Proper Trick or Treat

Ummmm Can I have both?
Ladies and Gentlemen the city is abuzz with energy already! There are pre-parties and after- parties and the actual parties; costume stores filled with frantic last minute shoppers who still can't figure out what to be this year. Bring on the theatrics club kids...
Let's get to the treats: first off the party of parties tonight will be Steve Angello at M2. Even though I am not a big fan of M2 (bad space design), this party will rock your socks/panties off.
Swedish House Mafia in da house, how cool can Halloween get? Oh it's getting better....
For die hard fans of Frankie Bones and Heather Heart rave duo there is a party in Williamsburg N8. Bring on the glow sticks, super wide floor duster pants and polish up those platforms. This rave is in full effect and yes to answer your question, Ricky's has glow sticks :)
On to tomorrows festivities: there are at least 30 venues with full on Halloween rip off.
What is a Halloween rip off? Overcharging at the door with a promise of an open bar.
You think that's not so bad? What you will get at these parties are: cheap crowd dressed in cheap costumes drinking cheap free liquor faster than you can spell trick.
Imagine the fights, imagine the madness, imagine the runny mascara and gum stuck to your wig. Not pretty!
If you really want to party like it's 1999 in your over the top gorgeous costume that took months to imagine and 2 weeks to execute start your night late, I say around 1 am. Head over to some nice, civilized place like Sullivan Room or SubMercer. Have yourself a cocktail and relax, don't drink it too fast, the night is young after all. Take pictures and have some taken of you looking fresh with a glass of champagne! Dance a little without breaking a sweat, warm up your body for later. Around 3 am hop on the train, don't even dream of a cab because all those people that went for cheap booze are now throwing up in them. Not pretty!
Head over to one of the following venues: Pacha (don't mind the kids) or Pergatorio (don't mind the gays). Danny Tenaglia will surely bring Pacha to climax and hopefully the sound system will cope. And Junior Vasquez will reign at Pergatorio for an after-hours filled with burlesque dancers, midgets, and ghouls. How bout this classic? Danny and Junior playing on the same night at 2 different places on a Saturday! Last time I remember this was 1999 Tunnel and Twilo.
So prep yourself for this weekend properly boys and girls...
Because it's a classic "club kids" Halloween in New York City.
Now that's a treat we've all been waiting for!
PS get your tickets online http://www.saintatlarge.com/ ; http://www.pachanyc.com/ they are cheaper and you'll wait less in line, but you knew that didn't you ;)

Weekend Treats

How dearly promising this weekend looks? I am simply beyond myself!
First off miss lovely DJ Heather with her groovy, jazzy version of Chicago House will be playing at N8 (Williamsburg). Get ready to dance, she is phenomenal at lighting the soul on fire.
Saturday choice de jour is Sully where a West Coast master of highly instrumental and surprisingly vocal house Andy Caldwell will take you on a magical trip. Yeah, like the one you had on mushrooms back in early 90's but way groovier.
And finally for the grand finale Sunday offers Body & Soul triplets serving a tasting course of house from jazzy to funky to soulful to gospel to deep to progressive to trancy if you stay the whole night. But if I were you I'd sneak out at around 12 am (Body&Soul starts at 6pm) and head over to Cielo for a proper serving of house our city is so famous for with papa Vasquez. You see only Junior can spin 3 records at the same time, while layering loops and samples and playing one backwards in perfect unison. That song God is a DJ was clearly talking about Junior and only master himself will tweak the Cielo sound system to perfection (if you arrive early you can watch him do it).
So dearest Club Kids, have fun and have a dance for me please as I am off for a weekend retreat.
Yours truly... Wild Child

Best Party Ever... Umm... Till next week

You can argue with me all you want about Pacha being bigger and better than Sullivan Room. You can even compare their respective October lineups to make your point. You can offer me free entrance for a year and I will not set my foot in Pacha. Why go to a crack den with unreliable sound system when you can get knocked out of your socks every Saturday at Sully? All while being treated like a gem...
As I walked in this past Saturday the energy reminded me so much of Twilo I had to pinch myself. The crowd was madly in tune with the DJ and Sullivan Room itself felt alive.
Hector Romero was in the middle of a perfect NYC underground house style set blending energy, base drive and vocals into a potent vortex no one escaped that night. Continuous movement around the room filled with fun, polite, mixed crowd that did not display any overt signs of drug use. That says a lot about a place considering the recent reports of blatant off the table powder snorting at every single high end venue and Pacha being one gigantic K-hole. As good and consistent set Satoshi played it was nowhere near driving force of Romero. Hector stole the show proving that NYC underground house style is alive and untouchable. Now I just wish electro would die so we could all breathe a collective "sigh" of relief and get down and dirty ;)

Let zzzzz Parties Begin

OK, so we've had a decent summer (party-wise) that flowed into an awful September.
I couldn't even write in September that's how awful it was. But we are heading into 3 months of club heaven and the line up looks yummy. Starting with Satoshi at Sullivan Room this weekend, followed by my favorite party combo next weekend: Body&Soul then Junior Vasquez, followed by Wizard Jeff Mills making his return to Sullivan weekend after that and finishing with Tom Middleton at Sullivan Room yet again. Then it's off to costume la la land.
I am really looking forward to month of October and all the party hopping.
I have to add that Sullivan Room is the place to be any given weekend in October and if you don't believe me just check Cielo calendar and you'll fall asleep promptly.
I am keeping Vasquez out of this statement.
So my dear sophisticated club kids, start polishing your dance shoes and don't forget to tune in for the latest, greatest, most honest party tips. I had a long nap and I am ready to dance.
Find me on the dance floor ;)

Caution: Models Ahead

Glamazons from all over the world have occupied Manhattan in preparation of Fashion Week.
I see them everywhere, willowy, angular, with wide set eyes, perfectly blown hair, short skirts and sky high heels, extending their already long legs to even more intimidating length.
I have to remind myself while dressed in my office attire that wearing 6 inch weapons of mass seduction will make any woman capable of not stumbling look statuesque. I love seeing these creatures though, watching them move is almost as fascinating as watching wild life on safari.
Fashion week is always exciting and yours truly will also be walking the runway for 6 designers next Thursday. Covering behind the scenes anxiety in a quest for perfection will be interesting.
I am looking forward to it. After all land of fantasy is my weakness...

Last Saturday

I went off to Sullivan Room on a whim. It wasn't planned, it was a 10 pm decision.
After 3 weeks of absence it felt great to step into the cellar.
The menu: Niki McNally and Demi (SOS Collective).
As I descended into my favorite hideaway I was pleasantly surprised. Niki was playing tribal house to near perfection. She was clearly inspired, I haven't seen the crowd move and cheer quite like this to her previous sets. We spoke after her set and she informed me of her change in style, I have to say tribal infused with deep house suited her. The change in style was more of an adjustment perhaps, a step to the next level. I don't think she will relinquish her deep roots and electro top notes yet, but a tribal infusion was energising and refreshing. It almost seemed she broke away from a pack; a pack of monotone sounding DJs who clearly forgot (or never learned) how to stage a proper build up/release sequence.
This beauty is climbing her way to the top.
Demi had a slow warm up, but by 3 am sounded promising. I had to leave though, there were more pressing priorities in place for me than waiting for someone to deliver after a slow warm up.
New rules: Headlining DJs have to pick up the energy the openers left for them! More warm up after a warm up is disappointing. You have gotten spoiled and now leaving ample room for more inspired to take your coveted spot. C'est la vie!!!

Junior's Birthday Bash

As far as DJ Birthday parties go, it is usually an extravagant affair. DJ feels fabulous, it is his Birthday after all, all his friends are in attendance and fans try to dress festively for their favorite star. The set is thus very inspiring and atmosphere passes excitement into an out of this world sort of quality almost as soon as the Birthday boy takes to the decks. I haven't missed Junior's Birthday party in a long time, but as I got kidnapped into the wilderness (see previous post) this year, I am relying on a very trustworthy source to write this post.

