Deadphishn's review: "At one point i was so happy that i cried... but enough about the emotional crap. ..."
Detroit Junglist's review: "2000 peeps grinning, dancing, hugging, massaging, sharing, and I can still hear those whistles (no that's not the ringing in my ears). ..."
Jeff's review: "I was not prepared for just how amazing it was. ..."
TJ Triggerhippie's review: "Saturday comes around.... I am like a little kid at Christmas... ..."
Vibekeeper's review: "All I know is that Marty McFly is spinning, and he had the place bouncing up&down&up&down&up&down... ..."
i havnt slept in 39 hours....!!!!! i just drove 1400+ milesssssss into another country and back.. had some weird kinda of anxiety attack... thought i was going crayzeee.... what a cooool weekend >:P!!!!!!
MY GOD!!!!!!!!
E V E R Y O N E M U S T A T T E N D T H I S P A R T Y least ONCE in their lives!!!!!!!!!!!
whether or not u like happy hardcore this is SOMETHING U MUST EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!! it was so fuckin' amazing i cant begin to describe it... ok well i'll try anyways.... >:P
emily, carl, and i strolledddd up to brampton (just outside of toronto) around 9am friday nite... (after i almost FrEaKeD oUt at niagra falls) and finally met Aimee... a net buddy o' mine who i've been chatting with for a year or so.. she finally talked me into coming up to hullabaloooooo...
woke up saturday at 9am or so.... that was the last wink of sleep i've had since then... me, carl, em, aimee, and her friend shanon all farted around toronto all day.... finally when 10pm rolled around.. we went to the corner where the info line said to meet.. HOLY SHIT!!!!!! like hundreds of the WEIRDEST LOOKING and friendliest freaks i've ever met in my life....!!!
we got in there and after a couple hours.. oh man.. i've never seen anything like it.... its like 2000 of north americas most hardcore candy ravers.. BAM!!! right there in one building...so many cooooool as outfits... biggest smiles i've ever seen!!
and the freee whitles!!! JOYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! (i chewed mine to shreds almost.. yet somehow it still worked >:P) you feel like yur about to burst into pure energy when you look up at the booth and see the dj whaling his fists in the air with a huge smile on his face... and the mc screaming "mAKE SOMe NOOIIISSEE' right b4 the huge blast of 1000's of the loudest "YEAAAAAA WOOOOOOOO!!!!"'s you'll ever hear and 1000 whistles all blowing at once with the mega strobe light of doom nearly giving u a seiiiizure >:P
the music... oh god.. my heart almost exploded... BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOm 160 bmps just pounding yur chest like a sledgehammer! it's like they rented out the world's loudest speakers.... three rooms... you couldnt escape it... there was a time where i thought i cudnt take it anymore and was about to run out into the street foaming at the mouth and screaming like a rabid circus monkey!
the kids just wudnt STOP DANCING!!!!!!! kids bopping back and forth, kids just flinging their legs everywhere, kids dancing around with toys, stuffed animals, glowsticks, glowing swords, weird lasso glowie things, glowing colorful ibbons.. it was like sesame street on CrAcK!!
even if u hate happy hardcore.. GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ya think the music is a bunch of goofy circus shit???? trust me! for some reason it sounds totally different there... hate mc's????? you learn to love em! i'll bet my left ass cheek on it
i didnt think that kinda vibe was POSSIBLEEEEE!!!!! it was like a fuckin DREAM!
Me and Steph arrived in Toronto at about 7:30, got something to eat and then bar hopped our way to Hullabaloo6 (damn lushes!)
music- being one that loves HH, this was heaven for me. so much happyhardcore that i nearly died (not a bad way to go.) i loved it... Never in my life have I witnessed so many people go that crazy on the dancefloor or heard so many friggin whistles. yeah and now i'm permanently hearing them too... thanks. BTW does anyone know who was playing the HH in the 2nd room (estimation 3:00am?) Ruffneck was another highlite as was MC Magika. Some wacky force took control of my body for 5 seconds and made me hug him... believe it or not, it is not customary for me to hug the MC's while doing the MC thing. we left halfway thru Frisky's set because If I danced a step more I would've collapsed.
venue: smaller and more clubby than I usually prefer, but the kind hospitality and smile crazy crowd more than made up for it. it was extremly hot and humid. it was so hot that sweat would evaporate off of bodies, collect on the ceiling, and then drip back down on the crowd...eww. Luckily Steph brought two super-soakers so we had a ton of fun cooling off the crowd.
definitly worth the 8hr drive... although I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing it the way did... driving 8hrs, dancing like a madman for 7hrs, and then promptly driving 8hrs home again.
other mentionables:
+ hearing the phrases "i love you" and "happy hullabaloo" every 6 seconds
instead of "do you know where I can get some e/meth/crack?"
