Alright, I ran all sorts of searches, etc. looking for a review thread for this event, and I can't find one. I'm pretty sure I'm blind, or thread is named weird... so if a moderator wants to move this into that thread, that's aok by me. In the meantime, here's my review of that night! cc' www.houseaddict.com as well, as i saw a buncha houseaddicts there too.

I think I read this somewhere, or maybe someone was telling me about it. Actually, now that I think about it, I think my friend Erin was telling me about it over lunch one sunny day at a local diner. We were discussing passion, and how people are driven and passionate about things. We all know that life can never be perfect, and that, human as we are, we always can find something 'lacking' in our lives. That being said, there's so many of us who go day to day with genuine joy in our hearts, optimism in our minds, and a bounce in our step. How do people like that do it? Erin suggested that it was our passion, filling in the spiritual 'pot holes.' I've thought about this a lot...and I've come to totally agree with her.

Take last Friday for example. It had been one heck of a week. We've all been there, work sucks, something in our family life kicks us in the proverbial nads, and to top it off, the dog just peed on the carpet. The saying 'who pissed in your cornflakes' becomes a mantra for day to day living. I didn't feel like doing anything except watcdhing a movie, eating ice cream and sleeping. That's right, doing the depressed girl thing. I can do that too, right? But then...I feel the calling, deep in my soul to break out of this funk. To claw out of the 'slough of despond' (points to those who catch that reference) i had found myself in, and to break out of the clouds to the sunshine we all know exists above. This is the passion I was talking about earlier...the passion of hearing music that moves me in ways that is nearly beyond explanation. The passion of dancing to that music, as if "no body is watching." So I showered, I put on some clothes, I even put some gel in my hair so I'd be somewhat presentable...and I sent out some text messages to some friends to see if I could find some company once I was down there...and with a little push from Leap, I was out the door, ready to let my passion, the thing I take so much joy from, pump me up and fill those 'pot holes' in my soul that had formed over the past week.

Am I ever glad I made that decision.

For those who know me, I'm a pretty positive person...but if you're not feeling the vibe, you're not feeling the vibe. Well my friends, this night at footwork, the vibe wouldn't leave any lonely soul alone. From the moment I walked int he door, to the moment I left, the energy in Footwork was crackling with excitement and positive energy. Once inside with my dancing companion for the night, Lauren, I already felt my spirits lifting to some familiar beats (Afrojack - In Your Face). Walking into the place, I was surprised at (already) how jammed it was. I asked a local familiar face what was going on. It was apparently Deko-Ze's bday, along with JJ's wife (JJ was the host for the Friday night parties, there at Footwork), Jen. What a reason to celebrate! Deko-ze was one of the first DJs I encountered when getting invited to this house music scene, so it was a real pleasure and honor to be present at his birthday party at one of my favourite clubs in the city.

On the decks that night was (i thought) an unusual line up: Nathan Barato, Deko-Ze and J-Force. Having attended more then a few parties, this line up was unusual, and promised some fresh sets that were very different from each other. Starting off the night was none other then fan-favourite (and Ni-Cd favourite) Nathan Barato. He was banging out some heavy fresh tunes, creating his own peak hour for the crowds that were already dancing. It was near midnight, so I had missed the opening set styles that I normally enjoy hearing. I made my way to the decks to say 'Hi' to Nathan--it had been quite a while since I had heard him spin. On the way to the decks, seeing many familiar smiling faces--and again I could feel the vibe crackling around me with the sic beats Nathan was laying out.

After greeting all of my friends, and grabbing a drink, I settled near the left-side speaker, sitting down to 'chill' during this time of pandamonium, and just observe the crowd reacting to the music. Looking around I spotted Sasha--he wasn't supposed to come tonight, he had an engagement at This Is London (I had been talking to him earlier on MSN). Our Birthdays are close together, and we had met one November Sunday morning at Comfort Zone, many moons ago, and since then had kept in touch--one of the many good people I've met through this scene. His photography is getting mroe dramatic and captivating, and his pictures of that night are a testmament to his skill and commitment to visually portraying the scene. We greeted each other and he went off to capture more angles, and I bobbed along to the beats Illest was pounding out. Have I said how much I enjoy the sound system @ Footwork? Man! It is so clear and CRISP. The bass was washing over the crowd in a really pleasing way, and you could hear the entire range of every low and high end sound. This being said, as Deko-Ze took his set, we could hear the high ends cutting out of the front left speaker--the crowd reacted with a neck-jerk reaction every time it cut out; I didn't notice it later on, so it looks like the audio-tech nailed it.

Through the crowd I spotted Steph, one of the owners of the club, greeting people as he made his way through the crowd, big smile on his face, truly having a good time. This made me think to myself that these guys, Joel and Steph, put on these parties every week. And every week, the party at footwork has a fresh feeling to it--a new energy that people can enjoy. It doesn't get redundant or repetative. There's new sounds, new beats, new energy and always a good time, week after week; kudos to these guys and the booking agents for always keeping the place bumping. Every time I go, it feels like the first time all over again. It's always a great time, and they work hard to make it that way.

