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-- Review: Danny Howells- Footwork
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Review: Danny Howells- Footwork

quote:

Originally posted by Cribby Gonna be fuckin' EPIC!!

You Called It Bro.

First 3 and half hours of Howells just BLEW MY MIND AWAY.

Honestly. It should be illegal that a DJ can be this good at track selection and programming.

Holy shit!!!

More after some sleep

And they lived happily ever fuckin' after!!

heh seriously...only 3?

Awesome night, so good to see everybody I hadnt been out in forever, so this was a good fix for me Wooot! Glad I made sure I got there....mad thanks to Xaviar for getting me in. LOL! That was awesome!

i shouldn't even be posting but this is how my night went.. got their EARLY(10) bouncer didn't let my friend in cause he had baggy pants. Went to go get something to eat dropped my friend off. Came back and paid 20 dollars to park close underground. this was at like 11:30 , overheard it reached max capacity. tried to get my money back for parking underground for only 5 min(parking dude is an asshole). waited till almost 1am.. left..

worst night ever...

There seem to be a few gaps in my memory, but here goes anyway...

By around 9:30, long before the music had even started, I think Footwork must have been about 1/3 full. Or at least around the bars it was, I'm not sure if a lot of people would have ventured up to the dance floor by that point. Up until around midnight, I'd have to say that Jay's prediction of SHAMBLES was pretty much on the mark. It was heaps of fun though and I think it was a great idea opening up early. Even the bouncers and bartenders were in good moods - you could tell the minute you walked in what kind of a night it was going to be.



Danny came on at around 10:30. His track selection and flow were essentially what I expected, which actually says a lot because I (and most of the others here) had preposterously high expectations. I don't really remember enough of last year's performance to compare, but it was a "jolly good show" nevertheless. He started out with the deeper, progressive house (not downtempo this time), eventually started digging into the chuggier techy tunes, and ended the last hour or so with a bunch of bangers. Perfect transitions for a night like this. Now hopefully some of you realize why I made that comment in a different thread about not lowering expectations.

One thing that really surprised and impressed me was that it did NOT get rammed inside at all, mainly because they were limiting the capacity! Although I did feel bad for those who had to wait outside for an hour, it's been a looooong time since I've seen that perfectly ideal crowd density in a club, and I'm giving Footwork two thumbs up for that whether the stragglers like it or not.

Personally, I thought it was also a great crowd out for this one, and I don't just mean the all the TOTAs. Aside from one minor incident, I remember everybody being pretty polite and friendly.

Oh, and - hilariously, we actually did end up with our own little "mystery"...

Epic. Yes. Certain people should be kicking themselves for missing this one.

Waited long for this one outside thanks to the typical jackassery of the TTC. 30 minutes of delays in transit left me waiting outside for the better part 1.5 hrs. (made the commitment that if I was going to abandon my couch, FW was the only acceptable destination... hence the near shocking level of patience that was so out of character for me).

But fuck was it ever worth the wait!

Got exactly the tunes, vibe, space, & night out that I wanted. Brilliant set for the 4.5 hrs I got.

Good times!

Un-fking-believable! Beyond words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Danny's track selection and programming was through the roof. He played all the "time slots" perfectly and progressed the sound in a way I have never heard before. The tracks he has are just... WOW!! I can't even describe it... You rarely hear music like that being played. His attitude and energy was fantastic and the crowd was loving it!

This was the party of the year.

*bows down to footwork* Excellent party, and as was mentioned, it didn't turn into a sardine can which can really alter one's experience. I had soooooo much fun and couldn't stop dancing. Other than some wanker completely crushing my big toe everything was perfect.

I got lots of syck pics and videos.. I'll upload them soon and post. Thanks again for the hard working organizers for putting on a grade A event.. Footy, activate

Toronto needs Mr. Howells more often.

quote:

Originally posted by jsibilin bouncer didn't let my friend in cause he had baggy pants.

wonder if this was a 'style code' thing or a safety concern cuz u can obviously hide shit in baggy clothes a lot easier?

PS. who still wears baggy pants?

Long time Howells admirer, first time seeing him live.

Utterly blown away.

Holy shit.

So I managed to make the trek to Toronto. Did not get struck by a lightning or eaten by a werewolf. Phew. I did forget where Footwork was so had to txt someone for directions. lol

I was at the line around 840 and there was already a line! Saw RJ, Marg and Liam holding the fort and just chilled for a bit until the doors opened. Line up at 830. Wow.

