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Black and Blue 2012 review
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| Spin Laden |
1.5 hours of sleep should be sufficient to write a review :p
Overall, I would score this year's edition as a 7/10
I can't comment on all the djs, only captured Stephan Grondin and Guy J's set in the house room and some of Gareth Emery, SVD and bit of Raneem's sets in the other room.
Zigzagging back and forth between the two rooms made for disjointed flow of music but the djs delivered. Stephan Grondin's set reminded me of some of the magic he has brought to the Palais in years past. Great energy, sexy, funky, drums, vocals, he was on.
I only caught the first 90 mins of Guy J's set but the intro was extraordinary, proggy and then he brought in the tech...
Very eargasmic set. A keen ear could pick out tracks that had new wave, latin, Chi-house, ambient, techno, etc. He may be a young producer but his sound is very very seasoned, or at least eclectic by edm standards. My only concern before Black and Blue was a possible lack of energy from Guy J for slightly extended periods and unfortunately when I had left there was a bit of that. I missed the final hour and really had wished I had stayed for it.. he takes you on the quintessential journey, rich edm for the ears and for the feet.
Gareth Emery.. great mixing and even though he has gotten a bit fluffy recently, the second half of his set had some bad ass tech trance.
The sound at the reconfigured Palais des Congres was fairly decent throughout, you could find more than a few sweet spots.
And yes, this year's BnB was situated on the (2nd floor?) instead of the usual top level. There were two rooms along side each other, instead of the one long, big room that is separated by booths set up by sponsors. A welcomed addition was the third room, great beats, cool temperatures, even though it was sparsely populated.
My guess at this year's attendance is around 5000-6000 people.. didn't see any incidences, arrests, overdoses. Very good vibe, good crowd. It was a breeze getting into the event at 130am.
Great seeing Fran666, nice job promoting Black and Blue; you don't get nearly enough credit on these boards for all the hard work you do but then again there's only five or six of us on here nowadays hehe.
I didn't manage to get the $75 presale ticket this year but a good tip for some: there's always ppl selling tickets the day of ...and el cheapo here got his for $70 :cool: |
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| Spin Laden |
22nd Black & Blue Festival attracts 5,000 people
Profits will go to HIV/AIDS and LGBT associations
Montreal's 22nd Black & Blue Festival came to an end Monday after 15 straight hours of partying.
About 5,000 people showed up to tear up the three dance floors set up in Montreal's Palais des congrès, a slight disappointment in comparison to the 7,000 people expected by organizers.
The annual festival began at 9 p.m. Sunday night and carried through until Monday at noon with more than 15 DJ's spinning throughout the night and the wee hours of the morning.
Caroline Rousse, communications director for the Montreal Bad Boy Club Foundation (BBCM), which organizes the event, said the foundation works closely with Montreal police and the venue's security team to provide a safe and drug-free environment by searching each patron that enters the gates.
No alcohol was served on the premises.
Still, some party-goers leaving the event in its final hours either admitted to being high, or appeared to be under the influence.
The BBCM states that the Black & Blue Festival was created to promote inclusion, respect of differences, open-mindedness, peace, equality, altruism and love.
Some of the profits from the event will go to organizations that take care of people with HIV and AIDS and also help community centres for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people.
Since its first installment in 1991, the Black & Blue festival has raised $1.8 million for LGBT associations.
This year, a third dance hall was added to differ from the usual blaring of house, techno and lounge music that have made the festival so popular. The third room allowed people to relax and listen to music with a lower tempo.
Volunteers with the local AIDS coalition were also in attendance to distribute condoms and offer information about HIV and AIDS.
"There will be no sexual relations on site," said Rousse. "But we can tell visitors 'don't forget... to protect yourselves!"
"At first, when we created the festival, people didn't know much about AIDS. People were dropping like flies around us, we lost many friends in the 90s," she said.
She added that now, twenty years later, people are "incredulous" when they see people, including youth, failing to protect themselves during sexual intercourse.
"I have the impression that many say that there's no such thing, that it's curable. On the other hand, it's very hard to live with AIDS," she said.
BBCM said Black & Blue is a "celebration and an acknowledgment of the lifestyle and unique culture of the gay community." The event was opened to everyone and organizers estimate that half of the people in attendance were heterosexual.
