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I was thinking the other night, that something that is common to every civilization is song...and not song as in one singing to one's self (though, there's that), but song in a group.
I think that when we get together to listen and dance to house music, we are celebrating an ANCIENT tradition of the community celebrating all the good things in life. Think back to the tribes, doing their chants, to thank the gods, to requisition them, to appeal to them.. though we may not take it to such idolatry levels, we certainly use it as a venue to celebrate our week's work, our week to come, and special occasions that happen to fall in the time frame.
So continuing with this theme of celebrating, Lea and I had the pleasure of attending the Footwork pre-NYE bash.
First and foremost. I'd like you to please award Lea and I the prize of FIRST INTO THE CLUB. Oh yes. that coveted award goes to us. So back off, house-head. You can't have it.
We arrived at 10:10 pm, thinking it was MUCH later (it felt later!) and when we got to the alley way, asked the bouncer 'is footwork open yet??'. He said "i dunno, let me check'...and opened the door and yelled in 'hey! is footwork open yet??'... hahaha. So he let us in, and my dear wife and I had the whole club to ourselves.
Actually, i reserved the whole club for just her and I. You know. Date night. I had the djs lined up and everything. Then people started barging in! What gives?? 
We heard some sexy beats banging out, and we took seat on the suede couches to 'chill.' Nathan and Carlo were on the decks. I was a little miffed that I didn't get to hear them in prime-time, but that's ok, the opening sets were filled with that deep-house feeling that I'm starting to really enjoy!
I looked over at Lea, thoroughly enjoying myself, expecting her to look back at me, adoringly, but instead found her texting... :angry:
Whats with chicks and phones?? WHY are they always texting when I'm trying to get my groove on? gosh!! I mean, I'm worth the time and effort, are----*bbzzzzz* suddenly, MY phone goes off. I had a txt too. Ohhhh, better answer it!! 
Yes, I'm a hypocrit. It was a txt from Nathan saying 'hi' -- hahha. Simple, straight forward, and to the point. That's what I love about this guy. We had an ensuing conversation via text that's ultra-private. Sorry sports fans. It was of the utmost serious discussion that I cannot divulge even a single detail.
Lea and I also had the daunting task of handing out a few DJ Addy DVDs. (ball-licking?)
Daunting? NOT. They were gone SO FAST once people realized i had them, that i went back to the car for a few more. (btw, our own Nathan Barato makes an appearance in the DVD, w00t!). Great DVD btw, good choons, and neat angles. I can't imagine the work that went into it. I think Johnny Action is gonna do a review, so I'll leave that one alone for now. I'll have the few remaining DVDs @ new years for anyone who wants one.
I thought it was time to display my SIC new leather (pleather) wrist band. For those of you wondering, no it isn't a slap-on. This is my hercules pose. See the resemblance. yeah, that's right.
Let me comment on the music here. I think it was retro night...but for me, it's still all new, so i can't really say 'wow, they played the oldies!!'... but i was LOVING the opening set by Nathan & Carlo. Compared to some of the sets that I've heard Carlo play, which (the ones i have) are banging, lots of beats, almost tribal sets (ala Ultra Spin 11 set), hearing them spin together with the deep house, sexy beats, and some banging low-end bass samples really was refreshing!! I'm really liking that stuff more and more. I don't have any sets of it, so i'll have to see if anyone can hook me up. Nathan, is that considered deep house?
Nathan came to say hi, then Kriskool arrived, so i went to the booth to see what they were doing...
So good to have the Barato back in TO, isn't it? Oh, and check out what i spotted on one of the turn tables...
Vinyl Junkie's Promo CD: Sleeze! Check the "review" for that here (less techinical, more fun). The floor was still a little empty, but a few guys were on the dance floor given' it. That's what i love about house clubs... the floor can be empty and you can walk up and start dancing, and you have the approval of everyone in the club. Try that in a top40 bar. You have to wait until X number of girls are there...then wait for a few boyfriends to make it 'ok' for other guys to go on the floor. Oh, and no real dancing. Just bob up and down, please. Ugh. Disgusting.