Got inside promptly (I lol'd at getting a ticket, only so that you can pay for admission inside) and I forgot how much I missed footwork. Proceed to the bar and start doublefisting right away. 8 power juices (aka rye and cokes) later, I'm tanked (my limit is sniffing the alcohol. my friends say I get drunk off the fumes of alcohol). Good times though. People were just chilling, catching up with friends. It was nice to talk to people without loud music interfering and catch up a bit. (Nahoy is my new nickname. lol) I did see Graham speak french on the phone (while being dragged in for a group pic) C'etait tres drole

Word of the night: DISASTERVILLE! (done with a chopping motion of hand)

10pm hits and my survival instincts kicked in and got some watered or else I would have been a dead man. My liver was protesting furiously. Still no Howells. Some people getting a little bit antsy because Howells was late, but people were still more or less chill and just enjoying the night.
Howells didn't hit the decks until 1030. Apparently some mixup at airport and his luggage (incl his records) were lost. Oh well. I hate lateness, it being one of my pet peeves but I suppose I'll forgive him... This time only.

Howells kicked off his set with some really groovy deep prog. I forgot who but someone said he's starting off a bit too hard and this made more sense as the night wore on. Loved the stuff he was throwing down. Recognized one tune only (I think I heard it off of Jeff Mutton's promo, I think a Milton Jackson remix) but the track selection and programming was spot on.

He stayed more or less in the progressive lane at least in the early part of his set, but did started to mix in some funkier stuff, some techier stuff. Lots of nice warm fuzzy prog feel to make me feel right at home. Vibe was already off the hook and people were starting to really get into it.

3 hours later and I'm now totally sketched out by the music. As I stated before, just perfect programming and track selection up to this point. Went up close to the booth and saw the master at work. Transitions were pretty elementary, but very much serviceable. Howells was having a blast, even if bothered by mundane things, like eating half a pizza while spinning. lol. That man still managed to read the crowd like a book. Didn't have to resort to outright bangers to get the crowd moving. Controlling the vibe at right times to ensure that people were having a good time and not worn themselves out. I guess being an apprentice to Diggers for 9 yrs pays off.

I would like to take this time to reprint some of the sketchy txt I was sending to people who were missing out.

quote:

This is sexy tunes

quote:

This is so good that it's ridiculous. Ive never been so horny off of house tunes before

quote:

I suggest you kill the bride and groom and make your way down to footwork right now

quote:

It's so good right now that Graham is sexy dancing

quote:

it's so hard for me to stand still right now. Tunes so sexy! Ok. I'll stop before you kill yourself or something.

You get the idea. LOL

However, Howells did started to slow down around 3:30 ish. The dude did tell a story and it was darn well crafted. But he dropped Christian Smith - Flyertalk and I was like WTF. Up to this point, it was all good, but I didn't think Flyertalk didn't fit. Was wondering what was going on, and it's like Howells ran out of ideas and started to struggle to put together the rest of the set. There were still spots where he absolutely rocked and some outstanding individual tunes (esp. one acid house tune around 4am) but 2nd half was not as good as 1st half. Still better than a lot of DJs can put together though.

For the record, more I look like I'm having a terrible time, more I'm having an awesome time. I was just mesmerized by the music. Holy shit. I had my fits of giggles, outright laughs as he'd play couple of ridiculously good tunes in the perfect slot, clutching my hair at utter disbelief, looking generally sketched out, etc. LOL. I must have looked like a total Skasian and I was sober for the most part.

Vibe = one of best I've experienced. Sure, there were few annoying people, but it never crowded to sardine level and sketch was minimal. People came for Howells and for the love of house music and everyone was having a good time. The staff was very friendly. No problem with the staff at all. Thank you Footwork, for putting together one helluva party. Worth every penny of admission.

So glad I made this trip. Definitely party of the year for me and one of my fav of my clubbing career.

Rarely do I leave a club feeling completely satisfied by the night (and with a completely empty wallet. lol) I'm still shaking my head. My mind is still blown away.

Overall: 9.5/10

quote:

Originally posted by Aleksandra Toronto needs Mr. Howells more often.

