Rave review Hullabaloo "Funtopia 7" 03/07/04 in Canada!
09 July 2004, 03:53 PM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 9,368
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rave review Hullabaloo "Funtopia 7" 03/07/04 in Canada!
Most ravers will know all about travelling bonkers distances to attend the raves they want to go to. Making daft road trips, often in excess of several hundred miles or more, to see the DJs they want to and experience something different is something any raver worth his salt can relate to. However, travelling 3500 miles for eight hours, across the Atlantic Ocean to another continent to go raving is something entirely different. Fortunatly, as these things tend to, the rave justified the trip.
Generally regarded as the most consistant Hardcore rave in North America, Hullabaloo was due to celebrate its 7th birthday with another of its annual "Funtopia" events in Toronto. Its Eclectic musical content, awesome atmosphere and and varied DJ lineup are all well known and acepted facts to both Canadian, US and in this case, UK ravers. As well as that, North American Hardcore has always intrigued me because of its lack of musical boundaries. There are no "Trancy" DJs or "Freeform" DJs who play their chosen genre to the exclusion of all others, it is all "Hardcore" to them. As a result, their sets are a colourful blend of every aspect of Hardcore music and IMO, their scene is all the better for it.
I had always wanted to experience a North American Hardcore rave and this time this one was within reach. Davespice was armed with a discounted travel ticket which meant I could get return flights to Toronto for £145 including insurance. The best Hardcore rave on the continent was touching down in the same town and Hixxy and Storm were headlining, as well as the best home grown talent. Quite frankly,it would have been rude not to.
It all saw me and Davespice embarking on a torturous 8 hour trans-atlantic flight to Canada, the Friday before the party. After regaining the use of my legs upon leaving the aircraft and attending a friday night pissup with some of the very friendly people from the www.hulla.info board,the day of the rave was upon us. As the party got closer, Dave and I could concentrate on little else. Mercifully, the start time approached and we cabbed it to the venue.
Outside was a small gaggle of Candy ravers and a very pregnant Mrs. Frolic who was armed with the guest list. Dave and I joined up with some familiar faces and I got busy with my illicit energy-drink-a-thon whilst the queue advanced steadily. When I came to be searched, it was thorough, but not too personal. Security were tighter than at UK raves (Removalof shoes was a common request), but they were politer than back in the UK too. No power trips all night from these people. After replacing my trainers and handing over my ticket, I was in.
It was like my first rave all over again, I just didn't know what to expect. The venue was depressingly small from the outside, but fortunately, as well as being one of the few venues in Toronto to accept ravers through its doors, The Opera House is also blessed with the same qualities as the Tardis. Of similar capacity to the Fridge, but more long and thin rather than wide and squat, it was a converted theatre with a bar area looking down onto a good sized dancefloor. An alcohol bar was available upstairs which you could only enter by showing positive ID, no matter how old you looked. To the left and right of the main dancefloor was a merchandise stand and the Toronto Raver Information Project, or TRIP for short. This stand was there to inform the ravers of the responsibilites, as well as the pleasures that come with drug use. They were alsotouting for MDMA users for use in confidential research, as well as having other things that a raver might find useful, such as a bucket of free condoms and the like. A good idea and all of it funded by donations as well. A worthy cause if ever I saw one.
Quite apart from this, the main stage was the focus of everyone's attention. Flanked by large speaker stacks and backed up by fluro draping and a lighting rig which was mostly located behind the DJ stand, the main portion of the stage was given over for the MC to perform, as well as the occasional stage dancer doing their thing.
Well into their set by the time Davespice and I arrived,Tika and Scoots were busy warming up the crowd. Having met one half of this b2b duo earlier on in the day, I knew what was to be expected. The 95 set was altogether a sound start to the evening and even though a few tunes did push the definition of "95" to the limit, especially with the Hardcore rip of Whigfield's "Saturday night", the rest of the set was a great introduction to the Canadian party scene with "Rush hour", "Discoland", "Shake that Shimmy", "Children of the night" and finishing on "Eyeopener". Throughout the set, the venue was filling up nicely and the dancefloor was getting steadily fuller.
Next up was DJ Tyco, who took up where the previous set left off by giving a respectful nod to the Old Skool with "Got the 99" before moving onto modern upfront Hardcore. As with most North American DJs, the tunes he played were not limited by things like date of release or what their percussion consisted of. Throughout the set, we were treated to UK, kick driven Hardcore, breakbeat tunes both old and new, as well as some nice tunes with with my personal favourite, loads of piano breakdowns. Simply listing the tunes will tell you all you need to know about the set's variety and diversity. I mean, you don't hear "Be a Star Tonight", "I'm in Heaven", "He never lost his Hardcore" and "6 days" within one hour very often, do you?
