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- Winter Music Conference 2006
-- WMC Pro's and Con's aka The "How was your conference?" thread.
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WMC Pro's and Con's aka The "How was your conference?" thread.
Well it's about that time. The time following a vacation where you reflect on all the things that occurred during what would inevitably be a crazy week in Miami. I figured I'd share some thoughts and hope to hear just what all of you thought of Conference, the city of Miami, hotels, DJ's, clubs, and anything else you experienced in Miami this year:
Pro: Hotel balconies FTW! Nothing beats a good balcony with a sick view to wind down the night/morning with good friends. Our balcony at the Fontainebleau was home to many a TA, as well as many a hallucination! 
Con: Hotel service. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 
Pro: Phil & Fluff and Eli Wilkie. Banging sets from these guys at Porterhouse at Suite on Wednesday night. Phil & Fluff played one of the greatest sets of conference, and when Phil dropped "Jet Lag Slave" with the incoming sample over it I was a dancin' machine. Beyond that, after talking to Phil (an exceptionally nice guy!) following the show, Fluff sought me out just to say hello and talk about tunes for a bit. Complete class acts, I was beyond impressed. Eli Wilke dropped "Heat it Up!" and OMGIDIED!
Con: Steve Porter. Worst set of conference by far. I have lost all respect fot Porter, as I stated earlier, I've heard pop and top 40 jocks mix and program in a more meaningful manner than Porter. Completely disgusting.
...and while we're on the subject of the Porterhouse night:
Con: Whoever promoted Porterhouse. They lied about the lineup, and got the staff at Suite to support their lies. Posting a fake lineup is poor form. And to further prove that the lineup was indeed completely falsified, when I met Luke Fair on Friday night and told him we had come out to see him spin @ Suite on Wednesday, his response was "What?" He had no clue what I was talking about. Poor form all around to those promoters.
Pro: Jimmy Van M and the first hour of John Digweed's set. Amazing, just what I wanted to hear, absolutely phenomenal, except for...
Con: Pawn shops absolutely absurd issue with overcrowding and poor club design. We had to leave an hour into Diggers set simply because I was so frustrated that there was NO WHERE to dance. I've never seen people packed into a club like that before, I was genuinely having panic attacks at the thought of having to get to anywhere in that club.
Pro: Sasha and Luke Fair @ Glass. By far the two best sets of conference for me, and far and away the best club we went to in Miami. The staff was friendly (the only staff at any place we went to that I could say that about), the club was setup in a very cool fashion, and was probably the most intimate setting I will ever have the chance to see Sasha in (I didn't get tix for the boat party ). Luke Fair's set was absolutely fire, I could only ID 2 or 3 tunes, and even though he was opening for Sasha, he didn't hold back the way most openers do. Even Sasha was loving his set so much that he did a pretty crazy sick opening mix out of Luke's last track into the beginning of his set, something I've rarely if ever seen Sasha do before. It was one of the classiest things I've ever seen happen on the decks, and to top that, I got to meet and speak with Luke for a bit following his set and he was absolutely a class act and a nice guy (even when I told him I wanted to steal his CD book ). Sasha's set was my favorite of conference by far, I can't even explain how much I dug it. I wish I had a video of the dancefloor being destroyed by16 Bit Lolitas - Destiny, I've never seen an entire club go as bananas as EVERY SINGLE PERSON did in Glass that night. It was surreal. God I hope a recording of that sets makes it out here.
Con: The staff at just about every single business we patronized in Miami, but especially Cafeteria. Every restaurant, bar, and club (save Glass) that we went to was full of absolute douchebags, but Cafeteria took the cake. Not only was the staff full of incompetent, moronic, meathead assholes, but they also ran the single most disorganized event I have ever been to. No matter who was playing, I would never, ever return to this "club." There are nicer restaurants and clubs in Appleton, WI.
