Z-Trip: DJ Hero

What can I say except DJ Z-Trip tore the roof down at Congress theater and I had the honor of being there to witness it. Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not like Congress theater as a venue. Why? Long story that boils down to me getting robbed and beaten for stepping out of line at a Congress show. I mean, I'm over it now, but many months passed where I felt true hate towards the guy (who also was a member of the security team) who ravaged me. And I'm not a hater and never have been, so you know this affected in the worst possible way.

Anyway, the highlight of the night was my 2nd favorite DJ in the world, DJ Z-Trip throwing down on the decks. I had the greatest time! Even bought a Z-Trip T-shirt which I've been looking for everywhere.

It's Coming Through: EDM Raves Hook Up

For a few years now die hard electric dance music (EDM) fans have been subjected to some very good parties but also to some very poor parties. Have we forgotten that Chicago is the home of house music?

I'm not going to sit here and whine about the Chicago rave, edm scene. I'm going to give my readers a sneak preview of what's to come with Chicago (area) parties.

The Chicago party scene is broken and before we can fix it we need to identify how it broke in the first place. I like to call it returning to the basics. We have to remember that our economy has been horrible for the last few years. And yes, bad economies even affect Chicago's underground parties. However, just as if they were a Fortune 500 company, the promoters need to find ways to cut costs while still growing the amount of paying customers.

 Chicago-based Just Jay Media™ along with Research Solutions (now owned by JJM) funded a preliminary market research study, which identified three main goals for improvement of the Chicago Party scene:

 1. Customer base.  Promoters and production companies must expand their customer base using a more wide array of advertising techniques. (Fliers and Facebook is just the tip of the iceberg. Expansion is needed.)

2. Safety. If specific safety measures are followed and adhered to at every event, new customers will feel more at ease about attending these parties.

3. Neighborhood diplomacy. If a party venue is way out in Missouri in an unpopulated area, noise and people wandering would not be an issue. However, if the party is at a busy, north side warehouse, across the street from a school (for example), the production companies must take the intuitive to  notify the neighbors of the event and it's details (e.g., party will be loud between 12am and 2am; parking will be difficult during and before the party; security will be on the premises to make sure no laws are broken; etc).

                                       

Lollapalooza: Is it really worth it?

Every once and awhile I like to take one issue of a local newspaper, thoroughly read the article, and then offer my opinions/feedback/criticisms about that article. For this blog, I have chosen Saturday's Chicago Sun-times--my favorite newspaper.

The article that grabbed my attention was LOLLAPALOOZA sold out, but you can watch the show from home. For those of you who aren't familiar with LOLLAPALOOZA, it is a 3-day music festival in Grant Park. Each year they book different performers: last year the headliner was Lady Gaga; this year Eminem. 

Aside from the live stage, which would be where Eminem would perform, there's also an EDM (electronic dance music) stage. By now, after reading my blog for a month, you'd already be 99% sure of the stage I'll be at: EDM stage, of course. So I guess it comes down to Eminem versus Deadmou5e; and even though I lost a lot of respect from Eminem and Deadmouse is very unoriginal, I'm still going to be at that EDM stage all day--just to show my solidarity for electronic music.

As I said, the festival is sold out and this leads to every year people hopping the fences to sneak in without paying for tickets. I'm guilty myself, as one year me and my friends bought old wrist bands--which is your proof of payment--and had the tweek who should them to us tape them on our wrists with scotch tape.

"No way MAN! I am not sneaking in like this! We'll go to jail!" I said to my group.

But it was my only choice. If I wanted to watch the best music festival Chicago has to offer, I'd have to suck it up, grow up and pass through security with old, makeshift wristbands (with the scotch tape), and hope that the dude with the scannner that validates the authenticty of each wrsit is in on the scam. If not, we're off to jail. 

So I did it. Eventhough I was a nervous wreck, I closed my eyes and took the "blind faith" angle. As I approached the security office with the scanner, I was sure he was going to have me locked up. But it didn't happen that way. Security scanned the wristband, a little light on the scanner turned green, and I got in!

My freinds who took the other approach of scaling the perimeter, chain-link fances, weren't so lucky. They climbed to the top and began to climb down. As soon as their feet hit the ground...boom! Chicago police waiting with handcuffs in ready-mode.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that breaking the law to enter that festival is NOT worth it. Also, paying the hundreds of dollars for legit passes is only worth it if there are perfromers you really, really, really want to see.

This year, I'm going to pass on LOLLAPALOOZA.