John B. Vital. I have a junglist in me.....

[Ninjetta]

WOOOOOOO!!! my very first thread. SO ya, I had an absolutely amazing time. I can totally appreciate drum and bass and jungle and what not but being a housekat myself I didnt expect to dance tonite.

The surprising part was that I didnt stop. GREAT music, wikkid vibe and amazing people.

Shawn as always, it was great to see you, thanks for the drink, it was unnecessary but definately put me over the top *MUAH* (I've stil got my eyes peeled for ya....)

Shannon it was a pleasure. Absolute fun, we must hook up again sometime soon, anyone who can make me laugh on command is worth spending time with

Sunny, you are too sweet. my cheeks hurt from smiling, but please spare me those retard pics.

Chiclet and Echo, nice to finally formally meet you both, I no longer feel like such a tribe board lurker.

Kevin, YOU HAVE HAIR! nice to see you as always, what more can I say.

But anyway enuff of my pluriness

Overall I had a wikkid time, and I am thoroughly beginning to regret prior Vital parties that I have missed. They will now be a staple in my party diet.

See you all next weekend.

Janine

 

[pr0nstar]

I had a great time!

Nice to see all the Tribe crew represent!

It was nice chatting to Shawn, Sarah, Sunny, Meghin, Rob, Shannon and all the others... I Lix, DJ Chase.. and any others I forgot.

Echo my dancing partner!!! Boogie'n it up for so long with just us kicking up a storm in the UKG room!

John B was amazing, nice funky Latin influenced D&B, just some hard ass D&B... very nice D&B set. I haven't heard good D&B like that for a long time.

DJ Chase was ripping it up when we got there... Divy was spinnin his usual taste of UKG... My legs now hurt from all the dancing!

Ok I need more sleep I think!

Rule #1, Don't bring lots of money to Vital Parties and then ask the bar "Do you take Visa!?"

And Quote of the night...

e. riot "Your girlfriends got a really big chest" <Hand Gesture!>

LOL!

pr0nstar

 

[olde]

John B has the Midas touch.

Everything the man touches in a studio turns to fucking gold.

Track after Track

Ay Carumba
Forever

I wasn't crazy about the Oakenfold Up all night Remix, but what do you expect? You cant mess with perfection.

The Total Science track Dangar!! Was the track of the night in my eyes, totally FUCKING OFF THE HOOK.

The mixing was a little stale, but who cares with tracks like that.

I had a great time. I was throughly impressed.

As for mixing, Marcus made up for my crossfader lust afterwards.

jordan

 

[olde]

Oh and big up e-riot and the other soldier up at the front with me through the whole thing.

And jay you are king.

jordan

 

[dj velocity]

Wicked night!
John B absolutely tore the place up! Plus, am I the only one who thinks Surface is one of the sweetest clubs in the city. Such a cozy and comfortable environment. Excellent choice CC.
btw, did anyone get a chance to see the monitor speaker fall over and smoke me? haha That was definitly an interesting moment. Can't say I've had that happen before. oh well, it was good for a laugh. I had a wicked time rinsing things out and am honored to be on the same bill as John B.
Nuff respect to Kelly, Diligence, Tella, and Dappa for all your support. Much appreciated...
and last but not least big ups to CC and McBee for all your hard work towards a night done proper!
cheers
D

 

[da MiGHTy pLUm!]

fun had by all in attendance.
I think that about sums it up.

-ron!

 

[CC]

john once again impressed me with his diversity in the studio, and through down more plates than anyone else that i've seen.

vibe was tight, music was great, venue was sweet, people were drunk, everything went well...... except the attendance. sorry i spent most of the night kinda dodging people, as i was a little worried for most of the night. but i enjoyed the great company of everyone there.

i'd like to thank everyone who's helped me out hugely in the past little while:

sarah (mcbee)!!!!!!! amy (echo), kelly, ben, kevin (basic), dan (velocity), ron (mighty plum), patrick (kife), janine (ninjetta), mike (green olive), rob (switch), andrea, and a whole ton more.


on a sad note, because of the financial situation on friday, vital productions is officially calling it quits. next saturday's party at the b-side should be the last event. not sure about the weekly at gypsy coop either (supposed to start july 21st, running every saturday). come out for the fairwell dance.

