2002 in Review

[Moon]

I'd have to say 2002 had alot of big ups but unfortunatly alot of downers as well. Our local scene has clearly shrunk quite a bit compared to the last few years and many of our main respected promotion companies are finished with parties (ie et brothers, nice, exert(?), sweet etc) and have moved on. On the other hand, the club scene has been extremely impressive. The very affordable price as well as the high calibre of talent showcased at events like the benson and hedges gold club series, automatic, proper/sunday sessions, crossfade, lime (and many others i'm sure you can list =) ) have been incredible and we gotta give huge props and respects to the promoters who put in all the time and hard work to get our local scene moving forward.

On a global scale, the scene has been dying. The sudden rush of the commercialism of electronic music has not done the underground based scene any good. Major superclubs in the UK have been shut down (ie cream) for reasons like excessive drug use and distribution. In our local scene, city hall and the police have set strict guidlines on controlling the rave scene (which is understandable since there have been many unfortunate occurances in the past at raves). But on a very positive note, the music has not died. It has gotten significantly better. After many years of listening to drumnbass, trance, hip hop and house, i can personally say the music has only gone to an amazingly high level and it can only get better.

This being the first post, i'd like to keep my own opinions to a minumum. this is a young board with alot of extremely well spoken people and a serious discussion about how we can make 2003 a year to remember should be in place =) my question: what needs to be done to make the scene a special experience for whoever is open minded enough to give it a go?

my opinion?: better music (dj skills have to be more focused on ALOT more), marketting on the demographic group of people who can dish out the $50-100 a party but still have the open mind and friendly vibe at the same time.

Thanks for reading :y:
Martin

[oliver]

Originally posted by k-pryde
many of our main respected promotion companies are finished with parties (ie et brothers, nice, exert(?), sweet etc) and have moved on. On the other hand, the club scene has been extremely impressive.

Too true. So many promo groups have left, leaving a definete hole in the calender every weekend. Luckily, we still have groups like Agroculture and the like.

Yes, the club scene has been great this year. So many wicked acts that i went to see and so many i missed as well! Huge turnouts for acts like Freestylers, and with Lime thowing what seemed like a 2 month stretch of excellent shows every thursday...fun times =). I think the clubs are looking good and we might even see some interesting legislative changes as well over the next year.

Originally posted by k-pryde

On a global scale, the scene has been dying. The sudden rush of the commercialism of electronic music has not done the underground based scene any good. Major superclubs in the UK have been shut down (ie cream) for reasons like excessive drug use and distribution. In our local scene, city hall and the police have set strict guidlines on controlling the rave scene (which is understandable since there have been many unfortunate occurances in the past at raves). But on a very positive note, the music has not died. It has gotten significantly better. After many years of listening to drumnbass, trance, hip hop and house, i can personally say the music has only gone to an amazingly high level and it can only get better.

Thats the great thing about electronic music, I think its limits are truly the imagination of the producers. They're not constrained by the limitations of real instruments and studio recording time ($$) in the digital domain. Any sample, any synth sound, any rythmic complexities can be sequenced and expressed by the diligint and patient producer. The cookie cutter shlock is still there, but it will be in any genre of music. Its also amazingly low cost for a person with musical ideas to learn software programs and make their owns tracks. It just comes down to their own imagination. So yes, the future of electronic music is as bright as ever.

Originally posted by k-pryde

my question: what needs to be done to make the scene a special experience for whoever is open minded enough to give it a go?

Exactly. There are quite a few people i would love to introduce to the scene and have them hear electronic music the way it should be heard, on a sound system that can do justice to the wide range of sounds present in the tunes we all love! but i really dont want to take them to "just another party". I want to be able to show them a wicked show, not just a room living up to all the negative images they picture raves as.

I think attention to detail like decorations and theme has to be integral to a party. If you are throwing a party at the korean, thats fine, just make it look like a totally different place! Decorate the venue until it looks like some fantasy landscape, or a mushroom forest, or do something! Justify you throwing that party by making it stand out from the rest. Dont just put a PA in a room and expect people to have a good time. Make parties the different reality that they seemed like when you first went. As has been said before, the scene grew too fast and then died, but i dont think thats the end of it.

