Beyond Wonderland Tickets are now officially on sale. The line-up is crazy. They’ve got a techno line-up with Richie Hawtin, a trance lineup with Cosmic Gate and Simon Patterson, as well as a great house tent with Dirty South and Kaskade as the headliners. This is definitely not one to miss. I’ll see you all there!

If you’re looking for tickets, here is the link.

Brief post of excitement: Tickets are on sale for HARD weekend! If you’re on the search, grab them here.

As if we had reason to doubt that Vegas had enough money to spend… The Marquee club at the brand new Cosmopolitan hotel has just thrown down quite an immense line-up of residents – some of the biggest names in house and trance will be gracing the stage throughout the next year. The Cosmo is going for a bougie vibe – trying to bring some of the scenesters and culture kings of Los Angeles to Las Vegas. And I’m not going to lie, it’s working on me.

Let’s see who we’ve got in the next month… Chukie, Dirty South, Steve Angello, Kaskade, Sander van Doorn, Above and Beyond… sounds like whoever is doing the booking has got their finger on the pulse of EDM. At the very least, it seems to me that they have booked some of the most popular acts in Southern California at this club. They’ve also got Markus Schulz, Cosmic Gate, and ATB booked as residents and there is an alluring banner ad with the name Armin van Buuren on there. As a trance addict I am very inclined to move to Las Vegas however a life of gambling and desert roaming just ain’t in the cards for me yet. However you can bet that I will be doing my darnest to try to get over there.

Another thing that’s looking good at Marquee is the setup. With a caveat of course – the dance floor looks fairly small, with more room being reserved for (you guessed it) table service and the like. But that’s to be expected and almost any night out with a name like Kaskade or Steve Angello probably warrants some pushing and shoving anyway. After getting past that, Marquee has a full LED wall behind the DJ as well as awesome lights hanging down from the ceiling and  a robot dancer a-la Ibiza making appearances. It’s also got a Funktion One audio system, which I can attest to having been to Vanguard. That thing sounds GOOD.

Damn it. They got me. Those promoters and club designers. They always do. Avalon has been more on an underground, techy housey vibe lately which although grimy and cool sometimes just ain’t my thing. There’s nothing I can do. I am looking at Vegas as the new mecca of pop EDM for myself to peruse, which is an interesting concept in its own. It seems that EDM is now able to straddle the fence of mainstream music but at the same time have a lot of underground street cred depending of course on the genre and the artist. Well looks like Marquee is looking to push the fence a little bit toward the mainstream side, which is fine by me. I tend to like the more main stream sound anyway (as Rob will surely attest).With the pool parties and festivals at the Palms, Vegas is looking mighty good these days in terms of dance music. Of course there are people who think that Vegas doesn’t have a good dance music scene because they lack any sort of underground movement. Although I am usually not part of these movements, I would have to agree to an extent – they do have a couple of clubs with legitimate lineups (Perfecto at Rain being the second) but they don’t quite have the dance music culture that Los Angeles and New York do. But to those people I say – give it time. As people recognize this music more and more, this scene will form. After all, Vegas has over a million in population and some of these people surely frequent the strip and its nightlife. So let’s just wait and see.

Anyway, while we’re on the subject, I’m off to Vegas this weekend. Won’t be making it to Marquee this time around but I am slated to see Kaskade on the 12th. Until then, I will be looking closely at their future calendar to see what catches my eye and so should you. Looks like Vegas is looking to put a dent into the EDM scene. Since it’s 4 hours from LA, I’m all for it. Here we go!

A bit of old news but earlier this month a couple of events in Los Angeles were shut down by the fire marshall, hinting at a stronger enforcement of policies and restrictions when it comes to EDM events. Although it really sucks to have an event shut down, I welcome a little bit of involvement from the authorities. Too many events have occurred that are completely oversold and packed to the brim with people. As we saw at EDC, if everyone decides to go to the main stage, you can have 4 other empty stages and one REALLY full stage which can lead to problems (health and enjoyment of the event alike).

Both events were shut down on the same day. The first was Steve Angello at Avalon, which was shut down just a few weeks before when Dada Life was playing. I have no depressing video of this, luckily, and rumors online are saying that it may have been due to potential GHB overdoses. GHB is an incredibly dangerous drug because the line between a good trip and an overdose is quite thin. People who couldn’t draw that line ruined the party for other people, however it wasn’t until 5 AM when most people still at the club are either incredibly tired or may be in such a “good mood” that they don’t care about being shut down (which is the vibe I got from the online boards I read regarding this event).

