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My New Years started out with a lot of uncertainty, mainly as
to where I was going to be partying that night. The day before
New Years Eve, a friend and I decided that Together As One would
be the place to be that night, just because of all the people
we knew would be in attendance. After making a few phone calls,
we managed to hook up some free tickets (yea!), and then we made
a few more phone calls to let some friends know that theyd be
coming along with us.
The day of the event was mainly spent running errands, and making
phone calls to arrange everything for that night. Around 5 oclock,
my sidekick, Ariele, and myself finally got out and on our way
to the party. After making a stop in Riverside to join up with
another friend, we headed for L.A. and our hotel. We met up with
a fourth addition to the group, in the form of Lindsay, my raver-chick
from Texas who was out for another visit. After sitting around
for a few hours and getting ready, while waiting for our tickets,
we made our way over to the Los Angeles Sports Arena. We arrived
at the main entrance around 9:30, but got stuck waiting for even
more friends to join our group. By ten, we had finally managed
to enter the venue. From all I could see, the place was packed.
I headed over to a balcony to check out the crowd in the main
arena, and that place was packed! The lighting was amazing (although,
I will say it was sort of a rip-off of the lighting in the main
room at Phuture), the music was bumpin, and the crowd was going
off. Derrick Carter was spinning an awesome set, and I rushed
downstairs with the rest of the group to get our groove on, and
explore a little bit.
We made our rounds of the venue, and met up with the other half
of our group that had had to enter through Giant Village, which
we were told was going off. The vibe that surrounded us was amazing,
and it hadnt even hit midnight yet. The music on all stages was
awesome, and only helped facilitate the smiles in the crowd.
By the time Richard Humpty Vission took the stage, my house-step
had taken full control. Vission pulled out a no-stops, high energy
hard house set that kept you moving the entire time. He definitely
stayed true to his style of mixing, which is rare to find in
the scene. The time for the countdown had finally approached,
but youd have to know itd get fucked up somehow. Im not complaining
though, I got to ring in the New Year twice within a matter of
minutes, which only meant double New Years kisses. The crowd
was soon doused in foam, which made things quite interesting
since most couldnt figure out what the white stuff floating down
from the ceiling was for a while. After a general consensus that
decided it was WAY too hot inside, we marched through the crowd,
and got some air.
The groupthen migrated to the bleachers for a break from all
the dancing we had been doing. When Sandra Collins came on, I
was expecting a trance set, although Iwas a bit confused as to
why she was spinning in the main arena. But when she busted out
with some deeper, tribal house, she blew me away. She already
had status as one of my favorite DJs, but for her to have spun
a set encompassing my favorite type of music, she definitely
jumped up the scale. Sadly by the time I made it downstairs to
dance again, the lights came on. I didnt let that stop me, I
just kept going until the music stopped and it was evident that
everyone was to get the hell out.
As sad as it was to have those lights come on, I knew that I
had to appreciate Together As One for all that it was. And it
was an awesome party, with amazing people, amazing music, and
an amazing vibe that Im sure will set the pace for the scene
for this year to come. Go Ventures and Insomniac, thank you for
bringing raving back.
Melanie Anger #17
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New Beginnings
I did everything I could not to get my
hopes up for Together As One in an effort to avoid being disappointed.
Last year’s TAO was one of the best nights of electronic
music anywhere/anytime and it seemed unlikely that this years
event would, or could, be as perfect. This New Years Eve I would
have been content with a safe and fun night celebrating a new
year full of hope, as well as the end of a year that fell short
of expectations. On the other hand, this was TAO, and could just
be the biggest and best massive of the year, so I kept an open
mind.
After picking up Jessica in Irvine, driving around LA, and
eventually to the Sports Arena, we carefully parked the car in
an eleven dollar parking spot (well worth it). As we got out
of the car, we could hear the bass boom (!) a full block away.
Excitement began to build as we walked towards the monstrous
venue. After waiting in a one minute line and sneaking in an
opened pack of Kamel Reds past security for Marcus (what was
the point, Marcus? you smoked most of them before we even got
near LA!) we were in. And oh, my, GOD, were we ever in. The brightly
lit outer ring of the arena was full of energy and excitement
that I could smell, taste, and breath. (And the girls at that
party! I would have gotten with at least two-thirds of them!)
