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Review: Steve Lawler at Circa
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| Yohan |
Short review
Jeff Button: classic Mutton sleaze house. great warm up
Nevio: trancey prog to open for for Lawler? WTF?
Lawler: needed more tribal. disappointing
long review after nap |
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| Special K |
Overall it was a pretty good night. Got to the club just b4 1am, walked straight into the club as there was no lineup outside. Walked into a full club but oh man it sounded insanely loud in there for me and of course it was only then that I remembered I left my ear plugs in the car god damn it :p The bouncers were super cool though and they let me leave the club to get them from my car. Upon my return to the club they let me in with no problems w00t so that was really nice of them. Onto the music ...
You see I purposely got there late so I wouldn't have to hear too much of Nevio :p so it sucked when Lawler got on later then advertised. I dunno wtf Nevio was playing. I think that was one of worst and most oddly placed warm-up sets I have ever heard in my life. Kind of like the time Addy opened for Mark Farina @ System Soundbar. I mean maybe it would have been fine as a warmup for a trance DJ but for Lawler? I dunno wtf he was thinking. Nevio really just does not understand the concept of being an opening DJ. I hate to be an and pile on the guy but he just sucks :p
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1095
On to Lawler. It was pretty much your standard sounding Lawler big room set. No complaints from me whatsoever. I took off @ 5 as I was totally gassed by then which sucks because I liked what he was playing from 4am - 5am the most. How much longer did he end up playing for? |
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| Yohan |
So here comes the rant from an incorrigible clubber :p
First, the venue.
Never been to Circa before, so I was curious to find out what this place was all about. Huge place. Took a while to get my bearing and figure out where everything was. Saw bits of all the decor. Pretty nifty.
Decent sized main room. Actually, kinda reminds me of Rum Runners in London, and I like that place. Definitely has a good modern club vibe, but keeping underground feel. Sound system is actually pretty good. Despite the loud volume, I didn't feel any ringing in my ears. Staff was very friendly.
Then the bad. Speakers only at front of the room, and none at the back. This means front speakers have to be used for the entire room. Meaning, very fracking loud in the front. Spent most of the time in the back of the room where the sound was fine. A bit too much bass though. At times, the vibrations from the bass was restricting my throat and I had trouble breathing at times. Also, a bit of distortion from excessive bass, esp cranked at high volume.
The lighting... OMG I wanted to throat punch whoever was doing the lighting. Constantly flashing lights even from the start. I do not need a fracking seizure. Key to good lighting IMO is to blend in with the music, but there was very little of that. Maybe I'm used to jayx1 standard of lighting, but the annoyance from lighting ruined a lot of my vibe.
The little lounge with dentist chair was pretty cool, but could have used few speakers to hook up the sound from main room. Then it would have been a pretty cool chillout/rest place. Also, only one kind of beer. WTF.
No wonder Circa is going bankrupt. They can't even get the basics correct.
Jeff Button
IMO the guy who has the hardest job of any event is the warm up DJs. He is the one who sets the tone and vibe of the night. And if he sucks, then the night can suck real bad.
It was a treat to be able to make it into the club by 11 and catch an hour of Jeff's set. What a surprise to hear the classic Jeff Button sleazy prog. It's got a warm, lush and vibrant feel that is so groovy.
It was one of best warm up sets I've heard in a while. He started off with low tempo, groovy prog and gradually build it up. A lot of warm up DJ play a lot of fillers just to not get the energy up too high. But Jeff's set not only had gradual build up of energy, but there was a purpose in that set. Definite storyline as he weaved his magic. You can't help to slowly jive a little. Excellent job.
(No, I'm not kissing Jeff's ass because I consider him a friend and a colleague lol. He gets a earful of criticism from me whenever he asks for feedback lol)
Nevio
Srsly. Pretty much complete opposite of Jeff. So random. Very little flow. Little management of crowd's energy.
And trancey prog? Are you kidding me? Did this guy figure out who he was opening for? Like Karlo said, ok set for opening up for a trance DJ,but not Lawler. Jeff left him with a perfect track for him to take his set into groovy prog or more techy stuff, but this was just not right.
He killed my vibe totally. After 30mins of his randomness, I'd rather shred my balls on a blender. And you are not cool for playing that Braveheart remix. I sobered up listening to this crap. lol. I'd rather have listened to Oliver McGregor again. LOL.
Alright. Enough bitching about this guy
Steve Lawler
Lawler started at 2, which was an hour late. Oh well. Why can't some DJs ever be on time lol.
Because of Nevio's suckiness, I felt that Lawler took about 45mins to build up the vibe again. I kept waiting for Lawler to get into some serious tribal, but it never really came, except for 20min spurt in the middle of the set.
I came for Lawler to bring it up to the next level. Instead, what I got was typical Comfort Zone/Gallery tech house stuff. Not what I wanted from Lawler. My excitement slowly faded away as I realized that oh well... it just not going to happen. No animalistic jungle fever ass shaking tribal. No bongos and drums beating my face like monkeys having frenetic sex.
I think in this case, Lawler knowing Toronto a little too well might be a disadvantage. Don't get me wrong. He played a very solid set, if you are into the Toronto sound. But if I wanted to hear Toronto tech house whatever, I'd go listen to Carlo Lio or other locals who can do the same thing.
