ClixBagOfTricks

It’s friday… and Im so nervous I cant sleep…. I know this party wont let down anybody who is in attendance… But like every other party… I’ve got the heeby jeebies feelin that nobody is gonna show up.   Anyways… the directions are posted on the information page. They will also be on the infoline.  Make sure you dress up in horror theme to get the discount.  Also… there will be LIVE HOOK SUSPENSIONS by life suspended!!!  Also… Images from Meowth Mix, A day to be free, hardcore muthaflockers, and discotropolis have been posted in the gallery.  There will be more animated gifs coming soon as well as the reviews of Fetish Prom.  Until then, Fetish Prom Photos are up.

This post starts with a BIG congratulations to Harmony and Matt. They did a bang-up job on this party and again raised the bar for promoters in Phoenix, Arizona. It was refreshing to be in a new venue for the first time in a while, and I’ve gotta say the only downside was the insect life. The warmth combined with all the water in the ponds etc made for an icky amount of them. The setup and theming were 100% on par and the tunes were bangin.

I was a little saddened to see the stage that I was setup near shut down a little early for noise, but it was amusing when they played hulaish island music at a lower level until they let a few of the djs go on with reduced volume.

It was a good night of hangin out, jammin a lil bit, but mostly just hanging out. My helpers for the night spent most of the night disappeared or wandering around so I didnt really get to check out the other stages, but I still managed to have a bit of fun.

I know Harmony was freakin out at the beginning because of the size and implications this party carried, but it turned out great! If you got yelled at like a few people including myself did, I’m sure it was no big deal, just a case of nerves. Thanks to Patch, Metro, and Bones for stoppin by and keeping me company from time to time!

I brought out a couple of new toys this weekend, and a couple of old ones. The new ones were the cool foam led bonker toys, and the old ones included the ghengis khan wands which play music and sing “I’m with ghengis khan, we’ve been workin on his car” or something along those lines.

Pictures are up at: http://www.clixbagoftricks.com/v/raves/guaranteed_lei

Technorati Tags: Ghengis Khan, Guaranteed Lei, Harmony, LED Bonker, Matt Dunn, phoenix, toys

I started my friday hanging out with the INCREDIBLY attractive Marissa. I gave her the couple of early birthday presents I got for her (one of which is indescribably attractive when put in conjunction with her) and we went and grabbed some chai and rock and roll fingers. She wasn’t sure about going to ubertoast, and neither were we, but thankfully in the end, we all decided to!

Ubertoast ended up being a pretty great outdoors party. The bugs werent horrible YET and the weather was great. Im going to have to start remembering to bring citronella candles or something in the near future. There was something just a little off for me that night, but all in all I had a good time. I got to meet Bon3s for the first time which was kinda interesting. I’d somehow heard that she wasn’t very fond of me, which seemed silly since we’d never spoke, but she ended up being pretty awesome, so here’s to having more new buddies! For most of the night the music wasn’t doing much for me, but Rize’s set really got me moving and Im not much of a happy hardcore guy.

The highlight of my night was probably when Rize played that “Now you’re gone” track but from where we were sitting I kept hearing “Metro’s Balls” so we chanted that the rest of the night. I think it may be time to look into doing a “metro’s balls” remix of that track… apparently he and patch already threw together some lyrics.

We packed up only about 30 minutes before the party was over, which was good cuz we beat traffic coming out of the desert. I grabbed an energy drink and headed home, stopping for breakfast at Dennys and falling asleep at the table a time or two. We did have a very pretty waitress though who I wish I would have stayed awake a little better so I could have a more clear memory of her attractiveness.