Towards the end of Tyco's set, MC Everybodies Daddy, or ED for short took up the mic. Billed as the best freestyle MC in the US, it was clear that he was also good at being a scheming bugger as well as an MC, a quality proved when he dragged two UK ravers out of the crowd and got them up on stage to say hello (Git.). We didnt stay up there for long, but we had a bit of a dance while we were up there. So much for being anonomous ravers then
.
After Tyco had finished his set, Silver and Wolf were up next. Continuing the varied theme,these two got straight down to business and tore into an upfront set to be proud of. "Wicked MC", "Addictions", "and "Heartbeatz" were all amongst the early starters, but if you think this set lacked variety then you'd be wrong. For sheer bravery, I have to take my hat off to them mixing "Twist em out" into "Heartbeatz" and the rest of the set from then on in was just as diverse, with "No good (Start the Dance)", "Here I am", "Angel Eyes", and "Love of my Life" all getting a look in. But the best part of the set was the stage show that took place half way through. 12 Care Bears, cunningly disguised as laydee ravers took to the stage and and put on a dance routine that was not 100%professional, but was great fun to watch and very entertaining. Besides, I've never been "Care Bear Stared" at a rave before so it has to be good.
After this, DJ Elixir took to the stage. I was expecting another Hardcore set after all we had been given sofar, but I was wrong. I werent sure what to make of a Trance set after 3 hours of Hardcore, but it deffo didn't makeme want to dance. On the other hand, it was nice to take a break, chat to the friendly ravers and have a drink in the upstairs bar. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think putting a Trance set on at Midnight was an odd move.
Handily, Hixxy and Storm were up next, taking the 1-2 set. It was safeto assume that these two wouldn't be trancing the place up and they didnt let us down either. Unphased by the random appearance of two UK ravers, Storm started off the set by encouraging the crowd onto the dancefloor in his usual persuasive manner and Hixxy kicked off with some tunes that I didn't recognise. However, he soon moved into familar ground and was soon busting out tune after tune that I could ID. Keeping to a similar style to the local jocks, Hixxy's set was nice and varied and all the better for it too. Hopping back and forth from the Old skool to the upfront sound, Hixxy's set contained a lot of my favourites, both old and new with "Together forever", "Toytown", "Raveheart" mingling with upfront tunage like "Back and 4th", "Eyeopener" and finishing on "Just accept it". He even managed to squeeze a gabba tune into the middle of his set, while the candy ravers weren't looking. Nice one.
After the mainliners, it was back to th homegrown talent, with DJ Frisky taking over. I was getting used to the Eclectic nature of North American Hardcore and Frisky carried on that tradition in a workmanlike manner. Everything from "Ultimate High", through to "Break of Dawn" and "Together Forever" was dropped with the crowd lapping up everything that was offered and coming back for more. By this time there were about 6-700 ravers in the place. Not packing it out fully,but making it full enough for you to actively look for spare space on the dancefloor. Of course,you could always mix it up with the rest of the party people instead of finding your own space, if you bumped into anyone, all that you got was a mutual apology and a smile and you were back into the music again. Frisky finished off his set with another helping of "Children of the night", a tune which led nicely into the next set, the promoters special.
Anabolic and Mrs. Frolic were the reason we were all there so it was only natural for Storm to take over the mic and introduce them to the ravers to a loud report from the crowd. Frolic then played one of the most enjoyable sets of the night, mostly because he played tunes which the ravers were singing along to, a fact amplified by him dipping the music and letting the party people do his work for them. Of course the set consisted of crowd pleasers, after all, it was hard to resist singing along to tunes like "Time after Time", "Sweetheart", "Turn up the music", "I need your loving", and "Eyeopener".
However, as clear as the awesome rush it generated, as soon as he dropped my favourite ever tune, "Chemical Love" he was playing the set of the night, no doubt about it. For his final tune, he finished on "Shooting Star" and once again, the singalong crew were in full effect, keeping Frolic busy with the volume control and making sure he left the decks with a smile on my and most of the other ravers faces too.
Once again, the vaguries of overseas raves reared their head again as Chiclet took to the decks and played another Trance set. This time it was more difficult to cope with as the previous three hours exertations had left me a little tired. I really wanted to stay till the end but I had to jack it in at around 4.50 and make my way back to the hotel. My only excuse was that if the music had been Hardcore, I would have been Hardcore enough to stay.Apologies to the final DJ whose set I missed.