Master Vasquez turned 60 this year, yes you heard me right... beautiful 60. Going very strong and looking better than when he was 40, master Vasquez appeared at the booth at 2 AM.
Crowd was very excited, his fans are most loyal fans of all and expectations were high.
The program consisted of all time favorite Junior classics, tracks so dear to fans hearts it prompted many to hyperventilate and squeal in ecstasy. I am not going to list all the tracks he played here, there is no point in that. He was true to himself, his style and his passion. He wanted to relive the moments he created himself in the past and present those again to his loyal fans. Superbly rich program, and Junior to the core. Ridiculously energetic buildups with orgasmic release only Vasquez can master, heart wrenching vocals with layers upon layers of beats.
With all that being said there was one little problem, something went wrong with the soundboard, the mixer or God knows which part of a complex sound system.
For a technical perfectionist Magus like Junior it was devastating, you could see the pain in his face, a pain of not being able to control his creations exactly the way he intended to. It has even prompted him to say something about moving back to his home state of PA and scrapping the whole DJ business (GASP! Noooooooooo, please NO).
Everyone stayed till closing and there was a thunderous applause after the cake was brought out and Happy Birthday song sang by his fans. He was deeply touched.
I can't wait for his return to Cielo Labor Day Sunday and certainly hope he wasn't serious about leaving us. Pacha owners don't really give a damn about anything but making money and the flub on sound system is a shame on them not the master. I have seen Junior tweak out the worst sound system to near perfection in 15 minutes flat many times. Pacha owners take note, you are despicable greedy bastards. But as we know karma is a Bitch and we shall see how long it will take before the club is closed again!

Sail Away: Behrouz Part 1

NYC summer is usually filled with one million possibilities. From free movies and concerts at every park to pool parties, water ballon fights for adults at Central Park, impromptou BBQs, and rooftop bar hopping. That is besides all the club parties (at least 10 on any given night). The possibilieties for almost free entertainment are endless; disconnecting your cable temporarily for summer makes a lot of sence since there is literally no time for TV. If you miss your cable programming too much you can always visit Times Square, park yourself in one of lawn chairs and watch the giant screens. Tourist watching is even more entertaining.

Don't get me wrong amongst all the excitement of summer there are few things about NY that are tough to handle: heat rising from the pavement, sticky subway platforms, smelly subway riders, garbage smell permeating blocks at a time, humidity levels to rival Florida and continuous hangover from all the parties.

This summer we had strange thunderstorms bordering on tornadoes and intermittent club closures. The former surely resulting from global warming and the later from community board harassment. At the rate NYC clubs are closing, pretty soon the party cruises might become an only way of nightlife.

Boarding a boat for a 4 hour cruise around Manhattan on Friday afternoon to the best house music soundtrack provided by myriad of DJs is the equivalent of paradise. Boys dressed in nautical stripes, girls in hot pants and high heels, pirates, captains and one gentleman soliciting kisses with a sign on his back that read: Kiss me it's My Birthday. Ridiculously fun crowd rocking the boat with good rowdy energy. There was a muse on a run, as she had a photographer following her around, taking pictures, apparently for a project. Delirious energy, cheap drinks and funny "rocking boat" dance moves, crowd watching here was inspiring.

I am not going to try and describe Behrouz set. What I really love about him is that he is a star that doesn't act like one. He is so excited to take over the decks that he transfers this excitement straight to the dance floor. His technique is immaculate and he feels the dance groove.
His set was pure perfection on the boat and 4 hours flew by as 1. Everyone was giggling while leaving the boat. Most fabulous summertime party period.

The Bitch is Back

I found my bitchy little muse exactly where I lost her, on the dance floor of Sullivan Room past Friday. A late spontaneous invitation saved me from another quiet Friday night with my Netflix choice de jour. It was raining monsoon style but stopped right in time for me to wear something fabulous. Hippie Gypsy went off to dance!
The night was about break dancers, the crowd's age was between 21 and 50 and everyone was enjoying the grove. Duece Martinez has clearly been inspired by Larry Levan and kicked off his set with a delightful homage to the master's undying legacy. As "Right In The Socket" was uniting the dancers for a night of unprecedented fun, I thought about how many DJs Larry Levan has inspired (at least 20).
I am too young to have been in Paradise Garage and I always felt I missed the best party NYC has ever seen. But the spirit of Garage lives on and Duece Martinez showed me what it was like to be there. Duece's style, although influenced by Larry and J. Vasquez as well, is uniquely his own. Deep House infused with tribal, soul and right touch of disco; technically perfect, soul inspiring and with buildups to spare. He didn't let us leave the dance floor.
Dancers were furiously flying, twirling and stepping. My heart was overwhelmed with joy and as I danced inside the infamous dance circle, holding my own ground, I noticed that my muse was making her way back to me shaking her tail feather as well. Aaaaaah reunited at last... I am thinking about getting her a leash and some handcuffs.
Solid true house with soulful percussion reigned; deep grove intricately interwoven with surprising vocals: Music is My Life, I feel Love, Music Makes Me Dance, Women Beat Their Men and many more...
Besides dancing everyone was mingling, exchanging compliments and striking conversations. Perfectly executed House party, Larry himself would have been proud.
As for me: I danced all my troubles away, found my muse, scored a date, and recovered my deeply rooted belief in House Music's higher purpose.
"True House Music is an instrument of God and if this instrument is used wisely it can change your soul"
Thank you Duece!

Muse on the Run

My muse has left me... The inspirational one, the one that I depend so much upon, when struggling to translate my ocean of feelings into words. Uncontrollable, discriminating of sound and true to herself and her passions, she usually sits inside my ear whispering interesting notes or annoyingly confirming my own thoughts of an impeding party disaster. When the party is contagious she dances right next to me and leaves my mind in peace. Next morning we write a story together, after breakfast...
The dire straits disappointment of Firecracker left me very hopeful for Derrick Carter's reappearance at Sullivan Room.

Derrick Carter, who by all means is a veteran of Chicago House progression. Derrick Carter, who brought Sullivan Room to climax in December of last year over and over and over again. Derrick Carter who can fuse just about any genre into his blanket of beats and drive the crowd wild.

Disclaimer: I understand that DJs are human and can have an "off "night.

Fine Print: As a performer (DJ) you are allowed to have a few "off" nights when you have a once a week residency in the same club, every Saturday. Not when you are visiting a place far away from home, filled with anticipating fans willing to brave stormy weathers to hear you.

I walked into Sullivan Room and the sound was pristine, pure balance in the sound system. Down Deep peeps had a full control of sound and dancers. Superbly groovy, the sound was almost too perfect. I did a double take and asked my favorite bartender Chris who was playing. Down Deep! Who are these people? Google search didn't produce any vital info, but whoever they are they were on fire. For the next 2 hours I danced to a very interesting selection of soulful deep house with experimental progressive trancy notes.
Mr. Carter was taking his time arriving at the decks, just like a star. He lingered on by the bar posing for pictures and wasn't too eager to take over the decks. When he did finally appear at the booth, he looked almost puzzled.

Mr. Carter did not know what to do with his set, he was unprepared. Repetitive base beat didn't change from beginning to my leaving time. He was trying to spice it up with some jazzy sounds, then soul sounds, back to jazzy sounds. Disorganised mixing without a theme or a feeling. When he felt truly out of touch with the mixer after about an hour of trying, he pulled out a vocal that worked really well last year. The trick didn't work. The crowd was moving slowly, fuelled only by anticipation of greatness and some drinks. There was no unity, soul or love. His sound was insanely loud and after pitch perfect sound of Down Deep, I started questioning Mr. Carter's technical abilities.
Still I waited for an hour and a half to hear something inspiring. After the standard 40 min warm up allowed for a star DJ, my muse left me without saying good bye. I left an hour later, simply because our time here is short and if I am not being pulled in emotionally by the DJ, I'd rather catch up on my sleep. When I got home the muse was nowhere to be found and I felt depleted. Not elevated... depleted. It took me a week to even write about it because the disappointment lingered on and pervaded my life. I certainly hope Mr. Carter can find his beautiful grove again.

