north of LA to San Bernardino in a record time of one hour and ten
minutes, and ended with getting a green and white piece of candy that
reads "I love ganja" from an adorable little girl at her first rave.
But I am getting ahead of myself.
I got off work that night earlier than expected, hyper and excited for
Mardi Gras 4. I had been waiting all week for this evening to come,
and now it was finally here! It felt like Christmas. I quickly
transformed from mild-mannered, steakhouse hostess to aggressive,
black and cammo junglist. After grabbing a naked juice and a double
shot of espresso, I was ready for anything! I put Portishead into the
CD player, and cruised from the mountainous retreat known as the Santa
Clarita Valley down the 210 towards the industrial jugular of the
Inland Empire. On the way, I got a phone call from Mark, letting me
know that he, his wife, and Rob, would be rolling out from San Diego
to come check out the debauchery. This news amped me up that much
more, the whole RD crew would be united together for the first time
since TAO! I felt absolutely electric and my car practically danced
up the freeway.
When I pulled into the parking lot of the Hudson, I was shocked to see
that it was already overfilled. Cars wandered aimlessly thru the
packed aisles, praying to the lot gods for a spot to materialize. I
followed suit, and happened upon a spot, far in a dark corner of the
property. I wasn't comfortable parking that far, alone, with my
camera and valuables, but I was more concerned with getting inside the
party before DJ Rabbit/Mad Hatter started their set at 11pm. This
gave me about 10 minutes to get going. So I muttered a prayer for
good vibes and karma to the air surrounding my car, then proceeded to
cross the dimly lit, brisk parking lot to the entrance of the venue.
There were so many people in line! I was blown away by the turnout.
I managed my way to the front, where my camera and I were welcomed
inside, thanks to DJ Rabbit's guestlist (thanks again Rabbit, you and
Hatter ROCK!).
I had never been on the "other" side or the "Hudson" side of the
building before, so I decided to make a quick round of the facility
before going on stage to photograph Rabbit and Hatter. I weaved my
way thru the writhing crowd to the main stage on the Hudson half, and
when I saw how large the dance floor and the stage were, and the glory
of the laser/light display setup, I knew this would be an appropriate
place for the likes of DJ Irene and Lenny V. to lay down their sets.
A tingling anticipation swept thru me; I hadn't seen DJ Irene since
the red carpet club in Hollywood now known as the Vangard used to be a
dirty rave venue called Qtopia (hey who remembers that?).
After assessing the scene, which I found to be very visually
appealing, I made my way back over toward the Hudson side, just in
time to catch DJ Rabbit starting his set. I bounced upstairs towards
the stage, which was a balcony set up, overlooking the multi-level
dance floor below. At the top I found someone I had been looking
forward to meeting, DJ Siesta Soul! We had been corresponding online,
but had never met in person, so I was excited to make his
acquaintance. He was a jolly fellow, but the poor bastard had the
unpleasant job of herding bystanders away from the turntables.
People, if you are gonna stand near the DJ, give him at least four
feet of breathing room, okay? The last thing we need is for someone
to bump the tables or the DJ and screw up the mix………
I had never heard Rabbit or Mad Hatter's music before, so I was
curious as to their style and approach. Within a few minutes of
Rabbit touching the stylus to the first record, I could tell I would
enjoy the set. Hard, beautiful, trance music poured out of the
speakers, embracing those below with its warm, loving embrace. The
lasers seemed to feed off the energy produced by the bass; I felt
almost hypnotized by the beat, inhaled, and smiled. I felt at one
with the universe, and all my cares, worries and stresses from that
other world, the one outside of the rave, seemed to melt away. Use of
a microphone amped the crowd up that much more ("What up everyone!!!
Who is having a good time??!"), and the whole room seemed to bounce in
unison. Unfortunately, Mad Hatter wasn't able to join in due to some
complications with the CD decks, but other than that, the set was
flawless.
After Rabbit came one of my favorite trance DJ's of all time, DJ
Samurai!!! Luckily the CD decks were up and running at this point so
he could work his magic. I was so excited to be breathing the same
air as the man while he was in action I could hardly contain myself.
Samurai's set was at the same time slot as DJ Irene's (of course, damn
I wish there were 2 of me so I could watch them both simultaneously!),
so I reluctantly pulled myself away from his set so I could go catch
the last half of hers.
The main room was in full swing. Mardi Gras themed masks, sexy
lingerie, and colorful glow sticks were everywhere! It was indeed a
glorious feast for the senses. The RD crew and I met up along the way
to the front of the stage, where I showed security my press pass and
business card. However, the security guard wouldn't let me onstage.
I argued, begged, pleaded, but he wouldn't budge. I was frustrated.
All I wanted to do was get some good close-ups of Irene! Then I
noticed Siesta Soul onstage, watching Irene work the decks. I sent
him psychic messages to turn his head and notice me, so I could
accomplish my mission. After about 30 minutes, right when I was going
to give up and go dance in the center of the crowd, Siesta Soul turned
his head. I saw a look of recognition cross his face, and he pointed
at me, then waved for me to come onstage. I pointed to the stubborn
security guard, and Siesta walked over. "She's cool", he said. Just
two words, that's all it took, and then I was within 5 feet of the
goddess herself. She remixed some of my favorite records ("They know
what is what, but they don't know what is what…they just strut…what
the fuck?"), and she played some mixes new to me also, including
"Sweet Child of Mine". It was sick!
