the lighting effects were directed out towards the audience. Balconies ran around the perimeter of the hall, so you could look out over the crowd. A set of staircases toward the back gave easy access. The downstairs area was a smaller room, with lower ceilings, so you felt as if you were at a different party. Unless you were standing in the stairwell, there was no noise bleed between the floors. The main floor played host to happy hardcore and gabber, while downstairs was the trance and house area.
From 11 PM to midnight we were listening to Frisky spin. For some reason, the happy hardcore has greater energy during the early part of the evening. After midnight, we headed downstairs, where I spent the greater part of the night. There wasn't that much of a crowd during JT's set, so there was plenty of room to dance. Marty McFly started spinning breaks at 1 AM, which were terrific. He wins my "Best DJ of the Night" award. I'm not a big funky breaks fan, but the way he works the records and the crowd, this guy puts the word fun in FUNky. Brano followed with some good house, which I enjoyed. DJ Bizz came on around 3ish; he was okay, but a lot of his stuff I found, well, boring. Time to head upstairs to hear Sy and Unknown.
As the phrase goes this pair were "ripping shit up". People were going nuts, a thousand whistles going off constantly. Having fun was a domino effect. Around 4, I went back downstairs to give out pieces from the five pound bag of candy we brought in. As I walked around the room, a few people asked why I was doing this. I really didn't have an answer, mumbled something about having fun, and then moved on to the next victim. As 4:30 approached, I moved right up to the railing in front of the DJ booth, even though there wasn't much room to dance.
In preparation for Hugh Sharpe's psychedelic trance set, out of the backpack came the Cosmic Dome. This is a platic/glass toy, kind of like a gyroscope, with red, green and yellow lights arrayed in a star pattern. I pushed the dials, put the unit in auto mode, and let the light speak for themselves. As Hugh launched into a high paced set, some other folks were grooving away to the Cosmic Dome. One fellow liked it so much, he piad me $15 Candian for the toy. Hugh's set increased its intensity, and the crowd was loving it. Things slowed down a bit when Richie Salvaggio played a house set around six, accompanied by Flex MCing. Richie started off with some mixing problems, but worked them out quickly. His best bit was integrating the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" into the mix. Eryk S finished up the downstairs with some mellow trance. The downstairs area closed at 8 AM, so the group moved upstairs, to hear THC pumping out the trancey house. I was tired at this point, but the music was infectious, making you want to dance. When things shut down at 9:45, I went from tired to exhausted.
The folks at "Meltdown" were super friendly. Some folks there remembered my face back from H2 in September. We ran into Phil (Baconboy) handing out flyers outside, and I spoke briefly with the gabber-satiated Brenda C in the morning, but didn't get to meet other Net people. Good mix of folks too; for once I didn't feel like the oldest person there. :)
After the party, four of us went to breakfast, and then running errands around town and countryside. 200 Kms and four hours later, back at the hotel for a much needed rest. Later in the evening, we went up to Hugh's hotel for dinner, and found Anabolic and his friend George there. Upon their recommedation, we dined at Corman's, the restaurant that introduced garlic bread to North America. Garlic bread aside, they have awesome steaks. DJs Sy & Unknown, and MC Storm stopped by briefly, but left, as they had already eaten dinner.
The flight home today (Monday) was uneventful, with the exception of an improperly cooked Pizza Hut pizza, and some minor turbulence over LaGuardia airport. I wound up tossing my cookies (er, pizza crust) into an air sickness bag. Still, with all the fun that was had Saturday night, it was worth it. The Hullabaloo parties are wicked. I probably won't make the one-year anniversary, but I'll strive for number seven in the series.
YAY!!! they were soo much fun. that kid Peter, the guy whos into gabber made my night 100% better by convulsing with me in front of the speakers during Brad D, its good to have someone dancing with you who UNDERSTANDS, we fedoff each other all night, the tape he made kick ass too!!!!! how happy i felt at that moments is scary!!!!! THANKS CHRIS!!!! for not being afrain to have something out of the ordinary, cause the ordinary very soon gets boring. Chris, i hope you understand how happy Brads set made me feel, my cynical mood i was stuick in is now gone, gabber is so cleansing, its liek Draino for your brain.
This is cheesy but i have to say it, it felt like 1994 again. evceryone at that party was friendly,i did not see many crack head drug ravers at all;, everyone there was there for the sole purpose of enjoying theirselves and for the music. People came and sat with me and started talking for no reason, wow, how often does that happen these days. A lot were young but FUK, the just make those older peopel look bad, by the fact that they made this party so great. I HAD FUN AT A PARTY!!!!!!!! wooohoooooo!!!!!!
I was starting to get really jaded after too many bad parties but hullabaloo made me see that there are real ravers out there, i htink they just don;t bother to go to all the other parties. H5 was one of the best parties i have been to in a long time, Can we chill with the damn happycore though???? hehhe!!! just kidding.
