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T.O. parties back in the day... 10,000+ ppl at the BLC (videos)
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dEsidEL
wells.. over the past 4-5 years, the electronic music scene in Toronto has progressively (no pun intended) moved from more rave promoter established parties to ones that are now predominantly organized by club owners and liscensed event companies like Goldclub..

this has largely been due in part to the role of the government (again no pun intended) that has been taken to surpress large scale events which were formally being held at public venues such as the famed Automotive Building and the Better Living Center (BLC) at the CNE grounds.

Around the year 2000 Toronto's electronic music scene (from what I believe) underwent the transition from the "mega-rave" to the "super-club" in terms of main event parties that were happening in the city.

I know some of you here might remember the events of old where partiers numbering in the thousands often times over 10,000+ ppl gathered at these public venues (yes it WAS possible here!) to hit up the legendary Destiny and Lifeforce parites of old..

I remembering coming out being in highschool and seeing friends from other schools that I had recognized all congregate on special weekends to hit these "parties" witnessing live sets from various world reknowned DJ's playing their first ever sets in Toronto..
(ie. Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, Carl Cox, Matt Hardwick, DJ Dan, Bad Boy Bill, etc.)

Now, I realize that a lot of you have recently gotten into the scene lately within the last couple of years and may not have had a chance to witness what things were like when Toronto was able to have large scale parties without having them thrown by the mighty Guvernment complex.

I've posted some videos that I found on some old CD's that I burned while cleaning my basement. It features videos of the DOSE - Connected 5 Year party at the BLC @ CNE which happened in March of 2000. 2000 again was probably I dub the "twilight" year of mega-raves in Toronto and the last of its kind..

(The video quality and res is quite low since they are somewhat old, but you can still get a good idea in terms of the size and scale of the party)

The first 5 videos features Drum and Bass being played which I still need the DJ and MC ID'd by some of the TA Jungalists here.

http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year01.mpeg
http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year02.mpeg
http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year03.mpeg
http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year04.mpeg
http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year05.mpeg

The last 2 videos features I believe DJ Dan spinning a liveset.

http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year06.mpeg
http://www.recessity.com/members/bo...ted5year07.mpeg


ahhh .. the memories .. :D
E2EK1EL_D3
1 & 2 (Connected)
Marcus and L Natural

3 & 4 (BitterSweet)
Mystical Influence (Kenny Ken setting up ) and Fearless
Trancewave
OMG!!! THANK YOU!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Great post! I remember all of these. Dose, Bittersweet, etc.. Thank you for bringing back such great memories.

I still remember the days when we were all so hyped about going to these massives. I didn't know it at the time but those days were the time of my life. Absolutely insane!!!

I know that a lot of us really reminist (spelling?) about the good old days at BLC. I still remember how great the atmosphere there was. I met people from all over the world when I went to some of these. I remember meeting people who came from England and even Tokyo just for that one night partying it up with Oakenfold.

I still remember my first time ever at BLC. It was such an unbelievable feeling walking into something like 18000+. I don't think we ever had anything so huge in Toronto back in the day. It was my first time at such a huge rave and I couldn't believe how friendly everyone was.

I used to have really bad misconceptions about raves and was always hesitant to go. I didn't go with my friends for about the first 2 years when they all were going. When I finally did decid to go I was just blown away by the atmosphere!!! I instantly fell in love with the music and the party. I wanted to kill myself for not being there all this time. :whip:

People were all genuinely having such an amazing time and you can tell. I remembered one of my first time there and still feeling a little bit nervous about being there because I wasn't sure if it was safe to be there or not :rolleyes: , this one time I was trying to walk closer to the Dj booth and as I was walking I 'felt' someone pinching my ass from behind. :nervous: :nervous: :nervous: I was like 'WTF???'I didn't know what to expect.

I turned around and it was this gorgeous chick. Apparently she was trying to peel a wad of filthy gum that was stuck to my butt while I was sitting on the ground. Wow!! What a nice gesture. All my misconceptions about large raves being dangerous and drug infested changed after that.

I'm going to stop now because I'm going to tear up just thinking about how great the parties were back in the day. For some of us we will never forget it. Parties at large clubs still can't compare to how much fun it was back then.

