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review pls.
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jul 19, 2006 17:01
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any reviews on the festivals this summer?
Peace and Love |
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 5, 2006 05:22
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Ok, I will answer myself: my friends reports on Solstice were dubious. There were serious Solstice fans, people who goes every year to their parties - so there was a crowd, a small one for such infra, around 3 thousand gig-ers. But this may be because that day one started already in the middle of heavy rain, you know THAT rain that killed some japs up north. The photos my friends showed me and in their site, you can what I am talking about. I heard that it´s the second year in a row that they have rain. I wish them better luck in 2007.
Peace and Love. |
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Ken
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 6, 2006 19:25
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Hey goa-ganges,
this is a difficult topic as so many people are connected with so many organizers on this forum. and so many japanese dont like giving opinions on public forums. But I think this is a constructive topic and reviews of parties can help the scene develop.
so, I'll help you out with some first hand reports and some I've heard...
1) Mother Ground Beat.
about 4000+ people turned up. This shows that Mother is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) organizer in Japan now. The crowd was a mix of young garuo types and core trance people. What impresses me the most is how well Mother is organized and how good the staff is... props to them.
Interesting to see a substantial progressive music line-up at Mother's party. Worked for some, didn't work for others. Seb's DJ set after Protoculture in the morning (dropping from 145 bpm to 100 bpm) was a vibe destroyer to full-on fans but a stroke of genius to progressive fans.
2) Earth Energy May
Well ofcourse I'm biased with this one. Sold Out (about 400 - 500ppl). Beautiful weather. Intersys and Mr.Peculiar played great sets with good support from Tokage, Roger Jordan, YK, Batta, Kemix and co.
Every Earth Energy I think its the best party I've every been to, especially when people say that to me as well. I dont believe it ofcourse (well, maybe just for a day or two). Anyways, wonderful vibes!
3) SUNS OPEN AIR (6th Anniversary)
About 200ppl with party people from all over Japan coming. Heard this was an amazing festival with great great vibe and music. Nice line-up too: Ta-Ka, Shiva Jorg, Xerox & Illumination, UNI, Damage, Nexus... etc.
4) Chikyuya Secret Party with Kindzadza. About 800ppl. The same site as the Solstice Festival a few years ago - on Mt Fuji. Friend said the music wasn't the best (I just suppose that's if you like dark psy or not) but the people were really off their heads and crazy! A crazy party from all reports.
5) Solstice Summer Music Festival
About 2000 people. Heard it rained hard for the whole three days. Reports varied, some friends said they had a great time. Others complained its not what it used to be.
6) Manas
About 250 people. Always very nice vibe. Old school core trance people and hippies! The rain doesnt stop the Manas dancers! Last party for a while because the organizers will have a baby! All the best!
7) Earth Energy July
Same time as Solstice. It rained a lot but the 2nd night from 4pm until 4am was nice weather. Hydraglyph played an awesome set that really energized the dancefloor. Heavy rain at the end of the party but everyone had a nice time as can be seen in the pics. Earth Energy attracts some of the craziest dancers... stomping like crazy in the rain - thank you!
8) Californification
About 300 people (Full for this venue). Brain Busters first outdoor party and a real success from all accounts. Good location, nice people and vibes! This shows Dark Psy is getting popular in Japan.
9) TPE
About 2000 - 3000 people (my friend wasnt too sure about this number!). Beautiful weather! Beautiful location with nice mountain scenery. Very young crowd but some core trance people too. The international artists played energetic and powerful sets which created a good atmosphere! Very enjoyable party from all accounts.
Still many festivals to come: Mother (SOS), Psylab, The Beach, Sirius Summer, Genkanon (last party?), New Dimension, Yabai, Earth Energy September, Goa Gil, Vision Quest, Labyrinth and probably a few others I cant think of at the moment.
Hope to hear other people's reviews. Good topic Goa Ganges!
 The music was like new black polished chrome
that came over the sky like liquid night.
psy16.com |
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 7, 2006 01:35
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Ok Ken, I do understand it must be hard toost opinions here. So, thanks for posting yours. Great reviews. BTW, can you say more about Goa Gil? I really would like to see him.
Hope luck to the parties still to come.
Peace and Love.
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Aug 7, 2006 01:36
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ops, I meant ¨hard to post opinions here¨
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Ken
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Posted : Aug 8, 2006 05:44
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Goa Gil.
Well I haven't been to a Goa Gil party but plenty of my friends have several times.
Doing a similar tour as last years I suspect with a party in Hokkaido and Mt. Fuji.
From what I've heard he plays 150+ bpm music for 24+ hrs. He sits and doesn't beat mix much (you wouldnt want to if you're playing 24hrs!) but his selection and flow are good. He likes the darker stuff as can be heard on his compilations (nothing to do with Goa Trance my friends).
