You are forgiven if you arrive later in the evening (or early in the morning according to some) for parties at Stereo, but never if Stephan Grondin is the one warming up the dance floor for a great night of dancing.
One person dancing in the side lines of the dance floor, decoration imitating a forest above, lots of people walking to and from the smoking section, and a DJ that was ready to surprise the crowd in the tables. In a normal night music usually stays slow for a while, but Saturday was not normal night, not when you have the Luso-Canadian duo ready to rip you apart in the dance floor. Grondin probably was only waiting for the first person to move under the disco ball to release the energy in the making since his debut at Pacha the weekend before.
People only had a couple minutes to make themselves comfortable before the music literally exploded. Grondin had the compassion to maintain the volume down for a bit, again just enough time to grab your space in the dance floor. Those arriving at 3:00am might have gotten confused and worried because the party was already at full swing. The volume was too loud for a couple of minutes, something Grondin fixed right away, talk about being able to read the crowd and your own ears I guess.
Grondin brought tons of material with him, playing great tunes that were just too delicious not to digest. Dark tribal tunes made not for the gods, but for a hungry dance floor fed in a timely fashion. It was just unbelievable what he did, and it felt like everyone was just captivated by the music. Unlike other parties, where the whole crowd turns and face the DJ as if was Huitzilopochtli before a human sacrifice, everyone was just dancing, focused in the music, in themselves, in others, and in the blue elephants.
Transition? There was no transition, just a natural progression of the night. If wasn’t because the spot lights I wouldn’t have noticed Vibe had already taken control of the night. Grondin had pushed the envelop to the maximum, and was Vibe turn to followed and take it to the next level.
Vibe took Grondin’s challenge and transformed the night into a work of art, by ripping the original form apart, recreating the figure, destroying it again, adding new colours, dividing it into pieces and mix matching it upside down. Vibe was different than usual, he played harder and darker, the range of tribal tunes were fascinating, I believe he even flirted with some techno, but always returning to the dark side of the music. The music sounded more mature, and his talent and experience helped to put everyone where they belonged, in the dance floor.
I could go on and on but it would be useless, you had to experience this night to understand what I’m talking about. As far as I remember, only one song played by Grondin was repeated by Vibe, and it is one of my favourites tunes which I don‘t know the name - this tune just make the dance floor go wild, and both times it did the job.
The crowd was a happy bunch, with lots of charismatic attractive people, lots of newcomers, and I met several people from Ontario and British Columbia. Great dancers, good to see some old friends, and look at the beautiful bodies all around. Lasted the combination of Grondin and Vibe until probably 11:00am, left with zero energy, a destroyed body and with a smile in my face. Stayed a lit big longer downstairs, longer than I should but it was fun. I don’t think I’m allowed to say “Stereo you’ve done again”, my question actually is can another duo take this challenge now?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Max Herbert & Miss Honey Dijon @ Stereo - June 16, 2007
“Where should I go first? Parking, Unity, Academy, home?” Those were my thoughts on Saturday afternoon, later on was crystal clear I really need some sleep if I wanted to survive a night at the temple.
Arrived at Stereo at around 3:30am, no line up, no stress, easy parking, quick security check and there I was again, listening to some uplifting house music being played by Max Herbert. Not my first time seeing him in action and the music was what I expected from him. Chill out, happy, cute and all those adjectives, but not for long, he then started to go into this dark technoish happy pulsing hard beats which got me off guard. Had to look twice to see if Max was really the one at the tables. Nice change in style, and I’m not sure if it is permanent, but whatever he was doing really got me going.
The spill over from Parking began at around 4:30am, and people arrived raving about what Offer Nissim had done, and not long after Max decided to slow down the music by a notch. Personally I believe there was no need to slow down the party, on the contrary, specially since tons of people were arriving super pump up from the pre-parties. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Max’ set.
The crowd was an interesting mix of everything, drag queens, regulars, newbies asking if the toilets were unisex, a Torontonian trying to smuggle in his camera, and lots of people asking what style of music they should expect from Miss Honey Dijon. My standard answer was “not really sure”, and then I would mention that perhaps it was something towards Chicago House style with some Tenagliash influence. The place was comfortably full, with good dancing areas for everyone.