The other event that was shut down was WinterFresh. I’m not gonna lie, I was actually thinking about going to this event (I had work the next morning so there was no way it was going to happen… but it did cross my mind). What happened with this is quite an interesting story:

The venue that WinterFresh originally planned to use canceled on them, and so they decided to move it to 2 venues in San Bernardino that typically host raves – The Hudson and The Fox. Ticket holders were told they had to choose one of the 2 venues to prevent overcrowding.

Well unfortunately the overcrowding wasn’t quite prevented and it attracted the attention of the police. According to a forum post by a knowledgeable attendee who spoke to security, WinterFresh tried to label their event a “music festival” and not a rave so they could have it as all ages. The police quickly caught on to this little trick, deemed it a rave, and shut it down because raves in Los Angeles now have to be 18 and over. And let me tell you, this event was not 18 and over. I have seen numerous videos and pictures of the event and I couldn’t see anyone there over 20. This is further compounded by the fact that a 14 year old girl and her 16 year old friend went missing after the event (but were subsequently found). The LA blog post linked to above has a quote from the mom regarding her giving her daughter permission to go:

“I was ignorant,” Lopez said. “I didn’t know how bad it is. I will never let her to go a place like that again.”

I have a feeling many parents who allow their young children to go to these events would have a similar reaction. If this isn’t depressing enough, check out this video of the DJ who I most wanted to see at the event, Michael Woods, getting shut down:

Long story short, although I feel bad for the WinterFresh promoters and crew because they tried to put on a big event for everyone with a decent line up and got completely shut down, there are of course some other factors that have to come into play here. Just like Insomniac and GoVentures have, the Fresh Squeezed crew should take responsibility for throwing safe, responsible events. This may be quite difficult out in San Bernardino which has an even bigger drug focus at their events than we do, but of course the place to start is by raising the age limit. Having publicity like “14 year old girl missing” coming out of your event is reaaaallly bad and should be avoided at all costs. The next thing to do is work with the authorities, show them that you are throwing good parties, and thus get them off your back in the future. Going against them, switching venues, mis-labeling events, etc. will all turn sour and ruin further chances of good relationships, especially right now with people like Fiona Ma trying to essentially ban raves in California.

OK so with the depressing stuff out of the way here’s some good news – TAO has a solid lineup, and San Diego has a growing festival scene with Ferry Corsten, Moby, and Afrojack gracing the stage at Epic NYE. Furthermore, Vegas is cracking open a new club at the new Cosmopolitan hotel called the Marquee, with Kaskade and Erick Morillo both signing on as residents. Oh and did I mention Tiesto will be in LV almost every month? Sweeeeet.

Let’s move on from the stuff getting shut down, put more stuff up, be responsible, and most importantly enjoy the amazing music. Here’s to 2011!

As much as I wish it was, the title is not some sort of cryptic mysterious message to the world about the state of my mind or feelings toward government. I simply began the mix with the track The End by Eric Prydz who, according to a rumor, might be playing at Coachella 2011 which would tip the scales 90% in favor of me going just to see him.

The music in this mix are my favorite tracks from late; more trance-leaning than my usual style but that’s where my head’s been at lately. Definitely been getting more into the sound that DJ Eco favors – more melodic but psychedelic tracks with reminders of Pink Floyd or Radiohead. The track On a Good Metropolis Day is somewhat overplayed at this point but I chose to include it just because it’s so damn good and because I wanted to have a record of it as a personal favorite. Although it began playing last summer, it didn’t get released until just now. That’s right – the electronic music industry is milking their releases just like regular music people do. Very interesting. Another favorite on there is Armin’s Gaia – Aisha. The trance top 1000 just came out and Tuvan came in at #7 but I think Aisha is much much better. I guess time will tell since this poll was JUST conducted. Also on there is a track by Arty which is simply amazing – my comrade from Russia is blowing up fast and I’m happy for him.

Hope you enjoy the mix; expect more posts from me soon.

Beginning With The End by Slavamusic on Mixcloud

A new infomercial is being created with Will.I.Am and Kaskade that is intended to inform people about the dangers of ecstasy use. (click here for the article) That’s right, you heard me. Will.I.Am and Kaskade.

