Disclaimer: this is how I spent my Saturday / Sunday, which I'm sure is different to your view of the night.
I've been looking forward this night for a while now, and not wanting to miss a single minute, I probably walked into Stereo a little bit after 2:00am. Have you noticed that lately the security guys have been checking really careful each person that gets into the building? Nevertheless, not sure how those private cameras keep making it to the dance floor.
Great decoration of the place, the Christmas decor was replaced by this birthday theme ambiance, full of balloons of different sizes, and streamers of different colours hanging all over the place, specially around the disco ball. The place looked festive for the occasion.
Slowly people started to arrived at the temple, and it didn't get fully packed until probably after 4:00am, I might be wrong on this one. This was my first time hearing Malick, and I was curious to see what kind of music he was going to bring down to the house. When I got there, the music was soft with good tunes to get the party started. The more people arrive, the more the beats kept getting stronger, and the volume louder.
Malick then moved on to a more electro, proggy, hard mix, perhaps more suitable for a Friday than a Saturday night at Stereo, then returning to some house tunes with some vocals. Overall, Malick did warm up the crowd, he seemed to enjoy his time up there, and the crowd responded to his style by clapping and making some noise.
Talking about the crowd, may I dare to say it was different. The more I looked at the dance floor, the more I didn't recognize it. I couldn't feel the vibe of the crowd, which had this strange kind of energy. It was more heterosexual, lots of women, some cute boys, and lots of dancers that were facing only towards the DJ booth area. It felts as if the magic energy that is created as Stereo was missing - don't know what it was, but I was worried.
Malick probably delivered a super good set, but I couldn't enjoy it because there was something missing in the dance floor. In order not to bring others down with my energy, I moved myself to the back of the room, and for a while I only observed the party. The more I looked, the less I felt the energy, finally I decided to ignore whatever was going on in the dance floor, maybe it was me, and decided to do what I do best: to dance like maniac and smile because dancing make me happy.
In the back I could hear the proggy sounds, hard beats, getting darker and darker with the minutes - at the same time I had to pay attention when dancing this type of music, my moves become more aggressive and harder. Finally I spotted Danny Torrence with his white T-shirt and cap hat in the booth. Someone asked me if I knew at what time he was going to come on, and I told him that probably by 4:30am because he has been looking forward this evening for a while now.
Someone looked at me and questioned me about what was going on, and I just answered back with: "I hope Torrence is able to create the magic with this crowd". Don't take me wrong, the music was good, but Stereo is not just the music, it is also the crowd. Not sure if it is my impression, but perhaps there were lots of newcomers to the temple, and if I was right, it was only a question of time until this crowd would start feeling the music, the people, the magic, the vibe, the smiles, and everything that makes this place such an incredible house of music.
Finally a big smile in my face, spot lights in the booth, and there he was, Torrence concentrated in his work, beginning what would be a long night of dancing. He came hard and dark at the beginning - very hard beats followed by a kind of industrial tribal proggy sounds. 45 minutes in the set, and I was still not feeling the crowd, but slowly the process of "stereolization" of the crowd started to be felt. I could feel some energy flowing among the dancers. The music became darker and darker, different style chosen by Torrence for the evening.
It finally hit me, Torrence was not spinning music, instead he was talking to the dancers with sounds, and I was not listening because this was a different style that I'm not used to hear from him. You could see the emotions flowing out of his body, his energy was incredible, and each touch with his fingers were making bodies vibrate all over the place. By this time I could finally feel the energy of the dance floor, it was as if the crowd had been "stereolized" by the exchange of energy between the DJ and the people dancing a deck below.
One of my friends looked at me and told to stop smiling so much, because it was too sick and contagious. She just gave me this hug, and come on, how couldn't I be happy if I was dancing to the tunes of one of my favourites DJs from Montreal, and dancing with one of the sexiest girls in the dance floor? On top of that, one of the hottest guys joined us in the dance - not sure about you girls .. and some boys, but I think you would had enjoyed being in the middle as well.
The trip that had began with a turbulence, had finally achieved cruising altitude, and not only the seat belts were unfastened, but tribal beats were making a turbulence in its own, and not the one that people are scared of, but the only we look forward to experience. The music was being played not just because had to be played, but each tune came with its own meaning, its own emotion, with an unique feeling that was impossible for almost anyone to resist. If there were two types of crowds at the beginning of the night, Torrence has accomplished an incredible task, to join the forces of two different energies, and make it into
one and only one.