Summer School: PS1

PS1 was built in 1900 and served as a school until 1963, by 1974 it was almost in shambles. A group of visionaries saved it from demolition in 1975 and converted it to an art space for emerging artists and genres that challenge preconceptions. In 1998 someone had a brilliant idea of hosting a day party in the school yard and bringing in globe trotting DJs. Warm Up party was born and has been the house music's aficionados destination for Saturday afternoon ever since.

It has the most diverse crowd and DJ lineup, the energy is always exhilarating but for the best experience there are some guidelines to follow:

1. Wear lose comfortable clothes, the yard is surrounded by high walls and doesn't get a draft; jeans get sticky after an hour (since you will be dancing your booty off). Ladies, your makeup will melt so bring a hand fan, you will look very stylish and stay cool at the same time.

2. Buy your drink tickets at the entrance, the bar operates on drink tickets and you will save yourself some time. Line for drink tickets + line for bar = missing great music

3. Children are welcome, if they can dance as well they will be the life of the party

4. Place gets crowded by 6 pm, so don't expect to have a lot of space on the dance floor after 6

5. Don't forget your camera, this place is unlike anything you have seen before (I once kissed a girl, It was a hot Kodak moment)

6. Measure your drinking because the bathroom wait is usually 30-45 min

7. Eat either prior to the party or go outside and grab a delicious hot dog from a street vendor, the line for food inside is another 30 min

8. Art installations are usually mind bending, so check them out while you are bored (rare but happens)

9. If you have friends who live in LIC, do your best to drag them out even if they tell you that they are so over PS1; this way you get in for free because of their coveted address (otherwise the entrance is $10)

10. Best time to watch break dancers is from 4 to 6

11. Don't expect the sound system to be top notch, it all depends on the sound engineer and it's an open space after all

12. If you smoke bring extra cigs, because you will be asked to share and all smokers know it's bad karma to be greedy with cigs (even at the new prices).

13. Bring your beautiful self, bring your most open and outgoing attitude with you, don't forget to dance and enjoy the ride :)

How do I spell Disaster???

Firecracker party last night at Hammerstein Ballroom, organized by Live Nation, was purely disastrous. I could not believe my ears. The sound was hollow, disproportional to the space, with a buzzy base and an echo to top it off. It sounded as if entire mid range was missing. Treble and base, my ears were almost bleeding.

Although the space was not filled to capacity, there were about 1,500 people there. Beautiful, exciting, young crowd. And they were barely dancing. Talking yes, walking around as well, smoking like crazy outside but not dancing. Why? Because the sound made their ears bleed as well, I saw plenty of people covering their ears. The DJs knew it too and played one uninspiring set after another. I arrived around 12 and I can't even tell you who was playing at the moment. The DJ booth was set very high and the light next to the stage was blinding, impossible to recognize the person playing. Well at least he was playing records, because I surely heard it skip twice before he fixed it and even though that is a nightmare for any DJ, it was comforting to hear a record skip. The only reason I recognised Steve Lawler was because he played exactly the same set he played for Radio 1 Essential Mix show hosted by Pete Tong in early May.

Lawler has not been in NYC since last August and he was playing the mix I downloaded from alldj.org and have been playing nonstop since then. Pure shame at $100 charge at the door. I left before Calderone even went on, because I just couldn't take it anymore and a very trustworthy source tells me it was a snooze fest. I will never attend another Live Nation event and I don't care if it's my favorite singer, if Live Nation is anywhere near it, I am not going. We really should have demanded our money back, because if you are going to charge people $100 in the middle of a worst recession you have to make us feel as if we are in Ibiza.

Oh yeah, and the dancers were terrible, very strange antics on the stage except for the girls. The girls were sexy, at some point even performing very beautiful drawn out ballet moves. The mascots (see pictures), moved in a very bizarre and vulgar fashion.

If club goers continue to swallow these half cooked productions and not voice their opinions we will keep getting the same crap. So if you were as disgusted by last night's performance as I was, I suggest you bombard the DJs on MySpace and Live Nation with emails describing exactly how you felt.

Fatboy Slim could teach Live Nation a few lessons, the crowd was on fire for 3 hours. The sound was beyond perfection and the light show was brilliant, $40 entrance by the way.

Even though I bought my ticket at the cheapest price ($33) for Firecracker, weeks in advance, when I left the place I felt raped. I am very serious and I don't use this term lightly.

Party Crashing 101

I don't know whether it's my proper Russian upbringing or lack of ballsiness, but I have never crashed a party in my life until now.
After the Gay Pride Parade ended, the excitement spilled onto the streets. Everyone was lingering around Meatpacking, house music blaring on high from every watering hall. Pride participants still dressed in their gorgeous attire getting sloshed right before the real parties begin. I met a friend of mine from Twilo days, he is an artist and a beauty queen.
Off we went towards Highline contemplating rolling around in the grass but it was closed. A party on the infamous 3rd floor of the Standard attracted our attention, everyone was on terrace smoking and looking stylish. Trying to get in through the front door was impossible because it was an invitation only, open bar event for gay elite of Manhattan. I would have given up right then and there, but my friend was determined to crash the party. Pretending that we were going to a party at one of the suites, we got off on the 5th floor since the 3rd floor elevator button was disabled. After making a few of wrong turns and going through a maze of stairs we found the right door and sneaked in. Strangely enough, it was an only party in the city where the DJ did not play a single Michael Jackson song. The dance floor was empty and everyone was on the terrace. The highlight of the evening was that I met Phillipe, who is a stunning blond queen in the picture with the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen and a glamour level I can hardly dream of. She had poise equally mixed with sweetness, a rare combination.
I was hoping to run into Steve Lewis, whose blog I am a huge fan of, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead Patrick McMullan surprised the hell out of me by saying he remembers me from a party I attended 7 years ago. The man has photographic memory.
My friend was tickled to be basking in luxury, I was bored. Drinks were tasty, music was awful and there were plenty of stuck up personalities. Sunday night the parties were outrageous, but as I had to work the next day I headed home right after fireworks. As I walked to a subway through crowded streets, I thought to myself that the best part of the evening was actually trying to find our way into the party, laughing in the stairway and getting lost.

I am a Fruit Fly... A Story of Acceptance

Fruit Fly definition: "A woman who is friends with a gay or bisexual man but who does not have an interest in seducing them like many fag hags do. (Could be for a variety of reasons, they themselves maybe lesbians or may just enjoy being friends with a man who isn’t trying to get in their pants)"
As the readers of my blog and those who are very close to me know I have a very deep respect and appreciation of gay culture. It has raised a few eye brows over the years from conservative family members to potential boyfriends that turned out to be too homophobic for my taste and were axed right away.
I love my fruit fly status and will gladly explain the whys right here.
Upon my arrival in NYC I was completely alone and as much as I adore my own company at times I was very lonely. But the Big spirit was surely watching out for me as within a month of my arrival I landed at Twilo (read: Best Gay Party in the World hosted by Junior Vasquez).
I was a clueless girl from periphery, naive, shy, anxious, completely lacking style and beyond insecure.
From the first party I attended I felt acceptance. I loved the theatrical production of the club as a whole. The Drag Queen's exuberant stylish representations of themselves have woken up in me a ballet dancer I have long forgotten about. I knew the warmth and pleasure of the stage spotlight, the anxious anticipation of a performance, magical costumes and the adrenalin rush that came with the whole experience; but...it was such a distant smoke of a memory for me at that point. I was too burdened to remember the magic.
Coming to America was a toughest rebirth of all and in trying to fit in I have axed the most beautiful, creative parts of myself. I somehow wanted to get lost in the crowd, thinking I'd be accepted if I was monotone.

Twilo was a place where my love affair with gay culture began...
I understood right away that I could be as creative as I wanted to in this environment and no one was trying to grab my ass while I was at it.

