The Core Of Hardcore

2006-07-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

DJ Irene, Tim Lawson @ Spundae

I ran into Tim Lawson on the dance floor. Tim has been a friend of mine for a few years. A good guy that really knows how to rock the crowd when he applies himself. It has been a long time since I have seen Tim. In speaking with time, I found out that his birthday was actually some time away, though the flyer said that he was doing a "birthday set." Come to find out this was a symbolic birthday for him as he celebrated a 1 year of sobriety. So this was indeed a birthday for him. A birth into a new life. I gave Tim my best wishes and moments later he took to the decks and reminded us all why Tim Lawson was once of Spundae's best residents.

Here are a couple videos courtesy of Myspace and Mr "Spundae VIP" Tom

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

2006-07-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

Giant Village Street Party '06

Whao! What can I say? Giant does it again with one of the best produced large scale parties that Los Angeles has to offer.

Around 6 PM I noticed quite a bit of thunder and lightning as well as rain in my area. Pretty funny considering Giant NYE was canceled over rain and it didnt even rain that night. Yet, we made the trip out to LA anyway to meet up with some people to get out tickets as well as have a few preparty drinks up at the Sheraton hotel.

Once we got up to the room it was packed with a bunch of party people. Quite a few were already drunk and of course being quite rambunctious. We didnt stick around too long as it was quite hot in there due to the amount of people. So we decided to head down to the street party around 9pm.

Getting in was a piece of cake since we went in through the guest line, though I didnt see what the GA line looked like. Once in a quick stop at the restroom and we were off to the drink stand to start it up. We quickly met up with a bunch of friends and the party was indeed ON.

We caught a bit of Robtronik but one of the bigger surpises was a DJ by the name of BorisMD. This guy was really slamming down some really good dark progressive. Soon after Dekay followed and stuck around a little for that but then headed to other stages to find others and get our feel for some more music.

The night once again belonged to Digweed. Though, I do admit that the usually boring James Zabiela did drop some really good tracks. Christopher Lawrence did a really good job as well, as usual. However, the one thing I have to say about the night is that it went by way to fast. One minute I felt like it was barely 11pm and the next I have someone telling me it's already 3:40am. YIKES. where did the time go?

After some quick thinking, we decided to head to The Mayan for the after party. Toshi was a good warm up followed by some guy that im not sure who he was. Kazell took to the decks and played alright for the first part of his set. Some time around 6am he decided to really lay into it. He finally started playing music that reminded me of the old Kazell back when he was resident at Spundae. Dark, hard, and relentless beats. Some would call it electro, but in my opinion it had more of a tech house feel, especially with the way the basslines were set up. It didn't last forever though. He soon backed off the heavy beats and then we started to tire out. As 7:30 rolled around we decided to head out.

You can click here for some pictures from the event.

2006-07-02T01:52:00.000-07:00

Spundae host the WHITE PARTY

Now I have to hand it to spundae for this one. This was probably the most packed I have ever seen spundae.

However, this brings me to a very big gripe about the Spundae promoters and club owners. Online sale prices for the ticket reach a ridiculous 75 dollars. I thought this was insane for AVB at Spundae LA. It didn't stop there. The night of the event as I was walking in to Spundae, I was told that door price was up to 80 dollars. Insane right? One hour later, I received confirmation that they had decided to raise the door price to $120! Now I want to tell you that when I walked in, the line was probably about 5-600 people long. Now, while I am familiar with the concept of supply and demand, give me a freakin break! This is a night club. These are your loyal patrons that love your club! And you are gouging them like this? My respect for Spundae took a very big dip this weekend. I am very disappointed in the ethics of the people that run this club. Sure, business is business but respect can't be bought. It's earned. I honestly have much less respect for Spundae knowing that this is the way they treat their patrons. Now, onto the club.

The first DJ I recall catching was Kristina Sky. Egad, after her recent proclamation that her technical skills were just as good, if not better, than any of the big DJs out there, it was quite funny to take note of her cutmix style of mixing that happened to be going on track after track. Also note, no beanie this time. :) Also, I do say I have taken quite a bit of heat from her friends regarding my criticism of her. Well, it's just an opinion guys, you don't have to share it with me.

Armin Van Buren was quite disappointing. After his last visit he really left a good impression with me. That was why I was so willing to see him again. Well, he didn't leave me with a good one this time. I was quite bored with his music but I forced myself to listen. Of course, the eye candy in the room made it easy to stay in the room.

ATB came on and that was pretty much all I could handle. The hell with his candy rock star behavior of screw with the volume so he could hear the crowd sing along with the songs he was playing. Look buddy, it's fun once or twice, but doing it 15 times per song for each song is really god damn annoying!

We left.

