This one time. . .

So this one time I followed these two colorful haired Geminis into the craziest, busiest, hottest, and downright scariest warehouse I’ve ever been to in my life. Although, if I really think about it that’s basically what happens every single time I end up with the two of them, so to them it was probably nothing unusual. It comes with the territory of being a Techno Chola Goth, and these were two of the truest of that kind I have still ever met.

It was in Detroit, which I guess sooner or later you’re going to get sick of me talking about it, but then again, I don’t really care. It’s my city. The home to my heart. I used to think other cities had it. Like San Francisco, or maybe my hometown, San Diego, but the minute I stepped foot in Detroit I knew this was different.

The way Hemingway had Paris, and Scorsese has New York, I will always have that wasteland metropolis that they call Techno City, and this night was yet another example of the power and magic it always shows me.

Except, now that I think of it, maybe it wasn’t some warehouse. Maybe just some building, although that’s irrelevant considering the reason we were there was for a show known as Observe. Everybody knew about Observe because, well, that’s the way it goes in techno.

You get a reputation that you earned and people know it. I didn’t know that, though. Frankly, I was going to Observe because all my friends from Los Angeles were going, and they have the best taste in techno of anybody I know, so when they said we should go to that show. Well, I suppose I trusted them. And my trust in them was rewarded once the lineup came out.

First, Planetary Assault Systems aka Luke Slater, is a legend of Techno by all standards. I found out about him when I was a teenager in the early 2000’s because all the best Techno DJ’s would play Luke Slater tracks, and yet he was one of those DJ’s I’d never expect to see live. You just let go of it. Unless you found some way to travel internationally , Luke Slater was seen in the same group as other greats like Len Faki and Sven Vaath.

They just didn’t need America. Techno doesn’t need America to continue to move forward. But that’s why Detroit is so valuable. They don’t need America, but they do need Detroit. The birthplace. Any DJ is just a part of it in the Mecca.

Plus, things have changed. The world has grown, and so has Techno. And I suppose you can say that about so many of the genres of electronic music, but in this case I’m gonna use Techno because within one year of seeing Luke Slater in Detroit I would also See Sven in New York City and Faki in Southern California. The world is more connected now.

Also performing was Adam X, who I had seen once at a Tire shop or something here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but things were different then. He was in town for a Sonic Groove Showcase with Frankie Bones and Heather Heart, but since it was 2002 and right down the street from the courthouse, it naturally got broken up.

Frankie Bones and New Mexico have a history of stories like that, though, don’t we?

After that were two of my all-time favorite Techno DJ’s from the west coast, Truncate and Drumcell, who I had never seen before, and another old favorite from Chicago, DJ Hyperactive.

The anticipation for such a night was so great that I could even feel it while still at the festival during the day at Hart Plaza. Sure, this was great, but how could it be any better than the after party we had planned for when we got there? Would it even live up to what we were expecting? What were we even going to find? So many questions and still I trusted the Gemini’s. They seemed to know the right answers to these ones without even actually answering them. They’d sort of just let me find the answer for myself. As long as I could make it through the front room.

I have been on many dancefloors, in many different places, with many different people, and yet the main room of Observe that night had to be one of the scariest in my life. It felt like I was actually in hell. Which I suppose is a good thing, but it also scared the shit out of me. I was afraid. And not in the fun way. In the, OMG, I’m gonna die here way.

What’s crazier is that I didn’t even care. There were at least seven moments throughout the night where I literally told myself, look if you die here, this isn’t the worst way to go. I mean, I couldn’t even see the person in front of me, and still it was epic. Absolutely epic.

Everybody kept smashing up against each other and like rolling through the crowd because it was so tight and crowded that we couldn’t even walk. We had to hope the heap of people took us by the door. It was insanely dangerous, but also really fun.

What made it even more intense is the minute you’d get a little space to dance; the music was so good, that you’d just dance with all your might. And the fog was everywhere, and the sounds and lights were so overwhelming you’d just let go. Engaged in a techno trance. And that was just the main room. Which was nothing compared to the back room, where you had to earn your entrance to that one.

It happened later in the night when we and our group of friends were all stuck in the middle room where the bar was, between the main dancefloor and the back one. We had been eyeing the backroom all night, but never had the courage to go in as it appeared to be far more crowded than the front room, but we also knew that Truncate was about to do a b2b with DJ Hyperactive, so we knew we couldn’t miss it. We had to find a way in.

