Ana Paula @ Stereo - January 9, 2010

Knowing Ana Paula had spent NYE in Toronto, and then she had to fly to Playa del Carmen for the BPM festival, there was no way in hell she was returning to Montreal, right in the month of January, to be a tourist. When I learned she had landed in the city, I knew the party I had been waiting since August 3, 2008 (Divers/Cité Ball) was finally going to happen at Stereo.

Stereo somehow had to leak the information, otherwise they would have lots of mad dancers out there. There are some people that do not like how Ana Paula spins, but she has been adopted by the gay community, and yes, sometimes she can be cheesy, or a bit commercial, but she knows how to move the crowd, and I just love the intensity she uses when working her magic.

Let me warn you this is not going to be a long review, it is more or less a quick summary. Alain Jackinsky was the DJ chosen to warm up the crowd, and well done because the place was ready to rock by the time Ana Paula took over.

Ana Paula came on at around 4:45am and I remember having this big smile in my face when she made her presence felt in the room. My expectations were big for her, but unfortunately she did not live up to it, at least the first half of her set.

The music she chose to play was just okay, nothing extraordinary as I wanted to hear, and the worse is that I know she is capable of playing better. No vocals, some tribal tunes, a bit techy, some industrial sounds, but I felt the energy too weak. If you see me standing around when the music is playing, then is either because I'm too tired to dance, or because I find the music boring. Unfortunately the second option was true for me.

Fast forward the clock, and I could see Ana Paula had started with a warm up instead of the bang I was hoping for, and gradually she had started to drop some bombs, but perhaps too late for some people that couldn't find the energy to stick around a bit longer.

It was 8:00am and finally Ana Paula was playing music the way I know she is capable of doing. Loved those transeish tunes covered with a tribal sound, super enjoyed the epic sounds she was delivering, and I started to vibrate even more when those delicious vocals started to show up all over the place. Too bad she didn't start playing like that right at the beginning of her set.

Taking in consideration I had arrived at 2:00am, I decided to leave by 9:00am, not because I wanted but because my feet were failing me. There were still lots of people dancing when I left, and I really wished I had stayed until the end, but you must listen to you body because there is always another night, or day, for dancing.

I just imagine how busier Stereo could had been if people had known Ana Paula was spinning on that Saturday night, and between you and me, Stereo needed to bring someone like her in order to keep at least half of their clients happy.

Happy I made it to Stereo.