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-- Review: MTL shenanigans with Ricardo Villalobos :)
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Posted by devnull on Mar-03-2008 21:06:

Review: MTL shenanigans with Ricardo Villalobos :)

Crazy weekend.

Day 1:
Drove to TO on friday afternoon to catch the Coach bus.....took me 2.5 hours to reach TO from Niagara and almost missed my bus. The bus ride sucked. The highway was not plowed at all, gridlock traffic.. 10 hours later, I was in MTL....just in time to hit stereo.

Got to stereo at 4ish and Jeff Fontaine was playing some nice tunes. Really enjoyed the saxophone player with him, was a nice touch. Stereo was dead, 1/4 full and stayed like that all night. And it thinned out quickly.

Lee came on at 430 or so. From reading the TO thread, I was hoping for a sick set...which didn't happen. Most of the tracks where slow or had not much for pple wanting to dance. There were too many moments where the crowd was standing up waiting for something to happen. Lee had a few peaks during his sets, but they only last 3 tracks at most. I enjoyed the techish tracks he dropped, but there werent enough of em..

I ended up leaving at 730.

Day 2:
After little sleep, I was able to meet a friend who I havent seen in years and got to see my high school sweetheart whom Im still very close to, so it was a bonus for my weekend.

After walking close to the Bell Center....I really wanted to grabs tickets to the hockey game being a Habs fan...but decided against cuz I had too much going already during the wkend.

Met up with Gera, Vince, Jenn, and Cribs at the hotel. Was nice to meet Gera for the first time. Got to see a bit of Veronica and Julio

The quest to find a restaurant was a pain when cabs dont take 5 pple! We ended up in some greek restaurant that ended up being mediocre (at least for me)!

We got to Metropolis around 11:45 and got right in. That was kinda nice not having to wait. I was very surprised that there were no security checks nor ID'ing. This lead to a crowd filled with fuckin underage kids

The first DJ was pretty good and lining up well for Ricardo to take the decks. Ricardo started very minimal for his first hour. Made the QC girls move their sweet bodies By the end of the first hour, the floor was packed and the crowd was getting pushy and on my nerves (partly because of the bunch of kids). Dandy Jack came on and the first 45 mins were banging and got the crowd going. At first, I enjoyed the synth/keyboard thingy he was using, but after an hour, it got repetitive and almost annoying. It was pretty ear piercing!

After 2 am, the sounds was pretty loud, yet crisp (in the areas I was in). The balcony was nice, like the 2nd level at sasha n digweed.

The venue was pretty cool. Lighting wasnt too bad. A bit too bright imo. I like it dark n dirty. Mind you the lights behind the DJ's were cool. The video imagery was pretty cool too.

Unfortunately, because of my lack of sleep and headache, I ended up packing at 430ish. Then I found myself in a chaotic downtown MTL because of the Nuit Blanche, it was impossible to find a cab! I wish I had skipped Lee Burridge@stereo and be more energized to enjoy Ricardo more.

Glad to meet Malek, Collin and Sarah.

Music: 8/10
Crowd: 5/10
Sound: 8/10

Day 3:

The bus trip home......was fun and filled with drama lol


Posted by Skipper on Mar-03-2008 21:16:

Yanking this from my review in the mtl forum --

I really enjoyed the music - the live stuff, the joint and solo DJ sets as well! I really liked getting there early and getting into the whole night slowly. I believe my coat check ticket # was 10. We had a few drinks and really liked the opening DJ.

Ricardo's set from 12-1 was super minimal but really groovy - perfect for me, as I had been at stereo the night before and wasn't really wanting to hear pounding music right away. By about 1, the dancefloor was waaaayyyy too packed - the elevated parts behind the dancefloor would have been great for people to spread out and dance on if the sound wasn't so bad! the delay in the back speaker stacks meant that there was this huge portion of downstairs that constantly sounded like a train wreck! No wonder people were all up front. I found even til 6am, there were so many people or maybe it felt like so many people because they were rude about pushing through or dancing without any consideration for those around them because they were so messed up.

I heard later on in the day that Ricardo went to stereo and then to someone's house, but after 2 nights out there's no way I could have done it, even if I was still in town. Who's house was it, a promoters?

Music: excellent, exactly what I wanted
People: great to see those I knew, but the rudeness of others was annoying
Sound: great in places, awful in others
Venue: perfect, except for those winding stairs - as evidenced by the pile of people who fell down them around 7am and landed in a heap at the bottom
Inside jokes and general ridiculousness among the Toronto crew: excellent
Overall: 8/10, definitely worth $40

Sunday I shook my head at those of you taking the greyhound bus back. that extra $150 for the 1hr 15 min flight was SO worth it. Colin and I missed the boarding because we were in the airport bar - the airline called my cell phone and told us we were about to miss the flight! We made it though, then we drank more than our fair share of the free wine on the way back to TO. Was home and scarfing thai food by 5pm. <3


Posted by jon jon on Mar-03-2008 21:23:

nice review Sarah, I heard the tunes were out of this world...