+ being carded and having to show approximately 12 forms ID before being
served beverages of the alcoholic nature (it must have been the
pigtails...not the fact that I really look like I'm 12.)
+ having the
waiter look at me like I was on crack because we were unknowingly about to
eat at a restaurant "for men" (woah..what's that all about anyway??)
+
wearing lots of rainbows and having a group of gay men congratulate me and
steph on being lesbian..."you go girls!" we're not lesbian but hey... I
never was one to turn down a compliment.
Ok, First things first: thank you Doris (non-Woo) Payer for convincing me to go to Toronto instead of staying in Detroit!
So, we leave home at 9:30 am Saturday morning. A quick skip across the border + money exchange, and out of Windsor by 10:25. Thought we were ok until _major_ construction for miles on 401 - grrr! This means after construction we had to do about 110-120 mph the entire rest of the way - no cops (kick ass!). Get to TO just in time for net.meet at Union Station at 2:00. No ravers there - hmm... then look inside the main doors and there's an afro - gotta be, so I walk over. Sho 'nuff, Vergel the Tour Guide! Also met Seth "Here's my card" a.k.a Vibekeeper a.k.a. Runs With Scissors a.k.a. Seth the Pirate (how many names do you have?), Brenda, Erica, Matt (I think), Jim, Sbuck, and I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.
Then it's off to Queen St. for some serious shopping. Ran into more peeps on the way (Allison was so sweet to me everytime I saw her), and our group started to grow like the Blob. Got a hopefully kick ass 3-D picture on some steps of the group so far with Maureen's camera, I'll have to post some pics once developed. I am _still_ amazed at how many partykids there are in TO - everywhere. Got more flyers than I even needed at one of the shops - they don't have to cover you with them at the space like in Detroit. Found a BOMB shirt, but $70? I don't think so! Music stores really good, especially Metropolitan. Love that hard Trance selection!
Finally split for the hotel at almost 5:00 to shower and change before the 6:30 net.meet. There we met a buncha kewl peeps. Highlights - Luis (Blue Boy) and his sweet+cute friend Annie "I am not a freak!", Casey, Hannah (never saw you after dinner - did you go to Hullabaloo?) Mik-E, Jeff Wisman, his friend Jonah, and T.J. (ok I guess I don't hate Chi town anymore). No Vergel or Brenda, leave a note and hope to find them...
Dinner: 14 people, one funny waitress "No doubt about it, eh?" who doesn't understand what an Amaretto Sour is, resulting in much laughter as Annie goes postal. We shoulda ate that Thai food up the street, but I'm not complaining. That's TWO pickles Seth - and I don't want to know why they shrink wrap cucumbers in Canada...
Split up again after dinner and T.J stuck with me & Maureen. Off to Nathan Phillips Square by like 10:30 - 11:00. Met Eric (one promoter for the Destiny partie) on the way, and he gave us some good info. Kept meeting so many partykids all weekend, and not a bad attitude from any of them! Hooked up with 10 strangers and walked to the space. Traffic signals that make noise for the vision impaired - good idea, but still wanted to break the speaker...
Anyway, the party: Short line, big smiles, and the first big surprise of the night: security Joe opens my water, sniffs it to make sure it's not G, and gives it back! Give up the tix, get free whistles, feel the vibe begin to take us away. Find Vergel, Brenda, and all the other netravers. Set up homebase upstairs (good call) and commence partying.
Bad things: Only the sound. Seth already covered this, but I hafta add that they don't know anything about sound in TO. Try something like this in Detroit, and you'll never get anyone to attend another event you put on, ever. Heavy distortion is unacceptable, period.
