Day Twenty Two - Thursday, February 21, 2008

Still exercising, eating right, and working hard…

Day Twenty Three - Friday, February 22, 2008

One last day of exercising, eating right, and working hard before the weekend. I worked all day before popping over to Chris from Soma’s place to have a few beers and play some records.

Day Twenty Four - Saturday, February 23, 2008

I slept through my alarm and barely made it to the airport in time to board a plane with Slam to Cardiff, Wales. When we arrived, we learned that the hotel where we were supposed to stay had been fully booked by rugby fans for the Wales vs England game. Rugby is Wales’ national sport and people just go insane over it here. We ended up at a Hilton in Newport, in the middle of nowhere. We arrived too early to check in and after breakfast. We had to resort to McDonald’s for breakfast while we waited for our rooms, as it was the only option for food and seats at the time in Newport. McDonald’s over here is about fifty times worse than it is in the states. Awful.

We eventually got our rooms and I killed off the day by sleeping and practicing my set for the night. We were picked up in a nice cab that had an in-dash TV on which we watched videos of Amy Winehouse performing live. We got into town with little time to do much outside of setting up and hitting play. The event for the night is called “Cool House.” This is the first one this year and is the first ever club night in Wales to run until 7 am. The venue is great—two floors, the top with two rooms, Martin audio downstairs and a nicely tuned Funktion-1 for us upstairs. There is also a third floor for the green room. Just outside is a cool patio area right on the street, which is filled with rugby fans and clubgoers.

The place was already packed full with a line down the street when we arrived. With a “No rugby shirts” policy and other scrutiny at the door, we were ensured a peaceful crowd. I squeezed my way upstairs and set up in the smallest DJ booth I’ve ever occupied. It was nearly impossible to have set up two turntables, two CDJs, and three laptops (two with Serato and mine with my controller and mouse). The DJ before was playing just the right music to warm up for my set. I’d heard that this venue usually caters more to house fans, so I’d picked out some of my more straightforward-yet-organic pieces. It all sounded immaculate on the Funktion-1, though it was at times difficult to hear past the booth’s blaringly bright monitors.

The crowd was really tough to read. Everyone was dancing, but it was as if there was little more than a metronome going on in theirs heads. It stayed busy and moving, but the crowd showed no signs of reaction to my set’s ups and downs. It was a very neutral experience. Slam had the same thing going on for them, so I think we just had a really mellow crowd. Since I had to hang around until almost the end, I spent most of the time either dancing to Slam’s set or hanging out in the pool table-equipped green room and chatting with a few folks over some cocktails. The drinks were running out quickly and it was a task to get anyone to replenish them. Slam was off by 5am and we split pretty much right afterwards, accidentally leaving a little bit of non-essential yet handy gear behind.

Day Twenty Five - Sunday, February 24, 2008

I had a good night’s sleep followed by a big breakfast, and we headed back to the airport for Glasgow. I walked away from the experience with mixed feelings. It was a great spot, the night went really well for the promoters, the sound system was amazing, and the place was packed until late. But it felt like that energy I look for in a gig never materialized. By the time I was back in Glasgow, I felt that itch for fun just wasn’t scratched and I had a ball of energy to release.

I’d heard about Optimo’s Sunday night weekly at the Sub Club many times in the last couple years and decided it was time to finally check it out. I made a couple calls, got on the guest list, and caught a cab. In my haste, I failed to notice the time and arrived over an hour early. It was freezing cold and raining a bit and there is nothing around that’s open on a Sunday night. I just waited until people showed up and was let in early. It worked out, as it gave me a chance to meet Optimo’s Keith and Jonnie, two really great guys and amazing DJs. I also met their manager, a girl from Kentucky who was the first person with an American accent with whom I’ve chatted in too long.

I’ve heard mixes from Optimo before, noting their extremely wide range, and was really looking forward to just chilling out and hearing some quality music on a Sunday night. They started off with some really nice ambient pieces and slowly, slowly built it up into some mid-tempo and rock stuff as people filed in. Keith played “Sad Song” by former Oregonian, Fredo, which I thought was rad. As the crowd grew, it became obvious that this is something of a service industry night. Lots of hairstyles, tattoos, tight jeans, headbands, etc. on most, which made my jeans-and-hoodie self feel a tad out of place at first. To my surprise, Sub Club reached it’s 500-600 person capacity on this Sunday night. Mostly a hipster crowd with a notable population of tourists and the occasional fellow music geek.

By 1 am, the place was absolutely exploding into a giant dance party. I barely even noticed Optimo’s long, smooth transition into massive, driving, acid techno. I destroyed the dance floor for hours, getting my fun fix and then some. Sub Club remained full right until they shut their doors at 3 am. I stayed after for some time and had some drinks and conversation with the staff and some new friends.

Links:
Let’s Go OutsideSpace
Optimo

Photo courtesy of Let’s Go OutsideSpace