Well, after a few hours of hangin' out with Lori(Loress) downtown, slammin' back 16.50 pitchers at Black Bull(good looord dats a lot o money hehehe), we made our way down to the breaks/jungle party at system.....it was after a 3 hours gettin my groove on there, that I met up with Willar(DJ X) and Lisa(Kid Thunder). They mentioned to me that they were heading down to Cherry Beach to check out a little outdoor trance party. I had already had my fill of breaks, so after a quick farewell to Loress(sorry hun) and a few others, I made my way to my car, and headed out to find my first love....Trance.
While driving down Cherry St., with Tiesto soothing my tired, breaks battered soul, I felt a strange sensation that I haven't felt enroute to a party in a long time....it was excitement! For the last few years, I had always heard about the small bush parties at Cherry Beach, but circumstance had always kept me away. This party was a mission long overdue, and the closer I came to that gravel parking lot, the more I felt like I was being pulled in.
I parked the car, turned off the engine, and just sat there for a minute. There were only a few white lights that separated this parking lot from total darkness, and it suddenly occured to me that I may not even find this place. As soon as I stepped out however, that concern faded quickly. Somewhere to the left of me, I could hear the melodic tones and focused beat of Epic Trance! It seemed to be carried on the wind, now flowing in my direction. I locked up the car, and began to walk. After five minutes on a concrete bike path, it gave way to a small, but clearly visible dirt path. I know it sounds strange, but there were a couple of instances where the path forked in two different directions, and although this was my first time here, I never even hesitated in my choice of the right path.
I checked my watch when I got there, 2:14am. The crowd, about 75-100 strong, were huddled together, sitting in circles on the outskirts, and dancing and cheering closer to the picnic table the decks were resting on. Thon, aka Kid Epic was spinning now, with the technical mastery that has always held him in my highest respect. I looked around, and as Tina mentioned, it was a little sketchy. What made up for the sketchiness was that about 1 in 7 people there looked genuinely into the music, and about 1 in 10 were dancing their asses off!
I also remember a lone police car showing up, and a disgruntled officer being calmed down by the guy who was running things(pharmacon??), enough to let us continue the party with the promise to turn the music down. As soon as he left, they started the system up even louder before...tooo funny!
I met up with Willar and Lisa, Chris(DJ Frisky), Chiclet, Thon, Gobstopper, Satori and Twitch, Johnny Funk, Cheer Bear and a couple of older faces I haven't seen in awhile, Jay Porter and Wacko. I had a couple of good conversations there, but for the most part, I was too enthralled with the old 96-98 trance anthems to pay attention to anyone else. I danced for a good half hour, when the rest of the night had finally caught up to me. It was only about 3:45, but I was tired, sweaty, and my feet were killing me. It was time to go home.
This little party made me realize a couple of things about the current state of our community. First of all, I realized that Trance is, and will always be my favorite genre of electronica. Second, that even though the new generation of ravers contain a few sketchy characters, I have the overall feeling that our scene is in good hands. The love of the music is still there, and the mutual respect for the person dancing beside you(with the exception of Mr. Fire Hazard at this party) remains as well.
For the hour and a half i was there, I had a really good time. It was an example of the scene in its purest form....The experience wasn't diluted by corporate and production company logos. It was about the music and the people.
At this little party, the night was truly ours.
Dan aka S/\/\i(_eY