I've always knew one thing: people who have been persecuted or faced some real hardships become more aware of others pain and are usually much more accepting than people who have always had a green light in life. I am no stranger to adversity, my own life has been filled with drama after drama and as strange as it may sound I found respite among a thousand of sweaty gay men, gyrating on the dance floor. They were freer that anyone I had met at that point. They were creative beyond my tunnel vision of imagination and yours as well and they were oh so courteous, stylish, glowing and gorgeous.
This is why year after year I make sure I make it to Gay Pride Parade; waving my Pride Flag, taking pictures and cheering on from side lines. It is my expression of eternal gratitude for truths that I discovered on that dance floor. For friends that I made there; for ones that were teachers, simply because they were being themselves. Transfer of knowledge and wisdom most of the times happens without words, it happens by observation. I was accepted and learned acceptance in the process, I was set free from years of brainwashing.
We as humans have the deepest capacity for understanding each other yet on daily basis we can judge each other mercilessly without knowing or even being curious about the story of a human life right next to us. We are all guilty of it. Being brainwashed into thinking that somehow one life is more precious than another is a malaise of our existence. 40 years ago Stonewall Inn riots in NYC spurred the gay rights movement, rights we are still fighting for.

Just as racial inequality had to be fought tooth and nail, it took a long time to see the the real shift of consciousness. The shift occures one person at a time and everything depends on how you choose to view the human next to you. It so happens that my liberation occurred at a gay party, yours could have happened somewhere entirely different, doesn't matter where as long as it happened. And if it didn't happen yet, seek out those who will alter your perception and don't think that they will come in a perfect package. As long as you are open to a possibility you are half way there.
Thank you my gay friends for making me see the world from a different angle, for making me free and fearless while I felt like Cinderella at the Ball and learned my best dance moves. This is my tribute to you, your never ending creativity, love of life and acceptance of all. I have to add that as always the music was amazing on every single float and I was dancing in the streets :)

My Weapon of Choice!!!

I am wondering if FatBoy Slim's intoxicatingly addictive personal energy of sheer positivity and joy can be bottled? As far as I am concerned the man is drug and once you have understood his approach to music you are hooked for life. A friend of mine gave me a live FatBoy Slim mix and after 3 straight run trough's I fell in love. I had to see him in person, but he has not made it to NYC till last night...

His stage presence is delirious... he lives music, he feels it so humanely deep that as a listener you have no other choice but to be swept into his hurricane of blissful insanity. He is a lightning jolt of freedom, happiness, creativity and above all authenticity. The man is fearlessly true to himself, unafraid of taking chances and it shows...

His appearance at Terminal 5 last night proves that 1,500 people can be mobilized on a Wednesday night, but you have to be FatBoy Slim to pull it off!

Terminal 5 is old club Exit and despite bad reviews I have seen elsewhere, the sound was impeccable. I did not hear a single mistake in the sound system, not an echo, not a faulty speaker, not one distortion. Perfectly proportional to the space and robust, full range sound. Pretty sure that FatBoy Slim's sound engineer had something to do with it because there was a second sound check right before he started playing. I have nothing to say about Shinicho Osawa as I only heard 5 minutes of his set, found it absolutely toxic to my ears and was happy when it was over.

10 minute pause for sound check before Norman Cook appeared on stage gave the audience the tease of anticipation and enough time to get ready to be swept away. We were all fully aroused by the time he did appear and from the first beat he and the crowd were in sync.

He started with Praise You clearly paying homage to all his fans, gesticulating his appreciation of the crowd with his hands; he made it well understood that we were loved, cherished and about to be taken on a treat of a trip. The crowd was soon drenched in glow of cosmic lights plus strobe and the 3D images projected on a screen behind him gave plenty of ponderous moments.

His talent goes way beyond mixing, he is a delightful energy transmitter surely connected to the spirit or cosmos or whatever you want to call it. Although his mixing is not always perfect, his creativity makes up for any flubs. He played a part of Thriller behind some jungle of beats never letting it escape into the vocal part and quickly switching to something else. His style of playing was an extended mash up if I can call it that, with high energy throughout and vocals for respite.

He played all his classics: Right here right now, Put your hand up in the air, Weapon of choice, He's Frank by Iggy Pop, Rockafeller Scank and then there were a few surprises: Let me clear my throat by DJ Kool and Back to Life by Sol II Sol, which he played while dancing infectiously himself. And what a dancer!

The real highlight of his set was a surprising choice of El Mariachi song from Desperado, it was so unexpected that the crowd went complete bananas and seeing it he played it twice back to back. Hands in the air the whole night, digital camera flashes adding to strobe lights, Christopher Walken video and many interesting 3D projections, everyone singing along non stop...

He closed his set with Praise You completing the circle of love and did not play an encore even though the crowd was vehemently demanding one by chanting his name. I must add that the crowd was the most cool and down to earth kind, super polite. FatBoy Slim takes the crown for originality and authenticity, I am inexplicably enchanted with his brand of delirious magic.

I am tempted to call him a Wizard but he is way beyond that; he is the Alchemist whose experiments of taking the party energy to the next level are often explosive and that is why is he so loved and honored by fans and peers worldwide.

A Love Affair

Just like Ravel’s Bolero when music starts so quietly you can hardly detect it and then very slowly growing louder and firmer all of a sudden becoming like a hart beat, just like that my love affair with music started. They say you love either with your eyes or with your ears, for me it’s definitely the ears. They are highly attuned my ears, like alien locators I sometime can pick up conversations in a different room or hear a few conversations at once, which I really don’t like because my brain gets quickly overworked. But music really relaxes my mind and it does not matter how many undertones go into a musical piece all will be detected and savored.
At the age of three I was singing love songs on a bus or a train to the amusement of my fellow passengers. Amused they were to see a child sing “I remember when I was young and in love…” with a very serious face. Mom was amused as well, so here I was loudly pouring my heart out. Between the ages of 4 and 6 I vividly remember my aunt and mom getting ready to go to out, putting their makeup on, spraying their perfume, running around in their underwear trying on different dresses and shoes all to the sound of ABBA and Bonnie M records. Oh those soft slightly scratchy sounds of record player.
Record player was always my friend and even at the age of 5 I could change records and clean needles. Even when the record is scratched or a little warped from lying on the sun, or when it ends and goes into an unexplainable muffled sound its music to me, it will automatically transport me back to those days, when I was in my first initial giddy stages of my love affair. But everything has to grow and change otherwise it will die so here comes ballet and with it an enormous ocean of wild classical music performed in class by an elderly woman on piano of course. How fortunate was I to grow up in a way that I did I only understood later, by then music was so deeply ingrained in my soul that now the fire was inextinguishable.
Our teachers took their job very seriously in every single area of studies and my ballet teacher was out to cultivate souls besides the perfect and at time excruciating plies, arabesques and glissades. She made us listen to the pieces before hand and then question our understanding of the feeling in these serious classical pieces. To dance beautifully besides having a good technical skill your soul has to be free. And your soul will not be free until you fall in love with music. We also had home work and listening to classical pieces was the requirement and that was besides once weekly music class that we all had mandatory in school where once again it was classical music listening, history, comprehension and discussion.
Whether I was overly emotional from birth or because of such an intense upbringing I will never know because somehow it all got so intertwined that it really does not matter anymore, all it matters is that when I feel something it goes very deep. They always say that classical music makes people smarter; well I think it makes people more open and in tune with this universe and that in turn makes people more curious and sensitive. Classical music is the base and at that it’s a very sturdy one.
40 hours a week of Vivaldi, Chopin, Strauss, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Bach, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schobert, Stravinsky, the list is long and as some kids would go crazy from this, I thrived on it, and it was my life. I learned to love with my ears.
Love affair continues…
My dear mother falls in love with a Frenchman who is an engineer building oil rigs and gas processing plant in our town. He is tall, dark and handsome and with him flies in an era of Edith Piaf, Jaques Brelle, Joe Dassen, Mireille Mathieu, Serge Ginsburg and countless other names I can’t recall anymore. This is when I begin to understand the pain that love brings, because essentially all French music is purely love songs. “Ne me quitte pas” (Don’t leave me) is on repeat a lot of the times in my household as mom and the Frenchman go through ups and downs, but my favorite is always Edith Piaf. There is so much strength and character in her voice, so much pain and heartbreak. I love her, I feel her and all my friends think I am crazy. No matter… Years later I learn of Edith Piaf fascinating life story and totally understand everything I felt listening to her songs. While I am listening to all this I must add that I am in love with a 12th century poet, philosopher, astronomer, mathematician and generally a wise Persian man named Omar Khayyam. I love him so much I can quote my favorite Rubaiyat in Russian by heart. I am now 13 years old and ballet is still very important, but I am slowly drifting away from classical music. Away, into a world of music of the World, French, Italian, American, Indian, Spanish, Israeli, Hungarian and one of my real favorites Gypsy music. I become a citizen of the world just by listening to all these great melodies of life and love and all that encompasses it.
Years go by and my internal music library continues to grow every single day, it feeds me, it’s always there through pain and sorrow of leaving my home land, trough heartbreaks of love, through triumphs and bold moves I allow myself to make. Through numerous road trips across the country by myself or with a friend, music is always there for me. It never cheats, it always tells the truth, it’s always passionate, it makes me grow, it makes me better, it makes me sensitive, it makes me fly and sometimes it makes me cry. It is my only true love, it gives and gives and gives and in return I share it with as many people as possible.

