Not much left to say Farina and Carter will play In Santa Fe. Came all this way To show us that Chicago way. Although we know it well And have waited long for this day. The chance to dance again For those who can not attend Family and friend Till the final end. But, man wasn’t it grand To understand That this beat carries on With and without us Even if we cant comprehend. We’ve grown, we’ve changed We’ve had our lives rearranged And still here we are Days away from house music Up north Returning to the source Getting back on that horse. I’ll see you there On that dancefloor And even if not a word is spoken Just remember in my heart I’ll be holding All the love I’ve found over All these years Through the tears And fears With open ears. I found it and so did you. Us precious few. Let’s dance again And celebrate one more time Without reason or even rhyme. Just to know we are alive. That’s enough some times Most times If these be the only words I share For Farina and Carter I wish to say I promise To dance harder And to live smarter And to remember That it never stops So neither should we. That’s enough for me. But is it enough for thee? We will just have to wait and see. Get your tickets Take the ride And maybe I’ll see you on the inside
I guess we’ve all got our own style, our own vibe, our own sound we call our own. For some, it’s this, and for others, it’s that. No matter where I go, that seems to be what I notice most. We are all doing our own thing. We are each following our own path.
For me, I suppose, my style can best be described by what’s happening this weekend. A convergence of the two sides of my brain. Techno and Cannabis. The two things that help me get through this life the best I can. Well, techno, Cannabis, and the 505, of course.
That isn’t to say techno is all that’s happening, though, since right off the bat, I wish to admit I am amazed at what is happening now in this, my dear city.
In every corner, at every turn, in so many different ways, the 505 is alive with the sounds of electronic music. And I feel so good to be able to see this moment.
To start, we have House Proud on the 19th over at Insideout, where Vettaluv and the Rev host local house DJs for a night of music and friendship.
This week, House Proud is hosting Illastr8 and Coco Medium for a jam session underneath the desert sky in the 505, as the roofless club will be busy this weekend.
Also up the road on Central is a group named Astrl Entertainment, which continues to grow with every show they throw, and I can’t help but notice how they seem to find that balance between house and dubstep so well.
This time, they favor their dubstep side with headliner jykl & Hyde combined with a solid lineup of local favorites that include the very versatile Wyatt Lawson, and Lil Salsa, a DJ whose sound interests me immensely. I love that they are helping expand a community for the next generation of ravers.
At the Electric Playhouse, the legend known as Rusko will make a stop in town, and people of all styles can hear a dubstep legend in person. This one is extra special as it will be a 360-style setup, causing all the DJs, including Rusko himself, to be on the floor with the dancers. I dig that so much.
The next day, however, is the day I’m looking forward to the most, as not only is it a holiday celebrating my favorite plant but also a day filled with music everywhere.
Starting up in Santa Fe, the crew known as Up All Nite will be having a free event at Nuckolls Brewery with a great lineup of DJs that includes two of my favorites, Ana M and Chris Losack, who I think is doing an all-vinyl set in the lounge.
If house music isn’t your style, the dubstep crowd has another night to dance as the Sub.Marine crew is doing a takeover with what they call the Smoke Out at the El Baile Event Center right off of Nob Hill.
I’ll admit I’m barely starting to understand dubstep now, even as an old raver, and yet, the passion they show just can’t be denied. They believe in what they’re doing. And I can’t help but be happy for them and what they’re building.
Lastly, though, there’s honestly only one show I know I’ll be at this weekend, and that’s back at Insideout on Saturday night as weed smoke fills the air and techno bumps through the sound system.
No matter where I go or what I do, techno seems to be, and I know that it is the life of a techno panda for me.
This time Mr. Afterhours Presents welcomes Atlanta’s own Sam Wolfe for another edition of his Saturday Night Techno Affair. It’s a chance for us techno heads to have control of the dancefloor.
And that isn’t to say one event, or one sound, or even one night is better, but rather that we all deserve our chance to follow what we love.
And no matter where I go or what I see, I seem to come back to the truth that I love weed, I love techno, and I love New Mexico. So, join me in celebrating a sound we usually have to catch a flight to hear.
And, as I’ve said before, and I’ll say for the rest of my years, whatever dancefloor you decide to bop on this green weekend, promise me it’s where you want to be, and that’s enough for me.
See you on the dancefloor, dear friends. You know where I’ll be, dancing and celebrating techno and 420.
I’d also like to add a special note acknowledging the passing of a beloved member of our New Mexico community, Chris Duran. Chris was larger than life, both in personality and stature and although it hurts to hear news of his passing, I can’t help but smile at how happy he made so many for so long. He was the person to dance with and make us laugh or even stick around, if only for a little bit.
The New Mexico dancefloor will never be the same without him, and I will never forget being a teenage raver, seeing him wearing those Mickey Mouse gloves we knew him so well for, and dancing with love and joy for what this culture can do for us. That image inspired me profoundly. I thank him for that. Chris, you are missed but not forgotten. Rest In Power. Get the dancefloor in the next life ready for us.
