I arrived at Kool Haus (which, for the record, still is a horrendous name for a venue) at around 11 or so, to be greeted by a thorough, albeit reluctant search. I was impressed by the thorough search, but I got the impression that the reason for this was the abundance of new staff trying to prove that they can be good doorpeople.
Once inside, the renovations struck me as interesting. I’m not sure if I like it or not, but what I will say is that the way the bars were lit, it makes it look like it was set up for a commercial shoot. There were only about 30-40 people that were there when we arrived, and most were up in the bar area. I understand it was early, but it still threw me for a loop. Thank god for everyone involved (partiers, DJs, promoters, etc) that the venue did start to fill in around 2am. The setup was very simple. Only two racks of intelligent lights (1 on stage, 1 in the middle of the venue) and the DJs were clearly visible because they were set up only a few feet back from the front of the stage.
Daboom and Loopy were on the decks for a back-to-back when I first stepped into the venue. Nice set, they had things primin’ nicely for the rest of the lineup. One thing though … right in the middle of the set Daboom drops in a mellow, chill track, and I’m just waiting for him to drop some Bob Marley over it. It was kind of funny, and not bad in the least because he was sure to drop a hook after a minute or two. Good job Rob!
Richard F was next up, and he wasted no time getting into his groove. It was a much harder set than the one that he dropped at Life so I’m told. I was definitely not disappointed in the least. It was great when he dropped Spaced Invader and then layered an acapella overtop of that. I was sure to shake my ass during his whole set. The only thing I feel bad about is that there were only 300-400 people there by the time Richard was finishing up.
Next in line was Stacey Pullen. There was no nonsense here, just pure bangin’ tracks for the duration of his set. I was thoroughly impressed. It was a lot more housey and funky than I was expecting, and you won’t hear a single complaint out of me. The crowd was much better about halfway into his set, probably around a thousand people at that point. Nowhere near the capacity of the venue, but it was nice to have space to move, to do your thing. Pullen dropped a few harder, more techno-based tracks towards the end of his set to prime for the next DJ to step up to the decks, Derrick May.
Derrick got things started with a very downtempo, ambient track. Everyone was standing around saying, “What the hell is this?” but quickly following with “I don’t want to go anywhere because I want to see what he’s going to do with this.” He did not disappoint. It was the first time I’d had a chance to see him live, and I thoroughly enjoyed his set (are you starting to notice a trend here?). It’s unfortunate that the crowd started to thin out about a half-hour into his set, and I could tell that Derrick was disappointed. When I was talking to his during his set, he apologized for there not being more action while I was taking pictures of him on the decks. I would really like the chance to see him perform for a packed venue and see how crazy it would get when he blew the roof off that place. There’s one more thing that I’d like to say about Derrick May before moving on with the rest of this review. Over the course of a few days leading up to the party, people had a lot more bad things than good to say about Derrick, mostly along the lines of how he’s “very egotistical and selfish.” In response to those people, I’d like to tell those people to get their head out of their asses because that was not the case at all in my experience. Derrick was very friendly, outgoing, and personable, and there isn’t a single thing bad that I have to say about the guy.
I had a really, really good time on Sunday night. I’d say it was one of the best times that I had in a while at a party. Jo, Svet, it’s always fun partying with you. It was good to see Dora and Brian (Brian, what’s that, twice in one weekend? What?!
. Bean, it was good to see you too, and I’m glad I was able to see you before you leave for your new job in Windsor! Good luck! Richard, Stacey, and Derrick – it was great meeting these guys. Not a negative vibe out of any one of them in the lot. Thanks to Kwon, Shawn, Mike and Rob at Most Wanted for the great party, it was great meeting you guys and I hope you keep throwing great parties. I know after this event, I’ll be sure to come out to the next one.
-- Jay aka Fut