Images posted at: http://www.clixbagoftricks.com/v/raves/Ubertoast 

Technorati Tags: bon3s, dennys, marissa, metro, metro's balls, ubertoast

How quickly the tides rise and fall. It seems so recently it was beginning, yet while in the middle of it all it seemed like it had always been. I guess these are the ways things go when you’re the one living it rather than one observing it. So… I violated 3 rules with this girl.. Let me run over them really quick. (Only continue if you want to read about personal non-rave stuff)

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The party this past weekend was called Secret.  And apparently that’s just what it was.  Attendance was rather meager and left something to be desired, but it wasn’t a BAD party… just nothing special either.  Skittles made another decent attempt but fell just a little short.  For being a secret party, it was at a well known venue, but that’s ok too.  The night had it’s fair share of problems for me, but none of them were anything having to do with the party itself.  Some people have heard what was going on, or made assumptions etc.  If you wouldn’t mind, for my sake… just kinda pretend like you never heard anything, and it would help the comfort of all involved if it wasn’t mentioned or talked about.   Because of the weirdness surrounding the evenings events, I regret I have no photos to post.  I’ll be back in the swing of things next weekend.  Also, I’ve been looking into some new types of battery operated tampons… so stay on the lookout!

Technorati Tags: Battery Operated Tampon, phoenix, rave, secret

A new gif of chelsea aka bonnie dancing

this raver  was touched by the holy spirit

Technorati Tags: animated gif, bonnie, chelsea, gif, gif animation, holy spirit, rave, raver

This weekend was quite a busy one with 2 parties.  I got to bamboozled a lil late, but still had a good time.  Vic is back in town helping promoters secure venues again, so it looks like we’ll be having a return to that era for a while.  It was kinda a nice oldschool feel with some pretty bangin tunes to back it up.  It was the second event in a week period to have the headliner’s flight screwed up, preventing them from playing the event.  Here’s a big middle finger up to the airlines!

Bamboozled II pics are here!!!

Honey I shrunk the kandie kids was a party.  That pretty much sums it up.  There was nothing particularly amazing, and nothing particularly terrible about it.  There were no headliners, and no super-newbs.  The one thing that stood out was moabyte’s usage of video keying.  It was something we were working on with no fucking records, but due to some last minute technical complications wound up not being able to use.  I was kinda disappointed that they ran out of water so quickly and didnt bother to restock.  I was being asked all night long if I sold water or if I knew where they could get some.  Big no-no guys… it’s your responsibility to your customers to have things like water on hand.   Other than that not bad though.   It’s starting to get kinda warm and I don’t suspect it’ll be long before the fans and coolers make a comeback to that venue.

Honey I Shrunk the Kandie Kids pics are here!

Technorati Tags: bamboozled, headliner, honey I shrunk the kandie kids, photos, rave, vic, warehouse

Things were a lil rough and we got off to a late start due to a minor medical issue or two, but once we got the ball rolling the fun came with it.

We got to the venue a little late, and as it turns out, we were the only vendors there. Mitch had gotten terribly ill and Josh had some medical issues of his own. It was kinda sad being out there without the rest of the vendor coalition.

I was a little worried about turnout at first as the vendor guys weren’t the only guys missing.  The crowd was very sparse until about 1030pm or so when all of the sudden a HUGE rush of people showed up and the party really got bangin.

I can’t deny, I was a little disappointed by the main stage sound. It was clean but not as powerful as Im used to. I know the saying louder isnt always better holds in most cases, but I woulda liked to feel the bass a lil more.

The talent for the night was pretty awesome. Bambam totally did it for me and Flower made me happy in the pants. I wish I coulda stuck around to see Poss play some trance, but I had to bolt to do some photo work for Rhinox.

LunaC got wrapped up in some airline garbage so sadly I had to miss that action but the guys from the AZHardcoreJunkies managed to bring it plenty strong

I did manage to get some photos taken and they are up in the gallery at http://www.clixbagoftricks.com/v/raves/remedy2008 and Im working on getting better about getting the videos up and online too, but I will certainly have more animated gifs and rave animated gif pictures online.

Technorati Tags: animated gif, azhardcorejunkies, bambam, rave gif, remedy, rhinox

This weekend was a blast!  Josh of Wacky Weenies threw his first show the weekend before tax day and had a resounding success.  I was setup next to O2-zone and doing my thing for most of the night.  It was nice to see them out at a party again for once!

I was setup inside, in front of the main stage which was bangin all night. I was totally impressed with Dj Monkey as he kept it rocking.. the setup was well executed and everybody seemed to have a good night.  I totally loved the track selection Mr. Jeff Trevors was dropping and as everybody pointed out he was totally channeling his feelings through his tracks.  People were wondering in and out all night so there was always a mixed crowd which is a bonus.