No no no. Once a year is good enough, or else we'd get spoiled

Didn't know you were coming. (or I must have forgotten. CRS is a terrible disease. can't remember shit) Or else I'd have said hi

quote:

Originally posted by teufel-man wonder if this was a 'style code' thing or a safety concern cuz u can obviously hide shit in baggy clothes a lot easier? PS. who still wears baggy pants?

my fault i brought my friend.. next time i am just going solo.. get there at 10 sharp... never missing this again !!

yohan lol

quote:

Originally posted by jon jon

+ 1
Howells

quote:

Originally posted by Yohan CRS is a terrible disease.

Hah. I couldn't believe none of you had heard of that.

It was good.

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH It was good.

I looked for you all night!

TIME FLEWWW BY!!!


Really well executed set, programming was flawless...EPIC JOURNEY!

30$ seemed like a deal after

quote:

Originally posted by jon jon I looked for you all night!

LOL! Were you still there at 3-ish cause thats when I got in

Had to help a friend move yesterday. Got to FW immediately after that but it was 5 minutes too late. Club was at capacity when I was like 5 feet from the entrance. We stayed until about 1:00AM after which we went to Gabby's on King for some drinks and food. Came back at 2:30AM and it was still AT CAPACITY and there was still a line up there. I don't think any DJ has fans as dedicated as Howells does. We finally managed to get in by throwing some extra cash around. Most expensive 3 hours of partying of my life.

It was worth it though.

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH LOL! Were you still there at 3-ish cause thats when I got in Had to help a friend move yesterday. Got to FW immediately after that but it was 5 minutes too late. Club was at capacity when I was like 5 feet from the entrance. We stayed until about 1:00AM after which we went to Gabby's on King for some drinks and food. Came back at 2:30AM and it was still AT CAPACITY and there was still a line up there. I don't think any DJ has fans as dedicated as Howells does. We finally managed to get in by throwing some extra cash around. Most expensive 3 hours of partying of my life. It was worth it though.

now I don't feel like a moron for showing up at 840 lol

peter, only imagine if you got in from the start, considering Howells's set 1st half was so much better than 2nd half

quote:

Originally posted by Yohan only imagine if you got in from the start,

*plugs ear*

LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA




edit: I know man. I tried extremely hard not to think about the insanity while having drinks at the bar. I've seen Howells enough times to know what he's capable of throwing down in the first half of a marathon set.

What I want to know is; how did this compare to last years legendary set. Anyone?? I think only a small handful of people were there last year.

i gotta tell ya, it was really wierd walking into footwork and having there be that many people inside with no music. i'm really glad that we got there at 9:45, just it time for some $2.50 drinks double fisting action.

that was, hands down, the best party i've been to this year...by far surpassing his 2 sets at stereo in march and may. footwork is the perfect venue for him in toronto and i'm so glad he's playing there and not guv or TIL. phew. and he loves it too, so hopefully he'll continue to play there. i venture to say i had a better time tonight than last year, if only because i got a full nights sleep before coming! i was saying that it is really strange to see him here, without having been to montreal the night before. refreshing, but i do miss those double headers. now, i shudder when people use the term "the vibe" to describe a night, but it was pretty much off the hook last night. you could just feel everyone's excitement.

was surprised that he didn't start off more slowly in the beginning like he usually does, but it set the perfect tone for the night. i don't even understand how 5 am rolled around so quickly! it just does not compute. last night was excellent - these are the kind of nights that remind me of why i still like clubbing (sometimes i begin to wonder). found a perfect spot by the front, heard some excellent music, saw loads of people i haven't seen in a while, got a pinky swear from danny. LOL. good times indeed.

i just hope we don't have to wait over a year for him to come back again.

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH What I want to know is; how did this compare to last years legendary set. Anyone?? I think only a small handful of people were there last year.

Yeah - strange indeed that so many who were there last year and knew firsthand how good it was elected not to go to this one. It continues to mystify me how some people choose their parties.

If I recall correctly (and I may not, this was over a year ago after all), last year was more melodic and proggy throughout the set. He spent quite a bit more time this year just banging it out. Also, there wasn't really a lot of funk in yesterday's set, even in the first half, but that only just occurred to me in hindsight... I didn't think about it at the time, and I think in both cases he was just giving the crowd what it seemed to want.

I wouldn't say this was better than last year's, but I wouldn't say that it fell short either, it was just different. I also think that part of the reason he didn't start off as loungey this time was because he knew that everybody would already be wrecked by the time he got on.

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