A Few Great Souvenirs From Past Neons

Eight years. It's very long. Eight years is a pretty long prison conviction. In the life of a teenager, it is what takes him from a rebellious & pimple-infested high school stay to the maturity of choosing a carreer and growing up. On a local music scene, 8 years is some kind of proof that things, after all, must be good to last so long. And things are good for Mark, John & Justin. Things are, in fact, pretty fuckin' good.



This coming Saturday, at Fonderie Darling, the Neon boys are celebrating eight long years of hard work, parties & friends. Their presence on the scene has always been felt - sometimes discreetly, and sometimes massively. For the occasion, I decided to share some vague souvenirs from the past Neon parties I have attended, parties that were always impressive & unforgettable. Geez, I'm gettin' old.

Sometime in 2001, I was entering the old S.A.T. for the first time ever, excited as hell to see an unknown guy named Vitalic. Back then, the complex was located in an old bank building next to Sona, on Ste-Catherine, in front of the Spectrum. Just across the street from the "Vieille 300", in fact. We would always go there to drink cheap Labatt, and as soon as the line-up would start moving, we'd cross the street in a hurry and get in.

Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Miss Kittin & the Hacker would be in town, just in time for another I Love Neon party. The buzz was just picking up back then, but the French duo packed the S.A.T. and it was pure madness; the unisex bathrooms contained 4 or 6 stalls - I honestly can't remember - and were located in the basement, but the line-up to get to them was impossibly long and spiraled to the dancefloor. Getting a beer was equally painful, and my usual tactic of going outside to pee in the parking lot didn't work - if we left, we weren't allowed back in.



I have nice memories of the following Neon parties, but the vodka / Gurus ingested over the years tend to blur them all together. I still have a promo CD somewhere of the infamous Jori Hulkkonen (as Zyntherius) Vs Tiga tag team recorded live @ I Love Neon 3. When DMX Krew's "Seedy Films" was dropped, nothing else mattered. The Gigolo recording artists Crossover couple was also on the premises, and we all warmly remember the breath taking beauty of Vanessa Tosti.

The fourth I Love Neon, featuring FPU live, also showcased two local newcomers who, at the time, at least to me, seemed only like a fast-passing fad : Chromeo. How wrong was I. No more than a couple months after being initiated to their funky electro-pop, I was dropping the Playgroup remix of "You're so Gangsta" like crazy everywhere I played.

Do you think that the antics were limited to clubs ? Fuck no. At a St-Laurent street sale, during the summer of 2002, I had the pleasure of hearing DJ Unknown for the first time, right there on the corner of Prince-Arthur, as well as a kick-ass set by Jordan Dare.



I have fond memories of the 6th I Love Neon party because the location changed : it was held at Usine C, and it was a classic one : Ivan Smagghe & Arnaud Rebotini of Black Strobe were both DJ'ing; Tiga dropped several very damaging bombs, including Tomcraft's "Loneliness", a song I had never dared playing even though I owned the vinyl; Thomas Von Party was manipulating his infamous puppet on giant screens hanging above the dancefloor, and we even heard a performance by Evening, a short-lived electro-hip hop act comprised of the Kosa brothers and... Jordan Dare. Kosa and Dare were also opening, on Sept. 26 of 2003, at Mile End Bar, for a new monthly called Pastel that was launched with a bangin' set by Toronto's Kenny Glasgow. Too bad there were no further editions.



On December 31st of 2003, a new tradition emerged : the New Year's Eve Neons. This one, called Neon Loves NY, featured Nite Dog, DJ Unknown and Metro Area's very own Morgan Geist, who began his set with his hit 24K. Towards the end, Jordan dropped the Switch remix of Audio Bully's "Way Too Long", and that's the last thing I can remember.



Testing the limits of cool, in March of 2004 a party called "Pleasure From the Bass", riding on the buzz created by Tiga's new track, took place at Gravity. Tiga played with Ivan Smagghe all night, and it was one hell of a good time. A new wave of "secret" Neon parties emerged from then. Since I wasn't part of the TGV (Thank God I'm a VIP) crew back then I wasn't aware of every event, but I fondly remember hearing Tiga & Jesper Dahlback at Main Hall with about 200 lucky frenetic dancers for a very acidic evening. There was a sign at the door : "No guest list - even John & Justin paid to get in".

That summer, Piknic did a Turbo day where everything was perfectly put in place : the sun, Mateo Murphy's old school acid set, Jordan Dare's big bad beats, and Tiga's touch towards the end, as the sun was setting down.



The years went by but the quality level of the Neon guests always stayed the same : at the 2004 NYE party at the new S.A.T., the one we now call home, the Neon Loves Berlin party welcomed Highfish & Steve Bug. It would be in March of '05 that I would be the most impressed : on the 27th, after Headman wasn't able to come & play at the party, it was Mylo who replaced him. Even though he wasn't very tight when starting his set, his selection was top notch and things only went uphill when brothers Ali & Sebastian Schwarz started dropping their intense minimal tech-house on the unsuspecting audience. I didn't feel great that night but I couldn't leave the dancefloor as it was way too good. That night, my 928 refused to start and I had to walk home freezing my ass. Since it was parked in the bus lane of René-Lévesque, I had to pick it up before 8 AM a few hours of sleep later.



Summer came & went, and for the Labor Day week-end of '05, the Neon crew tried something new. Some kind of festival. There was a TGV party on Sept. 2nd, a Neon BBQ at Café des Éclusiers on Sept. 3rd, where M.A.N.D.Y.'s Philipp Jung, co-founder of Germany's Get Physical imprint, played some deep & groovy music - too low - during an enchanting afternoon. And on Sept. 4th, at Dôme, Vive la Fête was playing live with a Tiga extended set. Demented is all I can say. And the after-party, downstairs at Gravity, featured Mateo Murphy, Romeo Kardec & the Rapture's Matt Safer. Mental.

All of you probably know about the rest : the '05 Halloween Neon with Water Lilly, Plastique de Rêve & DJ T; The Juan MacLean & LCD Soundsystem show in November, where watching Von Party dance nearby to Tiga's "You Gonna Want Me" was as unreal as watching the song's video; the '05 NYE Neon Loves Paris with Digitalism & Alex Gopher; the monthly Voyeur launch with Tommie Sunshine where I got so blinded by booze that I couldn't see where I was going anymore...



The list goes on forever. It's been an electro fan's wet dream lately to have events like Neon's ones in a town near you, and we're pretty lucky to be in the city where it all happens. This coming 8th anniversary probably won't be the last and the next parties will be massive, if you ask me. Just don't sleep over this one.

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It all happens at Fonderie Darling, this coming Saturday Feb. 24th, where Thomas Von Party opens, Jordan Dare plays live & Tiga finishes you off with one of his signature extended sets.