ClixBagOfTricks

A gallery containing the pictures from whiteout has been posted.  Also added an animated gif of Queenbee Bree spinning fire poi.  The party was overall fun, but seriously kids… do you NEED to start fights at raves?  The rave scene has long been one of the most peaceful communities out there, and we can do without your rubbish thanks.  Take it back to the hardcore scene, and take your eye-covering hairstyles with you.  On a positive note, I enjoyed the music, danced around a bit, and actually got to meet Miss Jag in person for the first time.  We have had our differences in the past but got it all ironed out I think and her and I are actually on the same page about a few things relating to the scene.  I’ve been jamming out to some Pendulum while writing this and gotta say Im enjoying it a great deal.  Lingerieve 2 is coming up quick… make sure you guys are ready!!!

Technorati Tags: animated gif, fire poi, Lingerieve, lingerieve 2, pendulum, pictures, poi, rave, rave pictures, whiteout

Things have been going a little crazy in clixville lately so it took me a while to get stuff together… but here goes a quick rundown of the new photos in the gallery:

Sesame Beats  - The party was a good time… I was a little sad Mindbender got put on a back stage, but he got a good crowd none the less.  The venue was a little wet but not TOO muddy so things went as smooth as can be expected.

Rava Flav - I didnt get to see much of this party other than the main stage since I setup on the inside are, but what I saw I definately liked.  DJ Caffiene pretty much rocked socks and Jimni Cricket played a set that pretty much blew away my expectations.

Tofu Robot - Zak threw this one a little last minute, but still had a reasonable turn out.  For a party with all locals though, it was a good time and shows Zak’s ability to think on his feet and get something together quick.

TDK - The themeing for this party was off the hook!  The setup was amazing and I have to give insane kudos to Silent J and Chris Lit and company for the job they did.  I had a pretty good time at this party and despite a growing problem with phoenix pd and curfew enforcement they pulled it together.

Mary XMAS in July - Once again Matt and Harmony raised the bar for parties in Arizona.  The decorations were bordering on obscenely awesome, the vibe was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and the attendance was astronomical. The only complaint was that the inside area was incredibly dusty, almost enough to make it difficult to see directly infront of you.  In the future promoters may want to dampen the dirt a lil before an event to prevent that.

Still Flocked Up -  A small desert party, this one turned out pretty good from a partygoer perspective.  The vending side of things was a little slow, but it was enough to pay for gas and all that other good stuff.  The bugs were a little nuts though, and Josh ended up with a pretty wicked bite that sent him to the hospital.

Technorati Tags: Mary XMAS, rava flav, rave photos, sesame beats, Still Flocked Up, tdk, tofu robot

Over the past few weeks I’ve been taking photos at parties and uploading them to the rave photo gallery but I havent been keeping up on the reviews etc.  So here I’ll do a quick synopsis of a few parties.  Click the name of the party for the photos.

 Grumpy Bear’s Intervention  - This was Grace’s first party an fell the night after Jason’s Other House.  There was another party on the same night which led to a fairly low turnout.  The music could have been better organized as far as genre and progression through the night.  There also could have been a little more work done with theming.  There was nothing about the night aside from the line of carebears in front of the main stage that really spoke to the name of the party.

These are the Raves of our Lives -Big Mike threw this party a week after Jason’s Other House.  The party had a few fun competitions and while not heavily themed, had good organization and  a strong vibe.

America’s Next Top Raver -  Much like in office space, I found myself saying “I’m not even supposed to be here today!!!”  My presence at this party was due to an aborted trip to vegas at the fault of a bad motorcycle battery.  Oh well, next time around.  The energy for the night felt off somehow, but Im not sure exactly what it was.  Mike Saga tore the roof off with his drum and bass set and all the kids were diggin it.  There was some fairly poor mixing I recall during some of the night, but I can’t place exactly where it was coming from as it was a few weeks ago.

HTID in the sun REWIND - Rize and company did a marvelous job with this party.  The talent to dollar ratio on this party couldnt have done better. $10 for international headliners and a hell of a show.  The event pulled over 1000 of Phoenix’s ravers.  The music was amazing, the promotion top notch, and pretty much everything else rocked too… with the exception of the number of fights that broke out.  Seriously until the past couple of years, I’d NEVER seen a fight at a rave.  That crap was for the drunkards at the clubs who didnt belong to a community the way we do.  I started seeing most of it when the sceneXcore kids infiltrated the rave community and brought with them their anger and attitudes.  I’m not normally one to pick on subcultures, but seriously guys… take your eye-covering bangs, loads of eyeliner, emo attitudes, and physically agressive natures, and get the heck out of our community. Please and Thankyou.

So that about pulls it all together for the past few weeks.  Lingerieve 2 is coming up soon, and its page will be up shortly.  I’ll work on being more on the ball about keeping updated.  Oh just one other thing.  Google LOVES me apparently.  If you go to google and type in battery operated tampon and hit I’m feeling lucky, it brings you right here.  How awesome is that?