Pro/Con: Desyn, Demi, and Omid @ Cafeteria. I'm sure their set wasn't as bad I thought it was that night (I was really, really done with Miami by Saturday night, so I didn't give them the chance they deserved), but it really bothered me that none of them seemed to take the gig seriously at all. The mixing, for the most part, was super tight, but with everyone tagging off every track the flow just wasn't there, and the first hour and a half to 2 hours just seemed to be the same kind of Electro-House vibe the whole way through, and it just wore on me. Add to that all the assholes in that club, and by 2:30 I was ready to just get the hell out of there. It was unfortunate because we had all the TA's out for it, but I just couldn't deal. I will say though, the two things (musically) that saved this night for me were:
A. When Desyn hit the decks the last time before we left and he played "Time for a Change" and really pulled them out of the seemingly stagnant electro vibe.
and...
B. Seeing Desyn as wasted as it looked like he was and giving him a great big hug in the booth. I love that guy. 
... extra thanks to Myra for getting me the fuck out of there when I needed to <3
Con: The sincere lack of emphasis on the music at WMC. There weren't really any "new" bangin' tunes out there that were just killin' the dancefloor this year, and in fact, I heard way too many tracks on most nights that were easy to ID. I expected to hear some new stuff, and unfortunately just heard all the tracks I've been hearing for 6 months now.
Beyond that, the crowds had nothing to do with supporting Electronic music. It was, for the most part, all about excess, greed, money, overwhelming displays of wealth, and "being seen." I realize that the majority of TA's are NOT part of this group, as most of us (from the Trance Crackers to the House Heads) were in fact there for the music, unfortunately, I don't believe that to be the case for the majority of the people down there. If WMC is the pinnacle evvent for electronic music and DJ's, perhaps the shallowness and materialism that is so often associated with this scene by the general public is a bit more legitimate than I thought. This was the single thing that bothered me the most during the entire trip.
But for all the issues addressed negatively, the one positive thing that made every penny worth it and every minor irritation worthwhile was...
Pro: PARTYING WITH THE TA'S FOR THE GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKIN' WIN!!!!!!!!! I have never in my life enjoyed being with people more than I enjoyed being with the TA's (And non-TA's) we met down there! Myra, Garth, Tony, Jamie, Craig, Bas, Bunny, Robin, Rommy, Josh, Greg, and anyone I may be forgetting right now: YOU KIDS ALL RULE! I couldn't believe the amount of fun I had with all of you, and will never in my life forget the fun that we all had together. From getting ruined with Myra and Garth the first night down there and describing our hallucinations on the balcony, to getting to spend a few hours with Jamie and Craig just chillin' and talking about tunes and life, to spending 2 hours with Bas at 6 in the morning dominating a conversation in a room full of TA's, and getting a table with everyone for Desyn, the best times I had in Miami all came because of TA's. Thank you kids... I will miss you all!
Phew! That was a ton to write, a lot of con's, but the positive's BY FAR outweighed the negatives. And though I don't think I'll ever really want to come down for conference again (nothing too negative, I just personally didn't care for the aforementioned lack of emphasis on music), I can't wait to see all of you kids again!
Con: Space. Charge two $7 bottles of water and get charged an automatic $6 tip.
The bartender just took the bottles out of the cooler that were right next to her! She could have at least cracked open the seal on the cap.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Orbital32 Con: Space. Charge two $7 bottles of water and get charged an automatic $6 tip. The bartender just took the bottles out of the cooler that were right next to her! She could have at least cracked open the seal on the cap. |
Great to hear that some of your trip was good and that there were a lot of good memories, but from my own experience last year, I'd say that your "Cons" were right on the mark and between those and scheduling, were the reasons that I didn't return this year.
I deal with the materialism and costs enough in NYC, but Miami during WMC took the cake. One of our friends stayed at the Shore Club last year because he got an amazing corporate rate, but their pool party out back was charging $20 for each Red Bull & Vodka. I also hated the lines and ridiculous selectivity at the doors of some of the clubs, which was far worse than any megaclub that plays EDM in NYC. There's nothing worse than taking a vacation and waiting in line for half of it.
I'll keep it short & simple:
Pro: Markus banging it @ Space
Con: Armins lack of bang @ Space
Pro: Blank & Jones blew me away, never expected to be so wowed & I was!!