I suppose, if I had to remember the last time I was back at the Wolf, it must have been in June 2019 to see Derrick Carter. A little short of five years ago. And if I’m being honest, it’s felt like maybe twice as long in my mind and even longer in my heart.
It was a beautiful time for my love, me, and those we called friends, though. We were so completely in love with the music and the moment and yet so unaware of how quickly it was going to change. So committed to not letting go. Even now, I hesitate to go back to the wolf. I’m not sure if I’m ready. But will I ever be?
It’s sort of like a Horcrux from Harry Potter. A piece of my heart now hides at that old bowling alley up north, and I fear if I get too close, I might run the risk of destroying it.
But that’s how this goes. That’s the risk we take every day. And this time, it feels like it might be worth it. Because I’m going back this weekend, and I’m going back for house music. The one sound that led me there in the first place.
This time, the Wolf welcomes South African DJ/Producer Kyle Watson for a night of bumping that will keep the heads bopping all night long.
I have been a fan of Kyle Watson for years, as he has a phenomenal ability both in playing songs but also in making them as well.
A regret I’ve had is missing him the first time he went to Meow Wolf in 2019, as I can still remember a friend telling me after the fact how much she enjoyed it. How his subtle balance of bounce and house fit perfectly with the intimate and vibrant environment Santa Fe always manages to be. I wanted so badly to have a chance to see him myself.
But time flies when you’ve got stardust in your eyes.
Playing alongside Kyle Watson for the night are two of the 505’s best with Aimie Jane and Ana M. I am immensely excited to hear Ana M play live again as she always seems to be a DJ who evolves with every set she plays.
I’m sure this one will be a perfect example of where this DJ, and perhaps this music, are right here and now. It seems excuse enough to return to a place I feared I may never see again. But that’s house, and that’s life.
There’s always a chance to start again, to give it another shot, to find the next dancefloor, to go back to the Wolf.
So please, go early, stay late, and enjoy the moment and the people you’re in it with. You never know when you’ll get the chance to have it again.
It’s a fine line to walk writing about a city like the 505. You want to write about something different, but you also want to focus on those contributing. And it isn’t that there aren’t a bunch of interesting people or events, it’s just, most of the time, you gotta go out there and find them.
But let me tell you, when you get the chance, and you find something special, whether it’s hidden or right there in front of you, I don’t feel it’s fair to deny it.
That is why my focus this week is not just on a show or the DJ playing but also on what this specific DJ does during the day. I’m talking about their day job and how it may mean as much to me as any dancefloor I’ve ever experienced.
Astro-Zombies, a shop in the middle of Nob Hill, is in an area of the city that will always represent a wonderful time in my life. Ever since I was a teenage raver, it has always been a custom and even tradition to cruise Nob Hill.
No doubt the years have caused things to change, but there was once a time when it was popping. Just popping, and all we wanted to do was keep bopping.
Buffalo Exchange, Angel Alley, The Loft, Masks Y Mas, Birdland, and Astro-Zombies. All represented something different and yet all experienced in just one stroll, which is also a great way of describing the 505 as well when you think about it.
I remember we used to go to Pregnant Park just off Indian school, and we’d smash like 6 or 7 of us in my friend’s car, and we’d get mega-baked. Then we’d ride to Nob Hill and enjoy the culture all centered on that one strip of Central.
The world all around us was so alive, and so were we. It was a beautiful moment for me and for those I shared it with, and my only wish is that we could bring that back. Thankfully, there is somebody there who understands that balance.
Just last year, Chris Losack became the owner and runner of Astro-Zombies, and it makes me happy to know that he will keep it to what it’s always been to us here, who have grown up along the way.
Chris isn’t just the owner and resident comic book guy either; he is also a very talented DJ who is playing this weekend at the El Rey Mezz alongside House Proud founders the Rev and Vettaluv, and house and techno powerhouse, Xkota, for this month’s version of House Proud.
The show itself, which is only five bucks at the door, promises a night of wonderful and proper house music with a vendor market showcasing local talent.
I love what House Proud is doing for this city, and I want nothing more than for you to go and show your love on the dancefloor.
But if you have the chance, I also want you to go to Astro-Zombies and show some love for a local business that many of us have valued for decades, voted the best comic book store in the 505 for 23 years straight. With Chris, I know it will continue, and that’s enough for me to share some words.
So please go to the shop and the show. Appreciate the culture we have all around us and the people that keep it going. We owe them that.
See you at Astro Zombies and maybe on the dancefloor for what I like to call Astro House.
There are very few cities on this rave planet that can match what I seem to always experience here in the 505, and it’s almost impossible to explain. A feeling more than anything.