Technorati Tags: Battery Operated Tampon, community, image gallery, phoenix, rave, Review

It’s been a while since I had a lot of time to do any updating and I’ve slacked off way too hard.  I’ve been keeping the pictures updated, but I havent been diligently posting the reviews.  The pictures from My Friend Jason’s Other House have been posted so I guess all that remains is to fill in all the details. The party went off AMAZINGLY and I had an awesome night.  Big Mike is one of the best partners a guy could ask for in throwing a party and he kept everything going smoothly on his end and I hope I held up my end to his satisfaction.  There are WAY too many people involved that were super awesome too even think about but really quickly I’d like to say super thanks to Big Mike, Syd, Mindbender, Spunky, Blade, Moonstruck Red, Boo, MrLegdrop, Buttons, Dr MD, all the DJs who rocked the night, and all the ravers who showed up and had a blast.  VERY VERY VERY special thanks go to Life Suspended for coming out and doing their suspension show.  A lot of ravers were shocked it would seem, and even more were apprehensive before the event about whether such a thing belongs at a rave, but the overall response was that it was indeed an awesome spectacle to behold.  I had a good time chasing e-tards with the chainsaw and I totally wish I coulda gotten some video of that.  I added a couple of new animated .gif’s of ravers and djs etc to the animated gif section of the gallery.  I’ve gotta give top 3 sets of the night to Inertia, Mindbender, and JudoChop.  Inertia grabbed the crowd by the balls (or metaphorical balls for those who dont have any) and wouldn’t let go.  Mindbender whipped the kids into a frenzy and JudoChop put so much energy into his set I was seeing photons emitted from his skin.  Michael Calderone and Austin Hall put on a pretty damned amazing set themselves and had an intense energy, plus the combination of synths and ableton set totally tickled me.  A show this amazing makes me wonder how the hell Im going to follow up with Lingerieve 2, but it’s coming up quickly.  I’ve got a LOT more catching up to do for you all, but I’m about to do a shoot for one of the sites I work for, so keep an eye out.

Technorati Tags: animated gif, chainsaw, friday the 13th, inertia, Jason, mindbender, rave

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

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

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

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

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

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

The venue for Just Keep Raving was way cool. I had driven past the 10 story office building downtown many times wondering just what was there… this time… it was a rave. We setup in our own little room and got the ball rolling. The party went off pretty well but ended up WAY overcrowded. I still had a pretty good time but was a little disappointed. When I asked how they were going to make it Finding Nemo themed other than JUST on the flyer, I was told they’d have bubble machines and lots of decorations. No such luck. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… It’s LAME to come up with a name, design your flyer around it, and then not follow through with the party itself. If you really just wanna throw a party with some djs, especially if it’s just the usual suspects, just call it SUPERDUPERRAVEPARTY1000 or something like that… Don’t try to trick people into thinking they’re getting a cool themed party.

After the party, while we were unloading, we managed to get stuck in an elevator. We took the main elevator down then got in the freight elevator which got stuck between the basement and first floors. Of course I shot a video of our escape:

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After our escape, we got approached by a cop while loading the truck. Apparently they were lacking on a few of the permits so they decided to shut the party down… little did they know however that the party was already over! So instead of busting the party, they kept everybody detained and called the parents of all those under 18 years old. During the detainment, I discovered there were several kids who deserved to be punched in the throat. Maybe nobody ever taught them how to handle themselves in the face of authority, no matter how ridiculous the authority figures may be behaving, it is important NOT to antagonize them if you want a swift end to the evening. I’m all for the protection of civil rights etc, but sometimes it’s not THAT big a deal and you just want to go to bed. Offering the cops lightshows and plastic jewelry and asking them to hit you with the tazer is NO way to get home in a reasonable amount of time. In that situation where you face pretty serious penalties and the people who provided you with the party do as well, it’s a better idea, and more respectful idea to those who threw it, to just sit and be quiet and let them send you home.

Anyways… here are the pictures

Technorati Tags: busted, cops, elevator, nemo, raving, stuck, trapped

So this past weekend was Transformers, the first party thrown by my buddy Rodney with Carson.  Overall the party was a good time, but nothing different than we see every other weekend.  Aside from a few samples and tunes that were transformers related, there was nothing to indicate that this wasn’t Gobots, Thundercats, Mask, Teenwolf, GI Joe, or any other buzzword hijacked from our youth and recycled into a rave theme.  That has become one of my biggest pet peeves.  I LOATHE when a promoter will name a party, theme the flyer, then do nothing with the party to make it follow the theme.  Why not just call it Double Plus Good Rave?  Actually… that would be kinda hot… a 1984 themed rave called Double Plus Good Rave.  Most people wouldnt get it, but you could turn it into a big web event with big brother watching.  Eh. Maybe that’s too far ahead of its time.  On the upside, I did score cool points by saving the day when the fire department caused some trouble.  They made them turn on the breakers that lit up the exit signs which also turned on the lights in the back half of the room.  Thinking on my feet, I gave the promoters several red glowsticks to crack and put in the exit signs, allowing them to turn off the lights and keep on raving… which leads me to..