Good things: almost everything else - this is BY FAR the plurriest partie I ever attended. 2000 peeps grinning, dancing, hugging, massaging, sharing, and I can still hear those whistles (no that's not the ringing in my ears). I was hugged by 100+ total strangers and some were carrying ice around or offering massages. No bad attitudes, no Gucci chicks, no drunks, not a single 15-year old in a K-hole! Everyone was so hyped that I couldn't differentiate between tweakers and the rest of us.
Music: First of all, FUCK HAPPY HARDCORE - you can just flame away and I'll hit DELETE. Seth loves HH and even he understood. His quote, "The idea is to serve up the cheese with the least amount of holes." is dead on. I tried to like it, I really did, but there is no way I want to hear the remix of the remix of the remix of that old club hit cranked up to 180 bpm, while the most annoying m.c. in the world yells into a mike that is plugged directly in with no level adjustment. However, who cares? The vibe was so utterly fantastic that even the siezure-inducing strobes couldn't affect my mood. I didn't go to TO for the HH anyway. Frisky spun exactly one track that I kinda liked - the played out Verve "Bittersweet Symphony" track actually sounds really kewl with all those people whistling.
Dj's I liked:
Marty McFly - damn this boy has skills!
Flex - surprised me with that Jungle in his set - more on him in a
minute...
Madame Zu - Hard trance with a really good track selection, but she
fucked up a couple of transitions - it mighta been that shitty Numark they
put her on, I dunno.
And the big jem of the night for me - the very last set upstairs... Ken
Finch, a.k.a. Dj Viper. All I gotta say is, SPEED GARAGE FUCKING RULES! I
am determined to convince Becky to book this guy in Detroit. I had a long
conversation with him after and got his phone numbers + email + other
info...
Party ended at about 8:30 or 9:00. Then it was off to the Comfort Zone for the afterparty with Vergel, Brenda, Jeff, Jonah, and this strange guy we met who called himself Iceman. The Comfort Zone is basically a bar, and the afterparty had about half as meny peeps as a whole Detroit Party! People had back their personal space, but were still friendly. And finally I saw some dancing style in TO! Damn those tweakers can bust out the moves...
This afterparty was supposed to go until 10 pm Sunday, and then there was to be an after-afterparty that went to 6am Monday. Flex spun a good set from 12:00 to 1:30 or so and hung out with us. Got his mixtape, and finally realized he was the "dj from Rochester NY" that I liked at Hullabaloo - sorry Flex!
I was pretty hit by 3:30 and decided to go back to my room. Shared heartfelt hugs and thanks with Vergel and Brenda, then jumped on the trolley, only to discover I was trying to return to my room in the middle of the Toronto Gay Pride Day parade, taking place ONE BLOCK from my hotel, and no visible way to get to my hotel on the other side! Met a really sweet gay girl involved in AIDS fundraising, and we hung out at the parade for a while. Somewhere between 750,000 and 1 million people on the street, partying like crazy...
Finally, I figured out that I could cross the street via the subway, so went to bed at 5:30 pm Sunday after being up for about 34 hours. Still a grin on my face :)
Special thanks to all those who came to TO and met up with us...
Seth - I'm not a convert.
Luis - love ya.
Annie - dump your boyfriend and call me (just kidding).
Jeff - seeya in Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Jonah - sorry you had to leave early, hope it was worth it for you.
TJ - way to fuckin reprazent!
Vergel and Brenda - could not have done it without you - no way, no how.
Thanks *so* much! Sorry to all the others I forgot or whatever...
The VIBE was thick. I was told it was going to be before I went. Everyone in Toronto (this city is incredible!) that I talked about hulla with, said it was going to be. I was not prepared for just how amazing it was. The first time I walked into the bathroom to refill my water, someone had written P.L.U.R. on the fogged up mirror. That message and feeling was carried by everyone. The sense of plurriness alone made this a beautiful, life affirming, experience.
