___Kaatisu
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Posted : Feb 23, 2002 10:42:27
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I feel lucky to have whooped it up with the Japanese party tribes at yet 2 more 3dvision parties. I caught the Tokyo and Nagoya stops of the 4 city, 2 weekend tour. Tokyo was on Saturday, Feb. 9, and Nagoya was on Friday Feb. 15. The 2 parties I went to were substantially different, but both were rockin in their own ways.
The Tokyo party was held at a Ebisu Garden Hall - a huge indoor space that seemed really new and clean. I've never been to an indoor rave party in any other country, but it certainly was a far cry from the dirty, underground image that is often associated with raves. This party was definitely not underground. Definitely commercial. There must've been well over a thousand people gettin down in that room. Despite the huge number of partiers, I was happy that there was enough room to dance most of the time. There was most certainly a good vibe. In Canada, any social gathering of that size is unfortunately bound to have some violence, but here there wasn't even any security - just smilin party people (I suppose that it might have a little to do with the fact that only a few beer were sold, compared to a truckload of bottled water!....hmmmm....).
The artist line-up was DJ Mael (Nomad), Absolum Live, then Talamasca Live, each playing 2 hour sets; they started at midnight and ended at 6. I can't give much of a critical review or musical synopsis as I am a dancer and, like at most parties, I was far too busy groovin, flying, and meeting people to analyze the music. I missed the first half of Mael's set, but he was rockin pretty well during what I caught. Absolum brought the tempo and energy down a bit and seemed to like keeping it there. As much as I love Absolum, he certainly could've brought it up and kept it up a little more. I certainly didn't mind taking breaks during his set. As for Talamasca, well, just by virtue of his killer tracks I was flying like a maniac! He's still the trance dominator in my books! That said, I think he could've been a bit more aware of the crowd. I imagine that a crowd that size might be hard to manage though, especially a room full of perhaps leary-of-strangers Tokyoites. The DJ-crowd cohesiveness could have been tighter. A crowd like that has gotta have so much potential. Maybe Hikari is right - maybe Tokyo partiers are just getting bored of 3dvision parties and raves in general....? The last 30 minutes or so all the artists were up together taking turns throwin on tracks in a rather playful way and dancing around. That was a fun a happy way to end the night.
Maybe I'm just a Nagoyan at heart, but what I felt what was lacking in Tokyo was there in full force in Nagoya. SOUL! I think the the Nagoya party had such an amazing vibe of interconnectedness. People were really going off together! Diamond Hall is likely 1/6th or 1/8th the size of Ebisu Garden Hall, which therefore made the party much more intimate. Also, the room was much darker, and the sound, surely a function of the smaller space, was much, much louder. The only problem with this party is that there was no Talamasca Live set :( Instead, DJ Lestat (Talamasca) started off the night with a rarely upbeat set. Yeah, I was definitely disappointed. I suppose Talamasca plays the ever desirable last set at most of their gigs, and so they likely decided to even it up a bit. If I had been asked to design a near perfect party, I would have had that same Nagoya party, but with Absolum first, then Nomad, then Talamasca. That would have really blown the roof off the place! But despite the unfortunate order (for a Talamasca fan), the party went off like magic! Yet another killer night at Diamond Hall. The party came to an end with the Arcadia organizer dancin with us front and center as the DJs did the same playful DJ tag off that they did at the end of the Tokyo party. But unlike the Tokyo party, and consistent with the highly positive, intimate nature of this party, Talamasca waved dancers from the floor up onto the stage. So for the last couple of songs about 30 of us grooved away with the 3d gang. It was a very friendly feeling and a great way to bring in Saturday morning.
It seems as soon as I start to ask myself what the hell am I doing in Japan, I fly around another killer party like these last 2 - then it's all clear again. Very, very clear. I mean if going to a huge, safe party where everyone can get down together, smile, hug, trip, and groove to some of the best trance music in the world, and then have the option of doing it all again the next weekend sounds OK to you, then we're on the same wave length! Though many Japanese trance parties are seen as too commercial, the thing is that there are underground parties too! There are big parties, small parties, indoor, outdoor, expensive, free - you name it....... With trance becoming so popular here, you can pick the kind of scene you want to indulge in. I think it's great. No matter what party you go to, you always find amazing and beautiful people to dance with! Hope to party with y'all soon! Japanese parties SAIKO! |
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