Full Moon

For the life of her she could not decide which playful personality was supposed to dominate this very important evening? Smoking a cigarette and trying on a pair after pair of shoes that were now occupying half of the tiny living room which was filled with the most glorious moonlight coming from the only window. Oh those full moons, always stirring up troubles, making people yearn for things that may not even exist, she thought. Standing in front of the mirror like a little girl wearing two different shoes, posing, turning a little from right to left to see which one was finally going to make the cut? The pretty one with a big red flower on the side that she always wore with a gypsy dress or the super slick needle skinny stiletto which made a beautiful sound when hitting the cold hard concrete? That clicking sound was so unique, so authentic especially when running down the stairs it always evoked a premonition of a night filled with dancing, champagne and careless laughs until the sky turned light purple and then pale blue. Stiletto won, and she disappeared into the bedroom to put on the dress. Exactly five minutes later the keys turned the lock and you could hear her running down the stairs, clicking away, the sound slowly disappearing into the night. I stuck my head out of the apartment and caught the passing breeze of intoxicating dream that was gone way too soon. Ah those full moons always stirring up emotions that can be hardly expressed….

Just Vinyl

In a world of Pro Tools and mp3 mixing, you have to respect the people who throw a party named Just Vinyl. Pure and simple, sometimes life doesn't need the bells and whistles, just a decent sound system and a 2 record mixer. It was a small gathering, again because of building regulations, but the music was heart wrenching and soulful. It's very nice to have Greg Cuoco back on the scene after such a long disappearance. I could not make it to Aqua Booty on Thursday at Le Lupanar, but I hear it was quite a spectacle. So last night I made it to Mixx lounge on 7th Ave to get a doze of vinyl.
The leaves were falling down, the sky was crying...was playing when I got there and I haven't heard this haunting beauty in years. Great taste in music and a collection of rare records like those of Greg Cuoco can't stay locked up for long, they need to breathe. He went on to play Butterflies, by Alicia Keys (Sanchez Mix) and then The Cure and The Cause by Fish go Deep, that summed up the theme of the night. Don't take your love away, your love away....
I must have been lucky last night because that one of my favorite songs and it was played at another party I went to after, as if the DJs were tugging at my heart strings, reminding me of what really doesn't need a reminder. There is only one cure for it and it's music.
As usual the vibe at Greg's parties is so relaxed, you feel like you are at your best friend's living room and he is playing some records just for you. Great to have you back Mr. Cuocco, thank you for the soulful set of classics. I was deeply touched by the performance.

The New Ibiza

New Yorkers love to complain, that is nothing new. We want the best, we feel that we work way too hard not to get the best of everything. We also love to reminisce about the good old days when New York was really free and wild and the parties were not restricted by some ridiculous building code or regulation. New York is the city that never sleeps and yes we have had some difficulties with nightlife...but
I am beginning to think that NYC is the new Ibiza. Every day of the week there is a staggering selection of parties and DJs for every taste. I am getting lost in the sea of invitations and need at least 3 assistants to cover everything. Jeff Mills, Satoshi, Guetta, Behrouz, Tenaglia, Sanchez, Vasquez, Calderone, Lawler, Fatboy Slim, the list goes on and on. Besides the big names that you can find on any given week, there are hundreds of less famous, but just as talented DJs that keep Manhattan busy with outrageous beats every day of the week. We now have 3 beaches with sand and house music that are accessible by water taxi. You can't swim, hey it's East River after all, but you can play volleyball, dance, tan, or build a sand castle all while enjoying a delicious mix of sangria, house music and an intoxicating view of the city skyline. Beach hopping by water taxi? No problem, try doing that in Ibiza without a yacht. New Yorkers truly celebrate summer and this year despite of recession or perhaps in spite of it, we are celebrating harder than ever. So please trust me on this: you are not missing anything in Ibiza, this summer it's all about New York!

United Front

NYC clubs have been harassed for a while now and it's great to see that someone finally found a voice to stand up to a bias system. So Nightlife Preservation Community was created and they are standing up for our rights to dance in peace! I was amazed to see the club community coming together like this. The DJ line up is insane, but the party will kick off at 1am Monday and there are a lot of people who can't attend because of work. Just knowing that there is a movement happening to save NYC nightlife from obliteration is enough to feel elated without actually being at the party.
Please read this short article fully explaining the state of clubbing in NYC
http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/good-night-mr-lewis-the-sky-is-absolutely-falling/8251
It's very interesting that this is happening 1 week before the 40 year anniversary of Stonewall Riots that spurred Gay Rights movement. Gay Pride Parade happens at the end of June to celebrate the anniversary of Stonewall and serves as a reminder that if we are not willing to stand up to the system and challenge preconceived notions nothing will ever change.
I love New York!

Wonderland

As far as rabbit hole disappearances go the experience can change you and your life. Be careful what you wish for, because that is exactly what happened to me at Satoshi party last week at Sullivan Room. In a switch of a button Satoshi hypnotised everyone at Sully including himself. It's a rare occurrence when you can actually see the energy being passed from the DJ to the crowd and back to the DJ. Sullivan Room was breathing and no, I did not eat magic mushrooms.

At some point even Satoshi seemed overwhelmed by the energy of his own creation, if only for a moment.

Pure voodoo was in the air and it manifested in different ways. There were couples on the dance floor that could not stop touching each other in all the right places. I forgot about the bathroom for hours, my feet were performing a crazy number as if they were separated from my body all together and I lost my date.

Satoshi peppered his set with surprises; twisty techno sounds right in the middle of an outrageous vocal you've never heard before and just as you were about to start thinking you knew where he was going, he'd switch it up again and leave you begging for more. He teased, he dropped, he brought it back, besides the music he was really spinning the crowd. One moment you felt light and fluffy sitting on a cloud and the next was a roller coaster of beats that made you feel dizzy. Hypnotic roller coaster ride, that's the only way to describe it.

Down the Rabbit Hole

For weeks the club scene was abuzz, clubbers informing each other: Jeff Mills at Sullivan Room, June 6th...

Anticipation was excruciating and time seemed to slow down as we got closer to Saturday.

Heart pounding, walking really fast, almost running through Washington Square Park I have arrived at the door of Sullivan Room at 11:00 pm on the dot, weak in the knees from adrenaline; anxious to run down the stairs and vanish into the rabbit hole. I say hi to the door man and catch my breath. I make it in and as I slowly walk down the staircase step after step the sounds are getting clearer and clearer, calmness washes over, heartbeat is normal, knees feeling better, ready to dance. As my eyes adjust to the lights and the sounds take control of my brain, last thought on my mind is: Aaaaaaah I am home...

Welcome to Sully!

