We sure saw 2008 in fine style. The first two instalments of INTIMATE & UNDERGROUND at Toika Lounge produced parties that were as close perfection as we’ve ever organized in our six years of event promotion. We’ve found the ideal size and style to accompany the sounds we’ve always known to be the most dance floor friendly. It’s a formula we hope to further improve upon as we continue the series throughout 2009.

Volume 3 goes deep underground by presenting the Toika return of Gabriel Sordo and the North American debut of the original “Discomaniac”, Felipe Callado.

Gabriel will showcase his funkier side with a very special opening set that is sure to warm the floor to absolute perfection. We all heard how this phenomenal talent can rock a room at peak time during his awesome Toronto debut in September, expect the same high quality tunes in the warm up roll this second time around.

Felipe Callado comes with a glowing endorsement from bringthebeats number one, Ricky Ryan. Felipe and Ricky have collaborated in the booth and within promotions circles for many years, so expect a Can Costa-like vibe when this Brazilian bomb artist unleashes the heavy artillery on Feb 6th.

And making this event even more intriguing is the new look you can expect when you walk through the doors of the already spectacular Toika Lounge. After every event we’ve hosted in this space, we’ve walked away extremely satisfied, but we knew that if the layout of the room was tweaked just a bit, it would take the party to an even higher level. Its amazing to know that there are others out there willing to sacrifice some cash and energy to reach these levels, as renovations are taking place as I type. So exciting!!

Click below for some some promo choons:
I&U Preview featuring Exclusive Beats from Felipe Callado

We’ll also be celebrating the birthday of someone very special to the btb crew at this party.  Jen Meneses will be joining the 29 plus club this month and thankfully she couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than on the Toika dance floor.  Jen has brought an incredible amount of energy and support to the bringthebeats cause over the past couple years, come help us make this birthday one she’ll never forget.

We’ve reached that reflective time of the year. For me it’s always a period of deep soul searching. Right now I’m extremely fortunate to have the family and friends that I do, to have a job and passions that I can pursue. But unfortunately not everyone is as lucky as I am.

There are a lot of people right here, close to home in the GTA that have never been offered the opportunities I’ve benefited from, never even given a start. Thankfully there are organizations like the Yonge Street Mission that do their best to fill the gaps, supplying hope to impoverished families who encounter daily struggles just to get by.

We try to end each year with some good karma by dedicating our final event to this life giving group. We started two years ago with the legendary Deli party and followed up last holiday season by sharing some of our early EXPOSED success.

This year we celebrate the return of Luke Fair in support of the YSM by once again teaming up with the Rogers Wireless Box Office to make this already very special event even more memorable.

For every Rogers Wireless or Fido subscriber that obtains a pin code redeemable for one FREE mobile ticket at the Rogers Wireless Box Office AND has that mobile ticket scanned off their phone at Toika Lounge on December 26th, Rogers will donate the advanced ticket price of $15 to the Yonge Street Mission on your behalf.

We are completely out of free mobile tickets, the only way you can guarantee entrance is to purchase an advanced ticket at gettickets.ca.

The Get Tickets box office closes at noon on Boxing Day so please do not delay in securing your spot on the dance floor of the most INTIMATE & UNDERGROUND event of the holiday season.

I don’t care what anyone says, parties just aren’t like this anymore. Super jaded or not, I know the difference between a proper club experience and just partying. INTIMATE & UNDERGROUND v1 was a proper club experience.

It took six years to put this party on the way we’ve always dreamed it to be. A passionate underground DJ, an educated dance floor, a music focused venue and a vibe that can only be shared by family. A LOT of stubborn dedication knew that sooner or later we’d be able to say, “we got it right.”

Without a doubt Toika is the perfect space for us. Its size creates a home-like atmosphere… God knows we love partying in our home. The sound is soooo warm… including temperature. And the staff is unbelievably welcoming… like they’ve been waiting for us to walk through the door.

The crew… it finally seems assembled. This may come off as pretentious, but the sketch has seemingly weeded itself out. Now we had to bring in a New Yorker, an Argentinian, as well as WMC and Stereo vets to round out the posse, but the dance floor was as solid as I’d ever seen or heard before.

And so was the feeling. That is our true meaning of vibe: 100% capacity, in ecstasy, grooving to music that never drifts beyond the low 120’s. Nobody ever gets tired!

When you don’t have Ricky Hatton pulsating jabs into your chest all night, you never gas out. You never lose energy and at the end of the battle, you don’t even feel like you’ve been in one. You’re ready to go at least one more round, you’re actually encoring for it.

Ricky Ryan… definitely the star of the show. My brother was way more than advertised, but never more than just one of the crew. No diva hot shot shit here folks; this dude is all humility and the love of the craft. And I have a 120 strong that’ll back me up on that.

And though we don’t have the live set to prove the most important fact, that Ricky is far and away one of the best DJs and dance music producers on the planet, we do have four astonishing promos reminiscent of the best party bringthebeats has ever thrown.

In Ricky’s words (left-click and unzip):

on part1 i wanted to do an underground mix, warming up very patiently
ricky ryan – bringthebeats 6th ANNIVERSARY – NOVEMBER 2008 – PART 1

on part2 i wanted to do the opposite and play all bigger songs blended together with plenty vocals
ricky ryan – bringthebeats 6th ANNIVERSARY – NOVEMBER 2008 – PART 2

on part3 i wanted to do a mixture of it all, my typical sound, just like any previous exposed
ricky ryan – bringthebeats 6th ANNIVERSARY – NOVEMBER 2008 – PART 3

on part4 i wanted to play the darker stuff i love, while i always been a fan of these spooky sounds
ricky ryan – bringthebeats 6th ANNIVERSARY – NOVEMBER 2008 – PART 4

This is what it’s about for us. We so hope we can throw more parties like this. You know we’ll try, we really hope you come.

Don’t forget to check the pics.

Since DeePDiSCo & ROCkNRoLL, HOuSe & SuB GeNReS and ELeCtRO & FuNK we’ve been fascinated by the sounds, style and spirit of Ricky Ryan. We were one year into the bringthebeats project and fresh into our preferred sound of the day, progressive and funky. Five years later, because of Ricky Ryan, it’s still the groove we’re all about today.

Ricky’s btb 5th anniversary performance at The Mod Club was nothing short of magical. He enjoyed the experience so much he created seven spectacular EXPOSED inspired promo mixes this year.  Somehow we had to recreate that vibe at our new, much smaller home this year. Enter the cutting edge technology of the Rogers Wireless Box Office.

Thanks to some very forward thinking friends at Rogers, we’re making the impossible, possible by presenting Argentina’s Ricky Ryan “INTIMATE & UNDERGROUND” at Toika Lounge on October 24th. And for much of the tight btb crew, it will be FREE!!

To help properly celebrate our 6th anniversary, The Rogers Wireless Box Office has graciously provided 75 FREE MOBILE TICKETS to pass on to our most loyal and enthusiastic supporters. If you’re a Rogers Wireless or Fido subscriber you are eligible to receive a pin code redeemable for one mobile ticket at the Rogers Wireless Box Office, accessible directly from your handset!

The Rogers Wireless promotion is now over, as is advanced tickets sales. If you hooked up with either… see you tonight!! If not, you’ve missed out on a rocking party!!