The music was different. I can't say I don't like happy hardcore. There is some songs I heard that touched me. Anabolic's set was SO good! I jumped up on top of the speakers with a few other people and didn't stop dancing for the entire set, maybe more than one set. It was unbelievable. Spock spun some wicked hardcore. Refreshing change after getting sick of HH (mainly sick of the MCs). I distinctly remember hearing some absolutely incredible music in the main room. It was fast like HH. It had many rolling basslines and was slightly darker than most HH. Probably between midnight and three or four. absolutely amazing! Anyone tell me who it is? I missed Marty Mcfly's set. And I was so geeked for that. I had heard his music over the net, and loved it. I met him before the party. Its a shame. Someone in Detroit needs to book the man.
Sound was bad. Probably the worst I've ever heard. It didn't matter. Nothing could hurt that vibe.
I had to leave in the middle of the party for about an hour or so. My friend was overheating and I probably was too and couldn't even tell. It turned out to be a good thing because I met some cool people outside (also overheating) and cooled off and became very spiritual for awhile. My friend decided that he would rather stay outside and that I should pay again and go back in and he would be waiting when I felt like leaving. So I went back in! And for just the last part of the party, it was worth $25.00. Wish I could say that about all the parties I went to.
Lights were very cool. I have seen many set ups that are far better, but from a position in the main room on top of the speakers, there is nothing like seeing the entire room under strobe lights flashing at 180 flashes per minute (so it seemed) while the music moved at the exact same speed. This would have gotten annoying, but it didn't last long. It even could have been an accident for all I know!
Aferparty was interesting. Very sketchy place. Strange assortment of people including party kids, drugged up kids, club kids, Gino's, jocks, etc... I liked Flex's set here. A few mistakes on the EQ, but some great tracks.
Toronto rocks! Go there, people. Three party's the same night, one much larger than hulla, all turned out great from what I heard! That is an amazing scene. Many cool stores, clean town, public transportation, even though I walked everywhere, and soooo many friendly people.
Bad things:
$4.00 water, come on, even if refills are free it shouldn't cost that much
Having to pay to get back in
No moon bounce
Other things:
The people I met were all wicked!!
Sparklers! wheew!!
that guy that I met (can't remember his name) that was 40 years old and
has been going to raves since 1987 in Germany! I think his name was
Iceman.
Being given free candy, massages, hugs, and smiles
The drug
information booth! Promoting safe drug use (if you use drugs at all) An
awful lot of Detroit kids could use this info.
A massage chain, about 20
of us lined up and gave each other massages rotating around every so
often!
Free condoms To Jenn: After partying for awhile, I also must say
that this is my first _rave_. :)
Happy Hullabaloo!!!
Just got in a few hours ago.... got to download 300 messages, but a PHAT double H CD i picked up is all good... little DJ Slipmatt, Dougal, and Spinback
Strap on your safety belts....turn up the double H... its time to roll.....
OK! I get to Toronto on Thursday at 11:30pm. Nothing is open. My brain decides to go on vacation and I crash...
Friday.. hit the Pawnbrokers Daughter (little scottish/irish pub) with my friend and we watched the World Cup Football matches there everyday.. best part being, not getting carded and Guinness and Carlsberg on tap.
Saturday comes around.... I am like a little kid at Christmas... I am simply bouncin' around not being able to contain my excitement. Hit Queen street and check out the shops, go back, Drink, eat dinner and jet for the net meet.
My friend Mike got sick on Saturday so he wasn't sure if he was going, turns out, he didn't, =( only massive buzzkill from the weekend.
I get to Union Station @ 6:00pm.... I helped organize the net meet and i managed to get there a half hour early.... Doh!! A homeless person asks for a light, and then proceeds to yell at me for no aparent reason.... i'm now kinda freaked.... Anyhow, I'm just kinda wandering around and Seth (captain business card) and his friends roll up... there just sittin' there and i walk over trying to figure out who they are... as soon as i saw the blowpops, i knew i found some of the crew!!! Well, I met up with his crew and we searched for the rest of the peeps.... Louis eventually ended up about 40 yards from us... He is the one i first spotted....right away, i knew i found the rest of the crew.... Well, introductions were made and all went well, so we started the tall girl with the nose ring (i forgot your name. =( sorry. )
So we have our own little parade runnin' rampant through the streets of Toronto. I think we got more strange looks than anyone else in town at the time got... like the mooses and shite...
