Montreal - Weekend 14, 2009

There are only 13 days until the Bal en Blanc people and I still don't have my outfit, so considering this is going to be the pre-Bal en Blanc weekend, we have the incredible Mark Farina @ Karma, Gui Boratto @ Parking, Creator @ Circus, Ralphi Rosario @ Parking, Mark Anthony @ Unity, and many others in town.

What am I doing? Love Ralphi Rosario and Creator, but for sure I'm saving myself for Mark Farina at Karma on Saturday night (finally I'll get to review the place and Farina as well).

Talking about energy, last Saturday I ended up at Unity where Isaac Escalante delivered a super charged set, if I have the chance I will write a review of the night.

Remember I mentioned no longer ago something about DJ Felipe Lira from Brazil? He played at Fly nightclub in Toronto no longer ago, anyway I just learned he will be spinning at Parking at the beginning of June, and I just hope he is ready to play for the Parking crowd. Felipe if you are reading this blog here is a message for you, play well in Montreal and this might become your diplomatic passport for North America.
DJ Felipe Lira

PAM ANN - Canadian Tour - May 2009

yes boys and girls, the talented Pam Ann is doing a couple of stop overs in Canada, and if I were you, I wouldn't miss this show for anything. I've seen her twice already and she is really funny.

Vancouver, Granville Island Stage: May, 22nd & 23rd 2009
Calgary, Theatre Junction Grande: May, 24th 2009
Montreal, Le Cabaret Juste Pour Rire: May, 26th & 27th 2009
Toronto, HartHouse Theatre: May, 29th & 30th 2009



Visit PAM ANN website for more info.

March 28, 2009 @ 8:30PM - Earth Hour

Montreal is still not officially in the list of the cities that will turn off its lights for an hour, but who needs city hall to lead us eh? Try to turn off the lights this coming Saturday, light up a candle instead.

Mama Mia - the comic edition

A truly funny, totally French and Saunders versions of Mammia Mia as broadcasted on the BBC for Red Nose Day 2009.

and do not forget to watch part 2

MTLNIGHTS & Parking - March 21, 2009

Are you doing your taxes as well? After spending the whole day trying to find all the receipts, forms et al, I decided it was time to go out and about. The night was divided in two. First to hit the MTLNIGHTS 7th anniversary party, and then get down to Parking to check out Phil Romano.

The MTLNIGHTS party was cool, but I must admit I loved more last year's location. Not too many people when we arrived, but it started to get busy by the time I left the "loft". It was nice to see old faces, which I haven't seen in a long time, plus loved the easy going type of crowd. Music was kind of funky old house school style, very groove to dance those tunes. Did not get to see Florence singing, but she mentioned at the beginning she was going to have two dancers with her, I really would had loved to see their performance. Personally, I think MTLNIGHTS should try to get more of these party happening thorough the year. some small, something funky, something different.

Moving on the second part of the Evening, and by 2:00am we were hitting Parking, which was kind of busy, but I got worried when I saw some people getting their coats to leave the place. The place was busy and as soon as I got in, I asked a friend how Phil Romano was doing, and the answer was so so.

Checked around and there was everything for a great party, beautiful people, good energy, warm ambiance, sexy dancers, I just don't like where Parking has placed those big speakers - it takes off some of the DJ booth views, and I'm guessing the DJ loose some of the dance floor view eh?

Anyway, after a while I understood why my friend told me the music was so so, there were too many ups and downs with not too much climax. Phil would start lifting everybody up, the place would get rocking and then ... nothing, he would bring the mellow music back, slow down the whole thing for no reason at all. Please keep in mind this is my personal opinion of the night, and I'm sure there are many people that felt otherwise about the evening.

Don't take me wrong, he was playing some great tunes, and I did dance like crazy but he just kept the place going like a roller coaster. My feeling is he did not take advantage of the great vibe that was available to him at Parking. I was curious about this DJ, but unfortunately I was not impressed for what he delivered, maybe it was his off night, or maybe it was just me.

Finally, although my musical hunger was not fully satisfied, I enjoyed my evening, danced with my friends, and I'm still smiling because Spring has arrived.

Parking - April 2009

Parking has just released its scheduled for the month of April, and it looks hot.

and this is what Parking is planing for the Easter weekend.

Bal en Blanc 2009 - Count down

Bal en Blanc 15 - Review

There are only 22 days left for the big event at the Convention Center, which this year has chosen the "green" theme, green as in recycling and not as in Irish.

and taken from the Bal en Blanc press release:

Entire programming for the 15th Bal en Blanc unveiled

Partying promises to be intense at the 15th Bal en Blanc, which will be taking place, as tradition demands, on Easter Sunday (April 12) at Palais des Congrès. A blend of prominent figures from previous editions and new DJs for attendees to discover, the anniversary programming brings together Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Markus Schulz, Roger Shah and Insomnia in the Tech room, while Offer Nissim, Axwell, Deadmau5, Victor Calderone, Ana Paula, Uppercut and King Louis will be performing in the House room. In addition, Brazilian singer Amannda and Montreal’s Lavoie will do the 15th-anniversary theme song as a duo to music composed by Steve Aries aka Jester. A varied programming of related events will round off the festivities from Thursday to Monday, April 9 to 13.

