Miami 2007 Part Six - Co-Op Miami
I’ve been looking forward to this event for a long time; Co-Op Miami. The only other time that I’ve experienced it was at its home base at Plastic People in London in 2003. For the uninitiated, Co-Op is a monthly club night consisting of members from the Bugz in the Attic crew, along with other West London peeps and guests. The vibe is friendly, but the music very bass-heavy and groovy. Peeps at the London home are likely to be introduced to tracks being tested on them before being unleashed to others.
As my third day of activities was winding down, Co-Op kicked off in fine form at the two-level club called Jazid. It’s the second Miami outing for Co-Op; Daz, Afronaught and IG Culture were in force and ready for business on the upper level. Down on the lower entrance level were Seattle’s Sun Tzu Sound crew, or at least two of them…Atlee and J. Justice. I didn’t realize that it was them until after-the-fact, as I was supposed to have met up with J-Justice in person–but oh well, that’s how it goes.
Upstairs was a treat, going from few peeps to a packed floor of spotters and dancers before too long. Got to see Proof from Massive Selector again, along with some of his friends. The Amalgama crew were also there too, as natural fans of the bruk rhythms as well as collaborators with the Bugz, IG and other related peeps worldwide. The action soon took off, and even a couple of ladies persuaded me briefly to put down my camera and dance with them. It’s a skill to dance and take pictures at the same time, but I’ve managed to do that for most of my Miami stay.
Fun on the decks was also had on the upper level courtesy of one DJ Mochizuki from Japan, who apparently owns a club called the Loop. Afronaught expressed how great the sound system was at that club, calling it one of the best in all of their stops. Mochizuki knew his skills and his music, and kept people smiling and grooving. Dunno how many peeps knew him, but he was hard to miss since he was perhaps the most stylishly-dressed DJ of the night. Also upstairs enjoying the music were the likes of the Ubiquita ladies, Aloe Blacc wowing the ladies with his smooth dance steps, and an artist called Replife with whom I had a good chat with (he’s having an album due this year on Simon S.’s Futuristica Music label soon). Can’t forget the Daz man back on the mic…always good to hear him fire up the peeps. Mrs. Daz and 1-2 others did the door and keeping busy, and later on Zil, the label manager from Bagpak Music, showed up with the artist Arch_Typ, who would perform at the Raw Fusion night at the club the next evening.
The night wore me down before it ended. After exiting, I’ve chatted for a bit with Afronaught and some other peeps, as well as Daz and Mrs. Daz. I’ve huddled them together for a group picture. At the moment I press the shutter button, someone bumped into me with such force that I was off-balance for a second, thinking that the picture was going to be off-center. Afronaught and Daz have both noticed that this person who bumped into me was running down the sidewalk with a ladies’ handbag…a purse snatcher! This guy was run-ning through crowds, so catching him wasn’t going to quite happen. I took a second picture, but didn’t realize that the first was alright until later. So when you see those two pics, you’ll know why.
Third day ends, and day four of activities would soon begin.
Highlights:
- Hanging with the Amalgama posse and Simbad.
- Being at my first stateside Co-Op.
- Teasing Mrs. Daz…she’s good for the Daz Man.
- Experiencing the Bugz and IG in action upstairs.
- Being pulled in by not one, but two ladies, to dance with them.
- Dancing and having my pic taken with me and a lovely lady…Vee, I think was what she called herself.
- Proof, Angelo and the San Fran crew repping.
- Saying hello briefly to Juergen from Jazzanova, who was next to the decks upstairs watching along.
- DJ Mochizuki…he’s got style and good music!
- Meeting Replife while having a rest…see you in S.F.!
- Seeing a post-Hella Aloe Blacc slidin’ and groovin’ on the dance floor.
With that, you can see all the pics from the Co-Op event. You can also visit the album to view the complete set of pictures from events thus far, with more still coming very soon!
Thanks to Daz-I-Kue, Mrs. Daz, and Santiago plus the Amalgama crew.