Miss Honey Dijon started to spin a bit before 5:00am, and right at the beginning she started to deliver hard music. How to define her music? Not really sure, but I would say it was a combination of Chicago House music, spiced up with the classic New York underground style, not very commercial oriented tunes, presented in a funky way. I know, it doesn’t make sense, but when you are dancing like crazy at 8:00am on a Sunday morning, tell me if that makes sense?
Interesting play list, with super energy coming from the decks, good mixing all night long, and happy people all over the place., specially the nice crew from the Cirque du Soleil that were gracing the dance floor with their presence. They are not only good under the blue and yellow tent, but also incredible charismatic dancers under the giant disco ball.
Although I had slept before going to Stereo, my body gave up by 10:00am and this is when I said good bye dance floor, and hello to Stereo Bar, but just for a bit. Probably this also won’t make sense, but somehow during the evening I got hear the continuation of music I always wondered if there was one. Dijon showed me the second and third part of many of the songs.
Arrived at Stereo at around 3:30am, no line up, no stress, easy parking, quick security check and there I was again, listening to some uplifting house music being played by Max Herbert. Not my first time seeing him in action and the music was what I expected from him. Chill out, happy, cute and all those adjectives, but not for long, he then started to go into this dark technoish happy pulsing hard beats which got me off guard. Had to look twice to see if Max was really the one at the tables. Nice change in style, and I’m not sure if it is permanent, but whatever he was doing really got me going.
The spill over from Parking began at around 4:30am, and people arrived raving about what Offer Nissim had done, and not long after Max decided to slow down the music by a notch. Personally I believe there was no need to slow down the party, on the contrary, specially since tons of people were arriving super pump up from the pre-parties. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Max’ set.
The crowd was an interesting mix of everything, drag queens, regulars, newbies asking if the toilets were unisex, a Torontonian trying to smuggle in his camera, and lots of people asking what style of music they should expect from Miss Honey Dijon. My standard answer was “not really sure”, and then I would mention that perhaps it was something towards Chicago House style with some Tenagliash influence. The place was comfortably full, with good dancing areas for everyone.
Miss Honey Dijon started to spin a bit before 5:00am, and right at the beginning she started to deliver hard music. How to define her music? Not really sure, but I would say it was a combination of Chicago House music, spiced up with the classic New York underground style, not very commercial oriented tunes, presented in a funky way. I know, it doesn’t make sense, but when you are dancing like crazy at 8:00am on a Sunday morning, tell me if that makes sense?
Interesting play list, with super energy coming from the decks, good mixing all night long, and happy people all over the place., specially the nice crew from the Cirque du Soleil that were gracing the dance floor with their presence. They are not only good under the blue and yellow tent, but also incredible charismatic dancers under the giant disco ball.
Although I had slept before going to Stereo, my body gave up by 10:00am and this is when I said good bye dance floor, and hello to Stereo Bar, but just for a bit. Probably this also won’t make sense, but somehow during the evening I got hear the continuation of music I always wondered if there was one. Dijon showed me the second and third part of many of the songs.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Ricky Montanari & David Morales @ Stereo - May 26, 2007
Disclaimer: This is a short review, and these are my personal views of this evening.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to this party, a Morales night combined with no tickets usually means a long queue to get in. If it wasn’t because of a friend of mine that had called and told me he could get me a ticket, I probably wouldn’t have gone - it was a last minute decision.
Due to previous engagements, I arrived at around 4:00am at Stereo, short wait to get in, and inside the place was full, but not super packed - and the temple was decorated with spring-like accessories.
Personally, the music was OK when I arrived, until it became monotonous, and then just plain boring! Not sure what Ricky Montanari was doing, and I hope next time he is able to understand the crowd, because if that place goes wild right at the moment that some good upbeat music is played, please keep “that” music going, and stop teasing the dancers. Actually, that was not teasing, it was pure torture and I couldn’t wait any longer for Morales to take over the evening. I doubt that the crowd was expecting a mix of progressive house and minimal tunes during the first part of the night (?).