[dj4mula]

I am relativly new to the 'scene'. Just under 2 years you could say. Many have said I have missed the best times, and that maybe. :( However, in the past year I have grown to like a lot of different genres. 2 years ago it was only rap, hip-hop & rnb. Now that has all changed. Breaks, Drum-N-Bass, Funky House and even some trance I have grown to love.

My love for music is now at an all time high. So much new music and so much old music to catch up on. I am glad that there are people out there who are willing to educate people to new genres rather than hate on them and catergorize them as newbies. Oh ya, just cuz your in the scene for X amout of years don't mean you know more about music that I do. Heh.

As for martin's question of what can be done to change the scene. Well, parties unfortunetly are too common and not enough people are willing to go. Does everyone remember Wett? It was one of the best parties? Why? Because the Plaza wasn't used for almost a year and it gained a lot of hype, also the lineup was great. Vancouver isn't a city that can hold parties every month, its gets kinda boring seeing the same people every month.

Massives can sometimes bring some of the best DJ's to our fair city. It some cases its the only way they'll come because of there high fee. As for club nights we have to have quality multistaged clubs. If you play hip-hop the crowd will come. Put in trance/house/breaks/dnb in the 2nd stage and in a few months I guarntee it will be bumping. It's worked in other cities, but for some reason it don't work here.

I've type enuff. Blah. Good post martin.

~tim

[Dj_K2]

2002 Was a a great year for the clubs. As for the raves, I think we all felt the blow from all the production companys leaving, & more importantly the loss of intrest, which really gave the rave scene a huge strong blow. Production companys come & go latley with raves. Weve lossed JLF, Cyber Hippies, Nice, Sweet, AMP, Slipstream, & other production co. just do one show a year. Also there isnt much going for the underground right now either, The underground shows were basically dominated by AGROculture the past year & a half, & now it looks as if there doing BIGGER things, soo whos left??? Im throwing one more show this year, & then Im finished? It seems as evreyone is growing away from the scene (not the music) but thats just my opinion, hopefully this site will be here @ this time next year so we can review 2003!

[RJay]

Its the bylaws I think that have scared all those production companies away. I bet if their fees were'nt so high then alot of those companies would come back and parties would be rocking!!!. Damn cops

[Moon]

Originally posted by Junglet
Exactly. There are quite a few people i would love to introduce to the scene and have them hear electronic music the way it should be heard, on a sound system that can do justice to the wide range of sounds present in the tunes we all love! but i really dont want to take them to "just another party". I want to be able to show them a wicked show, not just a room living up to all the negative images they picture raves as.

good point. one thing that i've noticed is that partykids nowadays do not welcome "newbies" and it really doesnt seem too apparant that many promoters are marketting people who have never been to a rave in their life. lets get a fact straight. raves are the most fun when its your first time, or its your first in say 1-2 years. i have NEVER had anywhere near as much fun at a party than i did at my very first one and many people will agree to this. lets get more new people in, stop the stupid fucking hating and expose the masses what kinda music the electronic music world has been makin the past few years.

Originally posted by Junglet
I think attention to detail like decorations and theme has to be integral to a party. If you are throwing a party at the korean, thats fine, just make it look like a totally different place! Decorate the venue until it looks like some fantasy landscape, or a mushroom forest, or do something! Justify you throwing that party by making it stand out from the rest. Dont just put a PA in a room and expect people to have a good time. Make parties the different reality that they seemed like when you first went. As has been said before, the scene grew too fast and then died, but i dont think thats the end of it.

thats definetly an awesome point. "newbies" are rarely impressed with shows now mainly because they're either filled with scary thugs or they just look like no effort was put into them (shitty sound, poor lighting, no decorations etc). good decorations are not necessarily always essential but damn they really make the big difference to the atmosphere and most of all experience of a party. there are many very cost effective ways to pull off really impressive decorations and the artistic creativity of the promoter would definetly be a good tool for the team.