Things I liked:
Atmosphere - This was amazing all night long. The Canadians really know how to rave and even though I had heard good reports from previous attendees, nothing could prepare me for the Hulla crowd and the party atmosphere they created
Music - North American Hardcore is the business. Not so much the actual tunes (It was mostly UK produced stuff anyway) but the way the DJs kept you guessing and not knowing what was going to be played next. It made the night more interesting for me, I can tell you.
Security - Chilled and relaxed all night. The only thing that made me notice them is that one of them looked like Andre the Giant, doing a bit of moonlighting.
No Smoking - Its illegal to smoke in a public area in Canada. Thats why there was an outside smoking area and there was no smoking in the building. I liked this. It was nicer to breath in there and the ravestink was more bearable too.
Things I liked less:
System - Could have been a little louder.
Mic level - Could have been a little quieter.
Tshirts - no Tshirts on sale in the merchandise stand. I'd come all that way and wanted a souvinir, but had to go away empty handed. Shame really.
Camera crew - Pointing it in my face at 4.50 am and asking for an interview, I must have looked a right state. If the video comes out and there is a black eyed raver in a dayglo vest on it, you'll know who it is.
On paper, the expense, time, distance and effort involved in getting out there and into a rave that "Only" held 6-700 people probably wasn't worth it. Thankfully, the experience was so much more than the sum of how much I spent compared to the scale of the event. The Hulla Ravers, to a man, perfect hosts for the night. I dont think they could have made us feel more welcome, with nice things they had preparred for us ranging from getting us up on stage, all the way down to getting us involved in the North American tradition of Candy swapping, despite the fact we had none to give back in return. Of course, the undisputed highlight of the night has to be being dragged to the front of the crowd to witness the "Care Bear Stare". Definitely a highlight of the night and if nothing else, was a nice addition to a night full of memories to remember.
If you combine all that with the music, which was out of this world, then I would happily go again. The only problem is that for the next few months, the only way of doing so would be with the aid of a gun and a getaway car. I know this for sure, just like going to the rave, it would be worth it. *Finds balaclava*
astraboy.
Shouts to: Davespice, Kyra, all the Hulla Crew who made us feel so welcome, Storm, Hixxy, Anabolic Frolic, Mrs. Frolic, Baby Frolic, and everyone who I met on the trip. You are the safest people in the world.
Generally regarded as the most consistant Hardcore rave in North America, Hullabaloo was due to celebrate its 7th birthday with another of its annual "Funtopia" events in Toronto. Its Eclectic musical content, awesome atmosphere and and varied DJ lineup are all well known and acepted facts to both Canadian, US and in this case, UK ravers. As well as that, North American Hardcore has always intrigued me because of its lack of musical boundaries. There are no "Trancy" DJs or "Freeform" DJs who play their chosen genre to the exclusion of all others, it is all "Hardcore" to them. As a result, their sets are a colourful blend of every aspect of Hardcore music and IMO, their scene is all the better for it.
I had always wanted to experience a North American Hardcore rave and this time this one was within reach. Davespice was armed with a discounted travel ticket which meant I could get return flights to Toronto for £145 including insurance. The best Hardcore rave on the continent was touching down in the same town and Hixxy and Storm were headlining, as well as the best home grown talent. Quite frankly,it would have been rude not to.
It all saw me and Davespice embarking on a torturous 8 hour trans-atlantic flight to Canada, the Friday before the party. After regaining the use of my legs upon leaving the aircraft and attending a friday night pissup with some of the very friendly people from the www.hulla.info board,the day of the rave was upon us. As the party got closer, Dave and I could concentrate on little else. Mercifully, the start time approached and we cabbed it to the venue.
Outside was a small gaggle of Candy ravers and a very pregnant Mrs. Frolic who was armed with the guest list. Dave and I joined up with some familiar faces and I got busy with my illicit energy-drink-a-thon whilst the queue advanced steadily. When I came to be searched, it was thorough, but not too personal. Security were tighter than at UK raves (Removalof shoes was a common request), but they were politer than back in the UK too. No power trips all night from these people. After replacing my trainers and handing over my ticket, I was in.