CC

 

[D-Cypher]

WHAT?! FUCK THAT SHIT!! NOO.....NEED MORE HELP SHAWN? Forget bringing in John B. or other big names...vital parties are wikid with just locals!

gimme an email because i wanna help you out
d_cypher@junglist.com

VITAL SHALL LIVE ON!

 

[mcbee]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by CC:

on a sad note, because of the financial situation on friday, vital productions is officially calling it quits.
</font>

all good things must end, i suppose. it breaks my heart too but we must be mature and responsible about stuff like this. money is money and losing it is hard.

but i am SO happy that over the past year a ton of people have got to experience the Vital magic. i can honestly say that my friendships with many of you have sprung out of these parties and i feel so lucky to have gotten to experience some fucking memorable nites! laughter, smiles, friendship, romance

, drunkeness and dancing are what these nites are all about. such fine memories i'm gonna hang onto for a long time.

last nite was no exception!! surface was a excellent venue - small, cozy, intimate...perfect for a small gathering of wicked people there to enjoy some killer tunes.

big thanks to chase, divy, marcus, velocity, green olive, switch and john b for providing sweet sweet beats all nite long. (extra special thanks to divy for playing my happy song 'out of reach' and to basic for finding me when the song was on. *muah*)

what more can i say? vital holds a special place in my heart for sooo many reasons. i'm sad but i'm happy we got to do it for so long!

CC - so so proud of you darling. i love you lots and we'll figure shit out. i promise.

sarah &lt;---so hungover and an 8 hour shift of retail today did not help!!!

 

[TranceparenT]

wikkid party, my first vital party and i was planning on becoming a resident, too bad its all over... I was amazed at the low attendence, i got there around 12 and was worried i wouldnt get in...

divy nearly killed me with that set, kept droppin traxx i HAD to dance to, and everyone else was in the jungle room so i had nuff space. mmmmm, my own dancefloor

I'm pissed i missed all of your other parties, and now i found out about them they're finished, but i'll hit any party that lists vital as one of the promoters. FOR SURE!

 

[AVE]

thats really too bad that you gotta call it quits.....its companies like yours(along with Intimate) that are bringing the goodness back into drum&bass.......19+, no sketchy mofos, everyone there to have a good time and hear great beats....like D-cypher said, you don't need internationals, locals are just as good

hopefully you can get it turned around

peace

 

[CC]

let's face it, we can make our parties the best in the city, and put together a wonder cast of djs, and if one big club comes along with one popular headliner, we're sunk. we got crushed by our competition even though our event had the potential to be one of the best this summer.

the loyal vital fans have been quite strong in supporting us, but unfortunately there aren't enough of them. i just wish that more people would learn to appreciate what we're trying to do. oh well.... done with now.

CC

 

[MBoy]

I'm so very bitter that I've been on the night shift this weekend.

John B is my favorite producer of tunes at the minute, and this is the second time I've been working the night of his set in recent memory.

*sigh* -Duncan

 

[Intimate Productions]

CC:

I heard about your turnout. my opinion regarding the reason you lost out on this one was because you've started moving your focus away from your local squad. the same night a local squad throwing a 19+ party had a packed venue and thousands out to support (VS at Turbo) made the difference between success or failure for you. and if we're in an era where local crews can take the spotlight away from a UK headliner, that's a good thing because Toronto hasn't developed a respect for its culture/talent and a lot of people out there are on a mission to change that. Toronto is ready to support its locals. we know it. VS knows it. and we know you know it. learn from the move you made in the wrong direction. stick with your locals and don't lose focus and build it up that way.