Con: $60 WASTED at PvD when I could have seen SvD @ a day party for free & see Menno+more for free at night & heard much better music. PvD disappointed me so damn much that I will never see him again unless it's free or someone tells me he bangs it next time he is in town...& that is WITHOUT his crappy ass tracks which he's been playing for 34765467 years & some multiple times in a set 
I'm sure I have more but those are the ones that count most because I'm STILL pissed 
sasha @ glass was easily the set of conference - you're correct
i had NO problems with lines at all. actually the people at Nocturnal were great about that. When we went to Crobar the guys gave us bands and said we can go to Nocturnal afterwards for free. cool.
After Crobar (and a quick trip to Shine to see Armand Van FUCKING HELDEN!!!!!) off to Nocturnal.
At nocturnal we got to the front of the line with the wrist bands from crobar and they said that it's $100 PER PERSON! we are like screw that. we start to walk off and securtiy gave us discount tickets to get in. that's pretty cool.
I know that I am going to take a lot of heat for this, but here it goes...
Pros: hanging out with Andy Moor and Above & Beyond (Friday separately and Sunday together); Ti�sto at Mansion (Sunday); driving back from Markus Schulz's house (Friday).
Cons: The 2 "friends" that I came with and instantly lost, probably forever 
PROS:
o1.Seeing Markus after not seeing him for a year.
o2.Fuking with the kid on G with Damon,Suzy Solar, and Lil-B *can't wait to see that pic*
o2.Seeing my lil Elevation spin <3.
o3.Meeting Menno and a bunch of Detroit TA's and LATA's Phillipe,Sweet Candy Girl,Gypsy,Orbital32 + more.. and i think i met Techniquez. but i dunno where he's from haha.
o4.Getting to see my TOTA's again. ♥
o5.Finally meeting the infamous mods Mizzuno and Redeye [much better than last year when i didn't even know who u guys were]
o6.Blank and mother fuking Jones!!
o7.Tiesto?? -ashamed to say it but the fuker surprised me the most this WMC-
CON:
o1.Swamper.. wtf is up with u. I didn't see u at all. This will soon be moved to PROS if he does come out to Wet Willies tomorrow
o2.Losing my fuking ATM card right before I go on a trip to San Fran
o3.Armin
o4.Armin
o5.Armin
o6-o9.WMC always reminds me how much I hate driving. I never spent so much money on gas/parking in one week.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by MeLLyMeL PROS: o1.Seeing Markus after not seeing him for a year. o2.Fuking with the kid on G with Damon,Suzy Solar, and Lil-B *can't wait to see that pic* o2.Seeing my lil Elevation spin <3. o3.Meeting Menno and a bunch of Detroit TA's and LATA's Phillipe,Sweet Candy Girl,Gypsy,Orbital32 + more.. and i think i met Techniquez. but i dunno where he's from haha. o4.Getting to see my TOTA's again. ♥ o5.Finally meeting the infamous mods Mizzuno and Redeye [much better than last year when i didn't even know who u guys were] o6.Blank and mother fuking Jones!! o7.Tiesto?? -ashamed to say it but the fuker surprised me the most this WMC- CON: o1.Swamper.. wtf is up with u. I didn't see u at all. This will soon be moved to PROS if he does come out to Wet Willies tomorrow o2.Losing my fuking ATM card right before I go on a trip to San Fran o3.Armin o4.Armin o5.Armin o6-o9.WMC always reminds me how much I hate driving. I never spent so much money on gas/parking in one week. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Orbital32 Pro: My pic with MellyMell Con: Armin! borrrrring, but then with a Pro: Space Terrace with Mauro especially during Armin set!!! Mauro is god. |
'
PROS:
Wednesday - Ian Wilkie/Steve Porter @ Porterhourse. Despite a previous post, I had a blast at Suite, especially hanging out with Antoine from Second Sun for a bit. I also thought the vibe was musically driven, and not pretentious at all.
Thursday - The Last hour of Digweed @ Pawn Shop. Drop some phenomenonal tunes, and it was extremely easy to actually get into the dj booth and talk to him. I missed JVM's set, but from what I heard, it was pretty sick.
Friday - PvD @ Space first 2 hours. As he did @ Roeseland in NY, the beginning of his set really got everyone going, and was borderline tech with the BPM he was reaching for. Highlight track of his set was "Ottiavni-Until Monday." Aside from PvD, I thought Oscar G did a stellar job of opening up...absolutely a great job considering some of the horrible opening dj's I heard during the week.
