Thursday, June 29, 2006

Night Vision 1.19

By Bruce Benson & Clifford Brown

Wow, that was a hard one.

We were multiplied and divided, split in three and hung upside down, hung up & hung over. We hung around, turned around, sung, danced, and drank all the vodka. We were a riot, and there was no riot squad to stop us, believe it or not.


Week-End Review

David Carretta rocked Parking on Thursday, and those of you who thought Madonna would make an appearance and showed up without knowing who The Moustache is are a royal pain in our asses, just so you know. It was hot, sweaty, overcrowded, but the Man from Marseilles still managed to rock the house with a live set that included lots of classics, culminating with "Ta liberté c'est ça" and its aggressive beats. Davy-boy's performance might've been a bit on the "Press Play" side of things, but we can hardly complain over such an intense performance, even though it was lacking "Vicious Game".

On Friday, the Kitsuné Neon started with an explosive set from Jordan Dare who, frankly, stole the show. The atmosphere was at its peak after Jordan's set when Cajuan came on with "Raven", his new track, which we predict will be a huge hit. Cajuan's selection was everything we hoped for the Kitsuné party, as he played pretty hard-hitting electro and ghetto tracks. However, and unfortunately for us, the man's beat matching skills were way too poor for an event that big, and his "Dance / Not Dance" samples were annoying after a while. DJ / Not DJ ? Gildas & Masaya never even showed up, so we were stuck with Cajuan 'til the end. Believe me: we needed all the drinks we could find to keep on partyin', especially after having paid a steep $25 at the door. What's up, Neon ?

Luckily for us, the return of the prodigal son was all we could hope for: Preach ripped through the Aria's concrete and raised the fires of hell on the packed dance floor. Madness, mayhem, chaos and a lot of hands waving in the air to the beat of techno music were commonplace. Preach concluded his set with Steve Angello's monster acid track "Teasing Mr. Charlie", garnering much applause from the incensed crowd. X-Cube picked up the ball flawlessly after Preach's extended performance, and kept everyone dancing 'til closing. Bravo Aria - you easily get the prize for the Grand Prix week-end!

On Saturday, The Mile End was infested with Grand Prix lovers when we got there, and after we realized that Boys Noize was only gonna play at 1:30, we sorta felt like hanging out... side the club. The sound was OK, but the opening DJ, Yovan, played some awfully cheesy house that was absolutely not adequate for the occasion. In fact this shitty house scared lots of people away, and I left around 2:30 because I was feeling pretty bad (physically) myself.

Once again, Aria salvaged a potentially catastrophic evening and turned it into a night to remember. The big room was packed once more for DJ Dan's appearance. A regular at Aria, Dan showcased his understanding of the crowd by oscillating between solid house and tech tracks, sprinkling his mix with a few electro-tech songs along the way. Cirez D and Sébastien Léger got massive reaction from the crowd, who couldn't have asked for anything better out of Dan the Man. Maus delivered a very satisfying, intelligent set, providing the perfect warm up for DJ Dan, while Miguel Graça concluded the evening with his current, very effective tech-house set. On a side note: it would've been fun to know in advance that the price at the door would be $20 for both boys and girls. Still, I'm glad I got it and boogied down at Montréal's finest club.

On Sunday, we headed for W as Thomas Von Party & Boys Noize were playing there together. Some things happened, including lots of vodka in lots of glasses, and the party became out of control, spread around the room by about 20 hardcore electro heads. Von Party & Boys Noize's set were excellent, but the setting was far from proper. Can we blame the distance, or the place's reputation? The fact remains : nobody showed up. We still had a blast and it was intimate. But we don't remember everything, of course, thanks to our bad habits of drinking until we get sucked on by the vortex. Which vortex? Who the hell cares, frankly?

On Saint-Laurent, No Excuse was going on at Balroom. Bender opened for MightyKat, who unfortunately fell victim to technical problems from the very beginning of her set. Nevertheless, as a true pro, she went on and delivered the goods, eventually stepping aside to let Bender conclude the evening… And what a conclusion that was! Oh my god - those Germanic electro basses are still rattling my insides as I'm writing this!

Tuesday, we swung by Dizzy's new home at Academy for an evening that turned out to be a great little midweek party. MightyKat's set was simply amazing, once again proving that Dizzy simply cannot be overlooked.


News en Vrac

Mylo will be in town on the 22nd for Sundance Electronic Music Festival. Unfortunately, it's still not a good enough reason to get us to go to Beach Club. To be honest, no fuckin' reason would ever do, but that's just us.

Phonogenic, a new Thursday night weekly, starts at Jet Nightclub. Already on the bill for the coming weeks: Eloi Brunelle, MightyKat, Saturnin & many more.