Danny kept talking and talking, and the more he spoke to the crowd with his sounds, the easiest it became to move along with him during this journey to somewhere. He showed us once again he is a super versatile type of DJs, capable not only of playing this or that type of sound, but able to putt them all together, tailored to whoever is dancing along.
Finally, those voices began to echoed around the room - and it is not a secret that house music with vocals is my delirium. Some familiar voices, but most of them unfamiliar beats that drove me nuts in the dance floor. Some classics were also played, and by this time I had to take a rest because I was exhausted from so much dancing.
I moved along to the chill out area located to the right of the DJ booth area, and I hadn't been there in a while. I discovered that the round table had been replaced by a bunch of sofas, hiding by this curtain located right at the entrance of the room.
Couldn't stay much longer sitting down because the tribal drums were calling me to the dance floor, and as I disappeared, I returned re-energized by the power rest well deserved by my body. House vocals, tribal, proggy, electro, and I'm not sure what else Danny Torrence brought out during the whole evening, but everything was used to talk to us, to tell us a story. The story of one of my favourites DJ from Montreal, which showed us during an extended set one of the climax of his career, by using the progression of the different music styles.
Around noon Danny gave us a speech in which he thanked everyone that has been involved in his life, and told us he wouldn't stop until he got kicked him out of place. I probably spotted him 3 times in the dance floor during the whole evening, and in each time he had this big smile in his face.
Finally my body gave in and I had to leave - left but was trapped by the sounds of Patrick Guay, which meant at least another hour of dancing. There is only one thing that I noticed this time around, when talking to people in the bar downstairs, I could not hear them very well - I guess ears plugs will have to become part of my accessories when going to Stereo.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
It's not over yet @ Stereo - Jan 1, 2007
Monday night, a little bit tired because of the NYE parties, but excited because it was David Morales the one in charge of the night. Arrived at Stereo at around 10:30 pm and it didn't take long to go thru security, and there I was, once again under the disco ball, and Sami Dee was up there having a party in his own.
First thing I heard was "Happy New Year", and again, until I realized it was Sami Dee the one screaming his lungs out wishing everyone a happy new year. My friend looked at me and told me Sami probably wasn't going to warm up the crowd, he was going to give everything he had in his hands, and I should save some energy because Morales would also come out with a full swing. This is when I also noticed there were some guys that kept bringing boxes and boxes of beers to the bar. They must have sold out of beer the night before, and I wonder if they had to scoop whatever beer was left from around the city.
The place slowly filled up with people, but it didn't matter to Sami because the sound was already loud enough an he was way up there, jumping, screaming, and interacting with the crowd in an interesting way. The music was super energetic, and he started to drop some tunes that we usually hear later on in the evening. The music was good, my only complain is that he was not being consistent, he would energize the dancers, then slow them down, back to the super energy, then slow down again. On top of that he kept stopping the music for too many seconds. By this time, the place was already full, I was already sweating like crazy, and my friends were telling me "we need Morales now".
I always love when Stereo set up the podiums the way they did for this party. There was one podium in front of the DJ booth, one almost under the disco ball, one in the gay side, another in the straight area, and the ones in the back area. Those podium were a hot commodity during the whole night, some really good and sexy dancers up there.
The crowd for this evening was what is expected from a Morales night - everyone from the human race was represented, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some out of space people as well. Great vibe coming from all corners of the building, smiles, sensuality, sexuality, friendship, curiosity, you name it, everything was present during the night.
Don't know what time Morales arrived, but everyone was waiting for him, and he caused some noise when he finally took over the DJ area. The music, the music, the music - how can you not dance to those tunes? It is impossible. Talk about diversity of the music, he went everywhere and anywhere, and never forgot to bring us along.
The big divas came out, the electro boys were out, the proddy tunes checked, tribal sounds, old classics, new stuff, and tied everything up with the talent of David Morales, and you have one great out of control party at Stereo. Loved when he started to play the song "Alone" (Maya), but this time the introduction of the song was a solo piano, which made me get some goose bumps. It was such an uplifting moment, which sent almost everyone up in the roof - what an incredible remix that was. Obviously he could not leave the place without dropping of my favourites, "Say Something", which again, drove the crowd while. Thinking about it, there were several times when the crowd responded to Morales, and I'm sure he loved the reaction he got from the dance floor.
If I'm not mistaken Tiesto was up in the DJ booth, when "Say Something" was dropped - the guy probably liked what he saw, because he didn't stop smiling for one second while he was up there. I also saw one of the hottest moment of the night, this straight friend of mine was dancing with his girlfriend, and another male friend. Next thing I know, he was kissing the other guy while his girlfriend was in the middle. I know he is not gay, and this made that moment even hotter than it already was.
