Divers/Cité Ball @ Telus Theatre - August 3, 2008 (Alain Jackinsky, Oscar Velazquez & Ana Paula)

Djs: Alain Jackinsky, Oscar Velazquez and Ana Paula.

Sad was how I felt when I found out Stereo would no longer be able to host the Divers/Cité Ball this year, everyone knows how much I love that venue, and I really hope it opens up soon. Nevertheless, after seeing how many people came out for this party, I was actually okay to have it held at the old Aria place.

Four years ago I had one of the most incredible experiences at this place, it was then called the Prideball and it was Peter Rauhofer the headliner of the night. Met wonderful people and this experience will stay with me for a long time.

Today the party is called the Divers/Cité Ball and one Canadian, one Mexican and one Brazilian were the ones in charge of our entertainment. I’ve been trying to save energy all week long for this party, being this one the only afterhours party I decided to do.

Alain Jackinsky I’ve seen performing many times, and sometimes I feel he gets a little bit intimated by large crowds, nevertheless besides of being handsome he is good in what he does; Oscar Velazquez, although is another Parking resident, I have never being able to be in one of his nights; then we have Ana Paula, which I discovered in 2007 and felt in love with her since.

No Unity, no Sky, no Parking, no Circus, no nothing, the night belonged to the Telus Theatre and nothing else mattered.

Security was much more serious during this night compared to the previous parties, this according to my crazy friends that attended all 3 parties at this venue. It took a little bit of time in order to get everyone in, but there was no drama, just lots of people looking for a good night of dancing.

Parking must be feeling great having 3 of its DJ residents taken care of the main Divers/Cité party. I don’t think words would do justice in trying to recreate what I experienced on Sunday night, and I’m pretty sure the Deejays felt the same way about the vibe of the place.

Alain Jackinsky started the night and I’m sure he felt lots of pressure having not only a very large crowd to please, but also 2 strong DJs following after him. His set was good, I just felt as if he was trying to find the right away to lift the party. Good selection of music, maybe he could had played a little bit harder. I’ve seen him playing many times, and I know he is an excellent DJ, unfortunately I do have to compare him to both stars that followed, and because of that I was expecting much more from him. Maybe he just didn’t want to tire the crowd so early

I believe it was around 3:00am when Oscar Velazquez was announced, and by then the place was just packed. I had already found the perfect place to dance and I did not want to move from there.

What a surprise Señor Velazquez gave me, I was not expecting that at all, and I just found he was voted the Mexican DJ of the year 2008, and now I understand why. Oscar played a hard Tribal Latin set, a little bit on the commercial side, but nevertheless super uplifting.

Strong energy vibrating from the DJ booth, which was followed by the crowd as if we were doing synchronized swimming, and not just that, Sylvain (Stereo) was in charge of the light show and he did an amazing job keeping up with the music and the crowd. It was not too dark, not too light, just perfect lighting when needed.

Several tunes that we know where played, but he also introduced us to some Spanish songs I have never heard before, and all of them were full of energy. It was just amazing to see the crowd moving like waves to his music, dancing hard and I was thinking “this people are going to get tired soon” - “I’m going to get tired if he keeps up the intensity of the music“.

Oscar was consistent from beginning to end, uplifting all the way, maybe just bringing down the house for a music or two, but followed but another full intensity blast of musical happiness. Great house music played by Velazquez, great combination of vocal and hard rhythms that spiced it up the whole place with great tunes. By then my mouth was already hurting because I couldn’t stop smiling.

The crowd was another story, there were tons of good looking people at the Telus Theatre, it was actually sickening to see how many good looking people were present at this place. People in Jeans, people in shorts, people wearing hats, not t-shirts, in their swimsuits, in their shorts. You get the idea, there was someone for everyone and everybody. It was crowded, it was sexy, it was wild, it was Montreal on a party night.

The only thing missing were the boxes for people to dance on, and I don’t know why but that makes the place look even sexier - why is that?

Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Ana Paula started her set at around 5:00am or was it 6:00am? It doesn’t matter, I was in the bathroom when I heard the host announcing her name and I just run back to where I was because I did not want to miss her entrance.

The crowd went wild, and I’m sorry Brazil but we have now officially adopted DJ Ana Paula as one of our own. Can someone please call Immigration Canada to see if we can grant her the Canadian citizenship?

It is not joke, the moment everyone was waiting had arrived and Ana Paula did not disappoint. She started her set with hard dark tribal tunes, which was surprising because I thought she was going to follow the steps of Oscar Velazquez, but then it hit me, she does not follow anyone steps but her own.

I don’t know how to explain this to you, but this has been one of the best sets I have ever heard in my life, she played hard, she played intense music, she played to the gods, and the best of all is that, for her the gods are the crowd dancing to her music. She is charismatic and energetic and is more than able to energize everyone in her presence.

The music was so good that many times I found myself getting chills by just listening to what she was delivering. Talking to one of my friends we arrived to the conclusion that Tony Moran should really look into booking her for the Alegria parties in New York City, she would be the perfect DJ for this party.

I don’t know how she did it but she kept the intensity of the party way up there all night long, there were no lows or highs, you just heard great tribal music coming out of those speakers. There was a moment when I stop right in front of the decks, and she saw me, asking me right away to get up, and for my surprise she gave me a CD named “J’adore Montréal” - and je t’adore Ana Paula. Love the CD because she played most of the tracks during the party, too bad I don’t know the name of most of them. What kind of music Ana Paula played? The best tribal ever combined with everything else, but everything with an Ana Paula style.



It was so cool to see Amannda dancing in front of the crowd while Ana Paula played her hit song “Sound of your voice”, she also played some great French vocals, and I’m sure she did to honour Montreal, and guess what, it worked so well.

I left the place at around 9:15am or so, not because I wanted to leave but because I had no more energy left in my body. This woman was just amazing and the BBCM would make a huge mistake if they are not to book her for the Black & Blue 2008. If the BBCM does not do it, I’m sure the Bal en Blanc people will have their eyes on her for the Bal en Blanc 2009. All my friends form New York City were asking how come they have never had the chance to see her performing in their city, well I’m sure it won’t take long to see this fantastic DJ playing soon near you.

A couple of months ago I said that it feel as if Ana Paula is playing only for you, and once again I got the same feeling, even though there were tons of people at the Telus Theatre, she made me feel special, as if she was playing just for me.

Amazing crowd, great party, incredible deejays, thank you Divers/Cité for such an amazing time. My friends stayed until the end and they mentioned Ana Paula was incredible at the end, dancing with the crowd, kissing everyone, just radiating energy everywhere, and the crowd did not want to let it go. What a party!!!