but don't you fucking dare quit man. drop your number here. I'd like to give you a call as soon as possible. because Intimate is a company that throws mature 19+ parties but it's just a promotion company unless we affect other companies out there and support them in doing the same thing. because if we get it going and you get it going and other people follow up, we'll have a city full of these kind of companies cooperating and that's a lot more compelling than any one company doing these kinds of events. and straight up that's good for drum&bass in Toronto and that's all I give a fuck about.

if I had my business hat on right now, I'd be feeling ok about capitalizing on your loss, scamming some of your locals, and knowing we don't have competition from you and we don't have to worry about coordinating dates. but I have to say right now that Intimate would like to support you any way we can to help you get back on your feet if you're still interested in going forward. the only reason I mention that we can/will help you out if you need it is because we are all about this music, the city, and the local promoters, producers, DJs, etc. you happen to be part of that family and a part of that overall vision as far as we're concerned.

hope to hear from you soon.

-7-

 

[ecstasy riot]

JOHN B !!!!!!!!!!

rOwr... He is the cutest dancer ever. =)

Not as good as the first time I saw him, as he played more of his more popular tracks, and this time it was a lot of new dubs. And I'd still like to run off with his records and have sex with them. Oh, the tracks. I liked how he brought it Get Yr freak on, which was funny, but as Jordan said I did not like the epic Up all Night Oakenfold mix.
I don't know why but he did not seem to be having a good of a night on Friday then the last time he was here. Maybe cos last time people were going nuts and telling him to keep playing, and he just started playing tracks off his cd-r's, and even played Connection by Elastics! UK bizness =)

Overall, I still had a blast, and I want to see him again!! Maybe the crowd turnout wasn't as good cos you brought him back too soon? I was really happy, but maybe people wanted to see other Dj's instead, but John B is so great I don't know why anyone woudl want to pass it up. Donald Claude has been here so many times in the last few months, and this is deaintely tracks you won't ever hear most likely.

Don't quit Vital. I mean yr name says it right there : vital.

(Im so cheezy)

meghin

 

[JayIsBored]

yeah dont quit, vital parties are fun fun fun!

good tunes + good people= lots of dancing.
my legs are still hurting

this wannabe junglist thug was really impressed by velocity (dan stopped knocking over monitors. its not good for business) and john b. eventhough i know jack shit about jungle i can still somewhat tell by the crowd around me when shit is gonna rock. and i felt it last night.
nice chillin with amy, jane, tam, ryan, chris, shannon, dave etc etc etc...

and jordan if i am king you are my queen

 

[CC]

to 7: ya, people do come to support locals. that's a good thing, but as far as turbo downstairs, i heard it sucked ass. thats' why i was bringing john in. as good as some of our locals are, they don't have the tunes that the uk producers have. john has some of the best tunes anywhere. but also note that the line up i had was the same line up i always book, i just booked a headliner on top.

as much as most people in TO would like to think that the UK guys love and respect TO, that's bullshit. UK headliners have always looked down upon Toronto for not knowing shit about real drum and bass. i mean, John is one of hottest producers right now, and no one came. no one went to see simon bassline smith either. and when guys like brian gee come to town (like he did a year ago) only a couple dozen people come. but you bring down kenny ken, who hasn't done anything huge in years, and you get huge crowds. plus the crowds don't respond to the really good tunes. as long as it's dark, it doesn't have to be good in this town. look at how many people started leaving at the last renegades once marky started to play real tunes, with more soul to them.

so that's one of the other reason's for calling it quits; a lot of the producers worth bringing, wouldn't draw anyone out (ie: calibre). there are not enough people in this city who appreciate good music and a good vibe. not enough sense of loyalty towards companies in drum and bass. it's really too bad.

i'm still considering sticking to my new weekly, but it will be pretty small. stay tuned about that i guess.