[-ak47-]

Im actually sad the rave scenes dying...I mean I barely go to any anymore, but when I decide to theres barely anything good left to go to... Shame... Im fucking loving the club scene tho! THe talent that came in 2002 was absolutely amazing, much more than the rave scene even at its highest point could've drawn. The house scene is especially rocking! I agree with points above about how presentation has become shit at parties. I mean look at Spooky(ok, good main stage set-up), the sound was SHIT everywhere and there was littel attention to the two other rooms. Thats not what it was like 2 years ago or even a year ago. However, look at Slinky. The house room was smokin! good decorations annd amazing sound. But then again it was put on by CLub Productions(and they know how to throw a party-we need more production companies like this). I agree, we need much more emphasis on decorations, it really doesnt cost that much if u do it the right way. U dont necessarily need big video screens and lasers(although they are damn nice) if youre on a small budget, but for fucks sake, throw a couple bucks here and there and you can make a shithole look good. If i was a "newbie" now and went to a smaller rave Id totally be like wtf, why am I here? The "rave scene" has to be more open to "newbies" if it wants to survive. If raves look and sond sweet more people will want to attend and the scene will grow. No newbie wants to party it up at a warehouse in surrey with a bunch of jib-teks listening to tech-step on the promoter's home entertainment system. Its all about presentation.

As for muic production, I think house music has seen its best year ever! Everythign got a bit darker this year IMO, but the tunes are fucking rocking! Trance, I dunno, Ive listened to alot of new songs and havent really been impressed by anything except Ferry COrsten - punk. Nothing has come close to the trance/progressive of 1999, where almost everything that came out was INSANE! But then again, I havent sifted through 100s hour hours worth of trance like I have with house, so maybe I havent had a chance to hear and good shit, but all I know is no "top 10" anthems(and no I dont mean shit like Ian Van Dahl) or tracks trance DJs have played have impressed me this year... I may attribute some of that to the fact that all the trance DJs Ive seen this year played on shit systems. Jungle? From what Ive heard of Martin's tracks, jungles better than ever! I love the new funky/disco jungle thats coming out, so much better than the redundant shit that came out in the past, lol almost makes me wanna buy some jungle tracks =) Breaks? Well I try my hardest not to listen to any so I cant say. Progressive is becomign big again, but Im not really into it... its too dark, and it doesnt have that funkiness or bassline like tech-house does, which has pretty much progressive's sister genre. As for my second favorite genre Techno, Ive never really followed it very closely in the past, but Ive heard some amazing songs recently, especially in the area of funky techno. Im finding it pretty hard to find new songs tho (not just in vancouver record stores but everywhere, the "new techno this week" section everywhere seems to be getting smaller, maybe im just looking int he wrong places). Anyways 2002 has been a smoking year in electronic music (especially in house), which the exception of trance. Lets just hope it keeps getting better!

[ty:rone]

maybe teh rave scene is a little bit like high school, as "some" ravers age into teh scene, dey tend to bullie "fresh" ravers gettin into teh scene.

and maybe this is why people hate ravers or kids/anything associated with raves.

[Moon]

Originally posted by -ak47-
Jungle? From what Ive heard of Martin's tracks, jungles better than ever! I love the new funky/disco jungle thats coming out, so much better than the redundant shit that came out in the past, lol almost makes me wanna buy some jungle tracks =)

haha werd thanks brah!

as for your long reply i agree with everything you said since alot of it we've talked about on a regular basis anyways. as for trance dying, its true... on my way back from work today, i put in a old cd i burnt a while back, seb fontaine live at creamfields 99. absolulty classic set...... i was just blown away..... trance nowadays has never really captured that kind of euphoria and track flow like it did back in the golden days. but i'm sure if someone stepped up with the right state of mind and educated music knowledge and just performed trance sets like its supposed to be done with that extra unique touch.... FACK! i cant see no mufuckin reason why the trance scene can't match up to what it used to be!

anyways as for drumnbass this past year, all i can say is that it started off with hype from the previous year, fuckin ROCKED it consistantly throughout the summer and got even more hype for the upcoming year. i'm seriously fuckin stoked for next year with all the absolulty mindblowing tracks that are due for release in the next 6 months.... drumnbass is just getting better and better and more and more upcoming producers are putting out tracks that blow people like grooverider and bad company right the fuck away! i'm loving it.