Now let’s be honest here, on the ladder of the most followed and respected people in the rave scene, I’m not sure if these 2 guys are at the top. Or perceived to be at the top by anyone. While Kaskade may have the following of plenty of young ladies and Will.I.Am is a respected hip hop producer (who has developed a reputation of playing horrible house sets, one of which I witnessed at EDC), I’m sure we could get some better people to do these commercials. I mean, just look at that photo! Horrible fashion sense: sunglasses indoors, a beanie combined with what appears to be a vest on top of some sort of winter jacket… and is that a python crawling past his tie?! I wouldn’t trust this man to sell me a vial of snake oil.

Here are some of my suggestions:

1. Deadmau5

I mean, c’mon. The guy looks like he’s always strung out on drugs and there are certainly some incriminating pictures of him as a raver in the days of yore, big ol’ pants and kandi everywhere. Why not have him step up to the plate, admit his wrongs a-la MLB, and then tell kids that drugs are not the way to enjoy songs that hit harder than an anvil landing on your face? Let’s get this guy out there making some commercials!

2. Armin van Buuren

Top of the trance game, top of the dance game. This guy tours the world and plays sold out arena shows anywhere he goes, so why not have the nicest Dutchman around make a couple of announcements to kids to stop using drugs? You certainly don’t need them in order to sit through a mixture of 5 minute songs, 3 min of which are epic breakdowns with a possible 15-30 seconds of silence, during which of course you should throw your hands in the air and pray to the god of AVB. As a matter of fact, any other Dutch DJ could fit the bill quite nicely. Tiesto and/or Ferry could step in here.

3. Lil Jon

I mean, c’mon, the guy did such a good job telling people to get off the fence during EDC, he can probably tell the “stupid ass motherf@#$ers” to stop doing drugs too. Worked then, it’ll work now. Trust me.

4. David Guetta

The reason I think the Guetta Blaster would be a fine person to use for these announcements is the fact that he has an easy solution: love. Watch any performance he does and listen to any song he has released in the past 10 years: love is all you need. One Love. When Love Takes Over. Love Don’t Let Me Go. Love is Gone… wait no that one doesn’t count. This Frenchman can give us the love that we so desperately seek when we do drugs. In fact, he told us at TAO and EDC that he loves us all, so I don’t really see any reason to harm myself anymore.

5. Swedish House Mafia

These guys party like rockstars everywhere they go. They have amassed quite a following and reputation in the past year by touring together and playing a ton of anthems and classics, mashups, and all sorts of DJ trickery. Why not have them go on the screen and tell you that MDMA use is not the way to enjoy this music! In fact, these guys have a solution as well. Fairly sure every interview I’ve read with them of recent has shown that they like to have a little, or a lot, of the devil’s concoction (AKA booze) before their shows, and even afterward on a private jet with Tiesto. I personally think that is just fine, just fine indeed.

Conclusion

Clearly someone should hire me at the Los Angeles Department of Public Health. I know and will do what it takes to get the message out. Drugs are bad, mmmmkay?

Well, looks like the good times are back. Break out the torches, tell your sister to lock the back door, and get ready to rumble.

On November 3rd, it was announced that the ban on raves at the coliseum had been lifted. This means that we can look forward to the same events that have been happening there such as EDC, TAO, Monster Massive, etc. and not be concerned with them being banned and having to drive out to Riverside or something just to enjoy some good music.

As much as I bitch, I would have to say that I’m happy that at least there is not that fact looming over the heads of the promoters. Looks like the city has taken note of a few things, namely:

1. 18+ - each event is now actually 18 and over, and IDs are being checked. Not like before where there were no ID checks to be seen and you were left wondering if that girl in front of you wearing next to nothing should be at a slumber party for her friend’s sweet 16.

2. Safety Precautions - more cops, more emergency staff, more drug safety awareness, etc. Always good, although I always say let’s get to the root of the problem and start literally booting out people who look like they can’t handle themselves. People who, for example, look like they just went on Splash Mountain and are drenched in sweat. Or people who are shuffle dancing so hard it’s like they’re playing pinball with the people standing around them

3. Water - at Nocturnal, nalgene water bottles were provided and people could refill them at no cost. I say keep that going! Coachella has dollar water, this is good too. I realize water is a huge money maker for these events and I do want these events to make money but not at the expense of health and safety. I’m willing to pay a buck or two, but I’m not willing to pay 4 bucks and not get the cap.

