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Review: Danny Howells Beach Party, Poland
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| infinity HiGH |
Since there's a lot of Howells fans on here, I thought I'd give my thoughts on what it was like seeing the man on a beach, so here it is. Enjoy :)
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The day started off as more of a nightmare. It was the final day of our camping trip, and lo-and-behold, everyone was greeted by rain. And LOTS of it. And it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon either. About 3 hours into it all, I was almost ready to say it and go back to Warsaw, cause afterall, what good is a beach party when there's a massive downpour? Good thing I didn't though. At around 4pm we packed up our tents, still wet from the rain, stuffed all our baggage into a friends car and made our way into the city to catch a shuttle bus to a remote beach between 2 little towns on the Polish Hel Peninsula.
Upon arrival at around 8.30, it was as if God himself stepped in, and changed everything. The sky was clearing. All the clouds went east and all that followed was clear skies. The party was starting until about 10pm, so that gave us time to go into town and find a good spot to leave all our stuff, buy booze, cigarettes, food, and the sorts. At around 11:30 we made our way back to the beach and were greeted by darky, dirty house beats (I felt like I was at Boa for a while, but on a beach).
At about midnight Stewart Rowell took the decks, in preparation for Howells who was scheduled to come on at 1:30. All I gotta say is one thing about Rowell: BRING HIM TO TORONTO. I had the pleasure of talking to him during and after the party and he hasn't played there since 2001 and I know T.O would love him. Very dirty, pumping, groovey sound. Something along the lines of Demi (who he's good friends with), but with a harder edge to it.
1:30 came...and no sign of Howells. It's a good thing Stewart was doing such a good job cause otherwise I would've been really really pissed. Around 2:30, Howells finally shows up on stage. Apparently, Howells started the party a little early and arrived a little drunk, so he needed time to sober up a little. Anyways, Howells took the decks and in pure fashion, started off slow, but after about 3 tracks he decided the warmup is over and started dropping bomb after bomb. And the crowd was loving it. EVERYONE was eating it up. Howells pumped the crowd up to new levels, and that got him even more pumped. He was interacting with the crowd non-stop. High-fiving people, yelling, jumping around, goofing off. Just watching him play was awesome. Overall, I think I enjoyed this set more than his 7.5-hour set in T.O, but thats because he played more up my alley. Dark, dirty, groovey. No techy Then again, a 3 hour set can't really be compared to a 7 hour set. It's a totally different ballgame.
At 6:00am, with the sun already up (sunrise is at 4:30 in Poland), Howells beautifully wrapped up his set to about 100 people. And thats when the party was taken to another level. Yes, as good as Howells was, the afterparty was what really sealed the deal. I say afterparty, because after Howells finished most people took off, and about 50 stayed, and everyone was chillin. What was set to be another rainy day, turned out to be a sunny one. Also, little did I know, but that bar happens to be open 24 hours straight. So the one thing I feared the most was taken care of: the music wasn't going to stop. I was really expecting us to head back to our tents and sleep after Howells finished, but there was no way in hel (pun) we were leaving with the sun out and beats pumping. We all hung around, talked to different people, talked to the DJ's, had beers, smoked joints and passed out on the beach. What really made it special was the rather smart order of the DJ's playing after Howells. The transition between the styles was very smooth. From progressive house, to electro, breaks...and finally, what really did it to me: funky, soulful, groovey house at one point. I was in heaven. It's hard to really describe the atmosphere, but imagine hearing everything you'd wanna hear, being with friends and fellow hardcore partiers (in T.O these would be the ppl at the Zone).
...and so that about does it. At around 10 I passed out/took a nap on the beach, then headed back to the tents and packed up and headed home to Warsaw, still sketched the out :D
Highlight of the Night #1: at around 2am I was hanging around on the sand with my friend (Stren on here), having a smoke when some dude comes up to me, with 2 cigs in his mouth and asks for a light. Not really paying attention, I light his cigs and go back to drinking my beer and groovin to the music. Little did I know, that this "dude" was actually DANNY HOWELLS himself. I couldn't in believe it. Some chick actually ran up to me and goes "you know who that was right?? that was Danny Howells!!" I'm like "nah! Danny Howells is taller". Then after he took the stage I realized it was him.
Highlight of the Night #2: as Howells was spinning, I typed a text message on my cousins phone and showed it to Howells. I said that I saw him in T.O in April and that party rocked, and this was starting to be even better. He smiled, did some weird hand motion to as if to say "I'm killing it". A short while after that, I see him standing in the DJ booth with 3 shots and a lemon on each glass. He leans forward towards the crowd, gives me this look and sticks out 2 shot glasses towards us. I quickly grabbed mine, gave him a thumbs up and cheers and away we go.
Definately one of the best parties of my life, and if it wasn't for Sasha and Lawler's b2b (which was better by only a small margin) then definately party of the year. |
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| Max Q |
WOW.
Nice one Peter! I definitely wish I was there to experience that with ya! Definitely will have to try to find some Stewart Rowell mixes to listen to. |
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| mushyflowa |
| quote: | Originally posted by infinity HiGH
Since there's a lot of Howells fans on here, I thought I'd give my thoughts on what it was like seeing the man on a beach, so here it is. Enjoy :) |
thank you.. howells is one of my favorite djs all times.. as u said he rocked systems last time he came to toronto and i wudnt miss him for anything in the world next time he comes again.. and ur right.. hes extremely friendly.. i had the chance to talk to him last time he was here.. awesome super friendly and charmin.. |
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| El Kay Dee |
pics or stfu....
(i think i speak on behalf of everyone envious of howells on a beach) |
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| infinity HiGH |
| quote: | Originally posted by El Kay Dee
pics or stfu....
(i think i speak on behalf of everyone envious of howells on a beach) |
stren : pics incomming
be patient |
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| El Kay Dee |
| quote: | Originally posted by infinity HiGH
stren : pics incomming
be patient |
:whip:
pete...if u ever mention about this party when u come back, ur cut too |
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| infinity HiGH |
as long as my review was, it doesnt even begin to describe how good it really was
:) :)
don't worry, you'll hear about it. from me, or perry ;) |
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| mushyflowa |
| quote: | Originally posted by El Kay Dee
:whip:
pete...if u ever mention about this party when u come back, ur cut too |
meanie! :whip: |
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| El Kay Dee |
| quote: | Originally posted by mushyflowa
meanie! :whip: |
shhhh...dont say it so loud....
PS. who didnt know that already
PS pt2. pete..i thought perry wasnt goin |
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| mushyflowa |
| quote: | Originally posted by El Kay Dee
shhhh...dont say it so loud....
PS. who didnt know that already
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i noticed u since i joined this.. i mean how cud i not.. |
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| StereoPrincess |
| what a nice review to go into the Polish local forum. |
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| El Kay Dee |
| quote: | Originally posted by mushyflowa
i noticed u since i joined this.. i mean how cud i not..u iz teh 50 k3w1 |
oooh im flattered |
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