-But by far, the highlight of my trip was SANDER @ SPACE terrace from 5-10am. The guy was working the crowd, and it topped last year's vibe. Tracks like "This is Miami" and "16bit lolitas- Sadina" were unbelievable.
Saturday -Carl Cox @ Crobar. Many tech-house dj's from NY wish they could emulate Cox's style of track selection and simply giving us the "one-two" punch. As this point of the trip, I was working on fumes, but he had me recharged and ready from kick-ass beats.
CONS:
Wed- The drink prices @ Suite. $15 for a redbull/vodka plus the fact that bartenders were not afraid to remind of the "tipping." Also, the doormen sucked, and those ladies with the clipboard in front of every club in the world need to get shot.!
Thur - PAwn shop and the actual venue. The place sucked IMO, and as stated in a previous post, no one seemed to be moving, but staring at Digweed while he spun in the makeshift truck. The sound also was actually was so low that I had trouble having full conversations with friends. I think I could've recited my whole life story to people and they would've remembered. Also, the organizing of getting in was comical, and people who had tickets were forced to wait while those paying GA prices got in before us....absolutely ridiculous.
Friday- Whats up with Space selling "SpaceFeul" rather than Red Bull. That stuff is liquid heroin, and many people agreed that it actually contains more caffeine than RB despite signs at the bar. Also, PvD was blowing that horn like he was conducting a train. I know it revs up the crowd, but I'd rather here a bassline than that damn horn.
Sat -The crowd at Crobar. I've never seen that much plastic and "model posing" in my life, and I live here in NYC. Granted some people were good looking, but give me a break and dance instead of posing. Also, the night abruptly came to an end at 5am when I know for a fact that they were charging $100 at the door at 4am. Very shady on the part of Crobar. And to top it all off, someone stole one of Cox's cd books, and he was absolutely livid. I went to the dj booth to possible thank him for an awesome set but I over-heard him saying "check the garbage cans, check everything" He was actually still in the booth way after the place cleared out....I felt terrible for the guy, and almost an embarassment to the rest of us at WMC.
Funniest MOMENT of WMC: Diddy/Puffy/Daddy/P. Diddy showing up to Crobar and hanging out in the booth with Cox. Also, Diddy circling the club like he owned the damn place (maybe he does).
Pictures/Videos to be shared later....
Great review RJT. Next year I'll have to go...just to say I've done WMC once...but I look forward to attenting smaller parties only because it really shows that the mega clubs just wanna make bank off a week when they know that no matter how shit their event, its gonna be packed.
Sasha & Digweed Boat Party, and Sasha/Fair at Glass seemed to be two of the best.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by VisionsofPVD Very shady on the part of Crobar. And to top it all off, someone stole one of Cox's cd books, and he was absolutely livid. I went to the dj booth to possible thank him for an awesome set but I over-heard him saying "check the garbage cans, check everything" He was actually still in the booth way after the place cleared out....I felt terrible for the guy, and almost an embarassment to the rest of us at WMC. Funniest MOMENT of WMC: Diddy/Puffy/Daddy/P. Diddy showing up to Crobar and hanging out in the booth with Cox. Also, Diddy circling the club like he owned the damn place (maybe he does). Pictures/Videos to be shared later.... |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Clovis86 Great review RJT. Next year I'll have to go...just to say I've done WMC once...but I look forward to attenting smaller parties only because it really shows that the mega clubs just wanna make bank off a week when they know that no matter how shit their event, its gonna be packed. Sasha & Digweed Boat Party, and Sasha/Fair at Glass seemed to be two of the best. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by MeLLyMeL PRO : Having Orbital say 'I need a pic with you.. You're famous 'lol i wanna see the pic send it to me when u get it |
The biggest con for me was hanging out with Melissa.
I can't stand that little girl.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Renzo The biggest con for me was hanging out with Melissa. I can't stand that little girl. |
PROS: MIAMI IS AMAZING. My first visit ever, & I'm already plotting my return. If I lived in Miami though, I think I'd be broke & jobless from partying non-stop. Though I don't know if it's always so amazing.