My friends are pretty hardcore dancers and they said there is no way they can keep up with him. Actually they said the Hokkaido party last year there wasnt much dancing - the people took the music as more of a "meditation" and focussed more on the "spiritual" side of "trance".
Anyways, that's what I've heard. I know there are others on this forum who are very close to Goa Gil, maybe they would like to comment.
One party I would like to hear the review of is Anoyo's "The Pirates" on Niijima Island. Any reviews of this party?
I should also say may favourite festival in Japan is "Earth Celebration" which takes place in Sado Island every year. Its not trance, its Taiko Drumming with international guest precussionists. Definitely check this out if you only have the chance to go to one festival in Japan!
The music was like new black polished chrome
that came over the sky like liquid night.
psy16.com |
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Aug 9, 2006 10:11
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Thanks Ken, but I was really asking about his next date/place he is going to play here in Japan. As for his bio, I know he switched from Goa to Dark - and that´s what I call switching. eh eh. But he´s still worth dancing to.
Peace and Love. |
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Ken
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
63
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441
Posted : Aug 11, 2006 08:25
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around early September @ Mt. Fuji.
The music was like new black polished chrome
that came over the sky like liquid night.
psy16.com |
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Ken
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Oct 2, 2006 05:24
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Went to Mother's last outdoor party for 2006 in Aichi last weekend.
It was a party I was not involved with - organizing or DJing so I was looking forward to really having some fun. We picked up our rental car at 10am but Ai Chan and I were taking it too easy and we didnt get away until 1pm (and we hardly brought anything with us, only 1 backpack each!).
Wow, Aichi was a loooooong way from Tokyo (near Nagoya). But it was a fun drive, I had a back-log of CDs I had been sent by artists to listen to and WOW, I was really surprised! The music had us boppin along all the way to Aichi.
The party place was in the deep forest! We were driving on little mountain roads for an hour in the dark thinking we were lost before surprisingly stumbling on the Mother checkpoint! It took us over 6 hours from Tokyo!
The parking was similar style to Namesawa Parties - parking along the mountain road but we were lucky to get one right near the entrance. The party place was beautiful, with lots of trees and a pond. This was really like a party in the forest!
We found a really nice camping spot under a leafy Momiji Tree. It was a little way up the mountain just off the main track with a nice view of the market area and glimpse of the main stage behind that.
Went for a walk, met a few people, discovered the beautiful chill area (best one this year!). Mother really did well with the deco, we especially liked the VJs - very organic & psychedelic. I think Mother's deco is one of the best for Japanese parties but not to the standard of Australian Parties.
I usually hate festival food but I talked with Yutaka and he pointed out "his" food stall so we thought we'd give it a try. Yum-meeeeee! The Chicken Pho with dried onions and chilli was possibly the best dish I have ever tasted at a festival.
Looking at the timetabe, I see Daijiro is on from 2:30am - 4:30am. Prime Time for someone who usually sets up the main acts with his well crafted progressive sets. Dajiro's performance was nothing short of DEVASTATING! Like he shook off the shackles of Progressive-dom and played FULL POWER - JAW CLENCHING - STOMP YOUR FEET PUNCH THE AIR AND SCREAM TRANCE!!!!!. Ryo had played my favourite DJ Set for 2006 at SOS Festival but now we have a new winner: Daijiro!
I came to this party mainly to see Hydrophonic (Nano Records) who really impressed me at Soulclipse earlier this year. They were on from 7am - 8:15am. 6:30am it started raining and we took shelter in the chill. Mirror System (System 7 Chill Project were starting from 7am) They had a guitar and it all sounded nice but as soon as there was a break in the rain I was off to the main floor for Hydrophonic. First thing that struck me about them were how similar they looked to Hydraglyph (also from Sth. Africa) - even their movements on stage - is this a Sth. African thing? Hydrophonic have one of the meanest phattest kick & bass I've ever heard but I was dissapointed with their set. It finished at 7:45 so they only played 45min. It was too much the same full-on and didn't inspire me much. Regan from Hydrophonic DJed after that and his set got really slow towards the end, maybe because Son Kite were coming next - so time to pack up the tent and head home.
We left the party at about 9:30am and lucky we did because the rain started to bucket down! Was this a typhoon? I kept thinking... poor staff, I hope they are ok. Thinking about how hard it was to pack-up our party in July in the hard rain. I guess its kinda dangerous calling a party "POWER OF THE SUN"
We got home around 3:30pm and collapsed into a 16 hour coma / sleep. I returned the rental car this morning - 12 hours late and they charged me only 1000 JPY!
Thank you Mother for aother great party!
NEXT WEEKEND: STARDANCE FESTIVAL in GIFU!!!!!!!!!!!!
more info coming very soon!
See you on the dancefloor!
The music was like new black polished chrome
that came over the sky like liquid night.
psy16.com |
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Ken
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Oct 13, 2006 06:44
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Well, had a couple of requests for this review - thnx, nice to feel wanted. So here is a copy of my mixi blog (sorry, dont have time to write another one). Please remember this was from my mixi diary so please ignore all the personal stuff. Anyways, hope it gives you an idea of what a lovely party this was.
