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Winter Music Conference 2001

I’ll bypass how great the weather was and the incredible beaches with clear blue warm water and beautiful people everywhere and get straight to the parties…

FRIDAY
Bliss, Therapy Music, and Hope Recordings party @ Crobar
We walked the easy three blocks to the club from our hotel and the first thing I noticed were the hordes of people on the streets and hundreds of flyers covering the pavement. Everywhere we walked we were dodging people on the sidewalk and there was the constant sound of party chatter. Everybody was already in full-on party mode and I stopped to tell my friends that it felt like Twilo; only outside. It was the energy on the streets and the people looking for the next great party with fantastical beats to take them somewhere. Since we already had our destination in mind, we plowed through the crowds. There was quite a huge crowd milling around the front. It looked like they were only letting in VIPs by this time (1am). Thank goodness we had the foresight to but tix in advance (always recommended whenever possible). Every hour, the lineup was phenomenal –
1am - 2am Dave Seaman
2am - 3am Max Graham
3am - 4am Timo Maas
4am - 5am DJ Remy
5am - 6am Slacker
6am - Pete Gooding
The highlights of the night were definitely DJ Remy and slacker. DJ Remy was rocking out with some progressive trance and slacker put out some moody, deep beats then, dropped Kosheen’s hide u – always a fave. The venue was packed, but as always we found a little corner by the ramp with some AC vents. The venue itself was relatively large - one huge space with a wrap around mezzanine along the whole perimeter with seats and VIP table service. The high ceilings allowed for a fantastic view and I think their mirrorball may even rival Twilo’s own treasure. The sound was supposedly Phazon, but my ears were still ringing by the end of the night, maybe it’s time for a tune up (personal note: this never happens at Twilo.) The visuals were excellent. Something new and fresh for every DJ. It wasn’t just computer-generated animation, but stills from film, life and just about everything else. Also, the projections would almost announce the DJs with their names flashing on the screen. Definitely a nice touch with so many DJs lined up. Besides the familiar Twilo DJs, I wouldn’t have known the rest and from my experience the person dancing next to me never has a clue. I'm not sure how long the party lasted; we left sometime after Pete Gooding hit the decks, but what a great start to a wicked holiday.

SATURDAY
Ultrafe st 2K1
This event lived up to the hype. It was clubber’s paradise. It reminded me of 6th Element in New York x 100. We were hopping from tent to tent, mainly in a circle from Twilo to Gatecrasher to the main stage. We arrived late (5pm), missed a couple of sets but we wanted to save our energy. After all, we still had 8 hours to go. We started off with Josh Wink, but soon got tired. Although I’m not a huge Josh Wink fan, he definitely got the crowd going. Instead, we heard the distant sound of trance calling us and we hustled over to the Gatecrasher tent where Christopher Lawrence (the United States Trance Prince) was spinning a spiraling set of progressive trance. Tall Paul followed him. It was a first for me (although I believe he was in New York during CMJ at the Roxy). I probably won’t miss him again. He spun it fast and hard. Standing by the decks, watching the DJ never ceases to amaze me. Such seamless effort to create a musical landscape that everybody listening to was completely engulfed. From there, we went to see Pete Tong on the main stage. There had been some sort of technical difficulties during the afternoon, so he was a little late in getting on, but he banged it out. He even dropped Satoshie Tomiie’s Love in Traffic (okay, so this song is getting a little overplayed, but then again, isn’t that always the case with great songs). Back to Twilo for Digweed’s set, but the deep beats weren’t doing it for me tonight. I needed the Gatecrasher sound and Guy Orandel delivered. We danced on the grass facing the stage. What a wonderful feeling to be dancing outdoors with thousands of other clubbers of all ages ON grass). I kept on thinking, this is what heaven must be like. Back at Twilo, Nick Warren and Timo Maas were on the decks (I think this was a scheduling adjustment), but we had to sit this dance out. We were waiting for PvD on the main stage. He finally took the stage at 12:30am. I wish I could do the scene justice. Imagine an open amphitheater with thousands and thousands of PvD aficionados dancing, flailing their arms, glowsticking and raving it large. PvD’s figure looked small on the huge stage but B&W images of him graced the 10 foot projections and he looked super-cool in black, commanding the masses. There was also a green laser shooting from the stage into the dark, crisp night. The light so clearly penetrated the darkness into the crowd. This is what the lasers were meant for. It was hard not to appreciate the magnitude of the whole event and that something like this could happen in the US with PvD at the helm.