2 more hours till the Wizard of techno arrives, but the crowd is gathering already and Sleepy & Boo are warming us up. The sound is crisp and full, seems that the system has been tuned yet again. Mirror like, reflective silver material is covering the whole club making it feel like a warehouse underground techno rave of early 90's or a vintage sci-fi movie set. Can't decide.

Sleepy & Boo are serving perfect progressive tech house with driving beats that really make you move. Best set I have heard them play so far and the crowd was thrilled, dancing non stop. Groovy girls with stylish imagination, tourists from Europe hardly beleiving their luck in finding a true underground club, New Yorkers and visitors...

I strike a conversation with a guy from Germany. He informs me that Jeff Mills parties in Germany cost $50 to get in. He shouts in my ear: I love NY!

I smile and think: So do I...and we only pay $20

Finally Jeff Mills arrives and starts with moody haunting instrumental piece of cosmic techno. The crowd is transfixed as if they have seen a UFO, till someone screams:

Dance Mother F%#&*s! And Sully erupts...

Mills moves into his signature twisted beats, where he stays 3 hours straight. The crowd is glued to the dance floor, no one is leaving. Mr. Mills is very much out of this world, from the gaze in his eyes to the long alien like fingers; there is a calmness about him that is very fluid.

His set was moody and gripping yet uplifting and transporting.

Magician? Sure... Alien? Maybe...

In any case this was one of the parties after which you say to all friends who missed it: You had to be there!

Team Sullivan continues surprising us with tantalizing treats. Next stop down the rabbit hole is Satoshi Tomiie this Saturday...get ready to fly and don't forget your dance shoes ;)

Permanent State of Tourism

Riding a subway yesterday, solidly glued to my NY magazine. Two teenagers walk into the subway car, one of them exclaiming: God! I HATE tourists. This phrase sliced my ears and I had to raise my head to stare at the perpetrator of such animosity. Catching the look in my eyes, uncomfortably he sits right next to me as I say: Excuse me I wanted to ask you why exactly do you hate them so much? His facial expression turns to horror as he now thinks that I am one of the tourists.
He tries to put his thoughts together for a few seconds and finally blurts out: Well, because they do things others (he meant us New Yorkers) wouldn't normally do! Great reasoning, followed by a blank stare...
15 years old, with a pale, pimply face and mouth full of metal zig-zag braces he represents a new generation of a "Rude New Yorker" stereotype. Stereotype I thought was long extinct, sitting right next to me on a subway.
Yeah, we don't normally appreciate the architecture, or Broadway shows, or the magic of Central Park. We don't take pictures or go out for dinners; in fact we hate Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, all the lovely bridges, museums and we never ever take the water taxi. Right?
Putting more profound thought: "We are all tourists here on planet earth" aside, on daily basis I feel exactly like any tourist except for the enviable fact that they are free to roam the city while I am going to work. In NYC every neighborhood is a different country, thus all New Yorkers remain in a permanent state of tourism.
Maybe I was lucky that I was born in Russia and had to jump through hoops only to be able to come and live here. Maybe that gave me an undying appreciation and love for all things New York. Maybe every time I look at this city I see it with fresh eyes, the eyes of a tourist.
Maybe all of us should start calling them guests, after all you love your guests and want to show them the best of the best.
Whether they are sitting in lawn chairs in Times Square, or trying to score tickets to the latest and greatest Broadway show, or walking around in their bright crocs, randomly stopping to take a picture and thus causing fury of someone who is running late to a board meeting; these guests of our city are an inspiration to never take NYC for granted.
We all know that love wanes the moment you start taking it for granted and what happened to "I ♥ New York"? If we truly love New York, we should love and respect it's guests as if they were our own, always, even on our worst day.

Are You Feeling Frisky?

OK, it's Tuesday morning and everyone is working on something, I am sure...
Not the best time to feel frisky, cause frisky usually happens after work, or on a weekend and sometimes perhaps in the morning right before going to work (if you know what I mean)...
That's when Frisky Radio comes in and saves you from the daily grind.
Tune in for 2 Damn Cheeky at 12:00 pm EST TODAY on http://www.friskyradio.com/ for a perfect 2 hour lunchtime mix and start dreaming about those weekend parties.
Feed your imagination kitties!

TWILO (The Quotes)

Just so you don't think Wild Child is some obsessive fanatic stuck in the past, I wanted to post some quotes from others who were there. These quotes came from a Twilo scrapbook, that Twilo management put together to thank the inhabitants. The book was released in a very limited edition and thankfully I am a proud owner of one copy. This little book will never wind up on eBay, so you can enjoy quotes here. It will give you a better understanding of the phenomenon of planet Twilo. As usual I ask you to submit your own... Thank You
Yours truly, Wild Child.

You know you're a Twilo-maniac when:

"You bet your friends that you can talk for 2 minutes without mentioning Twilo and you lose"
"You name your new pet cat Twilo"
"You want to name your new pet cat Twilo, but your boyfriend doesn't let you, so you name the cat Junior (after Mr. Vasquez of course) instead. The cat turns out to be a music fanatic, always sitting right next to the speakers, go figure..."
"When you've never been clubbing anywhere in NYC besides Twilo, and don't care to try anywhere else"
"You keep repeating to your friends over and over: Everything else but Twilo is a waste of time and money, a statement met by intense stares bordering on concern, you give up and go to Twilo all by yourself"
"When you factor Twilo expenses into your monthly budget as a fixed expense"
"You cry because you twist your ankle a week before Junior's Birthday party and now can't dance, after the tears dry up, you decide you are going anyway, put on your platforms, tie up the ankle with an elastic band and dance for 8 hours. Surprisingly the ankle heals faster than normal!"

Sum up Twilo in 3 words:

"Priceless group therapy"
"Changed my life"
"Off the hook"
"I am reborn"
"World without thumbs"

Distance does not matter or traveling for a night of dancing @ Twilo:

"20 hours flying and transit time from Dubai to JFK. Once a month every month"
"8 hours, driving from Toronto, Canada"

Twilo or Sex?

"Twilo, I can go without sex for a long time, but can't live without Twilo"
"Sitting on a speaker in Twilo is sex"

TWILO (Introduction)

What did the name Twilo mean?

Back in the day owners of a club put a lot of thought into a club name and the philosophy it represented because they wanted to make sure it truly matched their intent for a venue. After all the name is the first thing you see. When someone puts that much thought into a name, believe me they will put as much thought or more into venue itself. For example under the dance floor at Paradise Garage there was a layer of sand, which made dancefloor bouncy to give the dancers an extra kick, imagine that? NYC had some really great clubs that redefined history of music: Paradise Garage, Sound Factory, The Loft, Salvation, Better Days, Haven, Danceteria, Palladium, Vinyl and Twilo. Some of names tell you what they are right from the start: Sound Factory, Danceteria, The Loft, Salvation, Vinyl; others are more of a metaphor: Paradise Garage, Better Days, Haven and then there are true wonders: Twilo and Palladium. Palladium means a safeguard, especially one viewed as a guarantee of the integrity of social institutions: "the Bill of Rights, palladium of American civil liberties". Twilo is a mysterious planet from one of Dick Van Dyke show episodes. Inhabitants of Twilo have only 8 fingers instead of 10, missing the thumbs. Because of the missing thumbs inhabitants of planet Twilo can't fire guns, use knifes or commit other disturbing acts of violence.

Twilo is the most peaceful planet of all...(True to the name it was peaceful planet for many).

Now lets take a look at some ridiculous club names we've had over the past years and thoughts they provoked: Tunnel (Tunnel Vision? Dark Tunnel?), Rehab (Isn't it time?), Bed (Oh no, we were supposed to dance!), Bungalow 8 (Private party for 8), Lot 61 (Auction?), Butter (A bad "Cream" rip off), Home (Weren't we supposed to go out?), Guest House (Kato? OJ's house guest?), 1OAK (stands for "one of a kind": welcome to the world of texting), Mansion (we are in NY babe, you can't afford it), Kiss & Fly (what are you kissing? angel dust? or a Gulfstream pilot?), The Box (let's not even go there, I've been always trying to get outside the Box, thank you very much!).