An understanding that there will be cities that go on for blocks that seem to never end, and then some have everything happening in one spot, all at once. Giving the people the chance to be a part of it together.
That’s exactly what’s happening tomorrow January 26th downtown as multiple clubs will be playing music from different parts of this culture we love so much. A culture constantly growing that wants only for us to grow with it.
To start, over at the El Rey Mezz we have the 505 Junglists crew doing more than just playing music and having fun; they are also developing a community of their own.
Through the combination of art, music, and creation they return with Rewind: A drum and bass experience with a lineup from their roster of versatile selectors that includes Matt Sensi, DNDY, Guy-L and Jayzo G MC.
This time is a bit special, though, as they have a very rare DnB set taking place by the maestro of New Mexico, the Rev, which is reason enough to go by.
Also included will be vendors like the NM Rave Cave, a cool spot committed to supplying the 505 with the best rave gear, and if you bring a blanket you will get $5 off entry, a great way of showing the charitable and generous side of what is a very wonderful gathering of the jungle crew every month.
If your style is more house another option just down the road at Effex nightclub is part three of a four-part series Mr. Afterhours Presents is currently right in the middle of, as they have turned the Effex lounge into a 360-degree House Sessions experience that continues to showcase the best DJs the 505 has to offer.
This edition will include a DJ just back from the Ship, also known as the Friendship, with Aaron Bliss playing alongside perhaps the most versatile DJ in New Mexico, Xblyssid.
The combination of the two is sure to create a one-of-a-kind night that will keep you warm as we slowly move away from these winter months and closer to the heat of the summer we love so much.
The commitment by all involved towards growing and building house music in New Mexico must not be overlooked as they are only gaining steam with every show. I know this one will be next level.
And finally, the show of the night, for me at least, takes place at Sister Bar just across the street from the other two as Adobe Disco celebrates five years of the best disco and house you will find here in the 505.
To celebrate they bring Chicago house mega legend Derrick Carter out for what we lovingly call Derrick does Disco, where he plays that beautiful Chicago disco sound that changed the world and saved so many of us foolish fools looking for something to believe in.
Derrick doesn’t just play house music, he also is it. A living, walking, representation of everything house is, when he plays it’s more like a musical lecture from a Ph.D. professor than anything.
He is teaching us house music, and as one of the people who will be on the dance floor this weekend, I can’t tell you how excited I am for this one. It is truly an honor to welcome Derrick back to NM, where Sister Bar will be jumping with music, laughter, and love all night long.
So please, go early, stay late, and whatever dancefloor you choose to bop on this Jan 26th, just promise me it’s exactly where your heart wants to be, and that’s enough for me.
See you on the dancefloor, dear friends.
Let’s see where it takes us this year.
I’d also like to add a special note acknowledging that the NM community lost a great person in Nicole/Nico Candeleria aka DJ Nicolatron, who was loved by many and will be missed dearly both this weekend and many more after. Please dance in honor of those we lost, as we have to cherish every moment we have together since we never know when it will be our last. RIP DJ Nicolatron. The dancefloor will not be the same without you.
I haven’t always been the biggest fan of living here in the 505. I won’t ever deny that one. Born in San Diego, the son of a sailor, I viewed this desert wasteland as exactly that, a wasteland.
How could I find beauty in something I could never be? Such a foolish question for a young man to ask. Such an easy answer for an old man to give.
What I ultimately always come back to is the fact that if I don’t like it here, why have I stayed so long? Why did I marry a girl from here? Why am I raising my children here? Why have I committed so completely? And I suppose the answer is simple. Pride.
Pride in one’s surroundings. Pride in one’s people. Pride in one’s beginnings. Which is what I have learned to have for this, my city. Pride in the 505. Pride that can best be expressed through my connection with house.
It’s everywhere I turn. Out in the streets, in the clubs and bars, even some warehouses here and there. The music just carries on with the city. Interweaving itself into the parts of this place we seem to love so much.
But that’s the thing about house music. Just like the 505 and also like I, it has grown over the years. Changed. Evolved. Expanded. Which is why we have to do our part to keep it alive.
And how do we do that? By going to the show, of course.
House lovers have the chance to do that again on the dance floor this weekend as some of my favorite DJs in New Mexico are gathering for what they so affectionately call House Proud.
Started by House music masters Vettaluv and the Rev, House Proud welcomes local favorites to share their sound and style, and this time they have Davy jones and At_One joining them for a take over of the el Rey Mez to keep things bumping in the night.
Each one has proven themselves as true representatives of where house music lives and their pride shows in every track they play. I have no doubt they will carry that sound again the way only the 505 can do.
House music all night long for only $5. I don’t think there’s much more needed to be said than that.
Good people playing good sounds in a good vibe. It’s exactly what the 505 does to keep that spirit alive.
So go early, stay all night long, and remember to show your pride, for house and also for my dear love, the 505.
