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Review: Jon Jon's debut @ Footwork
This past weekend was a wild trip of unexpected destinations and run-ins with lots of people we hadn't seen in quite some time. After a relatively short week due to the thanksgiving long weekend (we went to montreal to sample Black & Blue--but that's another story), I decided to take Leap_frog to the spaghetti factory. Some of you may recall that the last time we tried to make it to the spaghetti factory, I ended up making my crew walk half way around Toronto, not knowing exactly where it was. Well, this time, I knew exactly where it was, and we parked right across the street. I was suitably impressed with myself. We shared a massive bowl of spaghetti with drinks, and chilled out for a couple hours just talking and taking in the decor. It was inexpensive, great food, and fantastic ambiance... I recommend it to anyone who enjoys pasta! They have these really cool nooks and cranies inside, like an old phone booth that seats two, a train carriage, a huge merry-go-round, and so on. It sort of looks like Carnivale turned into a restaurant, but not as creepy. 
We were supposed to have dinner with Kriskool...but i realized when I got to the restaurant that my new cel didn't have her number...leap didn't have it either, and the only person we thought might have it was Cat--who had lost her cel phone and didn't receive our txts... bummer! So we ended up having a nice quiet intimate dinner together, which was fine too.
After dinner, we figured it the perfect opportunity to stop by Footwork, since Jon Jon was making his debut there, and I heard amazing things about his debut at the gallery a couple weeks ago. This guy is really making an entrance into the underground scene!
After a few quick txts, we were on guestlist, finding out guys were FIVE bucks when on Guestlist, and ladies were FREE. Nice!! This was going to be an extremely affordable evening. I like!
We headed over to the parking lot and met up with some other friends before heading in.
I just thought this was a pretty ghetto-looking picture...
Kelly and our Buffalo friends, Sean and Liz joined in on the fun!
Inside, Nathan and Carlo (AkA the Roaches) were opening up with some tech-house beats that got me bobbin' around. Not always my favourite genre to hear, but that night, it was perfect, especially given the extremely social atmosphere. The club was filling up quickly, and we met quite a few friends inside we hadn't seen for some time!
Gotta dig Matt's (aka Dj Reerun) tongue-in-cheek shirt. If you haven't heard this guy's mixes...you should. He keeps them pretty exclusive, but he has a fantastic ear and puts together some great stuff. Just ask KevinT.
Lyle told us to hit the bar quick because beerz were $2.50. Ok, whoa... time for a beer!! Footwork is really putting in the extra effort to make their patrons love this place not just for the music, but for the affordability! It actually reminds me of when Leap and I first went to footwork, we were amazed we could dance all night for five bucks. Well my friends, that time has come again. Great tunes, great beers, and a fantastic environment complete with that awesome hard wood floor. Does it get any better?
I brought my buddy Dusan whom I met in diving "school"... he was getting his open water certs so he could do some diving while in Ibiza last summer! NICE!
This was his first time to Footwork, and I was glad to introduce him to so many people, including Nathan and Carlo. We had both heard their LEGENDARY 6 hour set at Comfort Zone, so it was a real pleasure for Dusan to thank them first hand for the onslaught of beats they had delivered that day. As if on cue, Carlo holds up a CD "I bet you want this, don't you?" oh yes my friends...the legendary set has been delivered to The Roaches to be remastered, and hopefully, delivered to the masses (us) for listening pleasure. Nathan said that it might have sounded great at zone, but not so hot on headphones, mistakes, etc. Know what i say to that? BOOOO, release the set!! The mistakes make it more real! It's like being able to see the brush strokes on a painter's master piece. I'm dying to hear that set belting out on my car stereo, and for anyone who wasn't at zone that day, it would be a travesty for them not to have the opportunity to hear it. (/end speech).
Aubrey, Steph (part owner and all-around AWESOME guy), Leap and Footwork promoter Lyle!
Leap and a buddy I met through the awesome-ness of house music, Mike!
Aubrey and I doin 'The Wave (tm)'
Lyle and Mikela (sp?) dancin' it up!
That's the thing i love about not just Footwork but any underground electronic music club...EVERYONE is dancing. Even if some dude is leaning up against a wall, they're bobbin' their heads. It really shows if you were to visit a top 40 bar, where (warning: stereotype) a few drunk girls are on the dance floor trying to dance/grind/whatever while a bunch of guys are holding up the wall leering them down. Those types of top 40 clubs are a dime a dozen, but our EDM scene in Toronto is something really special... I try to never take it for granted--it exists in so few other places.
The Roaches finished up their set and the man of the hour stepped up to the decks... Jon Jon!
At one point, I couldn't help get behind the stage and become what I discovered is called "a booth bunny." Well, I'm proud of it, dammit. It's the best view of the crowd, and you get to watch the DJ spin...so if it makes me a booth bunny, then so be it!
For me, Jon Jon's set was up and down, I'd get into a rhythm of dancing, and then the next tune wouldn't drive me as much. I blame it on the spaghetti. However, Jon Jon's energy behind the decks was extremely catchy...he would hype up the crowd on his own right and even if you weren't digging the track, you'd smile in spite of yourself because this guy truly loves the music, and it shows. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a LOT of tracks I hadn't heard before, and was able to build my house music 'vocabulary' during Jon Jon's set. His mixing sounded good to me, and the crowd responded well to his energy. I did notice, however, the crowd starting to thin out a bit around the 2:30-3 am mark, as the drinking crowd (i'm guessing) ran out of fuel and made their way to their after parties.
I noticed a huge first-aid sign above the DJ booth... the theme of the party is REHAB... we all need good beats to be rehabilitated.
Jon Jon rounded off his set--with flare, and got applause from the crowd as Deko-Ze came on the decks. Miss Raquel made the introduction for the man that needs no introduction, and sheer MADNESS erupted. It was the perfect set to follow Jon Jon's.... from some vocal house that had a lot of soul to some hard and pounding tribal. The crowd switched gears easily and danced hard to the tribal beats laced over "la la la la la" at break-neck speeds.
This fall, Footwork is doing a great job of bringing the beats back to us with a stellar line up and great pricing at the door and at the bar. I don't think the party was as bumpin' as Jon Jon's gallery debut from what I read, but it was definitely a fun time regardless. It's too bad some of the crowd jetted around 3am, but if they were the drinking crowd, maybe it was better anyways to keep the crowd less rowdy? There was lots of room to dance anyways, and plenty of vibe left to enjoy for those that wanted to get into it.
At this point, Leap and I ran out of gas and headed out for some much needed FOOD. (We had burned through all the spaghetti we had eaten before).
I highly recommend the pizza shop on the southwest corner of Richmond and Spadina... those guys are awesome. They made us a fresh pizza in like, 8 minutes for under ten bucks. We were finding ALL the deals that day!
After fueling up, we jumped in the car and stuck in a CD we received on the way out of footwork. Looking at the CD, it was promoting for a new after hours club called Loco... i asked around the group of friends if anyone had heard of it before. Someone said "yeah, it's the "new" comfort zone...or is trying to be..."
hmmmm.... 
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