It was hot, it was sweaty and the beats were loud. The main room was literally vibrating with energy from the onlookers in the balcony to the people sitting on the stage. Surrounded by such a community of ravers one couldn't help but go nuts on the dance floor!!!
Having attended parties for about 5 yrs now i've been to quite a few, hell i was even at the last Hullabaloo!! But not in a long time have i felt the connection with fellow ravers having a good time, as i did the other nite. Everywhere i turned people were smiling, introducing themselves, offering candy, water, glow stix, even a complimentary back massage!! This is what it's about. This is why i go. It's a whole other world out there, a distinct community, and on April 25, Hullabaloo 5 provided it.
i'm not one to promote massive commercial parties, i believe in keeping them underground separate from the rest of the world, but when the community is set and the zone is created everything else is irelevant. i could care less that the average age of the raver's there was about 16, as long as they had a smile on their face and weren't afraid to do their own thing on the dance floor. The one thing i hate about raves is getting sly, challenging looks from fellow dancers. So what if i don't happen to wear phat pants! Yet, with all the people i met the other night i only came across that once. Thank gawd for leaving the attitudes @ the door! Mostly what i got were smiles and lots of candy!!
It's all about getting in the ZONE and doing your thing. And nothing does it better than some good beats and friendly ravers. (Happy Hardcore, i love that shit!) Having consumed enough caffeine pills to keep my enthusiasm going long after my body's breaking point, for about 8 straight hrs my feet would not stop movin. i'm sure i looked like an idiot half the time, jumpin around going crazy, but who the fuck cares! i was in the ZONE. i'd just like to say thanx to the D.Js all you guys were awesome, (Sy & Unknown, and Freaky Flow you rock!!), the organizers and of course my fellow ravers, go nuts and keep happy!!
Keep playing that Happy Hardcore music! I almost got sentimental hearing cindy Lauper and Madonna thrown over a wicked bouncy, uplifting dance beat. The music of our youth shot into the future.
You delivered what you promised on your flyer - good vibes, the most important aspect of a rave. Some people I've been to raves with who are roughly my age (23) always bitch about how things were better "back in the day". Things weren't better back in the day. When I was 15 or 16 the closest thing to rave was basically a booze can that played house music. Another complaint is that crowds are getting younger. Who gives a shit? The younger people are a very friendly and they dance there asses off.
Anyway, once again congrats on a great RAVE. I will definately attend future events!
THE DRIVE:
It is an 9 hour drive to Toronto from Boston and we couldn't have picked a
better time to do it. My friend DJ Zach Fink, Roy and myself climbed into
Zach's car and drove...and drove...and drove. We passed by beautiful
countryside in Western Mass. The sun was out(a rarity) and the trees were
all blooming and different colors and the countryside was so picturesque.
Anyways, we wanted to stop at the famous Salt Museum(don't ask..we saw
signs for it so I know it exists)...but we had to get
to the party :)
We were running late and left at 3 pm. However, the drive was definitely
worth every minute.
THE CITY:
From what we saw of it Toronto is a great city....really alive and busy
where we were(we think downtown). Lots of lights and activity and XXX
video stores. Enough said. Oh yeah, and all the trashcans are in the
shape of ladybugs and painted accordingly. We arrived around
midnight...anxious to get in!
THE PARTY:
First, there was no line, and we were not even searched. They had me
open my backpack but they let us in with chapstick and pens and
everything. They didn't even pat me down even though I could have
been hiding small children inside each of the legs of my pants! Upon
entering a quiet 2 story building(quiet on the outside of course) we
entered into a party of around 2000 people. There were 2 main rooms and a
chill out room. The main room had a raised stage above the ground and a
large
dance area. Not a lot of speakers, but the noise was loud. Up above, a
balcony wrapped around on three sides where there were bleacher like
setup(only not bleachers, just raised step like things) where people could
watch the DJ and the crowd, dance, or whatever. Downstairs were two
rooms, one about half the size of the main dance floor and a smaller dark
room where people can sit and chill with no music. Neither room was
entirely one genre of music, but they had a DJ list and times posted so we
were able to find the DJ's we wanted.
***NOTE***
We should be thankful for pureacidmixtapes by the way, since they had a
mixtape booth with about 20 tapes and 3 CD's. Let's be glad we can get
our music so readily. Also, they sold fun fruity drinks with ginsing and
caffeine and stuff, and huge otter pops which were yuuummmmyy!
THE PEOPLE:
The people were extremely friendly, and Zach said that it was a weird
party because "People all look like they are having so much
fun....everyone at east coast parties just complains and is generally
unhappy...plus a lot of people are dancing...I like it!"
It reminded me of home :)
The people were great...they all came up and were amazed at all my bracelets and candE gear...it was all good though:) They were all saying "Welcome to Canada" and stuff. I had people giving me suckers(no blow pops at this party!) I handed out mad amounts of jewelry. They were all like "WICKED!" They had great accents too. Oh yeah, and Candadian guys are HOT!