I feel it fair and honest to admit to you now that the DJs I favor are not the ones whose sound or even genre I like the most. In fact, I don’t even think it’s about style or songs played either. It’s something else, I suppose. A trait I see in them. A change. Can they evolve, and have they evolved since the last time I heard them?
Isn’t that the point of all of this? Can this change you? Will you let it? Do you have the power to change it as well? Not everybody can do that. But when you do find people who can evolve, it’s suddenly so inspiring.
Which is exactly why I feel the need to write something about a DJ here in New Mexico who I feel is evolving more and more with every song, every trip, and every chance she gets to play her techno. Xkota. The current techno queen of New Mexico.
Ever since her trip to Chicago I can sense the change in her. The drive is stronger. The passion is more obvious. The doubt is gone. Xkota knows her talent, and although that was never in question, I do feel those around her can see what’s happening right now, and how for this specific DJ, there appears to be no limit.
Fresh of her high energy performance playing at the electric playhouse alongside the one they call Sara Landry, Xkota is ready to take the reins on where techno in New Mexico goes next.
This weekend she will be bringing her own New Mexico techno sound to the el Rey mezzanine for a very intimate and exclusive night of music and magic as part of Mr Afterhours Presents commitment to the local scene here in New Mexico, and the djs who keep this culture going so well.
There’s really no comparison to what djs who are a part of any local scene actually contribute, since they are the ones out there the most. Supporting each other, playing the sound that constantly evolves, keeping the beat and the spirit alive.
All you can do is respect how much Mr Afterhours Presents is supporting the djs here in New Mexico with giving them a stage, and I’m very happy to see Xkota given a chance to show where she is with both her sound and evolution at this moment and this place.
Opening for her will be Atmoze, who’s playing a rare techno set, setting the stage for what will be yet another night of that vibe we love so much.
Tickets are only 13 bucks right now, and as always the sound system will be bumping, the visuals will be proper, and the el Rey will be hot and sweaty, a respectable environment for some techno on a cold winter night surrounded by friends on the dancefloor.
So please, go early, and you better stay late to hear every single moment of what we call Xkota 2.0.
It isn’t always easy admitting when your heart is broken, but looking back, I know that’s exactly what was happening to me two years ago around this same time, when I decided to start Our Dancefloor.
And I suppose I shouldn’t say broken, as much as it was shattered. Just destroyed. Damaged in a way I don’t feel it had ever been before.
I wish I could say that was the end of my heartbreak, but as I’ve learned in the two years since that moment; when a heart is broken, I mean truly broken, it doesn’t ever heal, does it?
Even if you fix up that entire heart of yours, and glue it together, and do it just right, you know deep down, there’s always gonna be that one little broken part that can just ruin it all over again.
A hit in the perfect spot, and boom, shattered just like before.
But this story isn’t about my broken heart, but rather what I did with it.
And what I did with it, is I used it to drive me and my writing in a way I had never done before; which can always be viewed in the pages that consume this website.
To you, they are words on a culture and the people who make it. To me they are an attempt to run from the sleepless nights spent alone wondering how it all went wrong.
Every moment where I felt broken and alone, I guess I just kept writing, and this time it was to share how I felt about the people I met in this life. At least the ones who made a mark.
That’s why I’m writing these words today. I wanna talk to you about a moment that made a mark. A big fucking mark.
It was right before the quarantine, and the world shutting down. Which for those of us here in the 505, will always be a period associated with a magical place known only as Meow Wolf.
These days, Meow Wolf is considered an amazing multidimensional wonderland that the whole world wants to see. But back then it was different. Especially when it first opened.
Even we didn’t know what we had at first, at least before we all went and saw it for ourselves.
And then we did. Each of us one by one, and then after that, everything changed. Everything.
And I’m not even sure how to describe it. I’m not even sure if I should.
Some things are better left in the unknown mysteries and memories of the past.
My first show at Meow Wolf was for Mark Farina’s 25th Anniversary of Mushroom Jazz and it is a night I will never forget.
We wandered that place, discovering it for the first time. Laughing, and running around like children, and dancing with our eyes closed, and loving every single minute of it.
For those few years before things changed we had something more than special, we had a moment people spend their entire lives dreaming about.
We had the music, and the magical place, and the strong drinks, and the good drugs, and hotel rooms filled with laughter, but most of all, what we had that made it special, is that we had each other.
Which is how I come around to talking about Justin Martin, the DJ that to me, will always be connected to that moment and that time the most.
And not just because he’s a good dj, but it’s also something more than that. Something much harder to explain.
It hit its peak, I suppose, with his announcement that he’d do a four part residency over the course of a year at Meow wolf, playing all night long, every time.
Looking back, I don’t even think it was about one night or even one song, but rather a bunch of them.
Even as I close my eyes now, I can see so many of them flash before me again.
