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Ni-Cd's Review
It was pretty early in my house music education that a close and dear friend who introduced me to the Toronto EDM scene (by taking me to Boa-Redux's opening Halloween night) mentioned to me that if I wanted to see the party of all parties...I had to take an interest in an event called Labour of Love. So it was with great anticipation that I attended my first Labour of Love in 2006, and was awestruck by the size, scope and breadth of the entire project.
Now, with a year more of house music education under my belt, supplied by the very knowledgeable and patient people on HouseAddict.com and TranceAddict.com, I found myself a much more discerning participant for Labour of Love 2007.
Discerning to the point, that I was originally not planning to attend! The main reason was to take a 'rest' weekend, and to avoid the steep ticket prices that Labour of Love demands ($40 per ticket on the low end). We reasoned that with such awesome events as Ultra Spins, which ticket at $15, offer all-access, and provide high-calibre performances, Labour of Love seemed to provide all the same, for a much higher price.
I think that Labour of Love is a Canadian (albiet commercialized) response to the ever-popular Love Parade (wikipedia: Click here for more info) which was a political demonstration to show harmony between disparate peoples through the harmonization of music. I don't think Labour of Love pressed to pass this message on in its advertising and branding, but the title seems to infer some connection, so let's just go with it. 
So what sets Labour of Love apart from all the other events?
Well, as soon as I got the LOL flier, I had one major point of difference: DANNY TENAGLIA in the newly renovated main room for a 9 hour set.
Many savvy house heads knew intrinsically that this alone was worth the price of admission. Danny T, easily regarded as a demi-god among EDM music, on a completely different plane, with his own unique style, marathon conviction and connection with the crowd... "I didn't come here to play madonna..." he intoned over the microphone. Danny T is a legend carved out of the blood sweat and tears of his own labours. His personal connection to the scene is evident with the personally-written, passionate and provocative convictions.
In addition to Danny T being put on the bill, Leap_frog and I were asked by many of our friends and associates if we'd be there--it was a chance to meet and talk with people we hadn't seen in some time.
So with all these factors in mind, we hit up Nathan and Carlo for reduced guest list, and headed down town on a Sunday (man, that felt weird).
((Time warp)) --> back to July, getting my SCUBA certifications. We're all in the pool, waiting to do our 'no-air, buddy shared-air' drill. On the surface with my buddy, i hear behind me someone exclaim "I'm going to Ibiza, that's why i'm getting my certs, so i can do some diving there.... oh, you don't know where Ibiza is?" I quickly turned around---no, scratch that--i paddled slowly around, moving my super-bouyant equipment so i could see what was going on, and exclaimed "ibiza?? that's like, the party island of the world!" and Dusan and I became fast friends. He was heading to Global Gathering, then off to Ibiza, and would be doing some diving whilest out there. We decided to hit Labour of Love with our ladies. He was definitely into the trance, eager to see Armin Van Buuren, whereas as much as I enjoy trance, i was eager to hear Danny T. What a small world though! In a small newmarket diving class, to meet a fellow EDM lover.
((time warp))-->back to the drive to T.dot
We meet up with Dusan and his woman, and head down to the Guv. I drive up to the parking place and hand in my $10 bucks. "No, sorry sir, that will be $25...." I was like, WTH? (what the heck) They explained to me that there'd be like, 9,000 people hitting the guv that night, so supply/demand, capitalism/blah blah blah... so i forked out the $25. So, walking into Guv, the night had already cost me $125, just to walk in the door, for the two of us. Ok, no worries...it'll be worth it...!
We got into the guest list line which moved VERY quickly (KUDOS!). At one point, this guy was on fire, and went on some sort of rip-line over our heads, across the street, and into the arms of safety personelle. That sort of freaked me out. Then I saw this glowing guy throwing illuminated bowling pins...but he kept dropping them. Behind him was some chick on stilts walking around smoking a cigarette. It was like some sort of disjointed circus or something. I'm not a fan of the circus, nor of anything that might be a clown, so I was eager to get inside.