The place was packed with a mixed crowd, with both beautiful men and women everywhere. The energy Morales is able to bring out of everyone is just incredible, love him or hate him, he is one of a kind. My only complain was that the volume was way too high, my ears stopping humming after two days, and this cannot be good.
I was able to get up in one of the podiums for a while, and my apologies to the people that almost hit or hit while I was dancing up there. It was not my intention, but the music was so good, that it was hard to control myself dancing. Danny Torrence showed up later on in the booth as well, not sure if he took control of it for a bit or not, but he was there having fun like everybody else.
Trips to the loo were not that bad as I expected, what was crazy was to find your way downstairs, because everyone was dancing a storm. Everywhere you looked, you could see happy faces, even I got this weird smile for a while, I couldn't stop smiling because I was feeling so happy. Happy not just because it was a NYE party, but because I was sharing this incredible moment with most of my friends. Even when my friends were not around, I was able to share some great moment with some total strangers, no need to talk, just to look at each other and continue dancing.
Once again, Morales has recreated this fantastic energy in the dance floor, and it was so much that by 11:00am I was totally exhausted. Some friends kept saying "I'm exhausted, but I don't want to leave because the music is so good", and this is exactly how I felt. Nevertheless, you must listen to you body, and this is what I did.
What a great party, and I survived it.
First thing I heard was "Happy New Year", and again, until I realized it was Sami Dee the one screaming his lungs out wishing everyone a happy new year. My friend looked at me and told me Sami probably wasn't going to warm up the crowd, he was going to give everything he had in his hands, and I should save some energy because Morales would also come out with a full swing. This is when I also noticed there were some guys that kept bringing boxes and boxes of beers to the bar. They must have sold out of beer the night before, and I wonder if they had to scoop whatever beer was left from around the city.
The place slowly filled up with people, but it didn't matter to Sami because the sound was already loud enough an he was way up there, jumping, screaming, and interacting with the crowd in an interesting way. The music was super energetic, and he started to drop some tunes that we usually hear later on in the evening. The music was good, my only complain is that he was not being consistent, he would energize the dancers, then slow them down, back to the super energy, then slow down again. On top of that he kept stopping the music for too many seconds. By this time, the place was already full, I was already sweating like crazy, and my friends were telling me "we need Morales now".
I always love when Stereo set up the podiums the way they did for this party. There was one podium in front of the DJ booth, one almost under the disco ball, one in the gay side, another in the straight area, and the ones in the back area. Those podium were a hot commodity during the whole night, some really good and sexy dancers up there.
The crowd for this evening was what is expected from a Morales night - everyone from the human race was represented, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some out of space people as well. Great vibe coming from all corners of the building, smiles, sensuality, sexuality, friendship, curiosity, you name it, everything was present during the night.
Don't know what time Morales arrived, but everyone was waiting for him, and he caused some noise when he finally took over the DJ area. The music, the music, the music - how can you not dance to those tunes? It is impossible. Talk about diversity of the music, he went everywhere and anywhere, and never forgot to bring us along.
The big divas came out, the electro boys were out, the proddy tunes checked, tribal sounds, old classics, new stuff, and tied everything up with the talent of David Morales, and you have one great out of control party at Stereo. Loved when he started to play the song "Alone" (Maya), but this time the introduction of the song was a solo piano, which made me get some goose bumps. It was such an uplifting moment, which sent almost everyone up in the roof - what an incredible remix that was. Obviously he could not leave the place without dropping of my favourites, "Say Something", which again, drove the crowd while. Thinking about it, there were several times when the crowd responded to Morales, and I'm sure he loved the reaction he got from the dance floor.
If I'm not mistaken Tiesto was up in the DJ booth, when "Say Something" was dropped - the guy probably liked what he saw, because he didn't stop smiling for one second while he was up there. I also saw one of the hottest moment of the night, this straight friend of mine was dancing with his girlfriend, and another male friend. Next thing I know, he was kissing the other guy while his girlfriend was in the middle. I know he is not gay, and this made that moment even hotter than it already was.
The place was packed with a mixed crowd, with both beautiful men and women everywhere. The energy Morales is able to bring out of everyone is just incredible, love him or hate him, he is one of a kind. My only complain was that the volume was way too high, my ears stopping humming after two days, and this cannot be good.
I was able to get up in one of the podiums for a while, and my apologies to the people that almost hit or hit while I was dancing up there. It was not my intention, but the music was so good, that it was hard to control myself dancing. Danny Torrence showed up later on in the booth as well, not sure if he took control of it for a bit or not, but he was there having fun like everybody else.