Being on the dancefloor as he dropped my favorite song, and then singing that song with my friends as we all walked back to our hotel after the show was over.
Standing up in the house, overlooking the small crowd, and how it always overlapped behind, and sometimes right up and around the DJ and the stage.
There wasn’t any barrier at Meow Wolf.
I’ve stood on the dancefloor next to world famous DJ’s who marveled at what we experienced every week.
We had a secret, and even if the entire world never found out about that place, we knew we had it.
There was even that one in December, when he brought his brother, and we even met his parents.
I can still remember greeting them out in the lobby, and shaking their hands while we welcomed them to New Mexico. Although, looking back, I’m sure they had been here before.
I can also remember both brothers wore funny Christmas Sweaters and they played this insanely good Drum and Bass that everybody just went mad for, just like everybody did at my first rave, which was almost twenty years ago, nearly to the day, from that night at Meow Wolf.
And where was my first rave all those years ago?
Why it was in Santa Fe, of course. And they played Drum n Bass all night long. I was fifteen back then. I’m much older now, but some things never change.
I can even remember the third one, and how we didn’t go because we agreed to be with a friend in California, but when we got there it was just drama and nonsense we never should have experienced. With my partner and I both saying the same thing.
We shoulda stayed home. We shoulda went to Meow Wolf. We shoulda saw Justin Martin.
Sometimes you regret the ones you didn’t go to as much as you cherish the ones you did.
So, with that in mind, I’d like to tell you, that this Friday, March 24th, Justin Martin is returning to the 505, but this time to the Electric Playhouse.
And I know it won’t be the same, but then again it doesn’t have to be.
What I love so much about looking back at that period in my life, is that it was my moment, with my friends, and my love.
And it didn’t have to be perfect, it just had to be ours. Which is what I hope for you now wherever you may be.
I hope you have a moment of love, and friendship, and music, and life that you wish you will always have back. A moment that seems impossible to believe if it wasn’t so real.
But, if you do ever get there, to that moment in your dreams, my best advice, is that no matter where you are, or what you like, just for a moment; whether it be on the dancefloor, or in the DJ booth, or even just some place somewhere in between.
Stop, and look around you. Look at the people you are with. The people you value. The people you love. They are what you’re going to miss when this moment is over.
The music always comes back, and the DJ will always be on the road.
But the people we find through this culture along the path that is our life, they are the ones we want to one day say to us the words every person wants to hear at least once in their lives.
The words I hope my friends will say if I ever see them again. The words I sang on that dancefloor, and walking through that parking lot, and even as I laid in bed of some random hotel room as the party continued around me.
The only words that will always remind me of that moment and this life.
The words that remind me that it’s time for Justin Martin again.
So if you find yourself with nothing to do, and nowhere to go on Friday, go on down to the playhouse. Pay for a ticket, strap on your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride.
And as we all like to say from time to time.
Go early, stay late, support the fucking culture.
Come find me on the dancefloor sometime. I’ll be the one waiting for you to say,
It has been argued that when given the option between luck and skill, it is best to choose luck, since that is something given to you by the gods; whereas skill is something you gain and strengthen over time with work.
Serendipity or Substance? Which would you pick?
In my experiences traveling this crazy planet, I have learned it is best to have a little bit of both, and this weekend coming up for the 505, is a perfect example of that.
In nearly every corner of this city electronic music will be blasting into the desert night sky, and I’m so happy to report that it’s not just one place or sound that’s doing it, but rather all of them, everywhere.
Something I never thought possible, but again, that’s where luck and skill come in.
In fact, I find this weekend so stacked that I struggle with just picking one or two to write about and instead have decided to talk about all of them. At least the one’s I have the space and words for.
Each one seems to represent the balance of luck and skill so important in this life, while still striving to represent what this culture truly stands for, whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day or not.
First, I’d like to start by mentioning the Drum and Bass crew known as The 505 Junglists and their show at the Moonlight Lounge on Friday, March 17th.
For this one comes DJ Nightstalker, joining local members of the crew Markhyphen, Philos, and Moadmoune.
Recently, the 505 Junglists had to do what many of us have had to do from time to time over the course of our lives.
They started over, which isn’t always easy, but absolutely something we here in New Mexico have learned to use as a skill.
They are trying again, giving it another shot, and they’re doing that by working as hard as anybody in this local scene to do so, while still trying to stay true to the roots of where they came from.
Honoring where they’ve been while still remaining focused on where they’re going. I commend that and can only wish them the best, as I believe this is their first headliner, and the price of $10 all night long cannot be beat.
The enthusiasm of the jungle crew can never be matched, but I’d also love to give credit to Unity Sound Co., as this will be their last show doing sound for a bit.
I have been an admirer of Pax, the man behind Unity Sound, and his professionalism while still providing quality sound ever since I got to witness it first hand, and I know this isn’t the end for his sound system, but rather just a new beginning, and I encourage everybody to go and praise him for his help.