We entered into the Koolhaus--a traditional entry point for all access events
Mark Oliver was opening up the floor proper...and it made me wonder that why, as the resident of The Guvernment complex, he wasn't opening for Danny T. I guess this is really where I started to feel the split between Trance and House... Mark Oliver was opening up the room that Armin Van Buuren would be spinning in (rated no. 2 DJ in the world right now), in a bigger room, with, likely a bigger crowd. The guv main room would be mostly house, with The Roaches opening up! (Nathan Barato and Carlo Lio)... 16 Bit Lollitas and then Danny T were to follow... we bid a temporary goodbye to Dusan and his woman and headed over to the guv main room to see Carlo and Nathan ripping it up...
Also got a chance to dance it up with THIS guy, freshly back from overseas! ACE! Check out that shirt...niiiiice.
I saw the usual crew dancing right up front, and I joined them for a bit. However, can I take a minute to point out, what I feel is a real failing in the new design of the guv main room?
In my opinion, this is a design flaw... if you stand in front of the DJ booth, the sound is TERRIBLE. The main sound system is focused with four speakers pointed to the center of the dance floor. There's nothing wrong with that...but no steps have been taken to address the sound RIGHT in front of the DJ booth!! Secondly, when you're standing in front of the DJ booth. you can't SEE the DJ at all! Even when it is lowered! You have to back up a good 20-30 ft before you can see who is up there spinning. It seems completely disassociating to have a fun-loving music-addict standing directly in front of the dj booth who can neither see the dj nor hear the music. Can you say PARADOX?! "Yeah!! I'm right in front of the DJ booth! Everyone is going wild!! I can't see the dj though...or hear the music....but that's OKAY!! BECAUSE I'M IN FRONT OF THE DJ BOOTH!" I think everything in the guv main room is killer...except this...and it is such an important spot to have left completely unaccomodated. I think the DJ setup for decadence was better... when it was lower to the floor, but raised slightly, and a fence keeping people back a little...everyone could see the dj booth, and you could get in front of the booth and still have sound and see the dj you're vibing with.
Just my two cents.
Speaking of sound...i went to find the sweet spot in the guv main room, and with the last couple tracks Nathan and Carlo dropped, I can tell you that the bass in that room at that sweet spot is absolutely incredible. I couldn't believe no one else was hogging the spot.
So now we were settled in. We had gotten in, we had listened to fan-favourite The Roaches set in the guv main room (becoming a tradition for us! Love those guys!), and had a drink in hand....NOW what?
Well it was rumoured that Armin was coming on at midnight (i didn't see any posted set times on the internet before coming down... which is a bummer, by the way; i saw later that there were printed cards with set times...meaning they'd known the set times for a number of days prior to the event. So why couldn't they be posted online for us to consult before hand?), so we headed back to the koolhaus.
Leap and I both remarked that the decorations were a lot more sparse this year than last; last year, there were streamers and banners, and things decorating the ceiling, but this year, those were missing. No matter, we weren't here for the decor!!
The koolhaus is one of my favourite rooms...it's MASSIVE, and the lighting is ALWAYS killer in that room. They had more flat panel screens hooked up than Future Shop. I wonder what program they use to synchronize them...i've been doign some reading, and I'm wondering if they use linux-based MYTH TV (link) which supports output of multiple signals to multiple displays. If anyone has more info on this, please let me know! I'm curious to know what is used...
We stayed for most of Armin's set with our friends, and Leap and I developed a new term... the term is "Trance-hole"... when the bass is thumping away and everyone is dancing, and then the music shifts suddenly to synthesized organs (or something) playing a melancholy tune with no bass or beats, this is called a trance-hole. The idea is to hammer the crowd, then make them a little emotional, melancholy, then hammer em again. Armin trance-holed the hell out of us. It was a good time, but by that time, we figured out that LoL was going to be more about the social aspect than the music, as we were CONSTANTLY bumping into people and catching up while bobbing our bodies around, taking pictures, or giving out over-emotional hugs due to the trance-holes going on around us.