Meeting tons of people (mostly from out of town and from around the world) Also, e used to be so good back in the day too but that's a different story. ;)
E*Master
Hey wicked. At least now I got an idea of the difference between the Raves her and back home (altho 5 years later these are taken from but I bet they were the same). I must say it look stotally different (not a bad thing, still wish I could have expereinced what was going on in those videos myself). Wish I had footage liek this from 95 :(. Thanks a lot Em. Wish I would have known about the scene back then.
Trancewave
Now that I think about it, the government really pisses me off!!:whip: :whip: :whip:

Gonna save up and head to Ibiza or move to Europe soon!!!:whip: :whip:
dEsidEL
yea .. that's just what i was thinkin .. the parties today just feel different ..

it's hard to compare sometimes u can't really say they were better / worse, just different all around. what i liked the most back then was the personal 'style' that ppl had, that and almost everyone used to dance! it's not like some club parties today where ppl juss stand around and bob their heads..

yea .. thinkin bout these old parties really makes u wonder what the scene today would be like had they not be banned. it's really stupid when u think about what the city has done since it's now given rise to superclubs like Guv that have the ability to pack as many people into their venue as they please and thereby risking further injury. i'm glad to say that atleast things lately haven't been that bad.. but i certainly do miss the vibe experienced back then ..

and yes, E*Master it's astonishing how much has changed in this city in such a short time. Year 2000 was definately the "transition" year. it was the last time that big parties at the CNE were being thrown down at the same time it was the first time that venues like the Guvernment started to throw down their mega-parties. 2001/2002 saw the rise of Goldclub Series and the demise of Lifeforce .. yup, things just aren't the same anymore ..
E*Master
quote:
Originally posted by Trancewave
Now that I think about it, the government really pisses me off!!:whip: :whip: :whip:

Gonna save up and head to Ibiza or move to Europe soon!!!:whip: :whip:


CONS:

Europe = Expensive
Ibiza = EVE MORE xXxPensive

PROs

Europe = Better for Partying as more DJs are resident there.
Ibiza = Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarteeeeeee Central and lots of Hot Chicks (and guys for the ladies). Ibiza guarantees you to get laid (or so I heard. I've never been there :()
DigiNut
I wonder if we'll ever see parties like that again...
Trancewave
quote:
Originally posted by E*Master
CONS:

Europe = Expensive
Ibiza = EVE MORE xXxPensive

PROs

Europe = Better for Partying as more DJs are resident there.
Ibiza = Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarteeeeeee Central and lots of Hot Chicks (and guys for the ladies). Ibiza guarantees you to get laid (or so I heard. I've never been there :()



hehe, I remember a few years ago me and a buddy did a little research on how much it was gonna cost us to spend a month in Ibiza for vacation. :eek: :eek: :eek: I can't remember the total cost now but I remembered hitting the floor. hehehe....

Just hitting all the clubs alone will kill you.

About getting laid in Ibiza, I totally believe it. There's got to be something really wrong with you if you go to Ibiza and don't get none. But that's not the reason why we want to go to Ibiza of course. ;)
dEsidEL
Does anyone here remember the lineup to this party:

Effective - The Emerald City

Venue: The Warehouse (now the "Koolhaus")
Time: 10:00pm to 10:00am
Lineup:
Bad Boy Bill (Chicago)
Kimball Collins (Orlando)
Richard 'Humpty' Vision (Los Angeles)
James Christian (NYC)
Nitro (Kansas City)
Xotec (Buffalo)
Dekoze (Saskatoon)
Dr. Trance
Flipside
Deltag & Smokin' Joe
Peter 'The Greek' Ivals!! :D
Kenny Glasgow
Derek Coglm
Gary Grant
Mark D.
Myka
Jelo
OS/2
AC


and this article:
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_...news/raves.html

quote taken from the article:
"The vibe encountered is not replicated at other parties or clubs," reads the study. "Fewer fights occur than in clubs, people apologize on the dancefloor when they bump into you and women do not have to worry about being continually approached by men."

Kid Lax
haha that was probably around the time when badboybill was here every friggin weekend
E2EK1EL_D3
quote:
Originally posted by dEsidEL
Does anyone here remember the lineup to this party:

Effective - The Emerald City

Venue: The Warehouse (now the "Koolhaus")
Time: 10:00pm to 10:00am
Lineup:
Bad Boy Bill (Chicago)
Kimball Collins (Orlando)
Richard 'Humpty' Vision (Los Angeles)
James Christian (NYC)
Nitro (Kansas City)
Xotec (Buffalo)
Dekoze (Saskatoon)
Dr. Trance
Flipside
Deltag & Smokin' Joe
Peter 'The Greek' Ivals!! :D
Kenny Glasgow
Derek Coglm
Gary Grant
Mark D.
Myka
Jelo
OS/2
AC


and this article:
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_...news/raves.html

quote taken from the article:
"The vibe encountered is not replicated at other parties or clubs," reads the study. "Fewer fights occur than in clubs, people apologize on the dancefloor when they bump into you and women do not have to worry about being continually approached by men."



Yeah I remember that party ... it was the house Connection 2 CD relesse party. BadBoyBill was untouchable back then, no one came close to him ... too bad Chicago hard house had to die. Funky House !!!


Why do Desidel and I keep mentioning the 99-2000 yrs ? B/C everyone can agree those yrs were the best yrs in TO history. Parties were HUGE and the vibe was a REAL party VIBE !!! It's so different now.
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