THE DJ'S:
When we arrived DJ FRISKY was spinning happy hardcore, and we heard the
last
of the set which was the "Time after Time" track. Then all we had to do
was wait for DJ SY and UNKNOWN who were on after the jungle DJ(didn't
catch the name) but he had some good beats going and a decent MC. We
waited for an hour and then made our way hastily to the front as SY and
UNKNOWN started to set up. Their set can be described in two words:
ABSAFUCKINGLUTELY AMAZING! The scratching was well timed and difficult,
the set was bouncing, hard and fast happy hardcore easy on the cheeze.
They had a good MC(though I prefer Hardcore without MC's) and the crowd
went nuts. The lighting was good too, and so everyone had a generally
great time. I *danced* and *danced* and *danced* my little JNCO butt off.
After them it was another jungle DJ for an hour and during that time we walked around, drank water and cooled off in the bathrooms which had lots of COLD water and paper towels. Nice.
At 5 a.m. ANABOLIC FROLIC came on. Having only heard the 2 Happy 2B Hardcore CD's I was anxious to see him spin live. He started out with some really bouncy tunes, but unfortunately we had heard a lot of them before that night. It was the third time for "Love and Devotion" the second for "Discoland" and the second for "Time After Time." Most of the other songs were off his CD's and a few other tunes like "Hold Me Now" which is one of my faves. The MC was o.k, but I do feel that they take away from the music.
After Anabolic there was some REALLY good hard house/hardcore stuff going on. The DJ tore it up and the crowd took off almost like it had for SY and UNKNOWN. Too bad I didn't catch his name.
ALL in all it was a great party and I am glad I went. The people were great and everything went well.
THE DRIVE BACK:
was rainy and although we saw Niagra Falls we also got stopped by Border
Control and had the car ravaged. I guess they assumed since we drove 9
hours to stay in Toronto for 7 that we transporting drugs. great. They
didn't find anything, and we went home happy as clams:)
*smiles and PLUR*
sara
who had an interesting conversation with the border patrol:
The Scene: Zach and I in a detaining room:
Sara: "Excuse me, but could I use your restroom?"
Officer: "No, we don't have any facilities here."
Sara: "It must really SUCK to work here then, huh? What do you do? Go in
the falls?"
Officer: nasty look and turns his back
Sara: LAUGHTER!
But I did go to hullabaloo. And I did meet up with the ravers from the states. It was soooo much fun. And they totally rocked. And everything was sooo amazing.
hullaballoo once again was a party that had the least amount of attitude and frustration. Definitely a good time. I've been to every one since H2 and now I'm almost tooo familiar with all those hardcore tracks. :) I dont like hardcore.... really I dont. I just ....... its just that........... Okay I admit it. I enjoy just going off. And these parties seem to be a great way to do it.
Those ppl from the states had an amazing time. IT was soo kewl. They really like the vibe and the ppl supa friendly. It was cool cause other ppl would be standing there, maybe even scowling. Then you;d smile at them and they;'d light up and stuff. Lots of hugs for and from all the ppl on the MidWest list that came out. They totally rocked!!!! So much energy and love for everything it means to be into raving. Oh oh oh..... Plus I never realized how close all these major american cities are once you are in the mid west. If I ever have the cash to just pick up and go for a couple of weeks I would just to see all these cities and all these parties. Did I mention they rocked?!?!?!!! :)
And I have to mention how lucky we are here in toronto. They, once again, re-enforerced the fact that toronto has RAVES!!!!! Sure we also have parties and stuff where the amount of ppl are fewer. Where the vibe isnt as thick etc. BUT we still have a good amount of RAVE left in us as a city. We dont have the attitude and sketchy ppl that some of the party environments that aren't toronto may have. Sure they only told me the worst situations, and sure we have our share of problems. But we are fortunate enough to have promoters that are organized enough to not have 4 MAJOR parties on one nite. Have locations that are good for this type of event. And an audience and promotions system that can get some pretty great&big talent. That totally made me beam with happiness and count the blessings that toronto has. So we should all pat ourselves and each other on the back for that one. TORONTO IS GOOD!
Another thing that I realized about the whole rave culture we have.... No matter what kind of experience you're looking for at a party, you can find it. That as a community we all have this mutual understanding that allows for all these very unique ideals to mix so fluidly. I saw it at H5. Everybody seemed to be able to find the element that they were looking for in that party. Some ppl it was the music. Some the atmosphere. But everybody I was with, they found the pleasures they wanted. And none of it was at the harsh expense of anybody else. None if it intruded in on anybody elses experience of the good time we had.
Show me that in a bar scene. Or any other rather normal societial thing. Definitely a nice plus to the regular problems of just living in this world. When I was wandering the city in the day with these ppl, I noticed that we're all pretty nice to each other. And way more so at a party. But compare that to trying to find parking on Sat. downtown? Suddenly everybody is the enemy. And for a couple of hours of life its nice to be in a room full of friends. I don't know how to explain it clearly, but as a scene, we definitely have more "PLUR" then in most of the life situations that come up. And thats pretty kewl.