Of course this turned out to be a really long night... as usual! hehe
We immediately headed over to the the after party conveniently located in the same lot but in a different building. The building is a new club set up they are working on there. It is pained all red on the inside and they have catered alcohol outside and tacos (good stuff!). I honestly don't have much to say about this event. Though we stayed for hours, it was quite uneventful and the sound system really sucked there. We waited until Fei Fei got on and we hung out for more than half her set and we headed out.

Of course the after after party then ensued, but that's for me to know. :P

2006-06-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

Electric Daisy Carnival 6/24

Insomniac is the kind of massives in Los Angeles if you ask me.

For as long as I can recall in the rave scene, which has only been about 13 or so years, Insomniac events has been delivering quality raves and parties to us. Probably the most trust name in rave in Los Angeles. Sitting right on top with other big players like GOventures. The three biggest events of the year belong to Insomniac. Together As One (which partners with GOventures), The Electric Daisy Carnival, and Nocturnal Wonderland.

This year Electric Daisy Carnival brought a good glimpse of what we have in store this year. A new generation of ravers! Young and full of energy. A new group of EDM lovers coming out in force to celebrate music, dancing, and tiny little booty shorts.

Unfortunately I got there kind of late. However, when I arrived the crowd was in full force. The line was HUGE. The outfits were awesome. The music was BANGING.

I only caught the last 10 minutes of Infected Mushroom. That was kind of a bummer but the last 10 minutes was really rocking. Gabriel and Dresden were up next and smothered the crowd with track after track of trance. The crowd was moving nicely and the lasers were in full effect.

After a quick meetup with some friends, it was into the night with music. I toured around from area to area just amazed at some of the things the people were wearing. We were approached by some guy that couldnt keep his eyes from rolling into the back of his head as he stood there and talked to us. He kept thanking us for coming to his house and if we needed anything to let him know. It was quite comical, and while I can appreciate what he must have been going through at the moment, I was taken a bit back by his age. Oh well, no matter, kids will be kids. Which of course bring me to my next point of girls will be girls, but holy crap do they have to dress like they are about to shoot a porn when they are only about 15 years old? I hope I never have a daughter (not really but you know what I mean).

We went back inside to catch Christopher Lawrence just ripping the crowd apart with a rather hefty psytrance set. The lasers, the lights, the music, the blurring of sight and sound shattered by the incredible heat in that place. I had to walk around. I joined some friends outside for a ride on swings outside. That was pretty damn fun. Later we made our way back in to finish the night out with Ferry Corsten.

A dusty walk back to the car and it was over.

2006-06-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

Digweed, RED 6 Yr, Spundae, Fuzzy 6/8 - 6/10

Thursday. - I'll start off with John Digweed @ The Mayan.
WOW! What a great set/show that was. Digweed held his ground as one the best DJs in the nation easily. I have not missed a Digweed show in several years (though someone is telling me I missed one... I don't remember). This was one of the best live sets I have heard from him. It reminded me of the 2001 Twilo set that has made its way around the net.

The Mayan is always a great place to catch DJs like this. Plenty of room and a great balchony make for a comfortable feel and set up. The sound system always rocks. While the lighting setup can be bright when on full fire, they lighting guy always seems to be able to keep a good balance of darkness in the place really bringing the club alive. Drinks are good but beware of cheap vodka.

Digweed tore the place apart. Not much more can be said about that. This was classic Digweed. Dark, hard, and relentless. I was there for the last hour and it was quite intense.

John Digweed does need to cut his hair though. haha

Friday night brought RED with internation techno DJ Marco Bailey. It was quite a treat to have him here in LA at Avalon. Unfortunately Los Angeles doesn't feel the same way. I think 2006 will be a good year for techno. I just hope it takes hold in Los Angeles. With names coming through like Marco Bailey and clubs like Compression Los Angeles is in for some damn good techno music.

The turn out for this event was very weak. Was it because John Digweed was the night before? Or was it because techno has a hard time getting love in LA? or was it that it was only promoted for 3 weeks? Either way, this was probably the weakest crowd in a while. The night started off with Justin Michaels. Decent house music. I did notice he was playing a lot of older tracks though. It did not seem to really be making the crowd move.
Up next was DJ Fei Fei. She brough it in with techno and some trance. For the most part her track selection was ok. Probably a party foul of playing the same song that Marco Bailed ended up playing, but what can you do... There was some trouble with one of the turntables, I believe this was contributing to the slightly off mixing.

Once Marco Bailey came up, he had a trance song to mix into... He wrecked it...
His set seemed to start losing steam right away. However, thanks to the quick thinking of one of the patrons, she handed him a message requesting that he keep it hard. (lol shut up! pervets!) Keep it hard, he did! (PERVERTS!!! ALL OF YOU!)

Here is a clip of Marco Bailey rocking the place.