Posted by CODE on Mar-03-2008 21:58:

Taken from my tribe review.

What a crazy night of great music.
Metropolis is always a great venue and Mutek and Piknic did it up proper...Quite a few people out from Toronto and almost everyone having a great time and smilling. All the artists pretty much played quite good especially Dandy Jack who was having a blast. Got quite rocked with Villalobos and Martin backstage and then headed with them in a cab to the afterparty....which was quite interesting event in some Chicago promoters rented house Crazy Picks to follow What a nite.....Villalobos is a Madman!!!

Respect to all involved for putting that show together


Posted by Big Boss on Mar-03-2008 22:02:

Skipper what did you think of the Stereo sound system?


Posted by Skipper on Mar-03-2008 22:08:

I've been to Stereo before and it was exactly as I remembered it - amazing.
Unfortunately that doesn't really help if you're not into the tunes being played!


Posted by Cribby on Mar-03-2008 22:24:

The whole experienced surpassed my high expectations. Completely awed and floored by it all.

Music sounded like sounds taken out of someone's warped nightmare. Eerie! I think I got lost every other song. Damn that trippy display board!

TBC


Posted by Skipper on Mar-03-2008 23:32:

Beginning of night: slower, groovy minimal



End of night (This was the last track I was there for, around 6am, though he played it at the beginning of the night too)



The second one is one of his own - he started to mix it with rose rouge but only teased us, we didn't get the whole thing

More videos here


Posted by Skipper on Mar-03-2008 23:38:

Another good one: Cribby and I were trying to figure out the little vocal sample, I think it's from something old


Posted by The Highroller on Mar-03-2008 23:49:

I heard Ricardo played at Stereo, and then after that at someone's house. That would have been crazy to see! I wonder how often he does something like this when he plays...


Posted by CODE on Mar-04-2008 03:08:

He did not play Stereo. He just played at someones private house afterparty. Trust that I know House party was okay...ill post some
pics soon.


Posted by magikb on Mar-04-2008 05:53:

wow, what a weekend filled with fun, friends and good tunes.
I will have to continue this later though, I need more sleep.


Posted by geroin on Mar-04-2008 05:56:

from the other thread



WOWOWOWOW

such a good time
this was probably one of the best events ive been too
music, sound, people everything was insane!!

also i'm so lazy/tired to write a full review...i guess i'll just leave it to others lol


Posted by magikb on Mar-04-2008 18:00:

quote:
Originally posted by Skipper
Sunday I shook my head at those of you taking the greyhound bus back.


We had the best time on the bus home.
It was over before we knew it though.

quote:
Originally posted by magikb
wow, what a weekend filled with fun, friends and good tunes.
I will have to continue this later though, I need more sleep.


- Veronica is discovered on the bus ride to Montreal
- wipe outs on the snow/ice covered streets of Montreal
- great greek dinner
- pre-party hotel antics
- Ricardo playing his "minimal jazz" (LOL @ Gera <3)
- Mr. Bean, Teddy, Pingu, Veronica, Richie, Julio and Ducklet had fun on the bus ride home...lol

I seriously couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I had great travel buddies and great music. There was fun from the moment we got on the bus in TO, until we got off the Subway after the weekend.

Metropolis, imo, is a great venue for parties. The lights/video screen were great. The sound wasn't horrible, I thought it was pretty decent. I found that you were able to chat over it without having to yell too much. I also liked the balcony and sound was good up there.
The first hour of Ricardo was extremely minimal. It was very original and was nothing like I have ever experienced. I had personally never listened to a Ricardo set prior to going into this party so I didn't have high expectations and I was amazingly surprised by the whole night. Ricardo played until just after 6am. I loved being up front and watching the grin on his face as he just fucked with everyone. I had a good laugh

I can say that I am already anxiously awaiting my next roadtrip after this one though!


Posted by TheNeonAlien on Mar-04-2008 18:20:

watching those videos makes me ask......how can anyone give a bad review?


that party was fucking sick


Posted by TheNeonAlien on Mar-04-2008 18:22:

quote:
Originally posted by Skipper
Beginning of night: slower, groovy minimal



here



and this is also the track that i tried to take a sample in my phone.......fucking crazy track.......ID's????


Posted by jalalinator on Mar-04-2008 19:04:

quote:
Originally posted by TheNeonAlien
and this is also the track that i tried to take a sample in my phone.......fucking crazy track.......ID's????


seriously! that fucking track sounds sooo nice lol


Posted by Nata on Mar-04-2008 19:22:

What an amazing party!
The music was just something out of this world, a mix of minimal and techno, with latin flavour, jazz, and a bunch of weird noises!
loved every second of it!