ANYHOW! We cause merry mischeif on our way to the place we got dinner... the twelve of us definately gave this poor waitress some stories to tell her co-workers about.... :) >From Annie's "My cheque is not going to say, thank you, its going to say fuck you!" and "I am not a freak!" with the entire table to proceed laughing at her...
Drank a draft and a bottle of Labatt Blue for post din-din.... (Maureen you were right, it's not that bad), a shot of Johnny Walker Red and I was good to go...
Everyone bailed and went there own ways.... I was ready to goto Nathan Philips and I didnt' know where the hell i was... so i proceeded to chill with Maureen and Shane in there little room... many thanks again. We all chilled and got glittered up.... I think me and Shane killed Maureen's poor glitter stick. =( sorry!
Got to Nathan Philips.... chillled with Maureen and Shane, sold my extra tickets to a nuttah with the white gloves.... yeah! and decided to walk since we didn't feel like waitin'. (Shane, next time we're in Toronto together, i want to go pinata style on one of those beeping crosswalk things) Anyhow, got to the venue, got in, and right away you knew it was gonna be crazy!
Free Whistles! Free Vibe! (well kinda) It was unbelieveable.... it did not compare to anything i ever attended in the states... Just simply simply amazing.... And the happy hardcore was comin' at full force! hells yeah. I know Anabolic Frolic, MC E by Gum, MC Roughneck, Hixxy, Frisky, and all the other hardcore DJ's and MC's got this crowd bouncin'. I love hardcore.... i thought i was dreamin for a while there...
Met Vergel....he proceeded to practically crush me with a hug.... just so many hugs, smiles, and happy hullabaloo's! and candy too!
I off course busted out the trademark Neon Orange City of Chicago Reflective vest. If anyone saw the vest... the crazy red head wearin' it smiling at everyone was me. Anyhow... people loved the vest... people kept askin how i got it and sayin how it was really cool and stuff.... the vest is how i met peggy and her friend Steph. Which was really cool... later on peggy proceeded to attack me with her super soaker, but it was sooooo nice...
People were chillin' upstairs while the hardcore pounded on... Shane, who doesn't like hardcore, but we still love him, =p stayed up stairs and me and Vergel and Erica attacked the main room on and off.
People got tired and i chilled with Erica, we bailed at 6:10am since it was too hot. We were gettin ready to leave but i didn't know Erica's name... we ran into Luis and Annie and Luis...I owe you one bro.... you and your blue hair with matching nail polish rocks... We walked back to her hotel blowin our whistles in the middle of downtown toronto at six a.m. Definatley a cool feeling.
She thought the subway began 6:00 am, but she was wrong... didn't know how to walk to where i was staying from Union so took her up on her offer and crashed on her floor in her room until the train started runnin.... we both fell asleep after talking about cartoons in the eighties. like care bears and stuff..
In RECAP:
Vibe= amazing.... i loved it, i'll be back.... revenge of the neon
vest... =)
venue= little too cramped but cool temperature= way way way way
too hot... almost no ventilation... =(
dj's&mc's= bring on the
hardcore!!! great people spinnin and mc'in.
overall= amazing amazing
party- i will be back... and i hope to meet even more kids next time.
Massive hugs to all you crazy kids:
(anyone who i forgot... i'm sorry... 13 hours on a train with no sleep
does that) =(
Seth and his crew: you guys knew the score...hardcore! =)
James and Jonah: sorry you guys had to pay twice... i almost bailed too.
Annie: you rock your little thing you! =) and no melting eyebrows. =)
Luis: you and your blue hair simply = P.L.U.R. Peggy&Steph: thanx for
attacking me with H2O and for the dum-dum.catch you here in chi-town.
Brenda: sorry we didnt' really talk... its kinda hard to shout in there...
next time. =)
Vergel: you rock bro... representin' the hardcore/jungle
massive... just next time, try not
to stop my breathing when you hug me. ;)
Shane: we'll work on you and hardcore... ;p
Maureen: i owe you a better massage.....when i'm not on an angle... =)
Erica: huge thanks and massive hugs for puttin' up with my random
wackiness throughout the evening and lettin' me crash.
Happy Hullabaloo to all of you!