Trips to the loo were not that bad as I expected, what was crazy was to find your way downstairs, because everyone was dancing a storm. Everywhere you looked, you could see happy faces, even I got this weird smile for a while, I couldn't stop smiling because I was feeling so happy. Happy not just because it was a NYE party, but because I was sharing this incredible moment with most of my friends. Even when my friends were not around, I was able to share some great moment with some total strangers, no need to talk, just to look at each other and continue dancing.
Once again, Morales has recreated this fantastic energy in the dance floor, and it was so much that by 11:00am I was totally exhausted. Some friends kept saying "I'm exhausted, but I don't want to leave because the music is so good", and this is exactly how I felt. Nevertheless, you must listen to you body, and this is what I did.
What a great party, and I survived it.
Bal des Boys @ Stereo - Dec 31, 2006
The idea was to arrive at Stereo at around 10:00 pm in order to get in and spend the count down inside. Instead, after dinner my friends convince me to spend the New Year at Stereo bar, where a cozy party took place. I was worried when I arrived outside Stereo and saw this big line turning around the corner, and even more worried when I was told that was the line to get into Stereo bar. I had to check for myself, and there was no line to go downstairs, but I could see some people spending NYE outside
Stay in the bar for a while, dancing to the tunes of Neill MacLeod (Toronto) and DJ Soto (NYC). Didn't go up to the main room until around 2:00 am, which is the usual time I arrive there anyway, and as soon as I got up, I was surrounded by a sea of men in the dance floor.
I have been at many parties at Stereo, but not even the Black & Blue Recovery Party have been as gay as this one. You could actually count the number of women inside, and what a surprise to have so many men in one single place, and not a single fight - it must be a gay party, and yes it was, Bal des Boys version 2007.
The decor of the place has worked wonderfully for the month of December, and those crystal look like lines work great with the light show happening during the evening.
The vibe was off the hook already, and all thanks to XL, which was doing already his usual head bouncing, and he worked the room like no other. I can only imagine how the count down went in the main room with him, but again some people might have not even noticed they were already in 2007 - so much that I heard the count down was done a second time after midnight.
Being a BBCM party, my guess is the DJs tailored their sets accordingly to the demographic of the night. XL once again didn't disappoint me because I really enjoy the tunes he was throwing at the crowd. I won't even pretend to know what the time slots were for each DJ, I can just tell you the place was super packed, and I have no idea how I managed to find room to dance. Actually, the best place to dance when Stereo is this busy, is up in the podium, and the visual you get of the place is just out of this world - you see everything you wanted to see and more, and some other stuff you don't really care about.
XL gave us good House music, hard tunes, touched by some vocals, some drums, refreshed by some proddy - not too much - but the best of all was his energy mixed with the sensuality of the dance floor.
The big screen in the back was used during the evening, with different projection coming and going. I believe Stephan Grondin started his set when the projections of something that looked like visuals for the Madonna song "Sorry" started to be displayed. Obviously the dance floor went wild, and from there the energy went up to the stratosphere.
Grondin with an incredible synchronization of music for the boys. He didn't only read the crowd, he moved it around in a way that no one was left untouched. The music was so good that I was scared to go downstairs to the toilets because I didn't want to miss another great tune - that and the fact it was a zoo to go downstairs. Each trip to the loo was at least 20 min in the making, 15 min if you pushed your way thru. Don't know how many people were inside, but it was a lot.
I was also concerned about the alcohol being sold inside Stereo, didn't know if some people were going to get crazy in a different way. Didn't see anything bizarre happening, and according to someone, the alcohol sales were good. I also heard there were some problems between the price of the presale tickets and whatever it was really supposed to be. It sounds like whoever bought their ticket a couple of days before the event, got a really good deal.
Didn't matter in what side of the dance floor you were, there were men everywhere, and a super vibe, with happy smiles, people kissing, hugging, talking, staring at nowhere. Hands would come down in your body, and either you had the choice to move away, or to feel and enjoy those anonymous touches, until you look back to see who was behind you.
Grondin made me dance non stop while he was in the DJ booth, and I didn't dance harder because there were no space for it. There were a lot of out of town people, and a couple of first timers at Stereo. Lots of first time faces for me, and it was nice to exchange some touches with some of them, until the next great tunes would start, and I had to find a little bit of space to keep dancing.
The torched was then passed to Hector Romero, and the transition was good, because I didn't noticed, and the floor continued bouncing with this dark sensual energy created by Grondin and XL. Not long ago I was told not to expect the usual energy from Romero for New Year Eve, not to expect the same dark sexy tunes from his famous and energetic Full Body Work nights, instead it would be perhaps a little bit more commercial.
