INTIMATE & UNDERGROUND v5 review… lessons learned

Well I guess you win some, and you win and lose some. We only book people we respect and connect with, so never will a btb booking be a total bust. But this one was definitely not our best, filled with a lot of lessons learned and make-up moments galore.

Straight up, Dory is amazing! She met the lukewarm Toika dance floor head on with some dope tech house and had all the hardcores hot steppin’ and super impressed. The btb crew wasn’t in full effect, but those who were in support had a great time for sure.

However, for reasons that continue to plague our truly underground events, Dory never really had a chance. Every time we book someone that isn’t established in this market, and we feel that we might need the support of a local, it comes back to bite us in the butt.

Jade is seemingly a nice person, and she played some pretty cool tunes, but unfortunately she was virtually stranded by her No.19 crew, a group  we were really counting on to show some love for Dory and the tech house sound. We had this gig planned for nearly four months in advance, but even that couldn’t ensure Jade’s fans wouldn’t be spread out across the city, all weekend, as they always are.

To make matters worse, our crowd isn’t interested in hearing a DJ that plays multiple times in the city week in and week out; and our gigs just aren’t intriguing enough for the regular club circuit without a big “name” on the bill. You gotta spend big, and in my opinion book boring, to be able to draw a crowd in this city.

In retrospect we should have asked Dory to go open to close and went for it on our own. At least that way people show more patience during the early hours of the party, knowing that the headliner is already in control. With Jade opening, people walked in and saw the cold, barren dance floor and decided to bail out to another club while they could still make list and avoid the peak time lines.

If you’re going local, you must go all local and if you’re bringing in a guest, you have to give them the utmost respect by handing them entire night to do whatever they please. Through our experience, for our parties, this is what works best. A lesson learned.

The weekend wasn’t a total disappointment. We created some amazing musical memories with Dory and special guest Naveen G. Club 1000 was in the fullest of effects, and for the first time ever, we’re releasing some beats from a btb after party. Check them out here.