My highlight of the night however occurred when all 5 of us (Rob, Kyle, Jordan, Chelsea, and myself) were all rolling around in circles in front of the table on our Heelys.  I picked up a set for Chelsea only a day or two before the party and she took to it like a fish to water.  She’s already so good at it and Im way proud of her!  In fact… I wanna take a second to say how proud I am of her for EVERYTHING she’s done so far… Even though we’ve had our little bumps here and there and we’re kinda taking a break now, I am still more proud of her than I can express!  So this one is for you darling!!!

Pictures are in the gallery at: http://www.clixbagoftricks.com/v/raves/unclesam

Technorati Tags: dj monkey, Heelys, rave, Uncle Sam, wacky weenies

I decided to start posting some of the animated .gif files I’ve made of raving seeing as this is kinda my rave site and all.  If you want to check em out, head to http://www.clixbagoftricks.com/v/gifs where things have been seperated into animated gifs of ravers, djs, and misc (which will include crowd shots etc.)  If you would like to have an animation put together, drop me a line and let me know.

Technorati Tags: animated gif, animation, dj, gif, rave, raver

Before I get into reviewing the party etc, I’d like to thank Spunky, Gavin, and Brandon for being so awesome in hosting us for the weekend. When we (Syd, Matthew Harris, and myself) showed up at the Airport, Brandon was there and waiting already. He treated us to some amazing food and let us crash for a few at his place while the rest of the out of towners were rounded up. After everybody had been gathered we headed to Gavin’s place and got the weekend rolling early. Yes, details of the raid are included!

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Technorati Tags: Battery Operated Tampon, candy mountain, Cik, dallas, Jimni Cricket, matthew harris, Poss, raid, rave, Smash, SWAT

This is my first out of state booking and I’m totally stoked about it. AZHookahs will be in the house vending alongside! Poss, Cik, and Matthew Harris are down from Phoenix as well, and MC High IQ is down from Philly. This event is shaping up to be something mighty for certain! If you happen to be in texas, don’t forget to be here!!!  Just a lil sidenote, going through my logs, it looks like most of the people coming in lately have been coming from google and finding me by searching Batter Operated Tampons which is halarious.  No worries guys… they will be for sale tonight!

Look at Spunky’s Myspace for more info on the event!

Technorati Tags: battery operated tampons, candy mountain, dallas, rave, spunky

We got a little bit of a late start on the way to the party, which proved to be a good thing, because as we were on our way out to party, the location got swapped.  Heading out to the Sun Valley Parkway location, we bounced to some good tunes and ended up getting there before almost anybody else did.

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Technorati Tags: all flocked up, desert party, desert rave, DMS, flock, Quentin, sun valley

It was refreshing to be going to a party just for the sake of going for the first time in a while. Kyle dropped by to pick up Jordan, Chelsea, and myself, and off we went. Getting to the party was half of the fun. Chelsea and I were both wicked tired and ended up passing out on and off… which lead to some hilarity. It was most amusing when I woke up and realized we were in Surprise and had to turn around and get back to Grand ave. They harassed me the rest of the night about train tracks We finally got turned around and made it to the party, which is where the real fun started. Read on for photos etc:

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Technorati Tags: dj's guide, rave, renegade, speedworld, surprise

So, I bought a couple of domains today, am in the process of getting oscommerce installed, and getting ready to go live with the online rave toy store!!!  I am going to be taking photos of all the products to be listed and will probably need a few product demo people.  Let me know if you wanna help out and be immortalized in the catalog.  As soon as I’m done configuring the store front I’ll release the link to the store and there will be discount coupons available at my table when u see me at parties which will allow the real ravers a little bit of purchasing leverage.  At first the only purchasing option will be PayPal, but if things start taking off, perhaps I’ll get a real live merchant account and accept credit cards outright.  The initial listings will most likely be pacifiers, battery operated tampons, water led sticks, glowsticks, and fingerlights as those items are my best sellers. Stay tuned for details!

Technorati Tags: e-commerce, finger lights, glowsticks, online store, oscommerce, shop, toy store

Heaven vs Hell was a pretty well produced event that, like most in recent memory went off without too many hangups visible to the standard party goer. This seems to mean that either promoters are handling their business MUCH better or that they’ve learned to do a better job of hiding them from the public. Lighting was done pretty well, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the same light we’ll be seeing at most parties at Area Phoenix, being as it was the built in house lighting.