It was like standing on the edge of a cliff staring at the ocean. There must have been at least seven of us, all from different parts of the country, all here together because of our love for Techno, and yet all equally afraid to go in. So we did what you always do in that spot. One by one, we all jumped.

One after the other we each walked right into the crowded and small back room, and towards the amazing sonic bliss that awaited us. We got in and it was worth it. Man was it worth it. The dancefloor was amazing. Different from the front one. Way different.

First, there were no lasers or fog machines. In fact, there were just a few lamps around in little corners of the room. It was purposely basic, and yet that’s what will always stand out about it. The contrast from an overwhelming assault of every sense in the front room to the bare basics roots of the culture in the back.

Two of the most enchanting dancefloors of my life, and both at the same show that night. Observe lived up to everything that was asked of it and so much more.

I’d say we stayed in that back room for at least two or three hours without even realizing it. All of us. We started in the back dancing and sharing the only drinks we still had. Slowly we moved to the front, and by the end of the night we found ourselves in our normal spot. Front left of the speaker, all dancing together, and hugging, and doing bumps of K from each other’s spoons, and just completely in the moment, aware of how fun it really was.

We may never get a night like that again, and yet I don’t think we have to. The best part about memories like these are that the moments that make em don’t last. I may never go to an Observe show again, I may never go back to Detroit again, and I may never have the chance to be right there with that group of people again, but I also know, for the rest of eternity we will have this one, and that is enough. Why wouldn’t it be?

After that we stayed till sometime around 6am before we finally found a ride back to the Pink Palace we called the hotel we were staying at. An old fashioned hotel with pealing pink paint that not only served as a place that could house all of us, but also one that offered free dine in breakfast every single morning. Something we all experienced together every day we were there.

But unlike everybody else in that diner, who was just waking up, we were still yet to fall asleep. Steadily drinking our coffee and barely touching our breakfast all dressed in black as if going to some funeral, or perhaps, coming back from a techno show. Still hanging on to every minute we had together.

I am nostalgic of Observe tonight because at this very moment they are having one in LA, and it’s my hope that many of my friends will be there, although I know as I sit at my typewriter right now, I won’t be. We had tickets for a festival in Long Beach and plans to attend Observe after, but plans change. Life changes. We change. I didn’t make it to this one, but again, I just didn’t have to. Perhaps this night and this memory are for someone else this time.

It’s very much like the moment I made it out of the heap of madness that was the dancefloor for the first time early in the night. Before any of the other wonderful moments even happened. I had lost the two Geminis in the crowd, and piles of hands and faces, and heat. After dropping my drink on a woman passing by she nearly attacked me before I admitted it was water, and she celebrated.

The shoes were expensive, I could tell, and she was upset, but as soon as she knew it was just the water she yelled with glee, ‘a sacrifice for techno,’ and we high fived as we passed each other in the crowd of techno freaks.

From there I leaned my way slowly towards the door before shoving my way out and gasping for air. I never wanted to go back to that, and yet I could not find the Gemini’s anywhere. Still stuck inside. Still fighting for their lives like I just did. Why were we doing this? How was this worth it? I questioned everything about myself and about techno right there. An immediate crisis. That crowd broke me.

I stood there and waited over and over again. Where are they? What am I gonna do? Everyone’s in there. This is so bad. I started to freak out a bit before walking up a little ways as to get more air and to get a better view of all the crazy people coming in and out of the main room.

But as I walked up faster with worry, suddenly there they were. Further up the path, waiting for me. Both wearing those House x Techno jackets they each separately bought in my hometown. The only place in the world you could get jackets just like those.

They both gave me that same look they seem to always have, where they’re rolling their eyes and yet not saying a word.

I was just so happy to see them and to know they made it out that it just didn’t matter how long they were actually waiting for me, or even the fact that they made it through so much easier than I did. While I was going through every emotion possible they were just chillin’, enjoying the Michigan breeze.

I remember walking up to them and thinking, they’re probably gonna wanna go right? They see how dangerous that is too, right? They must agree with me, right?

Well, this is why this story starts and begins with these two. As soon as I reached them, and grinned with relief, they looked at each other, and then turned and looked at me, then said in unison, without even thinking twice,

“Are you ready to go back in?”

I was shocked, and yet without hesitation, I took a deep breath, fixed my hat, and said with a smile,

“Of course I am.”