Just Keep Raving… of course it looks to be another standard formula rave.  Rent a building, put some local talent on the lineup, print some flyers with some sort of theme your party won’t actually follow, and charge more than you probably should to get in.   $15 before 11 and $20 after with no out of town talent, no lasers, and nothing to really differentiate it from any other party just seems a lil much.  Oh well, most of the kids in Phoenix don’t know the difference anyways so they’ll show up, pay their money, have a place to party, and never realize it should have been better.  That’s why I keep throwing the events I do, because I like a party with substance, and maybe if I make the kids demand more, other parties will have to catch up or lower prices.

On an extra positive note, I did fix up the gallery so all the images fit on the page now, and also the images inserted into posts, and the random images ont he top right get the lightbox treatment.  Just click ‘em and see.  Pretty nifty eh?

Technorati Tags: gallery, nemo, rave, Review, Transformers

The party was amazing.  Kyle and I had a great time making sure all the kids had the toys they needed to have a good time themselves and danced away to the hardcore goodness.  I’ve always known Rize knew how to throw a good event, and Sparrow proved the same.  I’ve got the photos posted already and there’s some cute ones.  I think the Arizona scene needs a few more parties like this.  So many kids are so concerned with there being a bazillion stages and I’ve heard kids say “I didnt go because it was only one stage.”  Wouldnt you MUCH rather see one stage of really great talent than 3 stages of mediocrity? 

Technorati Tags: glowsticks, hardcore heroes, heroes, LED, photos, rave, toys

So despite the last minute venue loss, Lingerieve went off with a BANG.  Photos are up at http://www.clixbagoftricks.com/wpg2/v/raves/lingerieve if you wanna peek.

Party Monster was a good time and there was a way bigger crowd than I expected, and of course Carson managed to pull off Bright Beginning without much trouble.

The party went off with a bang.  First and foremost I’d like to thank Big Mike for his half of throwing the party, and Boo for the venue.  The pictures have been posted for your viewing pleasure.  I’ll be uploading videos soon.  It was amazing to hear all the kids talk about how much they liked the venue we used and how much fun they had.  All the DJs sets were totally on point and I had a blast listening to all the various sounds.  Big thanks to Mighty Mike Saga for the amazing flyer and spectacular industrial set, our scene needs a lil variety like that.  Super big ups to Mindbender for bringing the hard dance proper and keepin the kids moving, you’re ALWAYS welcome in our scene.  Aaron and Syd you guys rock my socks right the f*ck off for doing such an amazing job at the door and Matthew Harris as always being the glue with Syd that helps keep everything from falling apart.  Andrew did a bang-up job of cleanup and is part of the reason we’ll be able to continue using that super new venue.  To everybody else who made it happen, you’re every bit as important and you have my thanks.  I’ll be posting the video of Matthew Harris killing Saga with a chainsaw sooner than later, but you’ve got to be a lil patient with me pretty please.  While thankfully we actually made SOME profit on this party, for me that’s not what it’s about.  When you guys come up to me and say “thanks for such an awesome party” or “this party made my year” or especially “this was my friend’s first party and I’m glad you made it the best they’ll have for a long time” that really makes my night and makes the party worth it.  For too many people raving has become a business.  I just want to be able to give kids a sample of exactly what it was that got ME hooked on raving way back when.

So Andrew and I paraded our happy asses way out into the desert to watch Randy celebrate raver style.  It was a pretty great party and I had a good time.  On our way out there it occured to us that we were in Andrew’s early-70s Cheyenne bumpin through the desert while wailing out to some “Del McCoury Band.”  It doesnt get much more hillbilly than that… old truck with a bed full of wood and cardboard boxes of toys cruisin’ down an unpaved road with some twangy bluegrass to get you movin!

We set up right next to the Wacky Weenies cart as usual and Andrew threw together an AWESOME fire and got it burning quick.  As usual I moved a lot of finger lights, but lately glowstick sales have slowed WAY down.  What happened ravers?  Do chemlites not tickle your fancy any longer?  Anyways, the night went well and I managed to (unlike last weekend) make enough to pay for gas and the toys that I sold as well as dinner for Andrew and myself, but not a whole lot more.  At the end of the night Randy decided I needed to take a crack at the pinata, and crack it I did… it was a donkey shaped pinata, so I literally busted Randy’s ASS with a metal rod heh.

I did get to spend some time hangin around a really pretty really awesome girl a lot of the night which made it seem even better…. and it looks like I’ll be seeing her again tonight while I’m working at the phoenix fairie festival.  Wow… this is the first time in recent past I can think of that a girl’s presence actually had an impact on the flow of my day… sheesh.. what’s this world coming to?