CC

ps. thank you to all the people who have really stuck in there with me. i know there are some people who have supported me 100%, and there are some people who truely do support good drum and base.

 

[MoFo]

Had a great time. Drank WAY too much for my own good.

Thanks for the drink, Pronstar. A welcomed surprise. I have to get you back now...
Ninjetta, I'm glad you got your money's worth on that top.

All I have to say is, I always have an ok time at Turbo. But I always have a great time at Vital parties. I hate to admit it, but local d&b just blends into one. Forward-thinking tracks are rare. Why isn't anyone experimenting? There seems to be a lack of inspiration or something. It has hit a plateau.

UK stuff is where it's at. Why protest it just because it's from somewhere else? It's good shit, all that matters. It's what makes d&b alive. Thank you Shawn for Vital.

And I think you'll agree with me Jane, a huge big-up to the apparent absence of an MC. I actually left with John B in my head and not with some guy screaming "massive!"


Sunny.

 

[AVE]

its all about good drum and bass....we all know that jungle attracts a younger crowd and a rowdier crowd, and alot of these kids don't have a fuckin clue about producers and good music.....they like headliners, the same ones that are here over and over, tried and true

Alot of people don't seem to give two shits about innovation and soul, but as long as terrorist and The Nine is played, they all go away happy

I don't support that, I think its bullshit, we got to stop bringing in people like Kenny, Nicky, even Hype(I know I'm gonna get flamed), because they don't really bring anything new to the table, and as long as they are coming, people like John and Bryan Gee are gonna get overlooked, sad but true

Things do need to change

EZ

 

[CC]

^^^ thanks for seeing my point

CC &lt;-wishes there was a good place to go

 

[air-bag]

Sorry to hear that shawn

Dont know why people didnt show up.. maybe bad timing (everybody went to turbo)? Or maybe not enough advertising?

I loved John's mixes!
I also love any d'n'b party with no mc's

 

[feisty boy]

well, this is a sad day for t.o. drum and bass. i've always been a little disheartened by the scene here, always the same dark sound, always the same headliners.

drum and bass is getting so creative, so fresh, so innovative these days, thanks to producers like john b, but toronto just can't seem to progress beyond the dark floorfiller tune mentality.

sad to see you guys calling it quits.
respect to you though for loving the good music, and trying to open up some minds...

 

[D-Cypher]

I'm sorry...but you gotta take a little more responsibility as a promoter for poor attendance. Maybe you didn't have enough flyers, or didn't flyer enough, or didn't get the word or, or had it at the wrong venue or whatever.

I totally agree with what you guys are saying, and it is sad but true. BUT that is not to say that there is not a NICHE MARKET. Intimate boyz proved it to me a while ago when they had a full house for GREENMAN of all people...he's not huge like the UK badboys, but I'm sure the night was successful still.

I think you need to sit down with the Intimate peeps and some other peeps who might have alot of promoting experience and draw up a plan....ya know

Anything is possible. Don't blame people for liking certain DJ's. Just deal with it...

 

[da MiGHTy pLUm!]

holy shit, I had no idea things where this bad, shawn. I'm really sorry to hear that you're gonna call it quits, especially since the B-Side thing was going so well, and always packing it in with a tight vibe and amazing music.

If you ever decide to keep going, or start promoting again, I'll help out with anything you need.

Here's to hoping Vital will return sometime in the future, and if not, you've had an amazing run with your effort to expand Toronto's breakbeat horizons beyond those of dark and sinister beats.

Cheers.

-ron!

 

[expat]

Vital: I hope this doesn't come out as too harsh but if you're folding the tent after one bad night then why were you promoting in the first place? did you think that every event would be a success?
considering that you just brought JOhn B in a few months prior (which is why I didn't go out of my way to see him for $15 at a venue that was used for a jungle party one month prior) maybe it was just bad planning on your part.
No worries though...I am sure that every major promotion company has had a few hurdles on their way to success.
live and learn, right?