Winter Music Conference ’07 Review

Day 1 – This is how I remember it…. The Involved Events bowlathon was crazy. This was no normal alley. Hot bartenders, proper booth and all the biggest DJs in the world throwing strikes… well maybe spares at best. Bad Boy Bill took the honours as Best in Bowl but Luke was tops when it came to style imo.

Headed to Cafeteria for Round 1. Ricky Ryan started the conference exactly how I want to hear it all week. Funky emotional House, it was my most dedicated hour on the floor for sure. Neil Quigley then Audiofly followed with really solid Prog sets and Spooky ended everything that I can recollect with an incredible finale.

The music all night was fantastic, I wish I would have shut up for a minute to listen to it properly. But this is the Winter Music Conference and networking is what it’s all about. I met so many like-minded people, this week is so inspiring.

Day 2 – A much better day for remembering. We traveled into suburban Miami to Ariel’s house for the Sick Watona bbq. He has an absolutely beautiful home with a massive back lot, perfect for a little afternoon haze.

The Nightriders from Boston were in a blaze when we arrived and continued on a torrid pace for the first couple hours of our time at the party. They have some wicked tracks. I was super impressed by how fresh everything sounded.

Ricky followed and once again brought the most perfect vibe for the surroundings; smooth fun loving House which had the entire party grooving under the slightly overcast sky. All of Ricky’s sets have moments of bliss, and this one was no exception. He’s definitely reaching the next level.

SNM (Ned & Maher Daniel) from Montreal stepped up as we were leaving. It sounded like the good times were going to keep rolling into the moonlight hours. This was a really cool way to spend my hungover day.

We rushed back to the beach and made our way to the Giant Chill event at the Kent hotel. Another space you can only find in Miami. A gorgeous side alleyway decked out by the Giant crew was the backdrop for Luke Fair’s first set of the Conference. It was a quick one hour of South Beach sweetness. In a time of really dark beats, Luke manages to find the most stunning down tempo selections.

And for the last stop of this extremely busy day we again turned it up a notch. We finally made it to a Porter House party and man it was a good one. The Fifth is one of the best club venues I’ve been to in Miami. It’s the perfect size, with great sound, elegant décor and appreciatively clean bathrooms.

I’m not sure who the opener was, but he had the place hopping from the minute we hit the floor. After him came one of my most favorite all around DJs in the scene, Eli Wilkie. Nobody exudes a more positive energy from the booth. His funky brand of jackin’ House gets me moving every time and his visible love for being up there reminds me of why I still can’t get enough of this scene.

Then the Manimal took over and the place was set a fire. Holy moly did Steve ever hammer it out. He’s another one that just adores the decks and the party in front of him. It’s great to see someone just let it all hang out when at the controls.

Adam Gill did an awesome job with this event and it sounds like all the other world class parties he hosted this week.

We’ve picked up some phenomenal promo CDs while we’ve been here. Naveen G, Dory and DJ Fountain have been keeping things going in our condo. I’ll definitely make them all available soon.

Day 3 – What can I say other than that’s what it’s all about?! We landed on the Sasha and Digweed boat cruise and quickly realized that we were in Hollywood… in a good way.

A flash down pour kept the boat at the dock for an extra hour, just enough time to enjoy a full spread of chicken, beef, pasta, veggies and fruit – a proper meal for the first time this week. Plus drinks all night compliments of Heineken, it really couldn’t have started off more perfect.

But it did, when we finally made it to the top deck and Tommy Sunshine started playing all the classics including one of my all time favs, Soul to Soul ‘Keep on Movin’ – incredible.

The highlights on the night took over just as the sun was setting and from then on we were in full on club mode. Sasha spinning signature digital breakbeat progressive and then Diggers dropping it deep, real deep. The back to back session was epic, as always.

So many times I closed my eyes just soaking in the music, but I continually reminded myself to keep looking because these are the Miami memories I never want to forget.

Our best friends from Argentina and our new ones from Chicago and Amsterdam, and this time our entire crew around us, like I said; it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Day 4 – It’s catching up with us. Today it was tough to wake up, but Ricky Ryan was playing poolside again, and we couldn’t miss a chance to hear our “One to Watch” live and in person.

Ricky was already on the decks when we arrived at the Clinton Hotel. Now this place is Miami. A small swimming pool sandwiched between two wading pools, a tented seated area, indoor / outdoor bar and a DJ booth under an umbrella sets the scene.

We’ve been to this space before, three years ago for the Toronto Meet-up, and we had an incredible time. With the funky music Ricky was playing, it was like we never left. A whole assortment of bikini’s, too-too’s, hot pants and Speedos were chilling to Ricky’s sexy sounds.