Some house music friends showed up, Wayne & Addy! I love watching Addy dance, he gives off such great energy...
And then I spotted JennyPie!! So i whipped out the camera, real quick-like and she ducked and turned around...
Only to head-butt the cute curly-haired blonde behind her!! (I'm sorry, i haven't met her yet, so i don't know her name, but i see her everywhere). That was SO funny. I'm really glad no one was hurt. I've never caused a third party injury like that...except when i flex on the beach.
Here's a picture of JennyPie's back--I'm a SUCKER for open-back shirts, and that was what i was really aiming for. Lookin' good gal...u got soul. What a fun night. 
Kriskool needed to have our 'couples' picture. Finally, we BOTH admitted that we had been feeling sorta under the weather for a while, not 'feeling' the music or the dancing as we normally did. This night was different, everything clicked. I think it's the winter, and the state of world affairs, personally. FTW, time to have a good time!
Disco & Leap_frog! Leap was feeling UBER sick, but held out for quite a while. She's in bed RIGHT now, resting up for tonight's party. Come onnnnn immune system. Let me put a shout-out to Disco right now. This guy is a real stand-up guy, and a great promoter for footwork. He really cares about the people and the scene--I really enjoyed hanging with him Friday night, and look forward to seeing him and all the rest of you at CZ tonight (er, tomorrow!)!!
Two house addict hotties, having a BLAST during Greg Gow's set (nathan had snuck out the back door to hit a gig @ This is London)
Carlo came out to greet the HAs. I congratulated him on "Everybody"... still my favourite summer choon. Ugh, and i feel like a dough-boy. On beat port, the roaches mix on there, is AWESOME--i had NO idea it was a remix of everybody by our boys until i saw it on beatport... i had listened to that track on Nathan's Frisky set so many times, and then it clicked. I love those moments, when I love a track for what its worth, then finding out there's even more of a personal connection to it!
As mentioned, Greg Gow was on the decks at this point. So i took the opportunity to stop socializing and listen to his set a bit.
It was absolutely solid, except for one thing... he kept pulling the bass out for longer than the crowd vibe could stand...but when he put it back in, it SLAMMED, so the crowd forgave it. Kriskool even pointed it out, when Leap and i stopped bobbing, waiting for that energy to come back. Part of the DJs responsibility is to read the crowd, and i felt he almost lost us a few times there...but the tracks and mixing was great--and Jennypie really enjoyed the throwback choons (all new to me! lol). I remember her telling me that a certain track was by Cirez D... also known as Eric Prydz and some other bloke... then i asked her, is it pronounced "prides" or "prids" ? I've heard Pete Tong say it BOTH ways. Apparently it is "prides." So there you go, folks. Great tune, anyways... JennyPie, do you remember the track name?
Then we ran into this guy... David A...creator and organizer of Dance 2 the Beat for Cancer. If you ever see this guy in a club... BUY HIM A DRINK.
He's one of the hardest working supporters of the house music scene I've met... let's give this guy the credit he deserves. I mean, just check out this thread for the next dance 2 the beat!! This guy is a master planner, and full of tonnes of ideas...and a blast to be around too. Man, and he knows his music.
Oh, and check out the shirt, hahaha:
Remember last week or so i posted that thread about the polar bears dying? Welp, i found the reason:
Shame on you, cute asian girl!!
It was around this point that Disco and I decided we needed to grab more Addy DVDs, since our friends wanted a copy, so we donned the 'sweet garbs of warmth(tm)' and nabbed some more DVDs. These pimpin' coats are sweet. Where can i buy one?
Coming back in, I spotted one of my favourite postive-vibe people... Jaxeline!!!
That gal can MOVE. ... when there's room! At this point, footwork was SO packed, you could barely move! I couldn't believe the vibe, everyone was high on a happy vibe, and loving the tunes.
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