Oh Destiny ... good and bad things alike on the night. I got there pretty early (about 10:45 or so), only to be greeted by a security guard who said that cameras were not allowed. Now, the security guy was real nice about it, and I stopped and chatted for a few, and he let me bring my camera back out to the car and not have to wait in line again. I don’t have a problem with security about this, but I DO have a problem with the promoters because of this. Earlier in the day, Destiny CLEARLY stated that cameras were allowed at the party because “cameras are always allowed at Destiny parties”. Hmm ... where have I heard that one before? Oh yea ... at New Years’ when security wanted to throw my non-disposable camera in the garbage. There was a real dickhead guy that worked for Destiny selling the tickets that was preaching to me that Destiny has never allowed cameras, that he’s worked for them for a long time, etc, but I know that’s a load of crap after talking with one of the promoters (the guy wearing the blue flowery Hawaiian shirt) later on in the evening. I seriously hope these communication breakdowns get resolved because it really pisses me off to get conflicting stories from the same company. Hopefully this will get resolved for the next party. Destiny – You’ve got two strikes against you after the last two of your parties I’ve been to. I hope you don’t strike out, or I’ll be sure to avoid future parties you guys throw.
Anyways, on to the rest of the party. The vibe at this party? What vibe!? It was very disappointing to see hardly anyone dancing in any room but main. There couldn’t have been more than 20 people (if that) at any given time in the house room, and of all the people upstairs in the licensed area, only 5-10 people were kickin’ it to the sweet, pumpin’ techno that was laid out for everyone. As for the main room ... there were lots of people dancing, but I just couldn’t get into it for the most part.
The sets:
Drag N Fly – Nice hard set man. It got the evening off to a good start, and I was hoping that would set the tone for what was to come in the main room. Unfortunately I was wrong.
Eryk S – I checked out the first bit of his set, and it was not bad, but I wanted to check what else was going on in the other rooms, so I moved on.
A/C – Ack. That’s all I’ve gotta say. He did NOT look like he was enjoying himself. A few mistakes, but I don’t think he cared. I can’t really blame him though. How can you put your heart into a set that only 5 people are dancing to?
Phantasm – Nice beats as per usual. I’ve enjoyed Phantasm’s sets each time I’ve seen him. I was shakin’ the moneymaker on an empty dancefloor until it was time for the main event – Taucher!
Taucher – Taucher. The “next big trance DJ”. * yawn *. Sorry, but I was really disappointed in his set. He’s an interesting DJ to watch – his antics on stage are quite humourous, and he threw down some nice tracks, but his technical skills just weren’t there. Trance is supposed to move you spiritually and cause you to shake your ass on the dancefloor. That did not happen at all. I left after about an hour to head upstairs to check out the guy who made my night.
Mike Dearborn – This guy’s set made the party for me. I can honestly say if it wasn’t for Dearborn’s set (along with Paul Walker), I would’ve called the party a total write-off. A perfect set. Hard techno beats, a sprinkle of funkiness to mix things up a little. I kicked it non-stop the whole time (well ... except to refill the water bottle of course. It was so bloody hot up there!). I was sure to thank Dearborn for such an amazing set. There were a few others that felt the same way. It’s a shame that there were only 15-20 people dancing throughout his set. I hope someone brings him back to Toronto soon so a real techno crowd can give him the props that he deserves.
Mark Scaife – Took a quick walk over to the house room to cool off (for some reason the house room was easily 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the place). Mark played some harder beats that I’ve heard him play in the past, but it wasn’t disappointing at all. What was disappointing was the turnout in the house room. I swear it had to be that nobody knew about the room, cuz there was great beats in there all night long. Not to mention the bathroom there was the only washroom that had cold running water til about 1am. Unfortunately it started to get a little too cold in there, so I had to move it back upstairs for more techno.
Paul Walker – He picked up where Mike Dearborn left off. From the time I set foot back in the techno room, it was full-on kickin’ beats. I was right up front again until about 5:30 when it was time to get going.
I find it pretty funny that I was at a Destiny party, and I spent 75% of the night in the techno room - and I’m not disappointed one bit. Good to party with Susan and Tom (Par-T) again. I saw Nick (Twitch) there, and talked with him for a bit, but where were the rest of the TBK? I was the guy with the dark grey button-up shirt, blue pants, burgundy sling bag w/ glasses that was kickin’ it right up front in the techno room all night. I know some of you were there cuz you mentioned the camera girl (who was kinda cute I might add). Say hi next time!
All in all, I had a good night, even though there were more than a few problems. Oh, and thanks so much to Susan and her friends for the ride home.
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7/10
-- Jay aka Fut