As was the routine this year, we met some incredible people at this party titled WMC 2007 Varsity All Stars. One to note is Gunita Nagpaul, Founder and Chief Party Planner for San Francisco’s Listed. I mention Gunita because she was a wicked host, making us feel right at home at her party which was filled with people from her West Coast crew. Keep an eye on Listed, they had things going on in Miami and from the sounds of it, they really know what they’re doing in San Fran too… very impressive.

Rain and incredible fatigue cut our time at this fantastic event short. Unfortunately we left before we could get a chance to hear Naveen, Dory and Mike Hiratzka (man this awesome DJ keeps eluding us). Nevertheless, I have a feeling this isn’t the last our crew will see of the Listed collective.

After a quick nap and a really great meal at Sushi Samba we made our way back to Cafeteria for the highlight of our week. From the time we booked our flight our focus had been on Luke’s Balance party.

I have to start off the review of this night by thanking the many, many friends that came out to support Luke on the busiest and most competitive night of the conference. Ricky, Danny and Martin, it was amazing it have you hanging out all night.

Steve and the Tampa House Music gang, Jeroen (DJ Fountain) and Rogier aka Hernan, Tony from Baltimore, Dan and Derrick from Vancouver, the entire Chicago crew we met on the boat cruise, Tom Morgon, Alex from Holosound and all of their friends, Laura and Emma our homegirls from T.O., Jonathon and the other rabid Luke Fair friends from the UK and Wally and his girl (what a great surprise).

Finally, of course, the Balance team that put the entire event on, including Luke’s wicked new publicist Betty and the two Aussies that had to put up with my relentless drunken Luke Fair promo at Cafeteria three nights before.

Forgive me if I forgot anyone, I blame it on the booze.

After a typically fantastic opener from Jimmy Van M, Luke laid down a set that was seemingly tailor-made for our crew. Towards the end of the conference I’m used to music that is all drugged up, Luke gave us the exact opposite. Beautiful melodies, subtle baselines with the occasional bomb to keep the pace – music that has you floating around the floor all night. The lounge like atmosphere was just what the doctor ordered for our last night out of the 2007 WMC.

Chris Fortier capped the event with a solid mix of progressive floor-fillers. It was great to hear him in top form and in crystal clear sound. The quality of the system is definitely Cafeteria’s most endearing asset.

Day 5 – Really it should be Day 4 continued. With a noon check out time and an 8:30pm flight home we knew Monday would be long, so we thought it best to pass on the Sunday night festivities and stretch Saturday’s energy as far as we could.

Since we hadn’t hit up any of Miami’s marquee venues over the week, we decided to head to Pawn Shop and the Sunday School for Degenerates event immediately after Cafeteria. Minimal Tech seemed to be the dominate genre of the Conference so it was only fitting we finish off the WMC at one to the style’s showcase events.

The morning started off really well with Eddie Richards in the main room truck (you gotta love the venue). But after his shift, the music started to get pretty sketchy. To each their own, but I just can’t get into music without an ounce of emotion or melody.

All the interior rooms became really cold really fast, with almost a baron dance floor in the main space. The patio was rocking and rammed but we just couldn’t figure it out outside either. I’m told that the party became progressively better as the day went on, but we just couldn’t get it going for the few hours we were there.

One amazing thing that came out of the trip downtown was that Ricky brought Ali Ajami to the after party, after the after party. Ali is responsible for two of my favorite all time Kiss mixes. His unique brand of chuggy soulful House was in constant rotation for years, but I haven’t been able to find anything of his since he left Boston and moved to Dubai.

We didn’t get hear Ali spin, but I did talk his ear off, definitely letting him know how much I appreciated those two mixes and how fresh they sounded even today. Hopefully now that we’ve met he’ll be able to send some more music our way as it sounds like he’s just getting things going in Dubai. For now we still have these two class sets.

Download (left-click and unzip)
Ali Ajami – Kiss 100 – 2003-04-04
Ali Ajami – Kiss 100 – 2001-07-27

The rest of the day was spent reminiscing over the week and making plans for the coming year. It wasn’t the craziest of Conference’s, but I do think it was the most successful to date. We met so many phenomenal characters and each and every event has its own moments to remember.

Inspiring is the best word for our 2007 WMC experience. Coolest thing is we’re being more inspired by friends than anyone else… very much looking forward to next year already.

Thanks Adriana, Kellie, Luke, Anthony, Lisa, Michelle and Rob.

More WMC pics, videos and music to come… stay tuned!