Miami 2007 Part Four - An Om/Vega Thursday
It was the fourth day of my Miami trip, and the second day of full-on activity. Even though I’ve only had four hours of sleep, I was both refreshed and excited for what the jam-packed day would bring. Didn’t had much time for breakfast that day, so headed to the Starbucks on Ocean Drive for a quick expresso and munchie combo (yeah yeah, I hear you Starbucks haters…but when you’re in a hurry and don’t have the time to explore, it’s nice to know that there’s an ‘ol reliable on standby).
Om Listening Party - Beach Plaza Hotel
I was already an hour behind schedule, and my first visit was to the Om VIP Listening Party. There was no way that I could stay very long, and I knew this. Still, the few minutes that I’ve managed to stay (roughly about 20-30 minutes) was good.
Got to catch Gunnar, fresh from the Scion party of the day before. Also met other Om peeps including Tamara, among others. The only Om artist that I’ve gotten to meet was Colette, and the few minutes I did have with her was a pleasure; very down-to-earth, but enjoying her successful career all the same. Also ran into a couple of guys who help publish a house music magazine in Japan, and a Canadian film crew shooting a documentary on DJ culture.
From there, it was on to the Godfather/James Brown tribute party. If you’ve missed it, you can read more about it.
Louie Vega Presents the Sunset Ritual - Lummus Park
Meeting up with Jessica from SPECTRE, she clued me in on a private event being held by Louie Vega (Masters At Work, Nuyorican Soul, Elements of Life) and his Vega Records label. The event was known as the Sunset Ritual, which was going to end up being more of a clouded affair than any sunset that could pierce through. Nevertheless, the setting on the beach was a nice one and peeps were dancing on the sand.
Gift bags from Vega Records and UDG were being handed out, but only if you had a ticket. Why the person who was handing them out would not give Jessica a ticket was beyond me; she had an invite and was on the list, after all. But anyways, it was about the music and the vibe and we surely weren’t disappointed. We also got to hook up with one of her friends from the Fusicology crew. We’ve stayed for about an hour, but it was a good hour as the sun went down and the house music was getting festive.
Om: Miami - Y Ultralounge
And talking of festive house music, much later on have me taking a cab downtown, where light rain started to fall shortly after I’ve entered the cab and ended up pouring in sheets upon my arrival. I was very lucky to have had my umbrella, but soon found out that I was a popular guy because people wanted to seek shelter under it. No big deal, so long as I wasn’t surrounded by the whole lot outside.
I was in the club moments later, having fought several aborted attempts to close my umbrella (note to peeps: never try and run underneath an umbrella that’s being closed, lest you wanna get poked!), in the club I went.
As I was beginning to find out, I entered just one section of the club, the floor filled with dancers and peepers and a DJ already in action. Having been there for a bit and after taking pictures, I’ve started to snake my way around the place, going thorough an interesting corridor intermingling art with bottles of assorted alcoholic beverages in glass encasing along the walls. I ended up in a darkened room with a huge dancefloor, multicolored lighting, a couple of huge multimedia screens, and a small bar that only served two kinds of beer (there were other bars around the club, some having more selections than others). After the DJ played there, a live performance from Landshark happened. Don’t know what the house peeps thought of it, but it was what it was.
Passing through a jungle-decorated corridor outside led me to an outdoor area where DJ’s were performing. Got to later see DJ Heather from Superjane and Chuck Love, among others. Having gone back inside after Heather, the big, dark room had Daz-I-Kue and Afronaught from the Bugz crew going at it. It was very good to have them there, and very good to get into the righteous groove West London-style. Also ran into Proof from Massive Selector, who I would lose for awhile until the last 90 minutes of the night.
I ended up seeing all sections of the Y club, with a much smaller room with a few DJ’s in rotation, and another sizable outdoor garden that had peeps such as Dayhota (Superjane), J. Boogie, Vikter Duplaix and Rich Medina taking things into the wee hours. And with Medina and the like, I’ve found Proof and his S.F. posse getting down and enjoying themselves.
The night ended for me at 4:30am as me and one of the S.F. crew decided to call it a night. We’ve tried flagging a cab; we’ve ended up going street-after-street, block-after-block, with no takers. It’s never been this bad in all of my visits to Miami, and it’s a real shame that transportation was so pitiful during that time of the morning. Finally, a cab picked us up and offered to give us rides to our hotels–at a flat-rate of $20, each! At that point, we’ve given in and paid upfront, as requested. Moments later, another person have flagged down the cab and was also given the same offer. We were told that during peak times like WMC and the Super Bowl a few months earlier, some cabs–especially those who lease their cabs–end up being, um, opportunistic (to be very polite).
But back to the hotel I went, and the day ended with a bit of sleep. Just a bit, because the day would start again in about four hours.
Highlights of the day:
- Gunnar introducing me to Colette.
- Meeting the DJ film crew; look forward to their film.
- Knowing that there a house DJ magazine from Japan.
- Jessica professing a love of house music that I did not know…wow!
- Getting more comfy with the camera.
- Thanks to the desk person at the hotel, found La Sandwicherie…a terrific sandwich place I went to two years ago. Highly-recommended for a great sandwich.
- Proof and the homies….they can party!
- Running into DJ Moni having fun.
- Rich Medina blending the old-school with the modern vibes.
- The Bugz, the Bugz!
- My first Om party…may there be many more.
Hit up for Om VIP, the Louie Vega shindig and the Om:Miami pics…aight??
Thanks to Gunnar and the Om crew, Jessica and Proof.
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