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Main Room
Brisk
Re-con
The Doctor vs. Rize
Starr & Sixxx
Kid Orange
Pepse vs. Skye
Sparrow
Cik vs. Kore
MC ADB & MC Berzerk

Chill Room
Pac D
Jewan
Zak
S. A. Padula
Atomic Mage

I have so many thoughts about and memories from this event... I don't even know where to start! I suppose a little background will put this into better perspective...

I started partying back in 1999 in the Vegas and Southern California scenes and nothing had ever made me happier. Over the years both of those scenes became jaded to the point where the whole concept of raving was lost. Raving used to be fun. It was an amazing release and a great way to recharge before heading back to reality for another week of school, work, and whatever else. As things changed and evolved people would complain more and more. Even if this weekend's event(s) were complete crap, next weekend would be even worse and everyone would just wish that they had what they did the weekend before. Expectations lowered and lowered. Whistles became hated by most. Dressing extravagantly became a thing only those ridiculous candykids would do. Everyone would talk shit about everyone else. High school drama became the norm. This promoter would call the cops on that promoter and vice versa. The news told every kid in America who could care less about EDM that raves were the place to go if they wanted to try drugs. Newbies whose only goal was to get fucked up for the night replaced the countless icons of the scene who used to bring a vibe with them everywhere they went. Serving alcohol at events became standard. The vibe died. People pretended it was still there, but they themselves had long forgotten the true euphoria that had originally drawn them into the scene. Years passed. Venues were shuttered. Some old school kids stuck around through it all, desperately hoping and dreaming to be there for that one event that would bring things back proper. While a few events here and there did feel old school, nothing could compete with how things used to be. That brings us to now.

Kid Orange

I walked into the venue on Saturday not knowing what to expect. The decorations, lighting, and sound seemed to be set up as you would expect. Now being used to having a few drinks at a party, we decided to check out the bar. There we found a sign telling us that due to differences with the venue owner there would be no alcohol served during the event. My friends kind of smirked, but after a moment I mentioned that this might actually be a good thing. Raves never used to serve alcohol- that's what bars and clubs were for! So we all agreed that it would be interesting and old school to take in this event without consuming lots of tasty beverages. We made our way around and familiarized ourselves with where everything was and who was spinning when. Gabber was on and we noted that is was interesting to see people moshing to something other than hardcore at an event. As I stood around bobbing my head to the gabber I was quickly drawn to the visuals. The live video mixing was really great and the clips used were perfect for the event. When PLUR showed up on the screen written in candy canes I knew this night was going to be different than what I had come to expect from raves. PLUR lost its bling long ago in most other places, so seeing it prominently displayed in the visuals was exciting. Did people here really still stick to the PLUR ideals? I thought to myself that that would be so awesome. I would find out as the night went on that that was indeed how things were. The gabber ended and Kid Orange, who I had met a few months earlier at an event we were both spinning at out in LA, was hopping on the decks. He had dropped some awesome tracks the last time I heard him play so I was really looking forward to his set. He didn't disappoint! As his set starting to draw to a close, he threw on Blumchen's Just a Dream and that is where my night really began. This guy dancing next to me was going just as crazy as I was and we were screaming the lyrics and having the best time ever like we were old friends or something. It was awesome. Besides a minute or two break, I was in the middle of the dancefloor for all of Orange's set just having a blast.

Starr and Sixxx

Starr and Sixxx took over at midnight and I didn't make it off the dancefloor for their entire set. I was so hot and dehydrated, but it's a rave so that was expected! I believe the best moment of their set was when they threw down Starr's new song. The song has really been growing on me since I first heard it and being there with everyone singing along just sealed the deal. Awesome track! You could tell Starr was feeling the love. He looked so happy :) And Sixxx with his rave horn through the whole set... Classic! (I never got to say hi to you Ryan- I hope the move went well!) Their set ended and as much as I wanted to be there for all of Brisk's set, I decided to skip out for the first few tracks to cool down and rehydrate.

