Theres something about going to a party downtown that I love. Maybe its because Im only a short walk from home or because it makes me feel that ravers can outsmart the RCMP or perhaps because I know I wont get harassed for smoking cigarettes inside the venue... Whatever the reason, finding out that the party is downtown is always an indication that the night will be good.



So, when I was told that Retrograde Motion was at the E Theatre, I was totally stoked.



I got to the party at about 1:00. First I took a little tour of the venue. There was a small ambient room which was nicely set up: there were blankets and couches, black lights and candles and visuals. I didnt spend much time there but it seemed that people really enjoyed Enertroniks effort.



At first there werent many people dancing in the main room. Thats one thing I dont like about the E Theatre: the seats entice the crowd to sit down and chill instead of dancing. Fortunately, with time the crowd got stoked with the music and then there always seemed to be more people dancing than sitting.



Anyway, the music. According to the flyer Mark Paul was going to play club, funky breaks. What I heard was hard house. I really liked his style of hard house and danced most of his set. However, there were several tracks (mostly at the beginning of his set) that I thought were ridiculous: a generic hard house beat with intermittent cheesy female vocals. I cant understand how people like this. I find the sudden breaks irritating and jarring. Youre totally going off and then, all of a sudden, some chick starts wailing about love and rainbows, and you have to stop moving because theres no real beat. There was this one really cheesy track, closer to the end, and (oh my god!) Mark Paul actually pulled out a lighter and started swinging his arms side to side. I wasnt sure if I should laugh or cry. What I really liked about Mark Pauls set was his mixing. He would sometimes just splice a track. All of a sudden he would throw on a new track without missing a beat nor disrupting the fluidity. This is a really gutsy technique because if you screw up its totally obvious because you cant hide your mistake behind the exiting track.



Next came John Tennant with a live set. The only time Ive ever seen live PA is Hardfloor at Twilo. The Hardfloor duo had stacks of equipment, the dcor was spectacular, and they both looked like rock stars. John Tennant, on the other hand, seemed so unglamourous and humble. He barely had any equipment and he played on the floor, in the dark. He seemed so invisible and unloved and it seemed wrong (the promoters should have cleared out the stage for him or at least shone a spotlight on him). His whole set up looked so unassuming but he captivated everyone (the girl working the concession ditched her post and danced most of his set with her apron still on). The dance floor was at its fullest for him and everyone was cheering him on. His set was totally, totally rad.



Then came Christopher Schmidt and High C. Once again the flyer seemed to misrepresent the djs. Schmidt and High C were said to play goa and hard house, respectively. Chris Schmidt surprised us all by barely playing any goa. His set was psychadelic and hard trance and it was spectacular. Ive never heard him play anything but goa so I was really surprised. Perhaps hes bored with his genre or maybe he thought that the public wouldnt be into goa trance. Whatever the reason, I really appreciated the change and had a great time during his set. High C, oh my god, could not have played hard house. It was way too fast to be hard house. I did some inquiring to figure out what it was and I got varying answers: Some people labeled it as hardcore and others as free form. All I know is that it was really hard, really fast, and really good. And, no one could keep up though lots of people tried. Id like to see if High C can dance to his own records.



Overall I dont know how reminiscent Retrograde Motion was of an old-school party but who cares? The music was awesome, the people were cool, the vibe was excellent, it didnt get busted, and since it was on a Friday I had an extra day for recovery (more parties should be held on Fridays, no?). To top it off, when I left the sun was super bright and I knew it was going to be a great day for Wreck Beach.