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Originally posted by The Highroller It's good to hear that the music being played at Sonic is challenging and cutting edge. It's better than the same tired progressive/tribal sounds that is just far to easy to play and listen to. Give it a chance guys. Don't just immediately dismiss it as bad because it's not something you're used to.

Agreed Graham. Minimal Techno is very big in most of Europe right now and I am glad local DJs are picking up on the theme...everyone needs to keep an open mind to this...my first club exposure was at DC-10 in Ibiza on the Monday morning this summer with Tanya Volcano...I found it a bit weird at first as well. But now anyone who knows me know I love this genre too, along with progressive, electro and tribal.

As for Saturday night, it was pretty much exaclty what I expected: good music but lacking some continuity and flow throughout the night. It is hard for a number of DJs (were there 5 in total in sequence from Red Circle?) to build flow that carries between sets, no matter what their talent level. I think the Red Circle guys did what they could: play good new tracks. I was especially pleased with Johnny White's set (not a great start, but really recovered well).

I was not expecting Red Circle to take us on a crazy journey like Behrouz did the weekend before. The crowd was thinner...but it was still a mixed crowd with a fair number of new faces...excellent to see. This reminds me of one other thing: everyone, when you meet new people at Sonic, please try and be friendly and introduce them to others (guys/girls, gay or straight). I try and do this and it makes a huge difference....people feel comfortable and included in the experience and they in turn will bring other people and HELP KEEP THE CLUB IN BUSINESS for all of us! If the new people are a-holes, everyone will find out quickly enough and these people will eventually stop coming, so no loss.

Overall, I was very happy with the night. I think everyone would should manage their expectations for any given night at Sonic (or any other club for that matter) based on the number of DJs playing and the type of music expected. And please, lets try and keep an open mind. Not every night will be a "musical journey", some nights will only provide great 1 or 2 hour excursions, and thats OK as long as the music overall is good.

Bit late posting this... I wasnt happy in there to be honest. Couldnt wait until 6am to head off to the Zone. They did play a few good tracks, I recognised a lot too, it was just the constant chooping and changing I couldnt stand, and the pausing of the music so the DJs could get some applause to boost their egos...

I may have enjoyed the night if I was in a K hole...

It's not that I dont enjoy minimal techno. Doppelwhipper is one of my favourite tracks right now... and hey I am European so I do get to hear a lot of this stuff. I just looked at the DJs several times and they seemed to be playing for themselves and not getting the (sparse) crowd going.

Plus - why is the DJ allowed to smoke ???

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Originally posted by Lighthouse This reminds me of one other thing: everyone, when you meet new people at Sonic, please try and be friendly and introduce them to others (guys/girls, gay or straight). I try and do this and it makes a huge difference....people feel comfortable and included in the experience and they in turn will bring other people and HELP KEEP THE CLUB IN BUSINESS for all of us!

This is actually a good point. Introducing people is a good way to build a community at any club, and it builds a "regular" crowd.

There's nothing better than being able to walk into a club by yourself on any given weekend, not knowing of anyone specific going, but knowing that you'll find many familiar faces and friends.

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Note that the set starts a bit slow and requires a bit of patience to get into it, but well worth the wait, IMO. Good stuff.

That sums up the problem with the whole evening! Everything took too long to get into and it might be progessive...but try to dance to it.

I spent most of the night on my ass....and not in a good way!

I am not saying it was not good...it's just NOT my thing...but at least I was there.....

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Originally posted by Lighthouse some nights will only provide great 1 or 2 hour excursions, and thats OK as long as the music overall is good.

I agreed with most of what you said besides this last part. People are not going to come to Sonic on a consistent basis if the music is only good for a couple of hours. It's just too expensive and not worth it. The music needs to be good all night or people won't show up on local nights. I personally don't like miminal techno, so I can totally see why alot of people had a bad time. Paying $20-$30 to hear 1-2hours of music I like abit isn't worth it, I'd rather stay at a friends place where we can choose the music.

I personally love minimal but sometimes i don't really dig johnny white's style.. i'm basing this from seeing him live once and listening to his mix cd, some tracks are great but i feel like i get bored quite quickly and switch my cd to audiofly lol
i'd definitely see him live again though

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Originally posted by oldschool420 I agreed with most of what you said besides this last part. People are not going to come to Sonic on a consistent basis if the music is only good for a couple of hours. It's just too expensive and not worth it. The music needs to be good all night or people won't show up on local nights. I personally don't like miminal techno, so I can totally see why alot of people had a bad time. Paying $20-$30 to hear 1-2hours of music I like abit isn't worth it, I'd rather stay at a friends place where we can choose the music.

Justin...This is a really good point...one of the things that REALLY ticked me off, was seeing the club plastered with posters for an event on Thursdays at TOIbar, featuring ALL the same DJs...and Red Circle...NO COVER!

I know it's a Thursady, and it's not on the Sonic sound system...but really...it was "in your face"

I hope Sonic is getting some cross promotion with TOIbar.

Last edited by fairy godfather on Feb-05-2007 at 20:19

Too much of just one thing gets boring quickly... As much as I like minimal (and the fact that is the rage all over Europe, especially in Berlin) a whole night of just bleeps will become monotonous.
Same as trying to squeeze too many different ideas that are not consistent: it gets confusing.
Despite the fact that Sonic has tried to show a variety of range in the talent they are bringing (kudos for that), I find that lately, their bookings are very inconsistent... That brings confusion. The first few months following the club opening were more consistent.
Even though I don't believe in labeling dance music genres (A RECORD IS GOOD TO DANCE TO IT OR NOT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU CALL IT), most people tend to stick to one genre or the other.
Booking talent is akin to curatorial work: Finding the common thread among the variety.

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Originally posted by fairy godfather "...one of the things that REALLY ticked me off...NO COVER!...it was "in your face"..."

LOL. Daniel, I can just imagine you wandering the streets, muttering to yourself, outraged...

Lest I remind you, Toi Bar makes their money on alcohol sales, whereas Sonic's primary source of revenue is cover fees. Are you suggesting that Sonic should not have charged cover on Saturday? Crazy talk...

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Originally posted by SuperJimbo LOL. Daniel, I can just imagine you wandering the streets, muttering to yourself, outraged... Lest I remind you, Toi Bar makes their money on alcohol sales, whereas Sonic's primary source of revenue is cover fees. Are you suggesting that Sonic should not have charged cover on Saturday? Crazy talk...

Free no. 10$ or 5$ with GL yes.

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Originally posted by oldschool420 I agreed with most of what you said besides this last part. People are not going to come to Sonic on a consistent basis if the music is only good for a couple of hours. It's just too expensive and not worth it. The music needs to be good all night or people won't show up on local nights. I personally don't like miminal techno, so I can totally see why alot of people had a bad time. Paying $20-$30 to hear 1-2hours of music I like abit isn't worth it, I'd rather stay at a friends place where we can choose the music.

Whoah, whoah...lets be careful about what you read into this. I said some nights are about 1-2 hour excursions....as in 1-2 hour "trips"...trips that are made up of a connected stream of tracks that grab you and take you somewhere. That means there should be a number of these "trips" (2-4) that add up to a 6+ hours of music, albeit not all trips seem "connected" to each other and sound like a coherent set played by an headliner DJ (like Behrouz last week) I am not suggesting its cool to pay $30 bucks for only 1-2 hours of good music all night.