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Review: Jaxx House 6 @ Footwork!
Review of Jaxx House 6 @ Footwork last Friday. What a blast!!
Of all the genres of music, electronica is my favourite. And my favourite type of electronica is tribal. Hands down. I could listen to the stuff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and probably would if I could have my mp3 hard wired into my ears and go into an audio-coma for the rest of my life--and I'd do it happily.
There aren't a lot of tribal-specific events. The odd local DJ is known for throwing down tribal portions in their sets (Deko-Ze, Dj Addy), but generally there aren't any 'tribal DJs' locally as say, Vibe is known for internationally. This is why the jaxx house events are so well anticipated--it is an evening for tribal lovers guarenteed to rock their tribal socks! Jaxx House 6, enchanted tribal platoon, put together by HouseAddict.com's very own Irgo and Scenester Magazine's Miss Raquel. I learned only recently that the inception of this event took place in the hallowed rooms of System Sound Bar. (btw, with all the talk of System Sound Bar lately, and all the amazing stories and the sheer legacy of epic tales being reminisced regarding this place, I can only equate its mystery of those of us that had never been to something like Atlantis. A fable. An incredible, sweet fable, but one we cannot grasp for never having been there. dammit.).
So let's cut to the chase... can i just say that Irgo's set freaking ROCKED. It started out nice and soft, sexy tribal beats, the way an opening set should be...and then he hooked up footwork's stereo system to Hydro One's grid or something because the tunes just started BANGING and the tracks were absolutely slamming! I told him after that it felt like a Vibe set--and it really did. He brought his total tribal-A game, and I was totally pumped by it. It's rare to be so completely satisified by the first set--but I already had a smile ear to ear. That's how it's done, man! That's how it is done. --thanks for hyping us up with pre-recorded Tribal sets too... lots of fun!
Irgo's Facebook Group
Deko-Ze was up next. He knows how to handle tribal--bringing sic tribal beats in his own remix of Green Velvet's La La La La La. (btw, Green Velvet is going to be at Footwork this Saturday! Holy crap!). The crowd was loving Deko-Ze's stuff through and through...but about half way through his set, he departed from tribal and started playing more vocals, some electro and even techno. I was disappointed with the move. The tunes were still good, but it wasn't what I was there to hear. Big thumbs down for the last half of the set.
Deko-Ze Facebook Group
J-Prez came up on the decks after Deko-Ze. I had remembered from a fond Zone afternoon J-Prez completely ROCKING the zone floor with some in-SANE tribal tunage...so I knew this had the potential to be VERY good. Unfortunately, i was completely let down. J-Prez's set was anything but tribal, and I decicded to get some air for nearly his entire set. When you have a craving for pizza, kraft dinner just won't do. I think he must have missed the memo or something that this was a TRIBAL night. At least do the courtesy of playing SOME tribal through the set. Big thumbs down for J-Prez's entire set for me.
But all the pain and hurt went away when D-Unity came on the decks at 3:30 am for the last 1.5 hour slot. A camera followed them into booth, I guess they're making a video for something. Their set was the hardest and darkest tribal I have heard to date. I totally ate it up; I couldn't pry myself away from the dance floor. Trips to the bar or to the bathrooms were totally abandoned--the only thing that mattered was those two guys behind the decks unleashing an onslaught of hellish heavenly rhythms that owned the entire dance floor. I nabbed one of their promo CDs, Universal Lanuage 3, but ended up giving away to someone--I'm a fool!
D-Unity Facebook Group
D-Unity Website
D-Unity MySpace
D-Unity interview on HouseAddict.com
Such a great night. I think Footwork might have gotten a new sound system though, I heard staff asking patrons about the quality of the sound throughout the night. It was very crisp and clear with pounding bass (especially back near the coat check). However, my ears were definitely a little sore at the end of the night, so some tweaking is needed there for sure.
It was good to see all the familiar faces out who have made Jaxx House attendance a tradition. Happy bday to KevinT (and Miss Sweetness!)--great night to celebrate it with all the friends there.
p.s., the place looked great; this huge net draped over the DJ booth was BRILLIANT. The lights kept illuminating it and it looked FREAKY. Like the DJ was in a bunker! I liked Crazy Serb's idea of having sniper guys behind the booth with laser-scopes. Everyone dressed in army gear looked sic too.
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