OK, so we get into TO Friday night (had soda and chips for dinner: YUMMY!, and saw all the cute young ladies working the border) on the way in.
We get to our 'Hotel' the Roehampton up on Mt. Pleasant (Jarvis North) and Eglington. We (being Steve and Jim [WNYSOR], and our pal Matt [Who wasn't a raver, but is gay {says he}) head out to A Polyester Affair after listening to the freaking directions message like 4 times to get it right. We head out hoping to meet up with Allison Heather/Kutoof. NO SHOW! But hey, that's cool (we got a explanation later). ....anyway... we get into the party at around 12(ish) I think. All I know is that Marty McFly is spinning, and he had the place bouncing up&down&up&down&up&down.... The sound setup there was pretty decent. Some older 'generic' CV,EV, and JBLs, but it all sounded pretty darn good. The space as a whole was like one of the old style storage facilites that you only see in Mob movies, not too big, like 30' by 120', but there was a separate chillout area by the door, and a large smooth, and dusty dance floor...mmmm...d-lish! Lighting was comprised of 4 Tspots and two UV floods. Nothing fancy, but enough to see faces with, which was cool. Limited control, but nothing boring. Back to the music.... So Marty threw down a dope set (steve has picks of all this BTW), while our Pal Jimmy fell asleep by the subs (heh heh). Then Leo and THC spun wicked hard sets, bumpity boom, but nothing worth burning on disc. That was fine, I still danced my little heart out. Somewhere in there we talked with Marty after his set (gotta love my new business card!), and met up with Brenda, (whom I had also never met). It felt so damn good to finally meet you two after how long? TOO long! And BTW Brenda, thanks for making *MY* weekend absolutely wickked fantastik as well :)
Somewhere in here I introduced myself to someone (Chris, Steve?) that wasn't on the lists, but came back later and said he had a friend that wanted to meet me. I have no idea *WHO* it was...that was funky, and I never did meet them, OWELL!
Citrus: not a bad DJ at all....dope beats, good flow to it, I danced.
then... PALADIN...WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAH!
OH MY GOD I JIZZED MY PANTS!!!!!!
I so do not care if the weight on the left table fucked up on him, his set
was A-MA-Zing (and I wish I could have stayed for SOS at H6 *sigh*) The
words: NEVER, EVER, miss the funky-garped luaser casting Paladin, or you
are missing a genuine experience. Slogan: "When you book Paladin, you
not only book a DJ, you book a PARTY" leaps to mind.
At some point after that we leave (alongside good 'ol Brenda) say our pleasantries, and get on our merry ways.
The next morning we get up, shower, have Jim steal more dry towels from the Pool as we only had two, and head out SHOPPING!
Sbuck got his ass this funky cool G-Shock watch with a BPM counter in it that doesn't work with the light on (to our dismay), but still is pretty freakin hip (after you read the manual).
We leave Eaton Centre, and cruise on down (Race/walk/race/walk) past all the Mooses and Jehovah's witnesses to Union Station, whence we loaf about for a bit, and stand around like morons (or French Canadians drunk on Salmon sauce) until some random individj walks up to us and says: "Are you guys ravers?" To which I go, "Sure!" And it's VERGEL!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! Who, although older than I am, still owns a Mag-lite too (see picture). We introduce ourselves, and poor Vergel is subjected to our pal Matt, who, although confident in his sexuality, lacks decorum. Poor Vergel, who heard "I'm Matt, I'm not a raver, but I'm gay" as Matty was shaking his arm off... heh heh heh ;) And poor Vergel almost had his hand ripped off (We know Matt has good wrists). Well, we sent Matt off to Church street (Meccha?Mecca?), and hung out for a bit.
Brenda showed up with her coffee, and then Erica showed up from the PB-CLE list and Shane from MW (with pal Maureen), and once everyone figures everything out, off we go shopping, cracking jokes about modern capitalist and inflated economy societies all the way. We passed Allison Heather, who profusely apologized for missing us at Polyester, so that was OK (we just wanted to make sure she was OK) and our motly crew hit Queen St. West for SHOPPING! We must have blown about $400 Can on music all told (mostly by sbuck). I picked up DJ Hardware's CD; well one of them. DAMN GOOD SHITE!