Although I liked last hour of his set, where he started to play more... interesting stuff. I dunno. I got fed up with same funky bassline for like an hour straight. More variety please.
I came for the Lawler magic, but I didn't get it.
Thank goodness for friends, because otherwise, I would have had a really ty night. |
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| darouge11 |
| I was very excited about what he was playing....and I felt he did play enough tribal for my liking and the stretchy basslines..... loved it......maybe one of the best sets ive heard..... |
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| Shaya007 |
| I love these reviews..keep'em comin..LOL |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yohan
Maybe I'm used to jayx1 standard of lighting, but the annoyance from lighting ruined a lot of my vibe.
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the cheque i promised you is in the mail LOL!!! |
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| dgame |
| Got in around 12:00AM, and left around 1:30AM because I remembered how much Circa sucks. Lawler sunrise set on Skybar FTW |
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| Spam |
Circa sucks. It was probably the suckiness that ruined your vibe, not the music from Nevio. I'm with you, no WONDER they're going bankrupt.
Did you have any luck finding a dance floor? Because that stage built for 25 people just wasn't doing it for me, and the private booths that fill up the entire main-room are a collection of the worst ideas I've ever seen in a club. Sure, there's room in the back, but who the wants to dance in the back of the club? The whole club made me feel like I was walking around in a school... And endless series of hallways, and nowhere to stop and build up a vibe.
The whole place feels backward, where their lighting booth is, should be the DJ booth. Where the private booths are, should be a big open dance-floor like Guv and The Docks (Sound Academy now?). Where the current dance-floor is, should be private booths!
And hell, don't get me started on the stupidity of glass bottles on the second and third floor. I'm surprised no one's had half a bottle implant itself in their neck after being kicked under the glass barrier.
Also, wtf with the weak-ass lighting? Not even ONE laser? Just a bunch of regular spot-lights swirling around and the occasional strobe-flash? Get REAL Circa. For a club that tries to be the big-club alternative to Guv, it sure strikes me as a giant, amateur, fail-fest.
PS: I'd take the skasians and crack-heads at Guv over the douchebags running around Circa ANY day! |
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| XxGreekStylexX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Spam
Circa sucks. It was probably the suckiness that ruined your vibe, not the music from Nevio. I'm with you, no WONDER they're going bankrupt.
Did you have any luck finding a dance floor? Because that stage built for 25 people just wasn't doing it for me, and the private booths that fill up the entire main-room are a collection of the worst ideas I've ever seen in a club. Sure, there's room in the back, but who the wants to dance in the back of the club? The whole club made me feel like I was walking around in a school... And endless series of hallways, and nowhere to stop and build up a vibe.
The whole place feels backward, where their lighting booth is, should be the DJ booth. Where the private booths are, should be a big open dance-floor like Guv and The Docks (Sound Academy now?). Where the current dance-floor is, should be private booths!
And hell, don't get me started on the stupidity of glass bottles on the second and third floor. I'm surprised no one's had half a bottle implant itself in their neck after being kicked under the glass barrier.
Also, wtf with the weak-ass lighting? Not even ONE laser? Just a bunch of regular spot-lights swirling around and the occasional strobe-flash? Get REAL Circa. For a club that tries to be the big-club alternative to Guv, it sure strikes me as a giant, amateur, fail-fest.
PS: I'd take the skasians and crack-heads at Guv over the douchebags running around Circa ANY day! |
this was how i felt the first time i went to circa, which was last year... haven't wanted to go back since
i guess i'm not the only one who felt this way lol |
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| darouge11 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Spam
Circa sucks. It was probably the suckiness that ruined your vibe, not the music from Nevio. I'm with you, no WONDER they're going bankrupt.
Did you have any luck finding a dance floor? Because that stage built for 25 people just wasn't doing it for me, and the private booths that fill up the entire main-room are a collection of the worst ideas I've ever seen in a club. Sure, there's room in the back, but who the wants to dance in the back of the club? The whole club made me feel like I was walking around in a school... And endless series of hallways, and nowhere to stop and build up a vibe.
The whole place feels backward, where their lighting booth is, should be the DJ booth. Where the private booths are, should be a big open dance-floor like Guv and The Docks (Sound Academy now?). Where the current dance-floor is, should be private booths!
And hell, don't get me started on the stupidity of glass bottles on the second and third floor. I'm surprised no one's had half a bottle implant itself in their neck after being kicked under the glass barrier.
Also, wtf with the weak-ass lighting? Not even ONE laser? Just a bunch of regular spot-lights swirling around and the occasional strobe-flash? Get REAL Circa. For a club that tries to be the big-club alternative to Guv, it sure strikes me as a giant, amateur, fail-fest.
PS: I'd take the skasians and crack-heads at Guv over the douchebags running around Circa ANY day! |
I seen so many skasians in training there tho......the next gen......
the glass bottles is a dangerous thing tho I can agree on that. The lighting was terrible for sure...I remember going there 2 years ago and it actually was much more appealing to the eyes....but it was very dark for lawler, so I think it was ok |
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| Yohan |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
the cheque i promised you is in the mail LOL!!! |
lol. wha? |
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| Yohan |
| quote: | Originally posted by Spam
Circa sucks. It was probably the suckiness that ruined your vibe, not the music from Nevio. |
oh dude. he was bad. like, really bad |
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