It was like my first rave all over again, I just didn't know what to expect. The venue was depressingly small from the outside, but fortunately, as well as being one of the few venues in Toronto to accept ravers through its doors, The Opera House is also blessed with the same qualities as the Tardis. Of similar capacity to the Fridge, but more long and thin rather than wide and squat, it was a converted theatre with a bar area looking down onto a good sized dancefloor. An alcohol bar was available upstairs which you could only enter by showing positive ID, no matter how old you looked. To the left and right of the main dancefloor was a merchandise stand and the Toronto Raver Information Project, or TRIP for short. This stand was there to inform the ravers of the responsibilites, as well as the pleasures that come with drug use. They were alsotouting for MDMA users for use in confidential research, as well as having other things that a raver might find useful, such as a bucket of free condoms and the like. A good idea and all of it funded by donations as well. A worthy cause if ever I saw one.
Quite apart from this, the main stage was the focus of everyone's attention. Flanked by large speaker stacks and backed up by fluro draping and a lighting rig which was mostly located behind the DJ stand, the main portion of the stage was given over for the MC to perform, as well as the occasional stage dancer doing their thing.
Well into their set by the time Davespice and I arrived,Tika and Scoots were busy warming up the crowd. Having met one half of this b2b duo earlier on in the day, I knew what was to be expected. The 95 set was altogether a sound start to the evening and even though a few tunes did push the definition of "95" to the limit, especially with the Hardcore rip of Whigfield's "Saturday night", the rest of the set was a great introduction to the Canadian party scene with "Rush hour", "Discoland", "Shake that Shimmy", "Children of the night" and finishing on "Eyeopener". Throughout the set, the venue was filling up nicely and the dancefloor was getting steadily fuller.
Next up was DJ Tyco, who took up where the previous set left off by giving a respectful nod to the Old Skool with "Got the 99" before moving onto modern upfront Hardcore. As with most North American DJs, the tunes he played were not limited by things like date of release or what their percussion consisted of. Throughout the set, we were treated to UK, kick driven Hardcore, breakbeat tunes both old and new, as well as some nice tunes with with my personal favourite, loads of piano breakdowns. Simply listing the tunes will tell you all you need to know about the set's variety and diversity. I mean, you don't hear "Be a Star Tonight", "I'm in Heaven", "He never lost his Hardcore" and "6 days" within one hour very often, do you?
Towards the end of Tyco's set, MC Everybodies Daddy, or ED for short took up the mic. Billed as the best freestyle MC in the US, it was clear that he was also good at being a scheming bugger as well as an MC, a quality proved when he dragged two UK ravers out of the crowd and got them up on stage to say hello (Git.). We didnt stay up there for long, but we had a bit of a dance while we were up there. So much for being anonomous ravers then
.After Tyco had finished his set, Silver and Wolf were up next. Continuing the varied theme,these two got straight down to business and tore into an upfront set to be proud of. "Wicked MC", "Addictions", "and "Heartbeatz" were all amongst the early starters, but if you think this set lacked variety then you'd be wrong. For sheer bravery, I have to take my hat off to them mixing "Twist em out" into "Heartbeatz" and the rest of the set from then on in was just as diverse, with "No good (Start the Dance)", "Here I am", "Angel Eyes", and "Love of my Life" all getting a look in. But the best part of the set was the stage show that took place half way through. 12 Care Bears, cunningly disguised as laydee ravers took to the stage and and put on a dance routine that was not 100%professional, but was great fun to watch and very entertaining. Besides, I've never been "Care Bear Stared" at a rave before so it has to be good.
After this, DJ Elixir took to the stage. I was expecting another Hardcore set after all we had been given sofar, but I was wrong. I werent sure what to make of a Trance set after 3 hours of Hardcore, but it deffo didn't makeme want to dance. On the other hand, it was nice to take a break, chat to the friendly ravers and have a drink in the upstairs bar. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think putting a Trance set on at Midnight was an odd move.
Handily, Hixxy and Storm were up next, taking the 1-2 set. It was safeto assume that these two wouldn't be trancing the place up and they didnt let us down either. Unphased by the random appearance of two UK ravers, Storm started off the set by encouraging the crowd onto the dancefloor in his usual persuasive manner and Hixxy kicked off with some tunes that I didn't recognise. However, he soon moved into familar ground and was soon busting out tune after tune that I could ID. Keeping to a similar style to the local jocks, Hixxy's set was nice and varied and all the better for it too. Hopping back and forth from the Old skool to the upfront sound, Hixxy's set contained a lot of my favourites, both old and new with "Together forever", "Toytown", "Raveheart" mingling with upfront tunage like "Back and 4th", "Eyeopener" and finishing on "Just accept it". He even managed to squeeze a gabba tune into the middle of his set, while the candy ravers weren't looking. Nice one.