Bumped into Marty mcFly, and then after a raucous afternoon split so we can make the din-din meet at 6:30.
HELLO LUIS GARCIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The man, the machine, the; oh sorry: "Blue BoY!" heh heh!
And Marty, and Casey, Hannah, and Mik-E, and Al, and Josh, and Jeff, and 4
people I can't quite remember, Shane, Maureen, and TJ, and Erica, and
wait, where are Vergel and Brenda? Oh well, let's eat!
On the other side of the city! But don't tell Seth, let him leave a note for Virj and Brenda saying we are eating only a couple blocks away in front of Union Station for the ENTIRE POPULATION OF TO to see. Hmmmm, something about trash-can diving, oh, I dunno....wasn't me! :)
Dinner!: What's an Amaretto Sour? I am not a freak! Cucumbers come Shrink Wrapped? Right Luis? Shhh, luis has good hearing......
Lets go to Ticket Master to get our tickets. WHAT!? You closed at 5:30 along with EVERY OTHER OUTLET!? SHITTY SHITTY! *SHIT* Well, off we go to the venue. BTW, we walked through Nathan Phillips sq. on the way, saw a bunch of people waiting for 10PM...
Anyway, get to the venue: Brenda! Vergel!!!!!!!!!
HELLO ANDREW MC/callum... MENTAL FLOSS!!!!!! The cherished WNYSOR list admin... YESH! So *good* to meet you! And Phil Bacon Boy (we never did talk, owell)
Wait in line. gab. gab.
Wait in line. gab. gab.
Wait in line. gab. gab.
Wait in line. gab. gab.
Wait in line. gab. gab.
Wait in line. gab. gab.
Wait in line. gab. gab.
DOORS OPEN!!!!
Go through checkpoint Charlie---zip!
The three of us (Jim, sbuck, and I) had no tickets, just this receipt for
a credit card purchase for tix in the US that we couldn't get because the
gig was in CA. DAMN! But they took care of us nice, friendly, and fast at
the guestlist, so In We WENT!!!!!
Free whistles in three color options (one each, please!)
I lost my cheat sheet on the order... but it went (roughly) like this for what I heard between the many rooms:
Brano/THC?
Marty McFly
Mental Floss
JT? JD? BRANO? THC?
Flex
Anabolic Frolic
Madame Zu
Frisky- - - - home :(
Three rooms I visited (there was a #4 I didn't get to). Sound in the main room blew chunks. *SIGH* Eaw gear is good, but you need to use BIGGER ONES if you have a BIG room club owners! Thank god for hte supplements that were added. The house subs were WEAK too. Owell. Tspots (12ish) and dataflashes in the main room, laser mirrors (no laser used) and 4 Roboscan 812's. A walking seizure for the HH sets.
Upstairs was Mental Floss's gear, Tspots, rental cabs (Yorkville Elite), not a bad sound at all. Oh, and some cheap AMDJ light. By Marty McFly's set the Numark upstairs was coroded on one channel on one side of the x-fader (I think that's what the problem was), and went ZXCXCXCZHZHXCC a lot. Not cool.
And some random kid puked on me (not much, but enough to be a downer) And about 50 peeps asked me for drugs I had never heard of (I don't sell or use, so this was very frustrating to converse their needs and my limited provisional capacity to them in their needs assesments. Most conversations went like this: "Do you have pirranah lips?" To which I replied "WHO!?" It was very loud, and very dark, ;)
That's it for the downers though. For the most part it was the most positive vibe party I've ever been to in my whole life!
I can't comment too much on the music, but here goes (my memory is soooO cloudy now)...
Mental FLoss, I've heard your toons louder, but man, there ain't nothin like seing people dance to them as hard as YOU made them!
Flex: Full representation of the states. Numerous people asked me numerous times during your set "Who's this?" TO which I replied "FLEX!" to which they responded "STILL!? Wow......." I think everyone just about fell over when you played the ORIGINAL, BANNED BY THE ESTATE OF CARL ORFF, "O Fortuna" by Apotheosis, now called "Obumbratta." Talk about anthems! WoooHA! And btw, , I *loved* how you started out with Run DMC Vs. Jason Nevin's "It's like that" And the jungle, you knocked the head of my pal Shane with that mini-set. All in all, you were the most diverse and crowd riding DJ there, and you KEPT IT GOING even when the mixer was shitting out! Damn man!