werd :y:

[BrentleyB]

i also havn't been around as long as a lot of u, i came into the scene in the summer of the launch 3 years ago! my first experience was at an old friday night gathering at one of the classic fiction family static nights. everything was so new to me and i was hooked from the beginning. starting off with an incredible addiction to hard house after comming from a life of mainstream hip hop it was quite the change. like most people i was looking for that kind of change, something that wasnt like everything else. and this kinda is my answer to why i think the scene is dying. everything is becoming too mainstream in the rave culture and people need something different. everybody enjoys the "underground" style and scene, its gives us a chance to be independant and away from the mainstream. everything that has happened in the last few years has been great for most promoters as well as the party people in general. companies like et bros, exert, twisted and many others saw the oppertunity to make money and create incredible shows for us. but with this came more and more companies, people also seeing the chance to make a dime and showcase more talent and this brought on new problems. looking back i remember seeing teamhardcore's calender and there would sometimes be 2 or 3 parties every saturday night and this took away potential revenue from all the production companies and companies like exert and et bros found there way into a new market with the club nites. they had smaller venues, less people yet they were still able to bring in unbelieveable talent and make a pretty penny from it. i also have to give props and a thank you to azim and twisted for sticking around in the game and continuing to put on shows and getting us the plaza back. i agree with tim and his comments on wett. it was an unbelieveable party and one of my personal favorites. the plaza is a magnet, people love it, the second best venue in my opinion (im a sucker for riverside). yet it is a costly venue. with the demand for huge talent, better sound and the venue, promoters are forced to bring up ticket prices in order to make a buck off the party. i remember heat and simple this year where they were unable to open up rooms and were forced to cancel djs which leads to disappointment for all, and some people dont understand why things like that happen. but its a buisness, i know i dont know everything about it, but i know there are massive amounts of politics and just like in life politics suck!

music! this year has been by far the most incredible year for music in my opinion. i have been hooked on breaks for almost 3 years now and its my genre of choice to comment on. i never really paid attention to the producers and the djs that were playing the music i loved before this year. i have much respect for any producer or dj that goes out and plays the music they love. i hope to one day follow in their footsteps. sharaz, x, infiniti, icey, brad smith, huda hudia and numerous others that im not even going to try to mention continue to blow my mind! another thing that i noticed is the uprising of our own local producers, christian alvarez, dave armstrong, and my favorite cinto! they are totally going to help the scene turn around and bring more people in to see shows.

i hope that things do turn around for the scene cause i dont wanna see it go. people have told me that it goes in cycles (underground to mainstream and then back to underground) and i just hope it gets better.

ps. props to agrodave and agroculture for keeping the underground vibes alive! :c-tard:

-Brent

[Moon]

Originally posted by BrentleyB
companies like et bros, exert, twisted and many others saw the oppertunity to make money and create incredible shows for us. but with this came more and more companies, people also seeing the chance to make a dime and showcase more talent and this brought on new problems.

werd up :y: there seems to be a seriously ridiculous habbit for vancouver entrepreneurs to have a piece of everything in the market to the point its been spewed out dry. taking the rave scene to a commerical level was a short lived time period yet there were some great times.... since tons of people went to raves. unfortunatly greedy and stupid business antics hurt the rave scene alot. hard house and nu nrg were pretty much the only genres marketted which brought in thousands of ravers but surprisingly enough the hype only lasted for roughly 6 months and turned right the fuck off another huge majority of partygoers.

my point is that the rave scene cannot be controlled by businessmen and women whose main concern is making money. although the potential of making large sums of cash is high, the rave scene has to stay strictly recreational..... because in the end, its music. and the way things have been going in the music industry the past 50 years, greedy business antics are slowly killing the passion, heart and soul that goes into creating true music that people can relate to. the PROMOTERS job is to promote the music, and in the end will be rewarded the money from the masses who can appreciate the hard work. any promoter who decides to go into the rave scene strictly for making money and marketting the "popular thing" should just either take their commerce courses again and make money in a more respectable market, or should get their balls cut off and stuffed up their fuckin ass.