Pro: The absolute variety & breadth & depth of music. I live in Austin, TX, which has a culture of scarcity. If a good DJ comes through (about every 3 weeks), I go. It blew my mind to go to a club where there were 3 rooms of top notch DJS (Friday at Pawnshop: Mandy, Peaches & Bunka) or Thursday: Dekay, Markus, Armin & Mauro Piccoto of Space. & the feeling that at any time, there were probably at least 5 other clubs I could have gone to & had an equally good time.
Cons: The automatic service charges. It's not so much I mind paying $11 for a Space Fuel/Vodka at Space, or $6!! for water at Angel, but getting charged an automatic 20% service charge on top of it. Check your reciept, & make sure you're not tipping on top of a tip, like I did at Space. So you're really paying $11 for drink, & a $2.20 tip.
Pro: THE BEACH is beyond beautiful.
Con: Bartender attitude/poor service.
At Pawnshop. I was running a tab, & went back to the bar for another drink. The bartender made my redbull & vodka, then asked for the name of my bartender. "I don't remember--it was a girl, I thought it was you, she didn't say."
The bartender said "Well, until you remember her name, no drink." & put the drink behind the bar.
I stood there with a petulant look for 5 minutes til she came back & took the 10 seconds to enter my last name in the computer. This really, really pissed me off. What service is that? I know how long it takes to look up a tab.
At Angel, I tried to order a drink off the drink menu, & the bartender said he only knew how to make vodka & redbull.
Pro: Free drinks at the WMC pool party. Free breakfast at "Breakfast at Bed".
Con: getting my jacket & phone stolen at Pawnshop. I was helpless without a cell-phone to meet up with friends.
Pro: The overall friendliness of people. Everyone seemed to be in vacation mode & eager to start talking.
Con: Ultra: Totally overrated. Sound bleed. Waiting 45 minutes for a drink. Killers starting 40 minutes late. I won't go back--I much preferred the club shows.
Pro: Almost every DJ I wanted to see, THERE. I saw a 6 hour Holden set that blew me away. & if Armin disappointed, I could see Mauro Piccotto banging upstairs at Space.
Pro: Partying all night.
Pro: Best bargain in South Beach? taking the bus for $1.50 to Miami. It's fast across the causeway, & drops right at Space.
Pro: Random DJ sightings at clubs. I ducked into Viktor to get out of the Thursday rain. I was having a drink at the bar, & behind me was Oakenfold hanging out.
Things I'd do different: stay longer. Keep a closer watch on my stuff. Not go to Ultra.
wednesday - burridge/howells at automatic slims - was 80s night so i was expecting 80s house music, but it was 80s pop music! lee shows up wearing some wig and sunglasses - didn't even recognize him when he was standing next to me! my friends and i left after about an hour and headed to the cycles party with paul wolford - good set, proggy house, but just not my thing these days - my friend sassmouth closed the show and had a banging techno set
thursday - my friends and went grocery shopping (stayed in a suite with a kitchen), beach and pool and then headed to a bbq in little havana with some miami peeps and then went to the live wrong party organized by the naughty bad fun and future collective groups of chicago and miami - great night of music! totally what wmc is about - the music, the vibe, the people - the techno heads from miami are as cool as shit and the dj's were all on point - punisher and sassmouth closed the night with a banging tag team set!
friday - got up late and headed to the RRR at Fairwinds and got to see nic fanciulli and mazi - the place was going nuts!!!!!! very friendly staff next up was richie at BED - the venue was nice, small and intimate - except there were only 2 stalls in the women's bathroom!!! the only bad thing is that the place is so small that you can't get away from the crowd if you want to rest and relax. the club moved all of the beds out so that middle was open for dancing and the sound system was FANTASTIC - very clear with no distortions. troy pierce had a GREAT opening set - wish i had seen him in chicago a few weeks ago. richie came on and did his thing - love how he just drops that bassline in at the exact right moment. the set sort of went nowhere due to some technical difficulties - but still a very satisfying set. every single techno jock was there to support - beyer, luciano etc. and thanks to the guy who bought me a drink at the bar (don't know why - but who the hell cares?)