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WOWOW What a wonderful party! One of my favourites in Japan!
Eiju, Aya and me started our drive to Gifu around noon on Saturday. After traffic jams and getting lost we arrived at Stardance Festival at 9:30pm. 9 hours drive!!!
The festival was very deep in the mountains at a ski resort. It was dark when we got there so couldn't reall get a feel for the place yet. I found Chiho (one of the organizers) and she seemed really busy but was nice enough to organize my tatami room in the hotel. I didn't know if it was ok for Aya and Eiju to stay with me so we decided to look for a good camping spot. I received some drink and food tickets. We passed by the Stardance Stage, it was beautiful! Nice sound system and lighting and lasers! The drink tickets were all used in the first 30 min. as we kept passing the bar looking for a camping spot. At the bar I met 2 staff I had met in Turkey earlier this year - the Soulclipse connections continue! BTW I tried "Canabia" Beer (the hemp beer) and it was delicious! A hint of honey in the beer!
We found an awesome camping spot (just to the left of the Tipi as you look at the pictures above). Probably the only flat spot near the Stardance Stage! As we set up my tent, I meet Rui, also a trancer I met in Turkey!
He and his friends had set up a Cafe / Stall next to us. Very comfotable with carpet, cushions and decoration and delicious Chai and Sui Gyoza!
After setting up our tent, we wandered around and found the chill-out area, caught a bit of Wild Marmalade's set and some other DJs. But we were exhausted after the drive and setting up the tent. The wind was really strong and it started raining - like we were hit by a typhoon! Many tents were destroyed and we had to battle to keep our tent from flying away too - thank you Eiju!!!
Next Morning, woke up to the sounds of Karmachanics and Sesto Sento. Really nice music from Sesto Sento! Very melodic Full-On trance, reminded me a lot of Intersys. They also had a very good performance on stage and the crowd loved it. One of the highlights of the party! Also watched and listened to a bit of DJ Isao's set from high up on the ski slope. Loved it when he played Happy Lepsya!!!
We could also get a sense of how beautiful this place was. I think it is one of the most beautiful venues in Japan. A view of rolling green hills and mountains, a beautiful stream strewn with rocks, large areas for camping and good toilet facilities in the hotel. Blissdom also decorated it with many huge tipis which added a nice feeling.
Briefly met Brahma, the painter that does the huge UV back drops and hangings for TIP. Nice guy and the first of numerous brief meetings for the remainder of the festival. Always has a beer in his hand!
Aya and Eiju were also really drunk and had almost exhausted our supply of alcohol which was quite substantial... 5 bottles of wine and champagne, some beer and chu-hi. Well, time to get stuck into the White Russians! (Kahlua, Vodka and Milk) ... say no more, we had a wonderful afternoon! There was an ofuuro (Japanese Bath) for the artists on the 3rd floor of the Hotel. Eiju and I had the whole bath to ourselves and we could look out the window and get a nice view of the venue.
We slept in the late afternoon and early evening. I woke up and felt really sick in the stomach, maybe festival food!!! We got the BBQ going and had some delicious chicken and fish for dinner. About 8pm, DJ Iry started playing! WOW! This is a 7 year old DJ! He had to stand on box to reach the decks! This for me was another highlight of the party! Very nice selection of full-on trax, can mix about 30% of the time. And his performance was amazing, really feeling the music and banging his head and thrashing the air with his hands when the big beats came in. He blasted the dance floor and had it going crazy for 90 minutes. I remind you, this kid is 7 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I played from 11pm to 12:30. The floor was very full and the weather was nice. I had fun. The energy and vibe of the dancers at this party was really nice.
Partied a bit after this, but was exhausted and had to sleep. Woke up and saw Spacetribe, Lucas and Raja Ram! Lucas was my favourite, especially towards the end of his set. Raja Ram - what a great performer!!! Really had the dancefloor going crazy in the beautiful sunshine!!!
OK, so i dont think he's a great mixer and his song selection was a little bit of an 80's rock hit parade... I heard trance rmx of Tainted Love, Sweet Dreams, AC/DC Thunderstruck, Peter Gun, a couple of Eminem songs, and about half a dozen other rock remixes...... BUT, what a great DJ because he got the crowd absolutely bopping along and few DJs can finish a party like Raja Ram can! Reckon he needs some new moves though, he's had that invisible juggling move for a few years now.
After chatting to many friends and artists I met at the party we left to go back to Tokyo at 2:30pm, I arrived home at 12:30pm. 10 hour drive but what an amazing party!!!
Big Love and thanks to Takashi, Chiho and all Blissdom Staff and artists and party people!!!
Special Love & Thanx to Eiju and Aya!
The music was like new black polished chrome
that came over the sky like liquid night.
psy16.com |
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