Wednesday, December 25, 2002

MERRY CHRISTMAS from SANFRANDISCO!

I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! However you celebrate the season, I hope that you and your loved ones have lots of fun and great memories. A big thank you to everyone who has supported me and the site for the last year. Lots of good things are on the way, and I hope to see you all soon!

DJ TIESTO @ KOOLHAUS - December 14, 2002

Since I haven't updated for a while, a lot of things have been going on...one of those things was the DJ Tiesto party. My friends and I had previously sworn off going to the Guvernment/Koolhaus complex forever because of the Summer's End fiasco this past August. We were almost crushed to death in the Orange Room due to horribly crowded conditions. But my friend Emma, whose favourite DJ is Tiesto, wanted to go, so we decided to go as well. I really like Tiesto, and have been to pretty much all of the parties he's spun at in Toronto, so I thought this one might be alright, since it was going to be in Koolhaus and not the Guvernment area of the club. The last time I was in the Koolhaus proper was for the Air concert, and that rocked!

So, we arrive in the front of KH, and line up. A stretch escalade rolls up, and a pile of pseudo-thuggish suburban boys and girls pile out...They all have towels around their necks and barge into the line in front of us. Budding is fine when it's only 1 or 2 people and you have some friends in the line, but a whole group? Things weren't starting off right.

After a long wait in line and a fairly polite security check, we got inside. Luke Fair was spinning a mix of progressive house music, which was not to my liking, but passed as good background sonic wallpaper while we were waiting for Tiesto. However, the crowd was a real aggravation. Everywhere we went, we seemed to be the magnet for hordes of surly clubgoers who constantly walked in front, behind and into us. Others jabbed us with flailing limbs from their attempts to dance in the very limited space available. It seemed like most of the crowd was only there because 1) it was their regular club spot for Saturday or 2) they heard that there was some cool DJ playing but didn't know who. So the place was filled with people who really didn't know what was going on, plus the people who were actually there for Tiesto.

At one point during Luke Fair's set, the speakers near us all cut out except for the sub-bass speaker. for 20 minutes, all we heard was distorted basslines farting out of the nearby horn, while others inexplicably still tried to dance, oblivious to the rotten sound quality. One clubgoer even admonished us for not enjoying the music, even though the only thing you could hear was a continuous bzzz/bffft/bzzzz/bffft sound as the treble and mids were completely gone. Finally at 2AM, Tiesto came on the decks, to the delight of many there.

The sound problem was fixed and Tiesto dropped his set...it was quite enjoyable, with many tracks I had never heard before and others a bit more familiar, like Urban Train and the new song from iio. However, the Koolhaus became even more crowded as the night wore on, with a constant barrage of people pushing their way in front, back and sides of us for over 2 hours. After 4 O'clock, we got very tired of all the hassle, and decided to leave, even though Tiesto was still playing.

For $35, I think I could have enjoyed myself more sitting at home and playing a pile of Trance records with friends. We could have had a ton of beer and wouldn't have to deal with the horrid crowds. Much as I loved the music, it wasn't worth all the stress and hassle. So, farewell Koolhaus and Guvernment, you will never see another dollar from my wallet...unless AIR is coming back for another concert ;) For that, maybe I'll make an exception.