Finally, @ a little bit past 5:00am, Morales showed up at the tables and unfortunately it was a short visit because Montanari continued spinning for another hour or so! Morales then came and as usual the crowd when nuts, and this time he stayed. Probably it took a couple of minutes for him to organize himself up there, because the music continued slow, or maybe he was just making a clean transition.
After that Morales did what he does the best, he entertained the crowd until the end. The versatility of the music during the whole evening was great, he took us back in time with some classic tunes, some older classics. He moved the dance floor to the present, catapulted us probably to the future, shaked us back to Stereo, and I loved every minute of it!
Almost all walks of life were represented on the dance floor, which is something I really enjoy from Morales nights. I know some of you are saying “but this is the typical Stereo crowd.” yes indeed, but even more on Morales nights. The special energy was in the air, and how couldn’t it be, as I just looked up and you could see how much fun Morales was having, then just look around and you would see everyone dancing like maniacs, never losing their smiles or friendliness.
I believe everyone felt sexy dancing under the command of Señor Morales, and it helped as he gave us the music for it. From tribal to the great anthems of the days, from techno to whatever else came out of those powerful speakers. Amazing up beat music that used up all my energy by 11:00am - if I can no longer dance, I prefer to leave because it would be torture to stay just listening the those great tunes while my body is telling me I should be dancing.
I Left the dance floor almost apologetically, but I had to go, just to be captivated by the energy down at Stereo bar. Don’t know who was spinning, but it was interesting music. If I had known it was raining outside, I would've probably stayed a little bit longer.
Thank you Stereo for another great and energetic evening - and gracias Morales por mantener mi sonrisa alegre durante toda la noche.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to this party, a Morales night combined with no tickets usually means a long queue to get in. If it wasn’t because of a friend of mine that had called and told me he could get me a ticket, I probably wouldn’t have gone - it was a last minute decision.
Due to previous engagements, I arrived at around 4:00am at Stereo, short wait to get in, and inside the place was full, but not super packed - and the temple was decorated with spring-like accessories.
Personally, the music was OK when I arrived, until it became monotonous, and then just plain boring! Not sure what Ricky Montanari was doing, and I hope next time he is able to understand the crowd, because if that place goes wild right at the moment that some good upbeat music is played, please keep “that” music going, and stop teasing the dancers. Actually, that was not teasing, it was pure torture and I couldn’t wait any longer for Morales to take over the evening. I doubt that the crowd was expecting a mix of progressive house and minimal tunes during the first part of the night (?).
Finally, @ a little bit past 5:00am, Morales showed up at the tables and unfortunately it was a short visit because Montanari continued spinning for another hour or so! Morales then came and as usual the crowd when nuts, and this time he stayed. Probably it took a couple of minutes for him to organize himself up there, because the music continued slow, or maybe he was just making a clean transition.
After that Morales did what he does the best, he entertained the crowd until the end. The versatility of the music during the whole evening was great, he took us back in time with some classic tunes, some older classics. He moved the dance floor to the present, catapulted us probably to the future, shaked us back to Stereo, and I loved every minute of it!
Almost all walks of life were represented on the dance floor, which is something I really enjoy from Morales nights. I know some of you are saying “but this is the typical Stereo crowd.” yes indeed, but even more on Morales nights. The special energy was in the air, and how couldn’t it be, as I just looked up and you could see how much fun Morales was having, then just look around and you would see everyone dancing like maniacs, never losing their smiles or friendliness.
I believe everyone felt sexy dancing under the command of Señor Morales, and it helped as he gave us the music for it. From tribal to the great anthems of the days, from techno to whatever else came out of those powerful speakers. Amazing up beat music that used up all my energy by 11:00am - if I can no longer dance, I prefer to leave because it would be torture to stay just listening the those great tunes while my body is telling me I should be dancing.
I Left the dance floor almost apologetically, but I had to go, just to be captivated by the energy down at Stereo bar. Don’t know who was spinning, but it was interesting music. If I had known it was raining outside, I would've probably stayed a little bit longer.
Thank you Stereo for another great and energetic evening - and gracias Morales por mantener mi sonrisa alegre durante toda la noche.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