MartyMcFly: You were thrashin out so hard you broke the mixer (well, sorta!) But you didn't CARE, NO ONE DID! Funky breaks, hell, I think your goal in your sets (after hearing you twice) is to break somebody's legs with the tunes. 4/4 3/4 19/87 1/1 hell man, it goes and goes and GOES!
Madame Zu: I love trance. I love hard acid trance even more. A little bumpy once in a while, but REALLY slick stuff.
Random HH DJ's downstairs (including Anab.Frol.?) Insanity, pure, wonderful insanity. I would go down, but retire to upstairs when MY whistle AND the freebie were so filled with luvin from me that they didn't tweet. First party I ever almost lost my voice from screaming in.
*FRISKY* My man, your set was absolutely amazing. You helped convert on hardcore Junglist to a HH acceptor. He had no idea what HH is like, and now he has to go home to all his friends and say he doesn't like it so they still accept him. I danced, I screamed, I whistled, i could replace your MC....
"Oh my god I jizzed my pants
Oh my god I jizzed my pants
Oh my god,
Oh my god,
Oh my god I jizzed my pants"
heh heh, if he had said THAT I wouldn't be able to stand now!
VERY IMPRESSIVE! And you've been spinning for what, a little more than a year now? DAMN! I *loved* the Origin Unknown HH version of 'Valley of the shadows/31 seconds' It's almost enough to make me want to spin it!
And then I had to leave :( :( :(
I think the most FUCT thing I witnessed all night was the 'water' gushing out of the gutter outside when we were helping Mental Floss clear his gear. The fluid was POURING out of hte gutter, but it wasn't raining. It was SO HOT inside, even with the AC cranked, that when I walk INSIDE from the main room downstairs to upstairs my glasses fogged up, and BOTH rooms were packed.
Did I mentioned the condesned water falling from the ceiling?
Erica (to Seth) "What are you ON!?"
Seth (reply to Erica) "HUMIDITY!"
THANK GOD for the cold water in the bathrooms! And the lovely people with the Ice-bags that came around!
The water cost $4 a bottle, but they must have known people would refill them in the bathrooms, which means that you really only paid $.50 CA for your bottle, and you drank all night (with multi-refills). Anyone that actually bought more than 1 bottle for themselves or someone else deserved to have their money taken. IMHfO ;)
No teenie boppers, no Gino's or Gina's in any large groups, or Juans and Juanitas, no one sitting on the dance floor, no drunks (that I saw), no UN-PLUR activity at ALL! WHAT A GREAT SCENE!
And when we left the security peeps said no one was hurt...there must've been close to 2,000 peeps inside, and a temp of GREATER than 90, AC cranked, and that is amazing!
I left there soaking wet (well, I soaked the shirt after it got yakked on, but it dried and then got soaked in sweat). There was standing water on the floor from sweat I think. My pants were COMPLETELY soaked in sweat and floor gunk, and I LOVED IT! YESH!
But it wouldn't have been the same without the people...
Mad CRAZY hugz'n'luv to...
Brenda C.
Vergel
Shane .-.- Urban Junglist
Luis
AndrewM/Mental FLoss
Marty McFly
Chris Couprie/Frisky (even though we didn't meet)
Hannah (not a netter, but I love her for making me walk that extra mile
for din-din) Al? Jeff (all of them), including the 'Massive" Josh Jake
Klamka Maureen Erica (PB-CLE) Annie Mik-E Al 'yelling Mark' the four
'extras' from Union Station whose names I don't recollect..:( TJ? It's
something like that. Luis calls him reflector-boy BaconBoy FLEX! FLEX!
FLEX! Random Mike from Niagara Falls (that said he was from Buffalo)
Those that I forgot, I'll remember you when I see you again!
and my posse Jimbo and sbuck! (That owe me $$ for the hotel yet!)
Thanks to the TO kru for making my stay an INCREDIBLE experience, cat barf, swiss cheese, amaretto sours, raining indoors and all that other whack shit!