The job of a sound guy is often overlooked and tedious, and yet their contribution can never be ignored. This night is as much a celebration of this sound system, as it is this crew.
Enjoy it one more time as it connects to the power the 505 Junglists always bring to their parties.
Another show happening on Friday, is a birthday party for non-other than one of the best in this city, DJ Ana M.
At Effex, Ana will be playing alongside DJ Codes, who is making his New Mexico debut, I believe, and of course, another one of New Mexico’s best, DJ Thumper.
From the minute I heard DJ Thumper play I’ve loved her sound, spontaneity, and taste in music, which is something I know you can say about Ana M as well.
I am very happy to see that Rave Cenit, perhaps my favorite group in this entire state, has slowly been connecting with Mr. Afterhours Presents, who continues the string of great shows one after the other for the night we all now will always know as WE HOUSE FRIDAYS.
I can’t say enough how special it is that these two DJ’s will be sharing a stage under the spring skies this weekend, as I believe the only way the New Mexico rave scene survives is by sticking together.
We have Peace, we have Love, we are working on Respect, but now we need Unity.
With the drive and commitment of people like Mr. Afterhours presents and the creativity and unity that Rave Cenit shows, I know this is only the beginning of something wonderful.
Plus, if you don’t get enough from either show that night, don’t worry, cause at the Hall, from 1am-4am, we have a very special edition of Ana M’s Mixxd series, with an afterparty showcasing Xkota, Chiddy, femme.antics, and the one and only The Rev keeping the party going.
What I like so much about this one is not just that it’s at one of my favorite spots in the city, or even that it’s my favorite kind of party – an afterparty- but also because I know the DJ’s playing represent more than just the sounds coming out of the speakers.
Every single one of these artists have given more to this culture than just their music, and I’m so happy that in this moment and at this time they all have found each other.
What this night becomes is not just a chance to dance into the cold dark night under the cool mountain moonlight, but it’s also something so much more. The sounds coming out of the hall will be the sounds of people who have earned this moment, with drive, devotion, and support for our culture.
If there were one show I’d want you to go to this weekend, it would be this one. As each DJ belongs in this moment and this time. You have no idea how long an artist must go in order to say that, and still here we are.
Be happy for them. I know I am.
Both shows require you to pay at the door, so please, don’t miss out on these ones.
If Friday isn’t enough fun for you, don’t worry, there’s still one more show I’d like to squeeze in, that will end the weekend right for you, as Sister bar is getting taken over again by the group simply and proudly known as Adobe Disco.
Hot off of what I’m told was an outrageously amazing anniversary party with New York Legend Eli Escobar, the Adobe Disco crew return to the hot, funky, sweaty, and drunken filled mess that can only be called Sister bar.
In the heart of Downtown here in the 505, Sister bar will not only be serving some bomb as hell tacos, but they will also be providing the setting for the never ending b2b that is Adobe Disco.
Each DJ represents their own sound and background, and yet each also has found a way to their story through house. When merging that with the skills of the others in the group what you have now is a bit of a Voltron of Disco Music.
They play funky, they play real, they play solid all night long, and they are only growing both in their community, and also in their ability.
Combine that with the décor and lighting of the very creative and very original On-Syt and you get a one of a kind, unique experience every time you’re on the dancefloor at an Adobe Disco show.
Price at the door is only $5 but I caution you to please plan to arrive early, as I’ve experienced myself once, that this is the kind of party you might be left out in the cold from if you don’t make it in time.
In closing, I know these aren’t the only shows this weekend, and I also know St. Patrick’s day isn’t the only reason to go party either, but that is what’s so special about life sometimes, and I suppose about people.
We will work and work and work and work, and then just like that, we’ll look for any reason to just stop and enjoy ourselves.
That’s what this weekend really is, a chance to stop, and enjoy where our community is right now.
We’ve been through so much, both together, and alone in our own struggles, and as we carry forward all I can say is simply to keep going. If you’ve made it this far, and you’ve read my words, I wish to use them to tell you there’s still more to do.
Still more to see, still more to experience. New friends to make. New loves to be made. New Music to be heard. Now moments to have.
So, no matter what show you pick, just make sure it’s where your heart belongs.
And as they say around here from time to time, go early, stay late, support the fuckin culture.
Luck and skill may have gotten us here, but so did something else. Love.
We’re here because of love. So, please, get out on that dancefloor, and show it this weekend.
Released in the year 2000, when I was sixteen years old and already a raver for at least a year and a half, Groove follows the story of multiple people attending the same underground warehouse rave in San Francisco.
All of them there for different reasons, and all of them having different experiences in that one same night.
From the opening credits the constant influx of sounds, images, and vibrations are a wonderful introduction into the true life of a raver at the time.