saturday - sleep, sleep and more sleep, met up with my friend from finland for dinner and some shopping - headed to IO lounge to see chris liebing and adam beyer around 1 am - beyer was a no-show, but liebing - i had never seen him before, but he had me dancing almost all night - which came back to bite me in the butt....because....
sunday - SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR DEGENERATES!!!!!!!!!!! this was hands down FUCKIN FANTASTIC PARTY OF WMC!!!!!!!!! loco dice, luciano and richie (who wasn't even on the original list of dj's to spin) spun from around noon - 5 pm tag teaming - the sun, the ppl, the atmosphere - the closest thing you will get to being in ibiza and dc10. 
i still can't even get my brain wrapped around this party - just unbelievable, amazing, astonishing experience to hear/see these top jocks for 5+ hours in the sun, drinking, laughing, dancing - they were having as much fun or more fun than the crowd
was going to go talk to beyer and ask why the hell he didn't show up the night before at IO lounge - but thought better of it when i realized a short asian chick vs. big swede dj is not a good thing
in the morning at pawnshop spent inside for steve bug and also headed inside to hear mazi spin some good tech house. so many dj's at this party it's hard to name them all - but EVERYONE was having so much fuckin' fun. got blisters on my toes, sunburnt etc. but it was totally worth it.
my pros cons
pros-gg deep dish, acosta, and bellini really ripped it
pros-marcus and mauro, holy shit i know alout of people bitch about mauro but he BLEW armin away, no conpetiotion
pros- Friday at nikki above and beyond drooped tracking treasure down and were really into the set as was the crowwd, BT played love comes again with evryone singing along. darude really kicked ass, and mushroom dj'ed a fantastic set
pros-ultra-mushroom wow best live show EVER
cons-roaches nad bugs in my room at the CLAY
cons-shitty cold cuts ( no one in miami ever heard of boars head)
cons-the brooklyn people who embarresed this Brooklyn kid with their god like reverence of JP
cons 1st ultra NY than ulra miami oakie fucked up 2 systems
pros
1.swedish mafia,HELL MOTHERFUCKING YES
2.d-formation (dimas)
3.simon and shaker
4.that kid chris
5.palash
6.desyn masiello
7.behrouz
8.rooster and peralta
9.tom sawyer
10.partying with my wife
11.and partying pass 3am
cons
1.fucking TRAFFIC,i had to drive from cutlar ridge and US1 to the beach every day
2.parking
3.getting lost in downtown
CON: RAIN DURING THE WETGROOVES POOL PARTY!
PRO: RAIN DURING THE WETGROOVES POOL PARTY!
| quote: |
| Originally posted by tmft Con: getting my jacket & phone stolen at Pawnshop. I was helpless without a cell-phone to meet up with friends. |
quickie!:
Pro: Our boy GroovEric @ Nocturnal!
Con:GrooveEric only playing for atmost an hour.
Pro:Serge Devant & Alex Gold @ Mansion: A great fucking party which sadly was missed by lots of people even though it was a little packed. Both of them threw down great fucking sets. And props to Gold for throwing down Chicane - Saltwater. I was awestruck! He blended in house with trance and techno very nicely throughout his set.
Pro:Getting some rest on Tuesday after that crazy Monday @ Mansion.
Pro: walking around the beach on Wednesday noticing the fellow edm heads from Europe and stuff. Hearing cars passing by with trance emmanating from their speakers! Going into Grooveman's and watching dj's jamming and sampling!
Con: the fucking asshole bouncers from Space! They aren't fucking around with the camera policy anymore. Jeez they are freekin strict now! I swear I wanted to fight some short hispanic bouncer guy there!
Con: Armin's set.
Pro: Picotto rocked my socks off as I was expecting! Mistress Barbara, you're on my favorites list now, after Meganite and Ultra
Con: Missing the "Most wanted night out with BnJ, Van Doorn, Scot P. on Thursday.
Pro: getting some rest on Thursday
Con: Pvd @ Space wasn't as good as I was expecting, plus it got packed like a sardine can at one point!
-Ultra surprised me and i'm back on the bandwagon!
Con: not going to see Tiesto.
.....i still have some partying to do! Sash and Dig today baby!
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