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Saturday night Sander Van Doorn graced the decks at Spundae. All I really have to say about that was that he was not very impressive. After his set we quickly exited the building for something a little more fun.

FUZZY!!!
now this was the event we should have checked out first. Music was good. It was a retro party reflecting the music from 1999-2001. "When raving was fun," it said on the flyer. Um.. more like to me when the people that went to this party were actually YOUNG. This was a cool party with a neat retro feel to it. I do find raves with people in their 30s+ a bit troubling though. Not because of their age, but because it just feels wrong. Rave has always been about youthful energy, but what can you do when the people that love rave are aging? Nothing. Just accept it as part of life. It still feels weird!
Anyway, the music was good. DJ's were good. Loved the outfits by some of the people.
Eric really knows how to put together a smile inducing event.

2006-05-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

Danny Tenaglia @ Avalon 5/26

WHAO....
Welcome back from Memorial day weekend.

What a show. Danny Tenaglia really brought it to Los Angeles.

I haven't seen him in a long time and it was well overdue.

Welcome back to Los Angeles, DT!

We showed up pretty early with enough time to catch John Do. Once Danny came on it was speaker slaughter. The night went very well. While DT did not super wow us entirely with his set, he did wow me at certain points in the night. Probably the most memorable moment (or part that I can actually remember) was when he started laying down some BIG techno. It was a total rush. The music the entire night was good. We left just before close, but I hear he dropped some really good classic stuff to close.

Up in the Avalon balchony there was some chick spinning and playing some electronic drums. Just as big beat techno as DT was playing. It was nuts.

All in all, I give the night a 9.

Can't wait for DT to come back and finish leveling Los Angeles.

2006-05-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Queen Mary Live - RED 5/19 w/ Paul Oakenfold

Ugh... someone please tell me why Paul Oakenfold is still insanely popular!
REALLY! I need to know.

You would think that after the many years that he has put into DJing for large crowds, the man would have it down to a science. Yeah, that just isn't quite the case with Mr. Fabulous hair.

I came in 30 minutes into his set. For the night, I counted 3 minor train wrecks 2 major train wrecks and 1 "oops! I hit stop on the CD that was playing!"

I am of the opinion that high priced DJs such as himself should be forced to refund certain amounts of money suchs silly mistakes as ruining the music.

I have to give props to the LBC crowd. They are a really nice and decent looking bunch. Most of them probably aren't career clubbers, which probably means they probably actually sleep more often. I noticed there was a lack of dark circles under most people's eyes.

The hip hop room was relatively empty this time around, in comparison to the last Queen Mary Live event.

Let's face it. For a quick moment, Oakie is making a return to DJing. He must be running low on cash or something.

2006-05-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

Spundae 5/13 - Matthew Dekay

Saturday night I hit up my regular Saturday night club spot. Yeah, I skipped Tiesto! He is WAY over-rated. He really is.

Anyway, started off the night outside mostly. I honestly was only there to see Mr. Dekay. Overall I found his set to be dissapointing. I think a lot of people did or at least everyone I talked to did. It wasn't that his music wasn't good. It was that he didn't play hard enough. The melodic tracks are ok for listening pleasure. However, this is a goddam night club. Yeah, his music was good enough to dance to, but when you are that excited to see a DJ, you really want them to really knock your emotions around. Usually, you want them to tap that energy inside that makes you say, "oh my got this track is awesome!" I can't say i felt that way. Just my personal opinion though.

Markus Schultz belongs up there on the list of over played DJs in Los Angeles. He has way too many gigs in way too many places. It is getting harder and harder to avoid him. His set consisted of mostly fluffy trance. It wasn't until the very end (3:30am) that he brought in a proper post 2am beat to the dance floor.

While it wasn't a boring night, it just wasnt what I wanted.

2006-05-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

Club Heaven on 5/12 "1999"

Went to check out Club Heaven last night over at Arena in Hollywood.
That place was DEAD. The music was good though. I still was extremely dissapointed that I had just paid 25 bucks for such a dissapointing night. I'm gonna go out on a limb and officially declare Club Heaven DEAD. Across the dance floor it pretty much looked like an adult excercise class at the YMCA for asians.

The majority of the patrons were that strange older group of asians that come to the clubs and do what look like arobics to the music. You see people standing in place just shaking their head or twirling their neck. You see some that look like they are running in place. Not to the beat, but in triple time! And you have your typical swayers that we are all too familiar with.

(that pic is NOT from Heaven. Image credit - Hermie)

Once Nicolas Bennison came on the music got even better. He played a lot of classic tracks that i remember from raving circa '99.

Despite the good music, it wasn't enough to keep my interest since the vibe really sucked. The DJ set up looked really poor and second hand. A far cry from the stage production Heaven used to put on for their club.