Got there just before 11, the place was pretty empty, the opening DJ was playing good, funky minimal, got a bit 2 fast for an opener by the end though

Ricardo came on at about 12.30 the dance floor was really rammed by then and barely cleared up until i left at about 6.30
he started out really slow and abstract but with a solid groove that he kept going all night. It was so funny to ask ppl what they though of him after the first hr, everyone had this amazed look on their faces and were kinda speechless (Gera in perticular) lol

Dandy jack's set was really techy and faster,i really enjoyed it as well
the part they played as Ric y Martin was my favorite though, it was so funky, groovy, so many layers, the latin accapelas, their vibe behind the decks just simply WOW
Ricardo finished his set with some jazzy minimal, wich was amazing

Overall, i loved the venue, the sound was amazing on the dancefloor and upstairs, but was delayed in the back portion of the first floor. The lights were wiked, the giant screen behind the dj set up with all that crazy visuals, really added to the experience.

The only thing i didnt like is how pushy and inconsiderate ppl were on the dancefloor, i really wanted to punch some kids out.
Also a bit pissed that they said no cameras on the ticket, but since no one searched i totally could of brought mine grrrr

anyways absolutely in love with this track anyone know the id?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em74hlc2oXo


Posted by CODE on Mar-04-2008 19:54:

You guys should have stayed to the end.
Riccardo decided to go back on at Metropolis for another speical 40min or so at around 7:30am in the Morning. Then he ran outta the booth to dance on the floor. That was a sight to see. Then he jumped back on the decks for a bit until finally at around 8:15am some sound dude shut of the power on him and Riccardo ran after him to persuade him to restore the power. But the sound dude just like ran away That was quite funny.


Posted by kaniz on Mar-04-2008 20:54:

Wish I could of stuck it out to the end, but by about 5:30/6:00am my back was killing me from dancing so much. I went to get up for one last round of dancing and my entire back just sort of siezed up on me yelling "if you dance one more bit, I'll make you pay"

Spent the remainder of the following day in quite a bit of physical discomfort, but was worth it!

It took me a bit to get into the 1st part of Ricardo's set, but things really started to pick up for me once Dandy Jack got on the decks, then when Ricardo re-joined things went into full-gear "lose my shit" dancing.

Dont think I've busted it out that much in a LONG time.

The sound at the back of the club was a bit crappy, but if you got near front/centre it was great.

All in all a 10/10 night out for me - was well worth the trip.


Posted by The Highroller on Mar-04-2008 21:00:

quote:
Originally posted by Nata
Ricardo came on at about 12.30 the dance floor was really rammed by then and barely cleared up until i left at about 6.30
he started out really slow and abstract but with a solid groove that he kept going all night. It was so funny to ask ppl what they though of him after the first hr, everyone had this amazed look on their faces and were kinda speechless (Gera in perticular) lol


I would have loved to hear this. I've seen Ricardo a couple of times before, but only in a headline slot. I can only imagine what it would have been like to hear Ricardo play a set like that!


Posted by Silky Johnson on Mar-04-2008 21:02:

Oh man, shouldn't have watched those vids.

*jealous*


Posted by MissK on Mar-04-2008 21:37:

quote:
Originally posted by Skipper

Sunday I shook my head at those of you taking the greyhound bus back. that extra $150 for the 1hr 15 min flight was SO worth it. Colin and I missed the boarding because we were in the airport bar - the airline called my cell phone and told us we were about to miss the flight! We made it though, then we drank more than our fair share of the free wine on the way back to TO. Was home and scarfing thai food by 5pm. <3



Bahahaha... Sounds like the perfect ending to the weekend!


quote:
Originally posted by CODE
Got quite rocked with Villalobos and Martin backstage and then headed with them in a cab to the afterparty....which was quite interesting event in some Chicago promoters rented house Crazy Picks to follow What a nite.....Villalobos is a Madman!!!

Respect to all involved for putting that show together


Not afraid at all.


Posted by CODE on Mar-04-2008 23:32:

Just got this sent to me. My favourite pic of the night.

Ricarrdo+Martin(dandyjack)+Simina+Me completely wasted on the
stage at 6am. Too much fun......



For some reason I have a feeling he will come to Toronto one day.


Posted by Skipper on Mar-04-2008 23:38:

Some people really didn't like the Dandy Jack live aspects, but I really loved them - as in this clip (note the visuals in the back too)



More Ricardo - what's this track?



9 min clip from upstairs during a solo ricardo set:



and another long one...



Such a good party, the more I think about it. Graham this was so your thing.


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