The music was good, but not the best I have heard from him, or maybe it was because I was already tired of so much partying, and perhaps I wanted to save a little bit of energy for later on. Hector did a good job for a NYE, not what I have learned to expect from him, but good enough to keep me dancing for a little bit longer.
By the time I left Stereo, it was already 10:00am and the only thing I could think was to get to my bed pronto. Left and the place was still packed. Don't know at what time Mark Anthony started or ended, but what I can say is what a great party we had to start the new year.
Stay in the bar for a while, dancing to the tunes of Neill MacLeod (Toronto) and DJ Soto (NYC). Didn't go up to the main room until around 2:00 am, which is the usual time I arrive there anyway, and as soon as I got up, I was surrounded by a sea of men in the dance floor.
I have been at many parties at Stereo, but not even the Black & Blue Recovery Party have been as gay as this one. You could actually count the number of women inside, and what a surprise to have so many men in one single place, and not a single fight - it must be a gay party, and yes it was, Bal des Boys version 2007.
The decor of the place has worked wonderfully for the month of December, and those crystal look like lines work great with the light show happening during the evening.
The vibe was off the hook already, and all thanks to XL, which was doing already his usual head bouncing, and he worked the room like no other. I can only imagine how the count down went in the main room with him, but again some people might have not even noticed they were already in 2007 - so much that I heard the count down was done a second time after midnight.
Being a BBCM party, my guess is the DJs tailored their sets accordingly to the demographic of the night. XL once again didn't disappoint me because I really enjoy the tunes he was throwing at the crowd. I won't even pretend to know what the time slots were for each DJ, I can just tell you the place was super packed, and I have no idea how I managed to find room to dance. Actually, the best place to dance when Stereo is this busy, is up in the podium, and the visual you get of the place is just out of this world - you see everything you wanted to see and more, and some other stuff you don't really care about.
XL gave us good House music, hard tunes, touched by some vocals, some drums, refreshed by some proddy - not too much - but the best of all was his energy mixed with the sensuality of the dance floor.
The big screen in the back was used during the evening, with different projection coming and going. I believe Stephan Grondin started his set when the projections of something that looked like visuals for the Madonna song "Sorry" started to be displayed. Obviously the dance floor went wild, and from there the energy went up to the stratosphere.
Grondin with an incredible synchronization of music for the boys. He didn't only read the crowd, he moved it around in a way that no one was left untouched. The music was so good that I was scared to go downstairs to the toilets because I didn't want to miss another great tune - that and the fact it was a zoo to go downstairs. Each trip to the loo was at least 20 min in the making, 15 min if you pushed your way thru. Don't know how many people were inside, but it was a lot.
I was also concerned about the alcohol being sold inside Stereo, didn't know if some people were going to get crazy in a different way. Didn't see anything bizarre happening, and according to someone, the alcohol sales were good. I also heard there were some problems between the price of the presale tickets and whatever it was really supposed to be. It sounds like whoever bought their ticket a couple of days before the event, got a really good deal.
Didn't matter in what side of the dance floor you were, there were men everywhere, and a super vibe, with happy smiles, people kissing, hugging, talking, staring at nowhere. Hands would come down in your body, and either you had the choice to move away, or to feel and enjoy those anonymous touches, until you look back to see who was behind you.
Grondin made me dance non stop while he was in the DJ booth, and I didn't dance harder because there were no space for it. There were a lot of out of town people, and a couple of first timers at Stereo. Lots of first time faces for me, and it was nice to exchange some touches with some of them, until the next great tunes would start, and I had to find a little bit of space to keep dancing.
The torched was then passed to Hector Romero, and the transition was good, because I didn't noticed, and the floor continued bouncing with this dark sensual energy created by Grondin and XL. Not long ago I was told not to expect the usual energy from Romero for New Year Eve, not to expect the same dark sexy tunes from his famous and energetic Full Body Work nights, instead it would be perhaps a little bit more commercial.
The music was good, but not the best I have heard from him, or maybe it was because I was already tired of so much partying, and perhaps I wanted to save a little bit of energy for later on. Hector did a good job for a NYE, not what I have learned to expect from him, but good enough to keep me dancing for a little bit longer.
By the time I left Stereo, it was already 10:00am and the only thing I could think was to get to my bed pronto. Left and the place was still packed. Don't know at what time Mark Anthony started or ended, but what I can say is what a great party we had to start the new year.
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