I also noticed a very large portion of the club lighting was now missing from Arena. I counted only 8 strobe lights and 8 intelligent lighting heads. The light heads were on auto, so the light show was really crappy as well.

I bailed about 1:15am. I was bored. The night and the club were a bust.

2006-05-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

Spundae - May 6th w/ Judge Jules & Fei Fei

Decided to check out Spundae for some Judge Jules action on saturday night. When i got there DJ Woody was on. I cant complain about his music, but I can complain about his programming. I think he hit just about every popular genre though his set, but it wasnt well organized. While standing there listening to his set, I couldn't help but be distracted by the fact that his programming was all over the place. It was like someone took a bunch of records and threw them in the air and played them in the order they hit the ground.

Up next was Austin Scott. I have to say I was rather impressed with his set. He played a lot of good music. For him was the high point was when he decided to slide in Mind Circus. The crowd ate it up like candy.

Judge Jules took to the decks and gave it to the crowd like only Judge Jules knows how to do. His high energy trance and great track selection had me dancing along with everyone else in the building. Track after track of reletentless pounding trance and even some tech trance.

Finishing off the night was DJ Fei Fei. Her hard work and preparation pays off. Fei Fei has improved in musical styling and programming. She fiddled in trance and fiddled in techno for a good swirl good vs evil. She really took the crowd up with a fluffy trance song and then slaughtered the trance with some wicked techno. The peasants rejoiced.

2006-05-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

RED, Cinco De Mayo w/ DJ Irene @ the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

I spent most of my time outside working the guest list line. However, from the outside I could hear that the Speaker Junkies were banging out their music at about 140+ BPM. Not quite what we have grown to expect from opening acts over the years. It did, however, remind me of the parties that I used to frequent circa 1995. There was no concern over how fast the DJ played. Pretty much the DJ went in there and gave it their all, banging it out, hoping to be remembered as the DJ of the night. No matter, this is not 1995. However, this was not an event with a bunch of music snobs either. Let's face it, this was an 18+ club with DJ Irene headlining. Still, the reports I got from those that were inside to hear the speaker junkies, reported that the set was not very entertaining. Big shocker!

By the time I made it inside Mark Lewis was on the decks. I do have to say that mark Lewis did put on a rather good mix. He played very good music and it got everyone moving pretty good. He deserves props for his set.

The gogo dancers were hot stuff. This one was probably the best part of the night for me. Not much else to say about them as the pictures speak for themselves.

DJ Irene, as expected, slammed the crowd with her hard house sound. It worked for the younger crowd that was there. Didn't work so well for the older crowd. No matter, they were not the target audience.

The sound system in the Queen Mary suffers a great deal. The distortion was annoying and the popping sound of blown speakers could be heard on the right side of the main stage.

The event was collaboration by several promoter groups, which made it hard for any one group to have creative say over what was going on. This ultimately lead to flaws in organization. It still made for a great night, but your typical music snob would not have enjoyed it, as they are usually too up tight about things.

2006-05-05T00:51:00.000-07:00

Today brings in a Semi-RED event at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
DJ Irene to take to the deck. I expect the typical hard banging high energy hardhouse and trance. Nothing too spectacular and your typical DJ Irene dj set.

Also on the decks is Mark Lewis. He tends to have decent sets usually. However, he never amazes me or does anything too noteable. I expect more of the same. I couldn'd find his official website. Sorry.

Speaker Junkies are to open. What a pile of crap they usually are. Their names are Tekno Tom and Rezn Tokes. What a joke! They are supposed to be "live" act with drum machines. We'll see how that goes. Check out their site www.speakerjunkies.com for more info on them.

On another note. DJ Krystina Sky is a total pompous joke. While some words were exchanged on the Spundae Message board, she made a blatant arrogant challenge, "I will gladly challenge ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, Armin, PVD, Ferry and others."

Probably reflective of her age, this call out challenge was posted in the comments of all the DJs mentioned MYSPACE by fans of those DJs.

Kristina started DJing in 2002 and according to her website Kristinasky.com she started attending underground parties in 1997 and was throwing parties in 1998. I dont think anyone has been able to verify her involvement with parties at this time yet, but she refers to 2000 as the "height of the underground scene in Los Angeles." I think this reflected her lack of experience, knowledge, and immaturity both of herself and the scene at that time. Most of us that have been around long enough know this time period, know it to be the second coming of Rave or otherwise known as "the asian invasion" period. While this was an active time for a recovering rave scene, this was most certainly NOT the height of the underground scene, which actually took place between 1992 and 1995. OOPS!!!

First Entry

2006-05-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a long 13 years since i started with this scene. I have seen and heard a lot. I know where I came from and I have a pretty good guess of where I am going.

From 3 hour parties to 72 hour party weekends. I know what is at the core of being hardcore. I have been there. I have seen it happen.

These are my reflections.