Consumed by the dancefloor by night and the message boards by day, we’d scour every inch for hints of the next rave in both the real and cyber world, all ending up and also starting with what we used to lovingly call, the map point.
At the map point is where the main characters are introduced, and although there are many stories going on, I’d like to mainly focus on one, the journey of the educated introvert, David, as he attends a rave for the first time, a storyline I suppose we can all relate too in one way or the other. And what a night for him it would truly end up being.
Tagging along with his brother, he is as wide eyed as they come even though he is obviously already a full grown man. What this does is it instils the idea, that when entering this world, we are all completely naïve and unaware at the beginning, no matter where or when we started.
I can remember this feeling so well. The unknown of the warehouse that awaited my entrance. The look on the eyes of the people who have already been. Their commitment to the point of devotion.
All strangers in the sunlight but something so much more in the darkness of night.
This is what the rave asked of us. I don’t feel much has changed.
As they finally arrive at the rave, the storyline begins to correlate with the DJ’s playing, and how they change and progress as the night goes on. Which I love since it represents a DJ set itself.
Starting at one place and ending with something completely different, and if done properly, a representation of not just the person playing, but the entire night.
First is a small time local DJ named Snaz, just happy to be there, just happy to be a part of the crew, even if its only to have music when the doors are opened.
Such importance to that roll, though. Such responsibility in starting the night and creating the first vibe. For many people the opener’s music is going to be the first music they hear that night, and for David it’s the first sound he hears as he walks in the door.
Which is also right around the time he takes his first hit of ecstasy, an equally life changing experience as the first time at a rave, so when experienced together it becomes a legendary opportunity, for David at least.
But were any of us so different? As time goes on we pretend to be the jaded know it all, but deep down, we know the reason why we still go every night is because we want that feeling again.
That explosion in our brain that changed everything. That high we still chase to this day.
I know it. You know it.
After the opener comes Polywog, a character all on her own, and yet just as equal a part of the experience.
There are two moments that stand out about Polywog’s place in this story, and the first is the moment she lays her track over the opener’s.
The minute it drops the power goes up and so does the energy and I can tell you without thinking this moment happens at nearly every stop I make. The moment the gathering becomes a party, and people don’t just dance, they also let go.
The second moment involving Polywog, is when David has somehow wandered the Rave long enough to find Leyla, a bit of a rave angel, who doesn’t just save him from having a bad trip, but she also leads him onto the dancefloor just as Polywog is in the middle of mixing two records.
This moment shows the power a DJ who is skilled at their craft can have over not just the sounds, but also our own feelings. They can control the vibrations and frequencies in such a way that either madness or pleasure can happen. Sometimes both. But not most times.
What David is experiencing is again, a rite of passage we all must pass through in order to let it change you, and yet as he is experiencing this, we must also acknowledge, there are others at the Rave that this epiphany just doesn’t happen to. And we can try and show them the way, and offer them peace, but still it may fall on deaf ears.
That is the way of the Raver. We can share our joy with the entire world and still they may never even stop to notice us dancing in the darkness they created. I don’t feel that detail will ever change.
From here comes a moment that truly represented the time and state of mind of the Rave during the turn of the century, with first a Techno DJ, and then after that, Drum and Bass taking over the sound system. Such contrasting sounds from Polywog before them and even Snaz before that, but that was the point.
Nowadays we all have our own cliques, and our own shows to promote, and our friends to rally behind, but back then we didn’t have that luxury, and I suppose we didn’t need it. All sounds and styles were represented on the dancefloor and everybody was treated equally.
The Trance kids danced with the Jungle Crew, just like the Techno fam bounced with the House heads, and there was always, I mean always, a break dance circle at some point throughout the night.
There was no separation of sounds, and because of that, no separation of our culture. What is now considered a gimmick with one stage, we once knew as the standard and only way. What it did is it broke down those barriers we made around ourselves and between each other. The barriers I can feel that are going up again, especially here in the 505.
With all its dramatics, and cheesy lines, and goofiness, Groove is an attempt to represent a moment in our lives we knew so well. The moment where the impossible seemed real and when magic stopped being something we just saw in the movies. It was now something we were a part of.
From there comes another moment we all experienced just like all the rest. The moment the Rave gets busted.
As David is falling in love, with both a woman, and the rave itself, a police officer is wandering the warehouse looking for an excuse to shut it down.
Played by Nick Offerman, who would later go on to play one of my favorite characters of all time, Ron Swanson from the show Parks and Rec, the officer agrees to let them keep going as long as they kept it down and safe.
A moment that happened often back then.
At any moment a cop may be standing there ready to arrest you if you gave him a reason, and the fact that most of us were underage and on drugs wasn’t helping our cause. It’s so funny to think how dangerous it actually was, but lets be honest, that was part of the fun, right?
But with great fun comes the constant counter. Often times the cop wasn’t so nice and he’d come back to shut the whole thing down, which is exactly what this officer does later in the night as people from another rave crowd around the outside.
