Well, finally got all my eggs in one basket for this post. Area:2 in Denver was certainly the sickest thing of my summer. It was sunny, hot as hell, and tickets were really fucking expensive, but it was well worth the effort. I got there at 2 so that I could watch Dieselboy at 2:30; they put on an absolutely awesome show - not only is the DJ really good, but that is one of the best MCs that I've ever heard. Granted, it's not trance, but you gotta get your dnb/jungle fix every once in a while.

After Dieselboy it was time for the Avalanches, who certainly didn't let down. They started off with some hillarious Jewish exercise vinyl that had this lady talking about how it was the first Jewish exercise program, and then there was this fucked up klezmer music - absolutely the funniest thing I've ever heard - and then they got scratching and got it on. At about that point I ducked out of the dance tent (which was getting pretty empty, I guess not many in the Denver crowd had heard of the Avalanches before) and went over to the main stage to catch the opening of Ash. I'm not so big on the nu-metal or whatever Ash is, so I went back to the tent in time for DJ Dan, who was doing an awesome job. Unfortunately he didn't have very many people in the tent (good for me because it meant that I could snag front line center and keep it for the rest of the night) and those who were weren't dancing all that much - I guess it was still too early. Anyway, towards the end of his set he started talking to us people in the front row and trying to get us to get the people behind us moving - we were all dancing - but it didn't work all that well. Again, unfortunate because he was putting on a really kickass show.

Then... came Tiësto. By that time the tent was pretty much packed; there must have been about 2,000 in there. I couldn't really tell because I was way up in front and (with reason) not turning around much. Tiësto's set was awesome, and of course everyone was going apeshit - there was this tweaker near me who kept jumping up on the front guard rail and screaming "FUCKING TIESTO FUCKING TIGHT FUCKING YEAH" and shit like that, which got a couple smiles out of him. The really cool thing about Tiësto that I noticed - and this is something for all budding DJs to keep in mind (myself included) - was that he really worked the crowd. He was bouncing around, waving, dancing, smiling, the whole nine yards, and it really got everyone keyed into what he was doing. I guess one reason he's so popular is because he's such a dynamic performer. I hadn't seen him live before, so that was really cool to watch.

Anyway, for some unexplained reason, Tiësto finished a half hour earlier than the schedule said he would. Maybe this was because it got rescheduled because the original was shite - Digweed was supposed to end at the same time as Moby, which meant that noone would have gotten to see the hyperactive monkey - but I don't think it was because of any personal problems, as Tiësto was smiling and all as he came down front to shake hands (mine included), and sign stuff (my water bottle, as you can see above, included).

So anyway, after Tiësto got done, Tom Skinner hit the stage. I really wish he could have done a longer set (his was 1/2 hour) because he was doing a good job, but I guess his purpose is pretty much just to warm the crowd up for DIGWEED, who hit the stage promptly afterward. He rocked just as much as Tiësto had, and it was a nice change to get some prog. house for a bit. Digweed is cool because he's so nondescript and quiet, but then he comes out and plays all these really rocking tunes. I ducked out of the tent again for a bit (losing my front row spot, oh well) to buy some stickers and stuff from the venders and catch a little bit of Bowie, but then I came back for a while to watch Digweed more.

At this point the three girls I was with were getting tired, so we went and snagged a table (there were tables and chairs in the standing room area that we had tixx to) and we watched Moby. I'm not a huge Moby fan, but it was pretty fun to watch anyway.

So all in all it was an awesome time. My only complaint is that the lights in the dance tent weren't quite as cool as last year's Area:One was, and they didn't have a live vid. jock going on the projectors. Yeah, that's right, I could see backstage where the equipment was, and they were just playing tapes on the projectors, which for Dieselboy included some clips from A.I. (I was like, WTF?) and for Tiësto it was the same 15 minute segment looping over and over again. Digweed's vid was cool, though. There was a live jock on the lights, which were cool and all, but they really could have done more with all those sweet projectors. Maybe whoever it was that was supposed to do them got sick though. The main stage was cool, and very bright, though.

Anyway, I'm sure that you're all just dying to see the pictures I took. Security was laughably lax - or at least the woman who was supposed to pat me down (guys, always pick women as they won't do as thorough a job because they don't want to get nailed for sex harassment I guess) just looked me over as I turned around and didn't touch, and certainly didn't see my digital camera that I had strapped to the inside of my leg (right next to my balls, as it was, which made it exceedingly uncomfortable to walk) so I got off scot free on that one. And they didn't notice/care once I was in the tent that I was taking photos from first and second row. Whee. Here's the URL: http://trypsin.wronger.com/area2pics/ . There's 81 pics, some are good and others aren't. I didn't notice that they had the foggers blasting for Digweed, which is why the pics of him didn't turn out all that well. My flash wasn't really worth much with all the smoke and fog, and they didn't have the DJs themselves lit, just the effects lights going on around them. Oh well, enjoy.

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My other sig is a Gibson.

Last edited by Trypsin on Aug-17-2002 at 15:31