We then headed over to Danny Tenaglia.. we knew it'd be rammed, so I was thankful when i got a txt from KevinT saying 'come up to deluxe via stairs near tent...almost empty!' so we headed over there, outside to the tent, where we saw this AWESOME flame-dragon screaming around the crowds heads!!! how'd they do that?!
We found the stair well, and it was perfect, no one there, slipped up to the deluxe lounge with LOTS of room to dance, and a great sound system---and i could see where the DJ was through the windows--if the DJ booth were lit up (which for most of the time i was looking, wasn't).
KevinT sportin' the HOUSEADDICT tshirt
Also ran into someone I see so rarely out at the clubs--Witchdoctor! Good times buddy!
What would a review be without a Creature Face Moment(tm)?
There were THOUSANDS of people at this event, spread amongst the various rooms. I have to say, however, it was one of the BEST events I've been to for crowd-control. The guv is really getting it under control, moving crowds around, and despite the extra security on staff, security was courteous and helpful when we needed them for directions. Anywhere we went, there was room to dance, and it never got so insane that we felt 'trapped'... we were all really happy with the room to dance and flow control. Two thumbs up!
A pile of TAs and HAs had discovered the Deluxe lounge to dance in, and here's one of the top dancers on TA, in my opinion!
IllNada!!
I noticed someone said Danny T didn't allow any lasers during his set... hmm, looks like they sneaked some in!
Even though I said there was lots of room to navigate, it was still RAMMED with people...and didn't even really start thinning out until about 5 am...
Danny T's set was unbelievable. When people say he wasn't at his best...well...i can't wait to hear him at his best! I said to one person: "It's like, he was abducted by aliens, reprogrammed, came back, and is spinning their music to us...'" it was just so different and refreshing... and his interaction with the crowd top notch. What a guy! I read his letter circulating the internet, about his set being illegally recorded at Clorophilla, in Italy... ironically, that's the set that I listened to before going to LoL to get a feel for his style... bummer that I unwittingly/unknowingly took part in that. Sorry Danny!
Danny was on for just about the entire night, so we hit up the Orange room to hear Vinyl Junkie's set... if you haven't heard their new promo CD, GET IT! And let me know what you think to song 7. Freakish freakish track. Standing in front of the DJ booth in the orange room is AWESOME! The subs are RIGHT there, and you can see the DJ. Now that's how it's done!!
We tagged up with our trance friends where Sander Van Dorn was spinning. I have to say, i was loving the tech-trance furious beats he was pounding out..especially when i heard some tracks i recognized from one of my ALL TIME favourite sets: Fred Baker @ Duplex, Prague, March 25 2006. I think i went about nuts at that point. Yes, even i go nuts sometimes over trance. Believe it, reader, believe it.
Dusan, Tina and Leap were gr00vin' it up too to SVD. Couldn't blame them, the place was pounding, and the lighting was SIC!
It was getting early in the morning, and our friends started to depart, a few going to CZ, others heading out for breakfast... Leap and I headed to the patio to hear some more Danny T and tag up with House Girl and PhatCat. Once out into the morning light, and feeling our legs, we decided to call it at that point. We bid our farewells and walked, happily to the car.
Musically, I don't think we accomplished too much of our task...that old saying, it's better to do one thing well, then a bunch of things mediocre...well, i think we buzzed around so much that we didn't truly sample any one set and dance it up hard...it was more of a social night, dancing with friends, talking about old times, getting information overload from all the visual and auditory stimuli that the guv has to offer--but it was a fantastic time nevertheless. We were glad to be part of something so huge, and to get to hear the man, Danny T behind the decks.
It was great meeting piles of new trance addicts; i'm a little disappointed JChung and I didn't get to have our camera war (*flexes fist* NEXT TIME, JCHUNG! NEXT TIME!). Cribby & gang! I think I also met up with SWFT. Purple haze--good times man.
Walking to my car, i see something on my windshield...
WTH?
Is that a flier to Danny Howells? Oh yes, it is... FOOTWORK, September 22, five hour set! Definitely gonna be there to hit that up.
In the meantime, next party? DJ Addy and Behrouz @ The Next Level (The Docks) for the closing summer sessions party. See you all on the dance floor!
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*drooling smilie*