On the 15th, Benny Benassi is back… at Redlite. Bleah.

Hakan Lidbo, on top of playing Piknic, will be at Parking on the July 20 for Overdose night with DJ Mini.

The Sadies bring their melancholic country ditties to the Main Hall on August 18th.

Them guys with the weird hats - no, the other ones - will be in town on October 10, to celebrate their new album Fundamental. That's right: The Pet Shop Boys are coming over for a visit… at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier?!? It would seem so.

And for the last time: if you're looking for pre-sale tickets for DiskHo's John Tejada event on July 7th, you can either contact Alex at alex@diskho.com or our very own Clifford Brown at robottears@hotmail.com ! If you don't you'll pay slightly more at the door, and you know what that means : less money you'll be able to invest in booze !!


Thursday 29/06

The Hacker returns to Montréal to support the release of his new mix CD, AND NOW. Expect a lot of cold electro and some old school techno, lots of alcohol and general chaos and mayhem. Cuz even with the club's A/C dans l'tapis, we still manage to sweat a lot and that's usually a good sign.

The first edition of Phonogenic takes place at Jet, with Steve Travolta & Just Jonathan. Steve's unfortunately not affiliated to John, but he dances like him and he's just as sexy.

If you like your nights weird and unpredictable, there's a trashy burlesque party going on at Sky tonight with Trannie Tronic, Plastik Patrick & a very special guest from Québec City, electro-EBM dandy Lester Black. It should be confusing if you're sexually unstable, and conforting if you like things ambiguous. Trash !

Later the same evening, David Laguer plays Circus. If it's anything like the last time we checked out Circus on a Thursday, then expect his excellent house beats to be trampled under the hip hop grooves that seep through from the adjacent urban room.

Finally, Scandinavians Ralph Myerz & the Jack Herren Band are playing Club Soda alongside Mightykat as part of the Jazz Fest. The formula is not new, a band + a DJ afterwards, and it can be good or bad : going out at 12 can be perceived as late, especially if it's during the week, and it doesn't leave lots of time for the artists to perform - but the magic a gig like this can bring sometimes exceeds the expectations.


Friday 30/06

Thomas Von Party's weekly residency at Green Room is the perfect place to start this Friday night on the right dancing foot. Great music and cheap drinks combine, forming a highly explosive mixture of Von Party Dynamite™ that should be handled with total carelessness.


Mini, X-Cube & Axel Klein will be dropping by Aria and providing Montréal with another dose of hard hitting electro. It's called Conduct (yeah… I know) and it's Montréal's new, and only ongoing, afterhour electro event. Support your local electro DJs folks, is what we say, and there is no better occasion to do it than when they play Montréal's best room. Drop by for what promises to be a great party at the rue Saint-Denis venue. It starts at 2am, and a mere $10 will get you in.


In the Village, yet another edition of Quattrophonic takes place at Stereo, with Eloi Brunelle, Lebaron, The Autist & Vega. Something like $25 should get you through the doors.

Extension celebrates its summer edition at Main Hall with Luci , Matt F, Mono-poly & Joystick, Kressel, Le Boucher & Kasteniede and Marcelo, with visuals by VJ DAüc.


Saturday 01/07

Disconnected are two guys from Ottawa, namely DJ Booth & Chameleonic, that were just recently in town for the Tiga album launch afterparty, where they played with Jordan Dare. Well, the Boss and Bliss invited them to Voyeur and here they are, ready to pump electro in our faces and make us drill a hole in La SAT's dancefloor with our high heels. Voyeur may well kick our asses again - just not with those heels, please.


After a succesful booking at Parking, it's no surprise that Stereo would take some interest in Dimitri From Paris. After refusing to book Laurent Garnier, that's a mistake they won't make. Parisians are reliable these days, and Dimitri will take his house and preside over during Defected's label party. He can be soulful, he can be swingin', he can be tropical and unleash inferno on a dancefloor, and anybody who has yet to hear him work his magic is urged (by us) to haul his ass over there and dance.


Sunday 02/07

Piknic Electronik returns after the Grand Prix break, so get the shoes off and get ready to dance under the sun, drink booze and dehydrate. The Crackhaus guys are on the bill, and they've been known to throw a party with an economy of effects that's called minimal. Deadbeat, Ernesto, Stephen Beaupré and Vincent Lemieux will inherit the earth, raise an army of ants and reinvent pop music with machines. Word.

Sunday is also No Excuse day, and Balroom residents Bender & Sean Kosa will be taking down the names of anyone who doesn't show up and paying them a very unpleasant visit. A few keywords: barb wire, crowbars and NO LUBE. Don't wanna risk it? Get your ass over to Balroom and join the party!