To avoid congestion and waiting at the Palais des Congrès entryway for Bal en Blanc, the organizers have come to an agreement whereby a greater proportion of the rented spaces can effectively be converted and used while the event takes place. A higher number of security agents will also be assigned to searching in order to speed up access to the rooms.

Bal en Blanc goes green

Various initiatives have been put in place to reduce the environmental impact of White Party Week. For instance, printed on more ecological paper, the magazine is now being distributed in smaller quantities in order to promote the use of a new electronic version, accessible on the website. As for the event itself, several approaches have been modified. It begins with the recycling of the roughly 50,000 bottles and containers of water, juice and energy drinks consumed during the Bal, not counting plastic glasses. The use of less energy-consuming lighting systems is also part of the measures adopted, as is the choice of recyclable materials for decorations. The day-to-day administrative practices of Playground Productions have also been reviewed – in particular at the level of recycling and energy savings – to render these less damaging to the environment.

and as it happens every year, there are people that cannot stop complaining about the line up, about the ticket prices, about everything, and others that are just happy and can't wait to get their white outfit on and go dancing. Personally I think the Bal en Blanc, together with the Black & Blue, are 2 of the Montreal events you have to experience at least once.

OFFICIAL LINE-UP

TECH ROOM
----------
9h00PM - 11h30PM - Insomnia
11h30PM - 2h20AM - Markus Schulz

2h20AM - 2h30AM - "Dressed in White" The theme song of the 15th anniversary of Bal en Blanc,. Performance by Yan Lavoie and Amannda (lyrics by Yan Lavoie to the music of Steve Aries aka Jester remixed by Markus Schultz).

2h30AM - 6h00AM - Above & Beyond
6h00AM - 10h30AM - Armin Van Buuren
10h30AM -12h00AM - Roger Shah


HOUSE ROOM
----------------
9h00PM - 11h30PM - King Louis
11h30PM - 1h00AM - Uppercut
1h00AM - 3h00AM - Offer Nissim

3h00AM - 3h10AM : "Dressed in White" The theme song of the 15th anniversary of Bal en Blanc. Performance by Yan Lavoie and Amannda (lyrics by Yan Lavoie to the music of Steve Aries aka Jester remixed by Ana Paula).

3h10AM - 5h30AM - Ana Paula
5h30AM - 8h00AM - Axwell
8h00AM - 10h00AM -Deadmau5
10h00AM - 12h00AM -Victor Calderone

Spring 2009 has arrived

and I'm so happy about it, so much that I have already gone running outside (once), and I wasn't the only one.

Busy weekend boys and girls, if you are in New York City the "Black" and "Alegria" party will be waiting for you. If you are in Montreal, Danny Torrence is spinning at Unity, Phil Romano at Parking, MTLNIGHTS.COM 7th anniversary party and more. Stéphan Grondin is busy in San Francisco, and the list could go on and on.

7th Anniversary - MTLNIGHTS.COM

This Saturday (March 21, 2009) MTLNIGHTS.COM is hosting its 7th anniversary party, and I highly recommend this evnet. Last year MTLNIGHTS party was a lot of fun, it had this underground funky feeling, and it is a good party to meet new people in town.

Cover will be CND 10.00 - location: 4299 st denis street, 50 meters south of marie-anne, close to salon daome & academy.

If case you don't know anything about MTLNIGHTS.COM, it is a public Montreal forum, where lovers of house music gather to exchange ideas. Actually, Patius exist today because of MTLNIGHTS - long story.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Picture removed by hosting site

Simulation of all flights worldwide

Just incredible to see how the traffic flow changes according to the time of the day.


Air Traffic Worldwide 24HR from kouko a on Vimeo.

Back in time

Every time I hear this ABBA song, it reminds me of time when El Salvador was going through a civil war. Let me explain, for those who don't know, I was actually born in El Salvador, and an year before the Salvadoran civil war started, my family emigrated to Brazil, where I grew up.

In 1979 this song was a hit, and I guess because it was in Spanish, and all the news about the war in El Salvador at the same time, I somehow associated the song and the war together .. don't ask me why, I was only a child at the time.



The reason why I was thinking about this song, is because today El Salvador is choosing a new President, and for the first time in the country political history, it seems that the candidate from the left (FMLN - the former guerrilla) might win the election.

Unfortunately El Salvador has not mature enough (personal opinion), to have a transparent political transition from right to left that is not dramatic. Nevertheless, just the thought that the FMLN might actually win shows how much the country has changed.

In other news, last night I almost went to Karma to check out my boy Danny Torrence. Went to a house party before, and while there my body kind of told me I need to rest because I might be coming down with something. Conclusion, I will have to review this place another time. I also drove by Unity (Stéphan Grondin was spinning) and there was a big line up at 1:30am - some of my friends were inside and they told it was insane.