So kudos to GoVentures and Insomniac for being on their best behavior, and showing the government that raves can be fun and responsible. Sure, shit happens once in a while just like it does at rock concerts and sports events, but if we just act wisely we can really minimize the damage and dangers of these events.

Next step: more people enjoying the music and less people going nuts for the sake of it. A man can dream!!!

Meanwhile I’ve been working Sunday mornings and haven’t gone to a show since August. Itching to go. Itching! Hoping for an event to “scratch” me soon.

After reading some of the reviews for Monster Massive on tranceaddict, I am again finding motivation to write in this blog and attend more EDM events. Honestly, for a while, I was just disappointed with the crowds that were coming out to the events and the mass acts of irresponsibility that I was seeing at clubs and massives alike. Of course, it’s all in my head and there’s a chance that absolutely nothing has changed but hey, that’s how life works.

Anyway I thought I would post this video from CBS news regarding Monster Massive.

On one hand, their main point seems to be that tons of precautions are being taken to make sure the event goes down safely and the death from EDC is not repeated. On the other hand… listen to what they have there. Basically an entire police squadron, private security, an entire fire department, as well as an emergency room doctor and other medical staff on hand. If you heard this outside of its context, it sounds like they are preparing for a massive fucking catastrophe or Iraq invasion. This shouldn’t be what raves are about.

Again, let me get on the soapbox and say this again: what happened to PLUR? What happened to “the love”? All these new people showing up and treating raves like a private party with their buddies where they can get completely drugged up and wander around a large space like it’s some sort of zoo exhibition should just LEAVE and let those who are there to enjoy world class music have their fun.

The make-up of big dance events is certainly changing little by little, with more mainstream people showing up but also more and more people just looking to get as messed up as possible. However I am happy to hear that precautions are being taken, and that the 18+ rule is being enforced, so that at the very least there is a little less immaturity and irresponsibility at these events. I have more to rant about but I’ll just stop there because I do have hope. In lieu of negativity here are some epic videos from the event:

Dancing security guard – always nice to see

It’s been fairly dead lately, besides of course the big Nocturnal Festival. Maybe it just feels that way because I’m angry that Tiesto got canceled. Or maybe everyone’s just recovering from the intense summer season – even while all the big DJs were tearing up Ibiza, we certainly had some big visitors of our own. Well now it’s all over. Summer is done. Relax and chill for a few weeks and then start getting ready for Halloween and the big fall line-up.

We’ve already done a preview of the big, looming Monster Massive. I truly hope that it goes off without any problems. I have been unhappy with the planning and setups that GoVentures have done in the past but I have heard that they are getting better. I’m sure they don’t want to meet the same fate as Insomniac and LovEvolution and have their events canceled. The event is already 18+ and hopefully they will copy last year’s set-up by putting the main stage outside. Although it really comes down to how cold it is.

Also on the horizon is Hard Haunted Mansion, which is a two day affair this year. A lot of solid

acts on that line-up, sure to please what I have termed “electro hipsters”. It would be interesting just to check out all the ridiculous costumes that night, but I will most likely be making my way over to West Hollywood Carnaval. Still bitter about Tiesto.

But now let’s get down to what I’m really here to discuss, which is Insomniac’s “Picking Up the Slack” Campaign*. Although Giant’s got some big acts on the way – the usual club house destroyers Sebastian Ingrosso, Sharam, Dubfire, etc. what we’re really lacking around here are

the rock starts of electronic music. And that, of course, is where Insomniac comes in.

In the next few months, Insomniac is hosting numerous big acts at the Palladium. I think this is a great alternative to clubs and massives. You get more of an open, free atmosphere compared to a club. A more diverse crowd, and more energy (due to less people attending just to be seen in Hollywood). On the other hand, it is smaller scale compared to a massive and hopefully less treated as a rave, based on the acts I have seen do similar events at The Shrine. So to me it is the best of both worlds.

Finally got mixcloud to work; when it first started, uploading a mix took forever because their servers were in China or something. But now it’s all good, uploads quickly, tags well, and plays well. So here’s my 2010 September mix of my favorite trance tracks of the summer. I know I definitely broke some cardinal rules of repeating producers but what can I say? Ferry and Armin killed it this summer with some top notch work!

Hope I have time to make more mixes soon.

The photo is from EDC at main stage #2. I think Basement Jaxx were on.

September 2010 Mix by Slavamusic on Mixcloud