After saying hi to Steph and joining him and Lyle (footwork promoter, and one of the best!) at the bar for a celebratory drink, I noticed a familiar capped-figure coming towards the DJ booth. This guy always shows up when I least expect it, and it was great to see him and his smiling face--DJ Addy. He had come to pay birthday respects to Deko-Ze! He came up and gave me a big (manly) hug and asked if I was having a good time...a moment later he was swarmed by a pile of other people asking where the hell had he been. Man, I can tell you one thing. When this guy finally decides to come back and spin, it is going to be absolute MAYHEM. MAYHEM, I say. I hope it's Cozo, 9 am - 1 pm. That's my dream 'Addy returns' set. I'd pay top dollar. Can I get a boo-yah on that one?

I danced on the floor a bit and bumped into someone (ops, i do that sometimes in my crazy dancing). Turning around, i see; PhatCat!!!! The smile on my face was ear to ear. She is one of my favourites, and always brings such a great energy to the dance floor. Great seeing Kriskool after so long as well..it had been forever! She was dancing up a storm.

I decided to make my way up to the DJ booth to watch Deko-Ze spin and dance it up a little. Several of my friends were up there dancing away already. With a smile I joined them, and i felt all of those pot holes I had spoken about earlier filling in with the pure joy of the beats Deko-Ze was banging out. "Oxygen to me! Oxygen to me! Oxygen to me!" One of my favourite build ups was coming on, and I let out a w00t, seeing Deko-Ze was spinning with his shirt off. That's a good sign. As any deko-ze fan knows...if Deko-Ze's shirt isn't off, he's not totally in the zone yet. Once the shirt comes off, your dancin' ass is his, and you KNOW he's gonna wreck you with whatever he decides to pound out. The "Oxygen to me" build up grew to a peak and slammed down with the vocals pouring over the crowd. I made a mental note to pop in his "Delicious" Cd on the way home to listen to that build up again (haven't got that CD yet? What are you DOIN'?!). I still find that Deko-Ze's sets tend to be a little all over the place. There's a lot of variance in his sets, and my perferred listening style is a particular style grouped together, where I'm finding that Deko-Ze will jump between genres and back again all throughout his sets of late. Am I the only one thinking this? My favourite style to hear Deko-Ze bang out is the tribal house...next up, is probably the tech-house that I haven't really heard him spin in forever...i have a set (up to speed) that is SWEET--i would love to hear Deko-Ze spin those kind of sets again...but perhaps he feels he's grown beyond that style. Just some thoughts. Regardless, the crowd (and I) loved the tunes and his feirce energy. I have no idea how he mixes while head-thrashing like that. It's a gift, I tell you.

I love the projectors lighting up the side walls. I noticed that the names of resident DJs were coming up on the wall behind Deko-Ze. I find this a little confusing. If someone didn't know the scene, and were there for the first time, they'd be confused about the DJ that was spinning. It'd be great if some animations could be created for EACH resident...so as they are spinning, their moniker shows up behind them, hyping them up. You could have it announce other residents too, but say 'on the decks: DEKO-ZE' or something like this, so it helps to visually hype up that DJ. Just a thought.

After a bit I retired to the back slammin-bass-couches to chill for a bit. I've said it before and I'll say it again--i LOVE the bass back here. Too many clubs concentrate all the sound JUST on the dance floor. Footwork audio-people have done it right--the sound is good EVERYWHERE in the club. I found some guy dancing in the washroom once. Commitment, I tell you, commitment. I love sitting on these back couches and just feeling the bass pound from some mysterious location.

It was at this point I noticed all the hundreds of balloons hidden in the rafters of the room...it looked pretty darned cool!

J-Force then took the decks. Word that I have heard on the street is that this guy is the 'new up and comer' to the toronto house music scene. I've heard a lot about this guy and have had the pleasure of listening to a few of his sets live. I'm surrprised though, that there's no sets of his floating online to promote himself. I haven't been able to find any, anyways. His set was really enjoyable; he seemed to find these tracks there were pounded-out 80s remixes. I really liked hearing those old 80s tunes totally jacked out in a new way in a concentrated set. It was a lot of fun to dance to, and took me back to those crazy days when I was just a kid.

Around 4, I started to think about the drive home, and saving any remaining energy for staying awake on the drive home. So I bid all of the friends (new and old) good bye, danced it up a final time with many, and walked Lauren to her car before getting in my own.

As I sat in my car, waiting for it to warm up, with Deko-Ze's delicious CD opening up on the stereo, I smiled to myself. In a very simple way, my week, represented by a huge frown...had been taken in a night by the music, the venue, friends and vibe of Footwork, and turned that frown upside down, into a very relaxed, happy smile. Erin was right... we find things in our lives that ignite our passion and fill in those emotional pot holes and allow us to find true joy in our lives, even when everything doesn't seem, or isn't complete.