What was once a small gathering was now a busted event, with the headliner never even having the chance to show up.
For everyone involved it’s a disaster and major letdown, with David himself losing Leyla in the crowd, and eventually finding his brother again as he wandered the street in the night. Typical way a broken up rave usually ends.
But this is where a bit of Hollywood comes in with even a movie like Groove. Just as the people filed out and the warehouse is quiet again, the headliner shows up ready to play his set, and who is the headliner for this one?
None other, than legendary DJ John Digweed, who at the time was already a massively respected and admired DJ by all corners of the Rave World, and not much has changed to this day.
With Digweed’s presence and enthusiasm now included, the four people throwing the rave decide to find a generator, invite everybody back, and finish the rave in the proper way, with Digweed spinning the last track.
As we see Raver’s slam red bulls or even dose back up, we cut right into a wonderful return to the dancefloor as Digweed is already well into it and playing an absolutely epic song that I’d find years later, called Virtua Trancer.
Even the head of the crew decides to relinquish his authority to spend the rest of the night dancing, enjoying it with the rest of the people brave and devoted enough to come back.
And it’s at this moment, that the magic truly happens not just for everybody on the dancefloor, but also for myself as well, and I’d like to finally tell you why.
Right around the time Groove came out, I had gone to my first outdoor rave, a two day one called Rumors that they had somewhere out near three sided hole in Rio Rancho or something.
Rumors was a part of a wonderful moment for the New Mexico rave scene, and for myself as well. So much of my past connects to that weekend, and in this case, the music is the perfect example.
Somewhere during the weekend, I heard a song, and I loved it without question as soon as I heard it. And not only that, but the crowd loved it as well. Everybody everywhere on that dancefloor was just getting down, and going crazy, and enjoying every moment.
That song lit up the dancefloor unlike any song I have heard since, and I wondered for a long time what that song was. Would I ever hear it again? Did it even have a name?
For the longest time we’d just call it ‘The Rumors song’. I mean, it’s not like we could go on the internet and search it out. Spotify, Apple Music, all that stuff were at least a decade away, and unless we stood over the DJ as they played their track, we had no way of knowing what it really was.
It took me a long time to hear that song again, and I didn’t actually hear it anywhere. That is, until Digweed mixed in his final track.
I remember that day so well, we were at Sonya and Serge’s house over on Broadway, and there must have been at least 10 of us that day. All young with nothing better to do.
So we’d just hang and smoke and watch vhs tapes until the people with cars showed back up.
So I’m sitting there and sure enough, he mixes, and boom, it’s the Rumors song, and not all of us were at Rumors, so not all of us noticed. I suppose they think of it as the Groove song, but I suppose that’s part of the point.
Any song at any moment can mean anything to anybody, and yet sometimes a song doesn’t just do that, but it finds a way to unite us all. To bring forth from our memories that moment and feeling where we knew this movement would change the world.
But Rumors, just like the rave in Groove, eventually came to an end, and with that came the sunrise and the realization that life goes on and so does the beat. For that wonderful moment I felt out there in the desert, I now knew I had something to come back to as a way of remembering what it meant to me, which I suppose was the point of the movie as well.
The actors weren’t the best, the storyline had some holes and obvious stereotypes. The plotlines were simple, but then again they just didn’t have to be so complicated. Wasn’t that what we loved about the rave in the first place?
In closing, there is one thing I’d like to reference before I say my last words about groove, and although there are many parts and storylines In this one night that deserve mention, I feel the final one is perhaps the cheesiest.
The nod.
It’s mentioned before Digweed goes on, and it’s shown at the end of the night as David thanks Ernie for the show.
“I really needed this.” And he nods.
I understand how foolish and over the top this really is, but I can also assure you it is a very real thing, whether we want to admit it or not.
The people on the dancefloor need this. We need it to get through, we need it to help us stop and enjoy or lives, but most of all, we need it to find each other.
Where would we be if the music didn’t lead us into each other’s lives? Who would we be?
The music may be the excuse for being there, but never the reason. Groove knows that and so do I.
So, as the movie comes to an end, and everybody goes their separate ways, ready to return to their normal lives for just a little bit more, at least until the next one; the idea and message is clear.
If we don’t stop every now and then, and notice the beauty that surrounds us, both in the Rave and in each other, it may very well one day just pass us by.
Say thank you for the moment, and for the music, and even those awkward moments we won’t have back. Even if you don’t realize it, the promoter may need that thanks the same way you needed the dancefloor.
I know how cheesy that sounds. But so does a movie based on a rave. Which is why we love it. And all I hope for you, if you’re reading these words, is that one day, you’ll have a Rumors moment of your own, and that while you’re having it, you’re surrounded by the people you love.
Come find me on the dancefloor some time. I’ll be trying to find my Groove.
Ourdancefloor.net 