Twilo takes the cake, although I am very seduced by Palladium, Paradise Garage and Better Days. Please New Yorkers, submit ridiculous club names of the past, I love an exchange...

Thank you.

TWILO (Prologue)

Last week I went to Cielo to hear Junior Vasquez play and his set was just as inspiring, stimulating and fiercly contagious as his legendary Twilo sets. It brought so many great memories that I found myself day dreaming all through the week of "Twilo Resurrection". This week has been slightly gloomy in the city and a little slow for me so I decided to find some interviews with Junior Vasquez to read on my work breaks, to keep the inspiration going. Besides some really interesting ones that I devoured, I found some very negative publicity on Twilo which made me really burn.
These articles were caricatures of the place and it's inhabitants, clearly written with a sensationalist sarcasm and complete lack of understanding of that world.
Instead of getting angry and leaving some nasty replies to the writers I got inspired to tell the story of Twilo from my point of view. The view of Twilo as home away from home from one of it's inhabitants. What made it home away from home, why Twilo was so encompassing to so many people? Why when conversation turns to Twilo people's eyes light up even though the place has been closed for more than a few years? Club is a club right? You come in, you dance and you leave? Wrong...
Throughout NYC history there were clubs that stood out from the rest and challenged every preconceived notion of a club experience, thus finding their place in history and redefining music as we knew it. Twilo was one of them and although it will be an extraordinary challenge for me to put my feelings and memories into words, I will...

TheCityLoveProject

Union Square NYC, always has a gathering of creative souls. Walking by on Sunday I noticed people painting something a a canvas and stopped by to say hello. It turned out to be an interesting project started by Trey Phillips. You can check it out here: http://www.thecityloveproject.com/

New Yorkers truly love New York and so do visitors from all over the globe, but what does our city love? Hmm

I think our city loves freedom, our city loves being open to all, our city loves staying up 24 hours a day all year around, it loves creativity, it loves fresh faces, it loves fast pace, it loves originality.

To sum it up I think this is the only city in the world that loves everything about life, every process, every sound, every drastic drop or rise in temperature and every single person on the street. I think this city loves me and I can't stop loving it back. But above all I think NYC loves doers, people who actually do things instead of sitting around and talking about it.

And here you go, just a regular Memorial Day Sunday passing Union Square I found another soul who had an idea and put it out there for all to see. NYC loves Trey Phillips for sure. Why? Trey decided to give city a voice. Isn't it glorious? I think so....

The Lightness of Body & Soul

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away Body & Soul parties used to happen every Sunday afternoon. But then a certain mayor, you know the one who actually thought he could become a president, caused so much trouble for best of city clubs that slowly but surely they closed one by one. Nightlife in the city never fully recovered from that wipe out, but slowly things did return to semi normal. So what that now Body & Soul happens only 4 times a year? At least we should be really grateful that it's still happening.

To the dismay of my friends I really love to arrive at a party very early. I like to walk into empty, cold club and watch the crowd pour in, change the energy and get hot. For me it's really thrilling to watch a party go through different stages.

Body & Soul starts at 6 pm on a Sunday and I highly recommend at least once coming in early to watch the dancers putting powder on the floor to add a bit more power to their already superior gliding abilities. Watch the women arriving with tambourines, shaking their feathers.

Music at Body & Soul is across the board genre wise. It's funk, it's soul, it's disco, it's old school, it's rhythm and blues, it's house, it's progressive house bordering on trance. Age of attendants is between 21 and 65, and everyone gets along. I've never seen even a minor altercation on the dance floor. It is probably the most uniting party with a cult like following. You will see the same people over and over again, you will make friends, and you will dance. They have amazing performers and lights. Ariel does something very special with the lights, they feel angelic.

It's pure joy to be there, from beginning to end. The DJs always give 200 percent and the interaction between the 3 of them is seamless. You never know which trip they will be taking you on and the element of surprise adds to the excitement.

Walking around Webster Hall, which is one of the oldest clubs in the city you feel history. Built in 1886 this club has seen it's share of wild nights. And it certainly absorbed that energy into it's walls. From the grandiose staircase to the balconies the place is a pleasure to explore in case you get tired of dancing. But something tells me you will not get tired of dancing to the rhythms of Body & Soul; you will lose yourself on the dance floor and find the light in process.

Junior's World

Mr. Vasquez is not a DJ, he is a master of ceremony. I have been in awe of this man for more than 10 years and he does not stop surprising me. He is a teacher, a preacher, a lover all rolled into one. He will make you lose yourself, he will make you forget about cigarettes, bathroom, your boyfriend...He will pull you in and let you go only when he desires. His power, his love of music and his control of the crowd will never be repeated. He watches every move of the crowd, he will test you, he will twist you and he will open you up, he is always in control. In a course of a night, somehow he will make you face the truth you didn't want to see and he does it through music. Vocal after vocal, classic but fresh, he had the whole Cielo jumping for 5 hours straight. No he is not a composer per se, but he will touch you as deep as Vangelis, Mercury and even Beethoven.

Vasquez is a mystery. He knows magic, he is very connected to the spiritual world, and he shares his powers with us. Vasquez provokes feelings and thoughts like no other. And like a cat he has more lives than you can imagine, because just when you are ready to write him off he reinvents the sound together with himself. Vasquez can purr and he can scratch and if you are wise you should never write him off. If you are a DJ then listen and learn and if you just love music then lose yourself in Junior's world while you can. This man strolled beyond brilliant and genius long time ago. He is a master, a magician and father to many club children. What an inspiring individual.
Mr. Vasquez...from the bottom of my heart, from a very sacred place that is rarely touched by others Thank You! May you live a very long life!

Dancers United

Ahhhh, it's Memorial Day weekend and New York City is filled with drunk sailors as it is also Fleet Week. I don't blame them for getting drunk on the shores of NYC. Who can blame them? They have been protecting our land and now are here to take a break from that craziness. God bless them and we should thank them in person. Thank you!!! No matter what pickle this country is in right now it is still the best country in the world. Freedom is priceless and I don't need to say anymore. Land of the free and the home of the brave...

Let's get to Memorial parties - Lots of people left for road trips and Hamptons, clubs were not at capacity Thursday night, only true blue dancers came out. I was fortunate enough to have a Friday off my day job and thus checked out 2 parties: Aqua-Booty and Kult Records at Sullivan Room. Both parties had exceptional music: Tony Humphries at Le Lupanar with Aqua-Booty and Saeed at Sullivan with Kult Records. Very different styles but both places had a family vibe. Aqua-Booty has been running forever and everyone there were happy to see each other again. Greg Cuoco, the organiser of Aqua-Booty is a sweetheart and is a true aficionado of house music. The DJs and the dancers are family united by soulful sounds. Tony Humphries is a genius, carefully watching the dancers to see if they are loving the grove and if the track is not working it's switched in 2 minutes flat with perfect execution. Such a lovely vibe, I can't wait till the next installment which will be in Brooklyn, Friday 29th @ Aqua.

Sullivan Room takes the cake for bold DJ choices: Saeed, Phonique, Jeff Mills, Satoshi, the list goes on and it's impressive. The tight knit group behind Sully are masters of originality also promoting as I have written before an atmosphere of family. Saeed Younan knows his grove. The base beat is the circular house beat, the one that makes you want to move your feet continuously in figure 8 and even though sometimes he veers into electro top note territory he never strays too far. Dancers had a field day, there was plenty of space to get down and spirit was abundant. So hot...plus the bartenders dancing behind the bar while mixing your drinks, you better believe that drink will be tasty!
Dancing...Advancing...Flying...Stop your crying...Groving...Keep on moving...
Music is the answer... to your problems...Keep on moving and you can solve them...
At 12 midnight I'll be waiting for you, so don't forget what you have to do :)
How classic and then back to the drums, the drum, the beat that is so close to your heart.
Unity between the dancers and the DJ is that elusive quality that makes or breaks a party, the energy that can only be felt with your entire being, your soul. This is what true house music is about, love and unity, breaking barriers and illusory protective fences. Making us all understand that we are one, we are all connected to each other, we are all family and there is never a competition, there is only appreciation of each other and sheer joy. Come into our house, welcome to the house of joy!
Thank you team Sullivan for always being true to the grove. Keep the dancers dancing...you know how loyal we are when we are treated well.