As we took our first steps, I got a glimpse of the main House
room through one of the many openings to the sports arena’s
upper bleacher section. Usually, event lighting and decorations
don’t mean much to me. I would rather just have more bass
bins, but this was truely something special. Bright colors rushed
from the main stage, through the majestic decorations, and to
the back of the room. I was in awe, and relieved. It was hours
til midnight, but I aready knew that tonight was going to be
one of the nights that I live for. Hours of the music I love,
tons of sound and lighting equipment to pound it deep into my
soul, and over 20,000 ravers here for the same thing. In other
words, a quality MASSIVE.
The fact that we were getting a fresh start on a new year
made it that much better. As we entered the House area, we placed
our first steps and began to warm up. A little later we moved
closer to the speakers and smoked some ghangchez. The three of
us were getting way into Derrrick Carter’s set (but the
Jungle part of my brain was starting to itch). At
this point Marcus’s pimp instincts kick in and he is off.
The next thing I know, Jessica meets some guy (now her BOYFRIEND!
01.21.02) who smokes us out for a second time, and it looks like
she is gonna kick it with him for the rest of the night. What
this means to me is that I am free to do whatever I want until
it is time to meet up and go home. I decided I wanted to be sober
for TAO, so I drank my first of three beers. (Only in the rave
scene is smoking weed and drinking beer considered “sober”,
but what;ever...) I get the time from a passer by, and it is
a little less than fifteen minutes til midnight. Even as such,
I didn’t have any expectaions for the next fifteen minutes
of my life.
I didn’t expect to meet a girl I knew and spend midnight
kissing her, or even to spend those minutes with a friend. I
was content to spend the time by myself, introspecting on this
year in my life. My conclusion, which you may share: this was
not the greatest year, and it had some rough spots that were
pretty fucked up on both the global and personal levels -but
on the other hand, it’s over. We lived through it, and best
of all, we don’t have to do it again. The economy, the rave
scene, and everything else (Like what? uh, Twin Towers?) saw
rough times, but we did survive and we can look forward to better
days. As the last moments of 2001 faded away and the digits across
the timer flipped to zeros, I watched it slip away. I felt like
I was watching it die to make sure that it was really dead more
so than celebrating the end of the year, but like I said- it’s
over. Bits of glitter rained down on the crowd and we felt the
clean rinsed out sensation of a new year. A year still in it’s
infancy, still perfect like a field freshly covered in snow,
a year full of possibities and hope. I looked up at the projector
screens overhead, and saw the words “New Beginnings”.
New beginnings indeed, and what a perfect way to begin the new
year. I cleared my head of the heavy thoughts inside, and came
back to my surroundings.
I was at the best massive of the year, it was only midnight,
most of the good Jungle sets were still ahead, and I still had
some cash to get drunk with. I listened to the first record of
Humpty Vision’s set, but I was already way warmed up, amped
as all hell, and a little faded -so House just wasn’t cutting
it. I went to the Jungle room and carefully listened to
the last part of Machete’s set. I let my mind synch up with
the beat as I soaked in the sights, sounds, smells, and vibe
of the Jungle room. By the time Dillinja took to the tables,
I could easily catch the rapid hardstep beat he was laying down.
The semi-slippery concrete dance floor was tricky at first, but
it just turned to silk and made twisting that much easier on
my knees. As the minutes turned to hours, and Lemon D replaced
Dillinja, I felt more and more in control of my body. After eight
months, I finally got some of my roommate Cheryl’s ultra-precise
exactly-on-time Jungle steps, and 175 bpm didn’t seem like
too many anymore. At some point in all of this, I met a girl
named Lina who was probably the reason I was feelin the vibe.
She had dark hair in two jungley pony tales, tan skin, a deep
orange top, tight navy blue pants and grey and white running
shoes. More importantly, the dozens of different parts of her
body changed direction and rate perfectly to the music. I could
feel her image permanantly burn into my mind for replay crisper
and sharper than DVD. What can I say, that chic made my party
go off! Thousands of broken beats, a half dozen new years kisses,
and many hugs later, the lights came on. I met up with Marcus
and Jessica and we went to an after hours at Orion.
In the car ride home I felt that special feeling that I only
get after the nights I live for - the tingle in my exhausted
body, the rinsed out purity in my mind, a mood that will stay
with me for another few days (or maybe longer depending on how
good the party was). The feeling that made me promise to myself
that I would go to TAO 2003, and TAO 2004, and 2005, and 2006,
and 2007...
Mark Evereklian #37 |