After the mainliners, it was back to th homegrown talent, with DJ Frisky taking over. I was getting used to the Eclectic nature of North American Hardcore and Frisky carried on that tradition in a workmanlike manner. Everything from "Ultimate High", through to "Break of Dawn" and "Together Forever" was dropped with the crowd lapping up everything that was offered and coming back for more. By this time there were about 6-700 ravers in the place. Not packing it out fully,but making it full enough for you to actively look for spare space on the dancefloor. Of course,you could always mix it up with the rest of the party people instead of finding your own space, if you bumped into anyone, all that you got was a mutual apology and a smile and you were back into the music again. Frisky finished off his set with another helping of "Children of the night", a tune which led nicely into the next set, the promoters special.
Anabolic and Mrs. Frolic were the reason we were all there so it was only natural for Storm to take over the mic and introduce them to the ravers to a loud report from the crowd. Frolic then played one of the most enjoyable sets of the night, mostly because he played tunes which the ravers were singing along to, a fact amplified by him dipping the music and letting the party people do his work for them. Of course the set consisted of crowd pleasers, after all, it was hard to resist singing along to tunes like "Time after Time", "Sweetheart", "Turn up the music", "I need your loving", and "Eyeopener".
However, as clear as the awesome rush it generated, as soon as he dropped my favourite ever tune, "Chemical Love" he was playing the set of the night, no doubt about it. For his final tune, he finished on "Shooting Star" and once again, the singalong crew were in full effect, keeping Frolic busy with the volume control and making sure he left the decks with a smile on my and most of the other ravers faces too.
Once again, the vaguries of overseas raves reared their head again as Chiclet took to the decks and played another Trance set. This time it was more difficult to cope with as the previous three hours exertations had left me a little tired. I really wanted to stay till the end but I had to jack it in at around 4.50 and make my way back to the hotel. My only excuse was that if the music had been Hardcore, I would have been Hardcore enough to stay.Apologies to the final DJ whose set I missed.
Things I liked:
Atmosphere - This was amazing all night long. The Canadians really know how to rave and even though I had heard good reports from previous attendees, nothing could prepare me for the Hulla crowd and the party atmosphere they created
Music - North American Hardcore is the business. Not so much the actual tunes (It was mostly UK produced stuff anyway) but the way the DJs kept you guessing and not knowing what was going to be played next. It made the night more interesting for me, I can tell you.
Security - Chilled and relaxed all night. The only thing that made me notice them is that one of them looked like Andre the Giant, doing a bit of moonlighting.
No Smoking - Its illegal to smoke in a public area in Canada. Thats why there was an outside smoking area and there was no smoking in the building. I liked this. It was nicer to breath in there and the ravestink was more bearable too.
Things I liked less:
System - Could have been a little louder.
Mic level - Could have been a little quieter.
Tshirts - no Tshirts on sale in the merchandise stand. I'd come all that way and wanted a souvinir, but had to go away empty handed. Shame really.
Camera crew - Pointing it in my face at 4.50 am and asking for an interview, I must have looked a right state. If the video comes out and there is a black eyed raver in a dayglo vest on it, you'll know who it is.
On paper, the expense, time, distance and effort involved in getting out there and into a rave that "Only" held 6-700 people probably wasn't worth it. Thankfully, the experience was so much more than the sum of how much I spent compared to the scale of the event. The Hulla Ravers, to a man, perfect hosts for the night. I dont think they could have made us feel more welcome, with nice things they had preparred for us ranging from getting us up on stage, all the way down to getting us involved in the North American tradition of Candy swapping, despite the fact we had none to give back in return. Of course, the undisputed highlight of the night has to be being dragged to the front of the crowd to witness the "Care Bear Stare". Definitely a highlight of the night and if nothing else, was a nice addition to a night full of memories to remember.
If you combine all that with the music, which was out of this world, then I would happily go again. The only problem is that for the next few months, the only way of doing so would be with the aid of a gun and a getaway car. I know this for sure, just like going to the rave, it would be worth it. *Finds balaclava*
astraboy.
Shouts to: Davespice, Kyra, all the Hulla Crew who made us feel so welcome, Storm, Hixxy, Anabolic Frolic, Mrs. Frolic, Baby Frolic, and everyone who I met on the trip. You are the safest people in the world.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Suby786
Engine Management and ECU Remapping
0
19 September 2015 04:31 PM