Rating: NNNNN
Mainella madness
Checked out the Friday The 13th party at the Gladstone Hotel last week and found the back room packed to capacity while a big lineup waited to get in. Organized by Derek Mainella (whom you’ll sometimes find behind the counter at Cosmos Records ), the party featured performance art in one corner (re-enacting horror movies), neon decorations provided by Pink Cobra , a performance by a mock-Parisian electro-punk band, live video mixing by mixMotion and DJs mixing electro, hiphop, punk-funk, disco and whatever else they felt like.
The vibe was good and sweaty (once they got the sound system’s bass bins working again), although the art/fashion crowd tends to need a few drinks in them before they start to relax and get down.
Mainella (aka DJ DMT) has been sporadically organizing weird, artsy parties for a little while now, and they’re always in a class of their own. Watch out for his flyers or get on his mailing list to find out about the next one.
All Systems go
Jumped in a cab to get across town to System Soundbar for the Fukhouse party. In typical Fukhouse style, black plastic was used to change the shape of the club, making it somewhat disorienting when you first made your way in through the tunnel. DJ Filter was rocking the decks but took things in more of a prog-house direction than the expected tech-house sound. Not bad, but there’s a certain plodding quality to much of that sound that can drag down the energy level of a technocentric event like this.
Dave Mothersole was up next. He got a bit quirkier and funkier, which seemed to go over well with the crowd. Good mixing and interesting tracks woke me up a bit, but there still wasn’t that full-on techno assault I was hoping for. That came later from DJ T-1000 .
Subterranean set
Weekly at the Down One Lounge you can find Subterranean Thursdays , a night dedicated to drum ‘n’ bass, dub, hiphop and downtempo. Last week the special guest was Toronto d ‘n’ b pioneer Marcus Visionary , who rocked a bunch of jungle classics with some current drum ‘n’ bass. Not a huge crowd but decent for a mid-week lounge night. The basement pub vibe of Down One suits the event, and the absence of a cover makes it a no-risk option for those looking for something new.
All-night Play
Ended up late Saturday night at 99 Sudbury for another Play Records warehouse party, this one celebrating the release of a new 12-inch by Phauna . Arrived way too late to hear them perform live but early enough to get my fill of chunky house music spun by Peace Harvest , Brian Ireland and others. The sun was coming up when I finally made my way home, but the dance floor was still full, generally the sign of a good party.
benjamin.boles@sympatico.ca
