IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 15 lines From: gstrock@dpc.com (Greg Strockbine.)

>> From: gstrock@dpc.com (Greg Strockbine.) >> >> Uh ... I had one problem, the age of the crowd seemed to be about 14-21 >> and I'm like 47, maybe I should have gone to Sin-a-matic instead. I >> don't know if I'll be going to anymore of these rave things but christ >> I love the beat, the seamless music and no band but instead the crowd >> to focus on. >> >> Was this the underground? > > The age thing is always a sub-issue for me; I'm 32 (33 next month). I > started going to parties/raves about 3 years ago. Right from the start I > felt like I had found my place; nothing at all made me feel out of place or > out of touch. > But the scene, at least in the Midwest has changed quite a bit since then.

Well, if you'd like the perspective of an already-36 old fart, here's what I sent to socal-raves and sfraves about this same show (ObIDM: I mention Carl Craig and Aphex (-: ). Apologies to those of you on those lists who see this twice. Draw your own conclusions. - Greg ------- Begin Forwarded Message To: socal-raves@UCSD.EDU Cc: sfraves@hyperreal.com Subject: Re: Plantasia... In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 01 Jan 1995 18:52:34 EST." <01HLCBTG21428YA5SR@delphi.com> Date: Mon, 02 Jan 1995 03:12:11 -0800 From: Greg Earle <earle@isolar.Tujunga.CA.US> Mike wrote:

quoted 17 lines There's no way that there could have been a really good vibe

> There's no way that there could have been a really good vibe > with those kind of temperatures. Anyways, the party was pretty much how I > expected it to be. I wish I could go to smaller events more often. Big > parties like Plantasia seem more like an attitude/style fest than anything > else. It's cool for a while to see all of those really good looking girls, > but come on, it's not a fashion show and they don't have to strut around like > supermodels or something. > > My biggest gripe of the whole evening was missing Moby. Is it so hard > to have a schedule up somewhere so that we can see when everybody is going to > perform? The main reason I went was to see Moby. Damn! Anyways, the whole > thing was decent, it was better than doing nothing. I know that doesn't > sound like a really positive review, but when was the last time that you were > surprised by something at a party? It seems like (here we go, another one of > those "it was better back then"s) raves up to a couple years ago were really > creative and always had something different at each one. Do we need carnival > rides? I always thought those Moon Bounces were good enough.

Ned then wrote:

quoted 1 line I have to completely agree. It was a fashion show.

> I have to completely agree. It was a fashion show.

Wow. I don't even know where to begin to respond to these messages. How some people can get the same set of inputs yet have a completely different set of reactions is rather surprising, to say the least. For 6 straight hours last night, I was subjected to some of the greatest music I've ever heard ... from the likes of Mixmaster Morris, Barry Weaver, Young American Primitive (albeit a somewhat patchy performance), and (especially) Adam X and the positively godlike Carl Craig, ending with an awesome Joe Babylon set (wherein he answered the question "How do you follow the positively godlike Carl Craig" with "That's easy, you put on ``Tamphex'' and then follow it with ``Joyrex J9'', which may be about the most stupendous track ever recorded in the history of Mankind). And yet the first two postings I see regarding Plantasia whine about the "lack of vibe" (yes, but what do you expect with 4 areas that were so spread apart?) and the "fashion show" (I *like* seeing Club Kidz in cool costumes, and how anyone can complain about seeing lots of stupendously beautiful young women of all races, *I'll* never know). And as for Moby, I'm sorry, but I really have to feel pity for anyone that goes with him as their "main reason". He's a Rock Star with a Rock Star performance, and is totally out of place in today's Techno scene. And by watching Moby you cheated yourself out of hearing Mixmaster Morris positively bedazzle everyone (everyone who stuck around, that is ... *sigh*) with an *amazing* set that wandered all over the thematic map, from "Intelligent Jungle" to wonderous Trance to bone-crunching RePHLeX to you-name-it ... [I'd love to see a set list. Morris? - Ed.] In short, if you want "vibe" (and people in boring clothes), stick to the small events (e.g., the Moontribe desert jaunts). It's present in spades and it helps make those events special in their own way. But Plantasia wasn't about "vibe" and/or lack-of-fashion; it was about MUSIC and how only BIG events like this can attract the world-class talent that I witnessed last night. Dennis Barton made a very cogent comment during the procedings; "Why go to Dream on New Year's to see the same people spin the same music that I can see at Metropolis?". The fact is, it isn't very often that one can get *completely new input* in this town. With Mixmaster Morris, I got to hear a lot of different types of music that no one seems to play here. With Y.A.P., I got to hear a few tracks of pure Trance bliss that I don't hear too often. With Adam X, I got to hear stripped-down yet fully-rhythmic Brooklyn Hardcore that I *never* get to hear (well, other than when he was here for Grape Ape III, and when Frankie Bones spun at One Roof). And Carl Craig, all I can say is that muthafucker WENT OFF! A total tutorial on the Detroit sound, all the Kraftwerk-cum-funk plus hard beats plus trancey keyboards that define that sound. The man is God. In short, I got to hear hours of amazing music that I never get to hear, certainly not at the small intimate events. What more could I ask for? (Well, actually, I could have asked for that second capsule I swallowed to have had something chemically active in it, but, oh well ... (-: ) There was something really ironic going on. We have twits like "Details" mag crying "Death of L.A. Rave" and I can remember about a year and a half ago when a good friend (from a well-known Canadian Industrial band) was a houseguest of ours for a few weeks, and we kept going out to try and find that kind of music we all loved. Instead, we found only House, House, House and more House, and said visitor went back to Vancouver decidedly disappointed in our scene ... and I was greatly worried as well, thinking it was sliding into a morass of House and Disco rehash. To have an event like the 3 Millenniums with the likes of Richard James, Orbital, Carl Craig, Adam X, etc. certainly helps reaffirm to me that the music is still great, still evolving, and shows no sign of dying in the slightest. And for that, I'm very grateful. Much props to Philip Blaine and Tef et al. I had a wonderful time at Plantasia. - Greg P.S. Laura, where were you guys?!? ------- End of Forwarded Message