SUNDAY
Twilo Recordings Party @ Warsaw Ballroom
With such an amazing lineup of the Twilo all stars I was surprised that the venue wasn’t packed to capacity. But with twenty other amazing parties to choose from how does one decide. For us it was easy – Twilo is always the answer. Justin Scott AKA Voyager was spinning by the time we arrived (12am). The Phazon sound system had been installed and you could definitely tell. Between Steve Lawler, Nick Warren and Sander Kleinenberg, I’m not sure who my reigning favorite DJ is anymore. I read that Sander teared it up at Twilo the Friday before and I’m sorry I missed it. If I was a betting woman, we’ll see a Sander residency by 2002, if not sooner. The venue itself was spacey with a large velvet lounge adjacent to the dance floor, where the Twilo royal court was being held; Mike Bindra, Digweed, Nick Warren... Not too far off, the Twiloites were holding their own court. As always we found each other, once we all started dancing to the beat it’s hard not to. I’ve noticed more and more the distinct style of the Twiloites. Each person has his or her own unique signature style. In many clubs, you get the same movements, sometimes in variation, but there’s not too much distinction. When you look at the Twiloites you see something different. I see this in my friends and every morning at Twilo in the last hour. Everyone going ballistic, dancing to his or her own beat. It’s just you and the DJ and you dance, dance, dance. This was one of those nights. This just goes to show that the Twilo sound and energy travels well. Between the Twilo tent at Ultrafest and this party, I’d say that Twilo represented itself in a huge way. The Twilo world tour begins here, first stop Miami, second stop Gatecrasher (April 13), next stop…the world.

MONDAY
Danny @ Club Space
Again we bought tix in advance. This time they were in the form of plastic cards (i.e. credit cards). This seems to be an ongoing trend as the same type of cards were used for the Kinetic Records party. Back to the party, the line was pretty deep, but we patiently waited our turn, maybe a total of 30 minutes. Once we were inside, we experienced mayhem. I’ve never been to a club like Space. One large main room dance floor, with an adjacent room with the same sound but enhanced visuals. This room afforded more room to dance. Then, a closed off VIP area. There was also another dance room (the basement) with it’s own DJ. The best part of Space though, is the outside terrace. Decorated in a tiki theme with a sunken dance floor with tapestries protecting it from the sky. The tapestries were decorated with flowers and butterflies and evoked a bit of a garden paradise, especially in the morning sun. This is a clubbing must. I imagine Home @ Space in Ibiza is quite similar, if not better. The music was Danny all the way. 2001 has been the year of Danny for me. First NYE @ Vinyl, then President’s Day @ Twilo, now Danny @ Space for WMC. Thank you Danny. 2001: A Danny Odyssey. You have to be there to know, but he creates such a vibe and atmosphere that keeps everybody going. Maybe it’s his booming, friendly voice over the speakers, in an era when the DJ is often voiceless. He just keeps it going and going. At one point he announced that the club was filled to capacity and there were still 1,000 people waiting outside (of course, the crowd went wild). If you were inside you felt it. At some points, I was caught in a wave of people and felt myself just being carried along. There was a live show at 7am in the main room and Danny kept on hyping it as the best thing we’d ever see, but it was just weird. Maybe I’m taking it out of context and I have to admit I was watching from behind the performers, but it just appeared that a bunch of female dancers were lip syncing and dancing. Maybe there was more to it, I just didn’t get it. We finally left at 8am (hey, it was our fourth straight night of partying.) Rumor has it that the party lasted until 5pm.

TUESDAY
HI / RISE Kinetic Records Closing Party @ the Octagon rooftop
A private party for Kinetic allowed us to dance to the sacred beats of the Kinetic family. Sets by Dave Ralph, Hybrid, Sandra Collins, Max Graham, John Graham, Deep Sky…in a semi-intimate setting were a WMC highlight for me. With the South Beach sunset as a backdrop, the beauty and magic that we had all experienced the last couple days were coming to an amazing end. We took lots of photos of all the DJs and footage of Max Graham on the decks. His control over the mixing decks and skillfulness with the knobs and sliders were a show in and of itself. This Canadian will be going far. It’s so exciting to see the next generation of A-list DJs coming into their own. This has already been typified by the NuBreed series and also with Kinetic Records breaking artists and bringing the strains of trance to America. Kudos to Steve Lau (president of Kinetic) and his crew. A must – look for Tranceport 4 Max Graham coming in May 2001 (btw, great cd cover).

PvD / Carl Cox @ Club Space
Compared to last night there was a much smaller queue and it was definitely less crowded = more space to dance inside. PvD (12:30am) was playing harder than I have ever heard him. Maybe it’s only because I only ever hear him @ Twilo and rumor has it he tends to spin much more harder abroad. Maybe he thinks the Americans aren’t ready for it, but this night at Space there was no mercy. His progressive trance beats were relentless and I found myself gasping for breath after every long and hard build up, each with its own explosive climax. One particularly fond memory was looking up at PvD and watching him do a little dance. It’s hard to explain, but it looks a little like the Walk Like an Egyptian video. There were lots of arms in different directions and then he would be pumping his fist into the air as the music built up and then exploded. This would deservingly drive the masses wild. Maybe we’ll see some action at the two year.

After PvD, I admit tingly had little energy left for Carl Cox’s (6am) pounding beats and boy! They were booming! Instead I stepped out into the courtyard and spent the next four hours watching the sunlight start to stream through the tapestries into the morning. It was a beautiful scene with clubbers from all walks of life, smiling and dancing (even Danny was there, dancing in his signature cap and some funky jam shorts). That’s the image that those yellow journalism news publications and magazines should capture. It was a spiritual end to an amazing journey.

Everybody better start planning for WMC 2002 and I’ll see you there.

cheers

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