Wispy the Wonder Doll

3 bottles of water later, a few new friends, and some amusement with the doll we brought to the event as a joke, it was time to head back inside. (Who saw the doll?! I'm so glad we bought her at Fry's and got her all candied out for the party! Unfortunately no one called to return her at the end of the night like the note on her arm suggested... Anyone know who ended up with her?) Brisk threw down a ton of great tracks and I really enjoyed his set. New Eyeopener anyone? I was so excited for that track!

Brisk

Re-con hopped on next and in the middle of his set something amazing happened. I had always dreamt of people performing Happycore live, but in all the years I have been partying I had never seen it. The song he sang was amazing live and it's all I can think of every time I hear that track now! I believe this is also around the time where out of nowhere a ton of people in the audience cracked fire orange glowsticks and lit up the entire room. I can only imagine how awesome that was from the deejay's perspective. That is love right there! I was shocked to find so many people whistling to everything and some of the deejays even getting into it. Whistles are taboo and generally hated these days so it was awesome to see things how they used to be back before things were tainted! You guys out in Arizona really don't know what you have... It's a beautiful thing!

Re-con rocking the show

The amazing vibes continued on as Sparrow threw down. At this point I was so tired. Raves rarely make it to 4am in Vegas and Cali anymore, so anything beyond that is pretty crazy. Parties in both scenes used to go 'til daylight way back when, but if you tried to do an event that lasted until 6am in Vegas now it would end at 3 because of the lack of any crowd after that time.

Rize and The Doctor

I fought through my sleepiness and got a second wind just as Rize and the Doc hopped on. I have to say that DJ Rize and I have such a similar music taste that it is almost scary. With that in mind, I knew I was going to love his portion of the set. The Doc was didn't disappoint with his track selection either. Skye was on stage rocking out and really pumping the crowd and I was loving it. (She was up there the majority of the night and she wasn't any less passionate at the end of the party than she was through the night.... So great!) Starr joined her about mid-set, and soon a lot of the night's talent appeared behind the two spinning. Soon Kandieland III CD's were getting handed out to everyone who had braved the night and were still rocking out and that made me smile. It was like a reward for still being there. As 6am came and went, the emcee announced the last track. At this point I have to admit that I was bummed that such an amazing night was going to end with what they put on. Nothing against the track, but I just wasn't feeling it. Oh well, I figured. The event had been the most amazing event I had been to in at least 4 years so I couldn't complain.

The track ended and Rize had this big grin on his face. He wasn't done... One more track? Really? I couldn't even fathom what he would throw on, but as the first note of the song hit I looked over a my friend and screamed like a little girl. One note and I knew what it was. The song I couldn't get enough of. The song I had just opened my set with last week in Vegas at our Halloween rave. The song that I couldn't stop singing all day Saturday because it was so great. FOREVER F*CKING HARCORE! Remix. Remix. Get down. Get Down. WE WILL, WE WILL BE YOUNG FOREVER!!! I lost all control. I made my way through the amazing crowd that was still there and still rocking out like it was still 1am and took a spot right near the edge of the stage. Starr and I exchanged glances (he knows how much I love this track) and he just smiles real big at me. The bass kicked in and the lyrics started and everyone just went nuts. I was about to cry at this point. I'm sure you are all like what a fag why would you be crying, but when you miss something so much and you search for years to find it again and after so long your memory of what it was gets so faded that you don't really know what you used to have anymore, the moment you rediscover that thing is epic. I danced like I had all the energy in the world. You could just feel the vibe all around and it was nothing short of being one of the greatest moments of my life. There is no better song to end a party. There was nothing that could have made the night more perfect.

You can bet I will be back to Arizona to rave again and hopefully even deejay for you. I can't even imagine how great it would be to deejay for hundreds of kids that actually like and care about hardcore. Nowhere else in the US has that.

Thank you to everyone who put time into the event and to all who showed up and made the amazing crowd. All the deejays, staff, and whoever was video mixing! Happy birthday Rize! You made my night. I hope we all made yours.

This pretty much sums up the night