Missing the good times @ Cielo

I guess it is inevitable that all good things come to an end. I am very conflicted as I write this, because Cielo used to be one of my favorite clubs. After Crobar closed Cielo took the number one spot for exceptional house music. Cielo is small, comfortable and has a good sound system; it draws a mixed crowd of all ages and backgrounds. Last Saturday the DJ lineup was fantastic: Rob Keith, Samsara, Arana and Kenny Summit, premier of Wobble party. Club was at capacity, the beats were sexy and delicious and the crowd was nice. Add up the ingredients and you should have a hell of a party right? Not quite…
Last year in August I went to hear Steve Lawler at Cielo by myself. As soon as I got in, the sound system went out and Lawler had to bring it back, which took him about half an hour all while the lights were on and crowd was patiently waiting, behaving very well. He got the sound back and the party was amazing, crowd really interacting…Dancing, striking conversations with perfect strangers, screaming, whistling… I was by myself and didn’t feel out of place at all and that says something for an atmosphere of the place. A little later Roger Sanchez had an issue with sound system as well and I started thinking that the owners were not paying attention to the club. Place acquired that horrible musty smell of too many drinks spilled and never properly cleaned. I stopped going.
But last Saturday I wanted to check out Wobble party as I really respect Rob Keith and Samsara. Walking in I noticed that the smell was gone and the sound was very clean. I got really happy about it, thinking: Great! Cielo is back! But as the night went on I could not escape the feeling of doom. As if the place itself was on its last breath and no effort of the DJs could bring it back to life, it didn't matter that the club was packed. There was no unity.
People danced a little but the spirit was awful and by 2:30 the crowd dwindled perhaps sensing the same thing I did. Certainly I will give it another try as Junior Vasquez is playing Sunday and I can’t miss it for the world, but the feeling I left with was that its just a matter of time before Cielo will be closed. I hope I am wrong because NYC can’t afford to lose another club.

Aqua-Booty

What image comes to your mind when I mention Aqua-Booty? Take your time…think about it...Now tell me...
No, it is not the latest vitamin water from the makers of Veggie Booty, think some more…
A fish tank shaped like booty and filled with water? What? You have one in your house? I don’t believe you! Try again, come on…

Booty covered in sweat from vigorous shaking? You are getting closer. A party, an underground house music party, with excellent DJs and wild crowd? Just like 1993? Bingo!

After 10 years on hiatus, Greg Cuoco and friends are back with deep, soulful, eclectic sound of house music you thought was extinct. This time they are taking over Le Lupanar on Lower East Side every 3rd Thursday of the month. Rarely random walk-ins provide such cool finds and as I was wandering around LES last week, I felt pulled in by this place almost magnetically so I settled for Mojito by the bar. My jaw was right on the floor though when I saw the flyer for Aqua-Booty party. I’ve heard about Aqua-Booty parties back in 1998 but never actually went as I just got to NYC and was solidly glued to Twilo, by the time I decided to try it Booty was gone. But Gods are smiling on house music loving New Yorkers this year and something tells me this party just might stick around LES. All I really need to tell you about Le Lupanar is: great staff, strong drinks, clean sound, cool owner and Aqua-Booty. You can try the food if you want but as for me I am here to dance. Think you can pick me out of the crowd? Try next Thursday (May 21st) because I will be there for Tony Humphries, Antonello Coghe, Terron Darby and Greg Cuoco of course. Let me see your Aqua-Booty :)

Mini What?

I would call this party a mini disaster if it wasn't for Sety. Sety is a phenomenal DJ and producer and Minimoo is getting points only because they got Sety to DJ. New Yorkers are a discriminatory bunch especially if we are going to pay $30 to get in the door. Loft space on Howard street at the Die Fabrik building is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but the fact that you have to take an elevator upstairs increases wait time at the door and we don't like to wait long.
Getting drinks was lengthy as well since you first had to wait in line to get casino like minimoo drink chips, then go to the bar and wait in another line to get your choice of Budweiser, Water, Red Bull or Vodka. Lovely choices I might add; did you hear by chance that Corona is a beer of choice for party people everywhere? No? Really?
Girl's bathroom was closed within an hour of my arrival. Get this: there are 2 stalls in girl's bathroom and both were clogged at the same time because someone dropped a roll of toilet paper into each toilet. Who would do something like that? 2 girls on crack? I don't know...but it says something about the crowd that this party draws. For the next hour girls had to use the single stall at boys bathroom, imagine the line and the madness...
Let's get to the good stuff: music! Sety was exceptional...Consistent, deep, progressive house with electro top notes, he put us in the mood for dance. One little problem though...buzzy, hollow sound system that could not fill the space and even on the dance floor the sound was dirt poor.
So let's round this up: 30 dollars to get in, wait downstairs, wait at the cash register for the bar, wait at the bar, wait at the bathroom, terrible sound, and great DJ. 3 Stars and only because of Sety.
Minimoo organisers please take note, your party needs a major improvement otherwise you will lose your crowd if you haven't already. If you want us to forgive you for horrors of Minitek please work on your next venue with these suggestions in mind. Thank you for Sety though, the man is a genius!

Dutch Kills Bar-Pure Beauty

Behind the bar Richard Boccato was vigorously shaking a cocktail shaker listening closely to the sound and knowing exactly when to stop for perfect mix. Once he stopped he put his left hand behind his back and poured the drink with his right hand, head tilted watching his creation with a love of a parent. Richard is a mixology artist and also a lovely host. He moves nonstop watching every single detail but his movements are smooth and not rushed because this bar makes time stand still or perhaps even go backwards. Jazzy, sexy, soulful funk flowing through the dimly lit space with shimmering mosaic floors. Patrons socializing, everyone talking to each other as old friends, the smell of wood fills the air and everything about this place spells longevity and class. Step back in time, hang your bag/coat/hat on a wall hook, enjoy the fine drinks and feel peacefully at home. Antique objects in decor make up an authentic atmosphere; solid mahogany bar, walls and doors invoke serious approach of quality craftsmanship from another era. Same seriousness is applied to art of mixology starting with hand cut chunks of ice, unique, old fashioned cocktails blended with a touch of bitters then accessorized with chic glassware and steel straws. An aura of coolness and stillness dwells all around, inviting to stay, slow down and get lost in the sound. Live jazz performances will soon entertain and organic pub fare is coming as well. The place is a very rare find and tuned to perfection; putting Long Island City on the map for sophisticated entertainment on cutting edge of originality. Five stars, period!
http://www.dutchkillsbar.com/

Art Imitates Life

Serge Strosberg is unique and his work focuses intently on character study. His paintings are a window into a life of a soul. Provocative, tender and honest at the same time, in his paintings you'll find beauty mixed with insecurity, strength stemming from weakness, fragility of trust, lust intertwined with love. All of complexities of this beautiful journey called life equally mixed with tragedy and triumph.
His latest opening: Les Demoiselles de New York, a body of work depicting transgendered people drew cream of the crop on NYC movers and shakers. Patrick McDonald, Kenny Kenny, Stacy Engman, Malcolm Harris, Jordan Fox, Michael Solomon and many others I did not have a chance to meet were all on hand to support and celebrate the artist and his creative vision. If you don't know any of these names please take your time to google them (include MySpace into search to get the best results), they are fascinating because of their audacity to be true to themselves and in the process an inspiration to others. Real, strong, beautiful and above all authentic; perhaps they will inspire you to create your own work of art that you in turn will share with the rest of the world just like Mr. Strosberg. Visit http://www.strosbergserge.com/index.html and you can commission your own portrait if you so desire... after all who wouldn't want to be a "muse" at least once in their lifetime?