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Review: TillTheAM's Rene Amesz party @ FW last weekend (Jan 26)
January 26 2008
I was searching for a review thread, but couldn't find one. So here is my sordid tale!
Condensed Edition:
Schmucky's bday, took the crew to FW to celebrate because CiRCA seemingly fired the good DJs, Jason Myles rocked our world and Rene Amesz cleaned up the mess. Two thumbs up.
Expanded Edition:
Last weekend was Schmucky's birthday weekend--or at least the weekend he selected to celebrate it. See with ol' Schmucky, no one really knows how old he is, or when his birthday his. I don't even think he knows himself. Having been delivered by armoured polar bears to a pair of fearful pasty-white Canadian parents, with the curse of raising him to know all manner of EDM throughout the Canadian country-side, Schmucky is and forever will be...an enigma.
With this air of mystery and fear of copyright infringement with the golden compass, we decided to party at CiRCA with DJ Addy and Neno in the Sky Vodkaa Cinema room. I can't lie, I was also looking forward to hearing the vocal house of Pettigrew and Doman as well.
But CiRCA was not to be. After doing some guestlist research, I discovered that Addy and Neno were no longer spinning in the sky vodkaa room, or, as far as I could tell--at CiRCA at all! What's going on? Word on the street is that they were told to play more commercial tunes and Addy & Neno refused. At this point, the two parties mutually agreed to part ways. Another rumour says that CiRCA is going through a lot of changes to find their footing...they may go commercial throughout, and isolate house in the mirror ballroom.
We pulled on the E-break and managed a U-ee and set our sites on a Saturday night party at one of our favourite places on the planet, Footwork. AllyM and crew with TillTheAM were throwing a party with Rene Amesz headlining. I had little regret, as it had been said this guy threw some sic tunage down in his previous gigs, and I hadn't heard him yet.
We got there early--we always do. (but not before having a tender moment at Schmuckys with some intimate gift exchange. I got him that bottle opener in the shape of of an oversized Nintendo joystick, while Matt got him a year subscription of 'eyebrow shaping monthly' as a subtle hint to see to some personal hygiene. Matt has always had gift for being discrete.)
When we got into the club it was filling up quickly while Pete Daris (I believe) was on the decks spinning. It was social hour, and everyone greeting Schmucky with birthday wishes. I'm not sure why, but EVERYONE likes this guy. Ok, sure, he's my friend, i get it. But come on, it's Schmucky! Just because he had ninja training and served with CSIS for a time, doesn't make him instantly cool, ok?
I had a REV. You know, at first I hated the taste of those things... now I quite enjoy a REV at the beginning of the night. And I'm glad you care.
By the time Jason Myles hit the decks, the club was freakin' RAMMED. I headed to the smoking area outside to get a quick bead on the line-up...it was all the way down the alley way with people chomping at the proverbial bit to get in as soon as possible. I wonder if Footwork could put some low db speakers outside for those inline to enjoy the tunes? I guess not with noise complains as they are lately.
Jason Myle's set, for me, was the highlight of the entire night. The tunage he was laying down was exactly what I had been missing for so long, having taken a month off of dancing, and being inundated with so much tech-minimal stuff lately. Note to self: find some sets by this guy. It was my first time hearing him and I'm definitely a fan. A few of my friends said the beats got a little out of control during Jason's set, but I didn't catch it. I'm definitely going to make my way to hear this guy spin again.
Next up: Simon Jain... it is GREAT to see Simon's mixing and energy on par! I tried to get pictures of the guy, but he moves around so much, it's just all a blur. When I first got into the scene, Simon Jain's vocal house mixes were legendary in the little town of Keswick here. So beloved were his mixes, that when my friends, not really into hitting the toronto scene, heard I was going to hear Simon Jain spin, acted as if I was going to see some rock star legend like Bon Jovi. And is it really that far from the truth? He even kind of looks like Bon Jovi. If you squint. SIIIMOOOOON! Remembering these mixes, I asked him when he'd have a new mix for us fans--and apparently we'll see a mix from simon THIS week. Nice. Can't wait to hear it.
Rene Amesz hit the decks with fanfare, and his sweet set of massively rolling bass lines ensued. What I heard sounded a lot like minimals with rolling basslines and vocals mixed in; I suppose minimal isn't minimal at all if vocals are present, and maybe that is why I loved it so much! Someone, educate me on the genres here. I'm doing Rene no justice. His set was rocking, and we danced it up hard at the back of the club (where there was room).
I took a moment to gaze at the coat-check area, currently hoarding my favourite spot in the club... Steph (one of the owners of footwork) shouts to me over the music as he is walking by "Don't worry buddy...only a month or two more and you'll have your favourite spot back." Niiiiiice. Can't wait!
The lighting in the club was switched up, with two intelligent lighting systems placed on the DJ booth, one on either side. The effect was a really cool one, making this show of spot lights shooting up and around the DJ for the night in a variety of colours. Question...did Footwork get rid of the lasers? I haven't seen them there in a while. Is it getting to the point where House music excludes lasers? That the beams of "joy" are intended only for Trance events? I'm getting that feelng.
The magical moment of the entire night was when Rene dropped a sic remix of The Sky Was Pink - Nathan Fake. This is one of my all-time favourite tracks, and it has such an odd vibe to it that I never expected to hear it at a club. Anas Attia opened up his controversial Zeeiton set with it Download it from his website here. The song is just so eerie, melancholy and emotional with some really sic choppy bass in it. Leap and I actually slow danced to this one. For real. High school style. Making out and everything. Someone threw a lemon slice at us.
At 5 am, the entire crowd was still ramped as the music drew to a close. I was willing to bet fairly that zone would see a rather large influx that morning. To my surprise, Schmucky wanted to check out Loco @ The New Basement to see what this new Sunday morning club was all about. Ever his wing-man, who was I to refuse? He was an orphan after all. We bid the girls farewell (we'd meet them at home later) and headed over to The Basement or Loco or Blak or whatever it was. Luckily someone had given us a card with an address.
All in all, a fantastic night. One of the better night's I've had for a while. The music was spot on and I danced my ass off. There were lots of people there for the same reason, just to dance, and we all grooved hard to the beats.
The promo CD that TillTheAM gave out that night featuring a set by Rene Amesz is SIC. I haven't bothered to find a track listing yet, but one track has a dark tone and female vocals intoning "Dancing with strangers in dark rooms..." This song makes me think of zone instantly, and how wicked it would be to hear that track there.
From a "business" point of view, I'm impressed with TillTheAM's branding campaign. Several girls walking around with TillTheAM's logo smeared across their shirts, handing out business cards and Promo CDs. The Promo CDs are professionally printed with Rene, TillTheAM and Nissan Versa's logo. Wait, the nissan versa? I'm guessing that someone's father owns a Nissan dealership? (www.versanights.ca) Regardless, looks very professional and it is clear some coin was put into it. The party was packed the entire night, and the vibe was fantastic. AllyM clearly did a great job, and I must have listened to this promo CD 200 million times.
-=Ni-Cd=-
Next planned events:
The Martinez Brothers @ Revival - Feb 8 for Scenester Magazine (Event Link)
El Ace O @ Footwork Feb 15
El Ace O @ Gallery Feb 16 (Event Link)
My Scenester Magazine Reviews
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