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...e-festival.html |
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| oldskool94 |
Great review Spin! Happy to read it was worthwhile! Responsibilities precluded my going this yr, but in the several yrs I have gone since 2004, I've always found it to be a fantastic party with a largely authentic unpretentious vibe (compared to BeB). My fave is still Tenaglia and Chus & Ceballos at the Big O in '05.
Wonder if Guy J dropped his impeccable emotionally-driven, fairly recent track ``lost and found`` ? |
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| Dykes_on_Jay |
| 1.8 million in....21 years is lol. i'll raise more for movember. |
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| fortierprod |
i got scared of Sander 's set. woo, is this what trance is nowadays? I liked the light show, simple but efficient. Sound was ok too.
my favorite room was the chill out room. hahah for real though.
I had free tickets, so I cannot complain anymore. |
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| Haltron |
| I stayed in the Black room pretty much the entire time. I had a fantastic time! In addition to Stephan Grondin's awesome set I have to say Guy J and Tom Stephan killed it and David Morales made the night (or should I say morning) even more magical. |
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| Marcus007 |
welcome haltron! nice to see a new face around here
i was actually impressed with the setup. Spin, it's the same floor as ben the regular event they just cut the rooms into squares instead of those long rectangles (which fit the massive size of the latter event).
djs impressed me, sound was rly good (some spots better than others), not too packed, pretty good.
I wuld give it a 7.5/10.
It looks like gays just don't support big parties like that anymore. i mean they come out but the days of 15k gays attending a big festival circuit party in mtl is dead. I don't know why but it feels like bbcm has to follow bal en blanc and go mainstream commercial... or they die....
anyway hats off the organization for another years event. it must be so hard taking care of all the arrangements for the week long festivities. |
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| Ravemontreal |
| quote: | | It looks like gays just don't support big parties like that anymore. |
Maybe because the invasion of homophobe douchebags, and fake boobs wearing whore outfits drove them away? |
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| Spin Laden |
| quote: | Originally posted by Marcus007
welcome haltron! nice to see a new face around here
i was actually impressed with the setup. Spin, it's the same floor as ben the regular event they just cut the rooms into squares instead of those long rectangles (which fit the massive size of the latter event).
djs impressed me, sound was rly good (some spots better than others), not too packed, pretty good.
I wuld give it a 7.5/10.
It looks like gays just don't support big parties like that anymore. i mean they come out but the days of 15k gays attending a big festival circuit party in mtl is dead. I don't know why but it feels like bbcm has to follow bal en blanc and go mainstream commercial... or they die....
anyway hats off the organization for another years event. it must be so hard taking care of all the arrangements for the week long festivities. |
lol, yeah I was unsure, hense the (?) in the post.
It's been mentioned in the past that BnB used to be part of the Circuit that a lof of Americans would attend.. but the US recession may have something to do with the smaller numbers up here.
And maybe the Armin booking stole some ppl from BnB too.. I was hearing 5000 ppl for that :wtf:
I liked the smaller scale BnB, bathroom waits were good, same for water and entry. It didn't have that wow factor but it was pretty efficient, for the most part |
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| Spin Laden |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ravemontreal
Maybe because the invasion of homophobe douchebags, and fake boobs wearing whore outfits drove them away? |
I swear BnB and BeB are switching teams :p |
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| Spin Laden |
| quote: | Originally posted by oldskool94
Great review Spin! Happy to read it was worthwhile! Responsibilities precluded my going this yr, but in the several yrs I have gone since 2004, I've always found it to be a fantastic party with a largely authentic unpretentious vibe (compared to BeB). My fave is still Tenaglia and Chus & Ceballos at the Big O in '05.
Wonder if Guy J dropped his impeccable emotionally-driven, fairly recent track ``lost and found`` ? |
thanks! and yes, that was an epic BnB that should go down as one of the best massives of last decade in Mtl.
Guy J did play that track, in Toronto as well as here, I got confirmation of the latter from my bud who is currently working with his tracks. |
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| WittyHandle |
| quote: | Originally posted by Spin Laden
15 straight hours of partying.
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| quote: | Originally posted by Spin Laden
drug-free environment |
:haha: |
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