One of the things I love most about seeing Irene live is that she is
always having such a damn good time. She was laughing, smiling,
throwing her hands in the air, screaming at the crowd, taking pictures
and video……she seemed to be having more fun that anyone on the dance
floor. Quite a statement, considering the craziness that was going on
out there; girls mounted on friends shoulders, lightshows galore,
people dancing on tables and countertops, freakin' awesome, complete,
madness.
As DJ Irene's set neared its end and Reza got ready to take over, AMS
impressed me yet again with a gorgeous balloon drop. Hundreds of
balloons dropped lazily down from the ceiling onto unsuspecting,
pleasantly surprised ravers below, right as the house music built into
a bass ridden frenzy. It was like New Year's, but without the whole
new year thing. I love it when production companies do things like
this. The little details make the event huge, and keep us loyal
subjects wanting more.
I love Reza and always enjoy his music, but he had the same time slot
as another deejay I hadn't seen in many years; Mystre! So I left the
main room and headed back to the balcony to bask in the glory of
Mystre's trance. I still can't believe he was there. Back in the day
it used to be "Mars and Mystre" and then things kinda fell off and so
did some of the deejays from that time. And there he was, a legend
just feet from me. Of course his set was fantastic and didn't
disappoint in the slightest. There was so much talent at Mardi Gras 4
I almost felt dizzy.
At 3am, Mystre's set was coming to a close, and another legendary
deejay was starting his set in the main room, so I migrated once more
from the balcony to the stage. Lenny V. is an especially important
deejay to me personally because my first rave, Cotton Mouth 2000, was
thrown in honor of his birthday. I feel he is partially responsible
for influencing my 9 year addiction to raves. Like Mystre and Irene,
I hadn't seen Lenny's name on a flier in a very long time.
On my way to the house room, I decided to pause for a moment and take
a breath of fresh air, which in my language means going into the
jungle room and getting a dose of some ¾ time beats. It was like
stepping into another world, just the way I like jungle rooms to be;
with green lights, no stobes, and fake plants and shrubbery
enshrouding the stage and speakers. I found the popping circle, but
my legs were starting to punish me for being on them for more than 12
hours, so I just kind of hung out and soaked up the rough and tuff
d'n'b being mixed up by APX-1.
Feeling refreshed, I decided it was time to go see Lenny V. Security
remembered me this time, so getting on stage was much easier than when
I was trying to photograph Irene. The crowd was still going strong,
and Lenny seemed to feel the loving vibe and return it to them ten
fold. After about 20 minutes, someone came up to me and told me there
were too many people on stage. Yeah, but I am a journalist trying to
get some good pics of Lenny. Doesn't matter, off you go. Oh well, I
was getting too tired to fight. I had gotten some decent pics, so I
sauntered off to take pictures of the back of the main room, and then
I went back to the balcony to check out X-Phactor's trance. I had
been running around like a mad-man, taking hundreds of pictures and
trying to hear as many deejays as possible. Needless to say, I was
starting to burn out. I enjoyed X-Phactor's set too, and as it neared
its end, I decided to take the next half hour off and go disappear
back in the Jungle room. At this point it was after 4am, so the crowd
was starting to thin out a little. I found a corner in the back of
the room where I could put down my camera and backpack for a few
moments and just dance to the sound of Mikey B., nothing else. It
felt nice, and I decided that it had been an excellent night. Then I
remembered the long drive ahead of me, and how it was supposed to rain
that morning, so I decided it was time for me to leave.
I went back to the corner where I had stowed my belongings, only to
find that a couple had planted themselves in the same corner. I
excused myself as I squeezed my way past them to grab my things. The
girl looked up at me and said, "It's okay. It's my first rave!
What's your name? Do you want a piece of candy?". Normally I would
reject such a colorful offer, but something about the look in her
eyes; the innocence, the purity, the perfect awe of being exposed to a
world she didn't, until this night, knew even existed, melted my cold
junglist heart. So I graciously accepted her offer, only to realize
that I had nothing to offer in return. Once again, she said that was
okay, and she looked at her bracelet laden wrists thoughtfully. After
a moment, she interlocked her fingers with mine, and she carefully
slid the selected piece off her wrist and onto mine. This may have
been her first rave, but someone taught her the old-skool style of
trading candy beads. For the millionth time that night, I smiled, and
felt that this interaction had somehow completed my adventure, and now
it was appropriate for me to leave. I grabbed my things, and stepped
out of the shelter of the Hudson/Gotham into the rainy streets of
reality.
It wasn't until the next day that I actually looked at the bracelet
that the little girl in the jungle room gave to me. If junglists were
to wear candy, this would be it. I love green and white, and yes, I
love ganja. Whoever you are, you read me like a book, and thank you
very much for the bracelet. I haven't taken it or the smile off since
Saturday……………
Thanks to AMS Entertainment for throwing a sick event! Thanks to DJ
Rabbit for hooking it up with guestlist! And thanks go out to Siesta
Soul for helping me get pics of Irene! I love all you guys and look
forward to my next bass fix………..