Sesame Street

Climaxxx @ Karma - Danny Torrence

Danny Torrence will be hosting his Climaxxx night at Karma this coming Saturday, and maybe, just maybe is the time for me to check out this place.

Does anybody know if they will kick me out of the place if I take my t-shirt off? You must understand, this is Danny we are talking here, which means you will be dancing like crazy ... yeah, I think it is time to find out what are my limitations in this place :-)

Phil Romano @ Parking

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the first time Romano comes to Parking, and looking at his past gigs (Maxima @ Rio, Alegria @ NYC, Propaganda @ Moscow), expect to hear a lot of the gay anthems, and probably the boys will like him a lot.



and he is hosting a Gay and Lesbian International Circuit party weekend in Rome during Easter weekend - I guess it would be too risqué to call it White Party weekend eh?

DJ Felipe Lira

First was Ana Paula, then came Ale Bittencourt and Rafael Calvente, and looks like Felipe Lira is the next DJ in line to be exported by Brazil.



Lira will be landing in Toronto in a couple of days (March 14 @ FLY), and who knows, maybe Montreal will be the next city calling him up.

Mark Farina is back - Karma

The Blended boys are bringing Mark Farina to Karma in April, and this is a party you cannot miss - people are still raving from his last Stereo gig, and probably they will be doing the same after this one at Karma. Can you believe I still haven't checked Karma? I've been hearing good stuff about this place.

Weekend is back

Deko-ze @ Parking

DJ Kidd Madonny @ Unity

Franco Fabbi and Stathis Lazarides @ Circus

Richie Santana, Peter Bailey, Joe Hickerson & Hector Fonseca

My apologies for taking so long to post these reviews, I was actually watching TV, or woke up and the TV was watching me, and there was Paris Hilton in a show where some people must compete to become her best friend in London. Oh yeah, and they show the mansion of her dogs in Los Angeles ... let me tell you. Anyway, I turn off the TV and decided to write the reviews instead, after my P90X workout of course (3rd week - round 2).


Richie Santana & Peter Bailey @ Parking - January 31, 2009

Edit: I was just informed that Peter Bailey did not play, because he was hospitalized, I hope everything is good with him now. Reading the review below you will see I had no idea Peter was missing. Nevertheless I still stand by the fact, I found the first hour of the set to be boring (and it was not from the warm up DJ, which did an okay job for the short time I heard him). I'm not rewriting the review so keep reading.

I've been expecting to see these two high schools friends together for a while now. Their Mind Control party has been a success everywhere, and a lot of DJs out there are using Richie & Peter's productions in their sets. Before I start I must tell you I have no idea who started the set - didn't check the booth-, but I believe they were exchanging places during the night.

My computer is full of music from these guys, but I must admit I was totally bored for the first hour at Parking. I could not feel the music and I understand, these guys don't need a warm up set, because that is what they were doing at the beginning.

Nevertheless, the music was a fresh change to what we usually hear at Parking on Saturday night. Mind you, I have noticed Parking has been definitely bringing variety to Montreal, and one reason why I love this club.

Once their warm up was over, this is when the vibe changed, my body started to feel the energy vibrating on the dance floor, and the crowd started to come to life. House music in an electronic fashion, spiced up with tribal-technish tunes, minimal well used, a set low in vocals but powerful in sound. They are not just great producers, they know how to use the turntables, I just wish Parking had given them more time to play.

Although I still find their beginning was slow and boring, by the end I had this big smile in my face, and I must say my friends were telling me the same thing. Some people might not had got the idea of their music, but I'm looking forward to see them again. No wonder why DJs such as Victor Calderone, Chus & Ceballos, Vibe, among other, use Richie & Peter's work in their nights.


Joe Hickerson @ Parking - February 7, 2009

As mentioned before, every time this guy came to Montreal, I had something else to do, therefore this was my first time experiencing what he does with the dance floor, and I can see why Manny Lehman got interesting in his talent, and pushed him to further explore his DJ talent.

I think both the "BBCM" & "Bal en Blanc" people should keep an eye in Joe, why you might ask? He is the perfect DJ for a circuit party, knowing when to drop the vocals people need, and when to just turn up the volume. He is not scared to experiment with the crowd, and yes he does play some of the commercial stuff, but well done, not just the crappy "here this is what you want to hear people".

If you were looking for your vocal fix, this was the night to be a Parking, because for sure I got to hear what I really wanted to hear. Powerful delicious voices from the past and present, which made me dance all night long.

Wonderful crowd, and in case you were not there, Joe has been generous enough to post his entire Parking set on his blog - just follow the link below.

Joe's set @ Parking

Once again, I think Joe could be a great addition to a future "Black & Blue" party, or to be part of the house room in a "Bal en Blanc" event.


Hector Fonseca @ Parking - February 28, 2009

Fun fun fun fun night with Hector - review coming up soon, and he is really looking good.