Farewell Barcelona! (12/19/06)

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

Four incredible months in Barcelona, finally over. Leaving was bitter-sweet to say the least. I came to Spain with a short list of things I wanted to see and do... and somehow I managed to avoid many of them (e.g. go to Berlin and Morocco), but somehow at the same time, I was able to have more fun, make more friends, host more afterhours, drink more wine and eat more bocadillos then I could have EVER IMAGINED. When all is said and done, I think the trip far exceeded expectations in every possible way. A big reason for that was having KJ there as a partner in crime and making some new friends that will be with me for life (you know who you are). All that craziness and no deportation, only one visit from the police and no injuries. Well almost... more on that later.

After all of the fall madness on Caller d'Arago, we had to throw one last bash to go out in style. I promised it was going to be a tame night for listening to music, drinking wine and saying goodbye to the good friends we had made. We made good on all those promises except of course for the first. I know it's hard to believe, but things got a little nutty in No. 6a with the typical goofiness and KJ swinging me around the room. We even had one last visit from the neighbors who seemed delighted to let us keep making party when they heard it was our last night in Spain. I'm fairly certain the entire building let out a collective breath when they saw us wheeling our big suitcases down the street those last days. We also decided to dance on our countertop one last time... a decision we've come to regret due to a hairline fracture and a likely-to-be-lost security deposit. Party karma is such a bitch!

Having been Stateside for the past few days, I've had a chance to think back on all of the incredible memories we made during our semester on exchange (yes, we actually were there for school, people!)... and I can honestly say we made the absolute most of an incredible opportunity. Siesta y fiesta!! The soundtrack will be available shortly...so stay tuned (seriously).

Sasha Warehouse Party in London (12/16/06)

I went to London for my final weekend in Europe - to celebrate my roommate's birthday, to hang with some friends and to check out the *secret* Sasha party that's been in the works for a few months. The party was in an old car park on Kearn and Curtain Streets near the Liverpool tube stop (for those who know London). Apparently they've had 1-2 parties there already and are having Alex Under for NYE. The venue is covered but doesn't have full walls on two sides, so it's actually outdoors. They did a great job with sound (pretty damn good considering!!), and the rest of the event organization. The party was actually early - 9pm to 4am. Scarlett Etienne played for the first three hours - I've heard a bunch of her music, but this was my first time catching her in person. She played her groovy minimalish style and set Sasha up very nicely. And, she is even more gorgeous in person. Yowzas!

When Sasha came on, I really didn't know what to expect having not heard him since his Fundacion residency in NYC. He played all over the map - in a good way, keeping it interesting and bouncing between genres. The crowd was really into it - honestly, I didn't expect the Brits to still get so pumped for him, but even some of the old school heads I was hanging with really up for it and not at all jaded. The crowd energy was great... it did get a bit overwhelming at a few points (as is expected of a big event) and somewhat sloppy. I actually thought Scarlett was going to drop "Mouth to Mouth" at one point, but she left it for Sasha, who dropped it around 2:30am to an ENORMOUS reaction from the crowd. He also dropped a bunch of classics (I knew them at the time, but CRS right now). They had lasers and lots of fog (which at times was too much), but overall was a really nice compliment to the venue. When they'd smoke the place out with the fog and lasers, you really couldn't see anyone for like 2-3 minutes - it was totally trippy. Overall an awesome night - I got to rock it out with Taj and some of the peeps I met at DC10, which was awesome...and really had a pretty cool and unique London clubbing experience. We contemplated hitting the official afterhours and/or Fabric, but opted for a low key session back at the apartment, which was a blast.

Sasha Drops Xpander:

M.A.N.D.Y. @ The Loft and Becka/Agent Orange @ La Cova (12/8 -12/9/06)

An amazing four months in Barcelona is finally coming to an end. KJ and I are headed to London next weekend for her birthday, so this was our final weekend to make party in Barcelona. Friday night, KJ was still in Paris so I rounded up a crew to check out the crazy party boys of M.A.N.D.Y. at The Loft. And they definitely didn't disappoint! The music was super funky and fun and their antics equally as good. They were speaker humping and pouring vodka into the mouths of the crowd... good times! I never know which is Philipp and which is Patrick... but I do know the blond one kicked things off and played one of my favorite Ricardo Villalobos tracks (affectionately known as "The Horns"). We rocked out till the bitter end and then cruised home for a short-lived afties session. I think I'm finally running out of steam! Well, almost...

KJ rolled back into town on Saturday for a final night out on the town and it took a major rally on my part to get back on my feet. But, being the consummate professional, I got it together, invited some people over for a pre-party and then set off for a new destination, La Cova. The venue (a cave!!!) is outside the city and requires a metro and bus trip, which turned out to be quite eventful. The bus came late and then we got stuck in traffic on the way there (2am!) due to a tractor trailer that had overturned on the highway overpass. Anyway... we finally arrived at 3am, just in time to hear the remix of The Doors' "The End" and the beginning of Becka's set. I'm not usually a fan of the harder side of techno, but both Becka and Ara played some great music that kept us stomping around the dance floor until the club closed. A highlight during Agent Orange's set was his remix of "Set It Off." After closing down the cave, we took the bus back to Barca and called it a night early (for once!)

Kevin Saunderson @ The Loft (12/2/06)

Razzmatazz (The Loft) is celebrating its 6th anniversary this month with some incredible lineups. I wimped out Friday night and missed Matthew Jonson, Carl Cox and The Glimmers ... so Saturday night I was not to be denied! MouseUp warmed up the room nicely for Kevin Saunderson who came on at 3am and literally tore the room apart. Dark, hard, dirty beats for just under 3 hours. Me, chief head dress, and the crew had a great time until the party ended and we were stranded on a curb in the middle of nowhere for 1.5 hours. No cabs anywhere and the metro was not running for some reason. Not cool! We waited until sometime around 7am to catch the train home and when we arrived there was a solid crew of people waiting outside my apartment ready to make more party. The beats and booze continued... Barca style, yet again, until the wee hours!