If you like your hip hop sweet and ironic, join the Jazz Fest crowd at Club Soda as Canadian idol Buck 65 and montrealer heartbreaker Killa Jewel both perform there.


Monday 03/07

The fiercest trumpet player in Norway, Nils Petter Molvaer, joins Frivolous at Club Soda for yet another Jazz Fest gig. I went to see him in 2000 and he got to town safely, but not his instruments, who were lost in transit somewhere in the land of the cold. My ticket was reimbursed and Tiga, who was supposed to spin only after him, got the occasion of playing a three hours set, impress the hell out of me, and get the Spectrum crowd dancing like monkeys. Who the hell knows what might happen this time around ?

Oh, also Romeo's 'O' is still a go at Café Lounge De Lima. Kardec-powered Mondays - why not?


Tuesday 04/07

Is it time to get Dizzy? Fuck yeah, and with Akufen to booth. If you haven't already, I strongly urge you to check out the night at it's new location at Academy, 4445 St-Laurent.

If, like me, you had your first teenage sex kicks looking at images - or, if you were lucky, posters - of Samantha Fox, you'll probably wonder what she might be looking like nowadays. Well here's your chance to find out : she plays at Medley !! I've seen her at Divers-Cité (was it last summer or the one before that !?) and I can say she still looks pretty hot, but her new songs are not that great. Don't worry though - she'll play (or lip-synch on) all the classics !


Next Week

John Tejada drops by La SAT on Friday for what promises to be another memorable DiskHo night, just a day after Tiga's visit to Parking. The Juan Maclean & MSTRKRFT return to Montréal once again, and Danny Howells struts his stuff at Aria. What more could we ask for? Jamie Lidell? Wish granted.


Later On

July:
06 - Tiga + Mini @ Parking (Overdose)
06 - Brazilian Girls, Ursula 1000 @ Club Soda (Jazz Fest)
07 - Jamie Lidell, Vincent Lemieux @ Club Soda (Festival de Jazz)
07 - John Tejada, Mossa & Jon Schmidt @ La SAT (DiskHo)
08 - Danny Howells @ Aria
08 - The Juan Maclean, MSTRKRFT & Bliss @ Club Soda (Jazz Fest)
15 - Benny Benassi @ Redlite
15 - Diplo, CSS & Blonde Do Role @ La Sala Rossa (Peer Pressure)
15 - Microtek w/Metalogic, Philgood & L'Akratique aka Mimi @ Main Hall (Noerg)
19 - Peaches @ Metropolis (Blue Skies Turn Black)
20 - Hakan Lidbo @ Parking (Overdose)
20 - The Juan Maclean & MSTRKRFT DJ Sets @ Le Showcase
21 - Kick Le… Clavecin 2 w/Robeat, Clifford Brown & Fancy Fhreek @ Théâtre Plaza (Robeat)
22 - Gene Farris @ Aria
22 - Mylo @ Beach Club (Sundance)

August:
01 - The Editors @ La Tulipe
01 - She Wants Revenge @ Spectrum
03 - Los Amigos Invisibles @ Place Emilie-Gamelin
05 - Voyeur 07 w/ Motor, Jordan Dare & Bliss @ SAT (Voyeur)
05 - Gary Numan + guests @ Le National
13 - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts @ Parc Jean-Drapeau (Vans Warped Tour)
18 - The Sadies - Main Hall
24 - Herbert @ Club Soda

September:
10 - T.Raumschmiere @ La SAT
15 - Clinik w/John Dahlbäck, Sad Mafioso, Jeff Grosse & Special Guest (DiskHo)
21 - Miss Kittin @ Parking (Overdose)
30 - The Raconteurs @ Metropolis

October:
05 - Vitalic & Jordan Dare @ La SAT
10 - Pet Shop Boys @ Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier
13 - Extrawelt (Live) @ ???
27 - Clinik w/Trentemoller, Maus, DJ TOM & Jeff Grosse @ ? (DiskHo)

November:
10 - Ladytron & CSS @ Metropolis


Until next week: keep the beats bangin' !

Labels:

2 Comments:

Blogger Bruce Benson said...

Sadly, The Hacker didn't show up at Parking either... At least they got one of Montréal's finest to cover for him: Jordan Dare. Definitely, this will have been the month of people who "can't make it", for various reasons.

Friday, June 30, 2006 3:36:00 AM  
Blogger Bruce Benson said...

Update: Akufen will be getting Dizzy at Academy Dancehall... tonight, July 4th !

Tuesday, July 04, 2006 1:02:00 AM  

Post a Comment

Leave a comment!

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home