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Technorati Tags: area phoenix, happy hardcore, heaven, hell, matthew harris, phoenix, rave, spunky

Congratulations are in order to Cole for putting together a very successful event. The event, held at Area Phoenix was totally solid on the indoor stage (I had to stay inside with my table most of the night) with the exception of the levels being off a few times during the Ikonoklast set. In fact, the only thing I didn’t like about the night was Ikonoklast. I don’t like to be a negative Nancy but I’ve never been very impressed by them, and frankly they remind me of a highschool band that never got to the next level but insisted on continuing anyways. The strand rocked it… and seein the girls from the family rock out made me smile on the inside… and feel a few other things on the outside.

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Technorati Tags: area phoenix, arizona, goth, grave, mike saga, phoenix, rave, spyder, substation

I decided to make a little jump into the online sales world and list some toys on ebay. I’m selling them at a discount from what they’d normally go for on the table at parties, and DEFINITELY for less than “the other guy” sells them for. This is a temporary solution until I get the online store going. If you order them online and want to pick them up at a rave in Phoenix, let me know and I’ll keep your package aside. The auction is here on ebay. I even did some cute lil animated gifs of some of the toys so they’d look more attractive:

(Water filled LED glowstick with glitter)

Technorati Tags: auction, ebay, glowstick, glowsticks, LED, rave, toy

Big thanks to Rize and Sparrow for having me out to vend at hardcore villains. The show was amazing and the turnout was incredible. I’ve posted photos in the gallery. I was a little afraid of vending alongside one of the other companies that does glow vending out here… At parties with less than 1500 people, having 2 glow vendors means it’s tough to hit the break even point, but this time, I wouldn’t have cared because it was JUST THAT AWESOME of a party. Normally at the beginning of the party, that “other company” comes over and asks me to adjust my prices upwards so that they can be on fair playing ground. They sell battery operated tampons 2 for $15. That’s MADNESS (This is not Sparta after all.) The prices I set on my inventory are set so that on an average weekend I can make up enough money to pay my staff, get the materials there (if I have to rent a van etc), and replenish the stock. This time, at the request of a friend, I set my prices to $4 on EVERYTHING. Marissa was sweet enough to make me a sign to hang up advertising such. On top of that the WONDERFUL Angel and Jordi from NEU-LSD brought out some lighting and stuff to make my table stand out. Between the low prices, great turn out, and lighting rig setup, I actually managed to do a little bit better than breaking even, despite having another glow vendor! Hooray for that! Also got to spend some time with Scott Brown who I haven’t seen in quite a while (and who LOVED my rum cake) and with Marissa who is.. well… smokin hawt

Technorati Tags: happy hardcore, hardcore, hhc, rave, rize, Scott Brown, sparrow, villains

So, a couple of days and many hours of thoughts later, I am ready to share my views of the evening. Leading up to this party I was certain that its reception would be with discomfort at best, and at worst absolute rejection. As it turns out, the result was somewhere in between.

There was a bit of a problem with ravers not being sure what was being handed to them. This event, while very raveish to coin a term, was not an ACTUAL rave. It took elements of rave, industrial, IDM, and other cultures and mashed them all together with live acts to become the show it was. Ravers in Phoenix are VERY resistant to change, and if you’re not giving them the same party with the same DJs playing the same tracks in the same sort of venue week after week, they’ll turn their backs on you quickly. I like to, with the events I throw, or my partners and I throw, try to introduce the ravers to new concepts or new music that can eventually become part of their weekly intake. The decision to do this for the entire duration of an event without any of “the usual suspects” to fall back on, in retrospect, may have been a poor one. It was my honest hope that the party kids out here would be willing to expand their minds a little bit and try something new. A few people have agreed with me when I said, “I am disappointed in our ravers.” Please take into account, this is ONLY in regard to the INTEREST in the event. The older and more seasoned EDM crowd showed GREAT interest in the idea and its execution. The actual attendance needs to be addressed with 2 factors in mind.

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Technorati Tags: atomic babies, IDM, not breathing, rave, ravers, records, scottsdale, security