{{{RENEGADES}}} ========= {Name;} {{Renegades}} {Where;} {{Toronto, Canada}} {When;} {{8th October '94}} i suppose the toughest thing is to try to get all these thoughts down in a coherent, ordered fashion...a difficult thing considering that toronto is (ahem) 12-13 hours away from my humble home in richmond, virginia. i am a bit tired. anyway, some background info for ya'll: renegades is (was) the latest party thrown by toronto's pleasureforce crew, with a dj lineup that was sure to make any breakbeat/jungle lover wet his/her pants: dj rap, jumping jack frost, ltj bukem, dj hype, trace, and more...you ask why i traveled all the way to canada? well, your answer is right there. this was my first time ever in canada, so it was pretty interesting to see how it compared to the states...nothing too drastic, but interesting nonetheless. this isnt a geography lesson, so i'll get to the party details: renegades was held in a huge empty lumber/hardware store, with two large rooms (jungle and house, sorta) seperated by a smaller area with vendors and such. and all this space wasnt wasted, either - with an estimated 5,000 kids there it was *very* crowded. and the sound? the systems were *huge*, definately earplugs- required in the jungle room. whats amazing is that, as loud as this system was (and it was perhaps the loudest ive ever heard), it still wasn't distorting. amazing. and the bass... well, to be honest the bass was brutal - the frequencies simply battered you :) the lights were nice, as well.... nothing too innovative but very well-placed and used. oh yeah, the music: well, don't expect me to give a report on the house/trance/ect area 'cause i really had no interest in hanging out there. what i did hear seemed very recogni- zible from the baltimore/dc scene, except with an mc. note to producers: mc's and house/trance do not mix. as for the jungle room, i'm gonna jump around a bit...bear with me. -when i arrived, the local dj's and mc's were doing their thing on the stage..nice, real nice. One of them (sniper, i believe) had some absolutely *amazing* records... unfortunately, his set was kinda stop/start (something i noticed a *lot* during the night). this is what i mean: he would put on a nice record, mix into something else, the mc would go "rewind", and the dj would stop the record and start the whole mix over from the beginning. i have a major problem with this. yeah, i know the record's nice and all that, but i have no desire to hear the same thing twice in a row...i want some sort of flow, and this set did not flow at *all*...none of the mixes went more than three records before the dj stopped and started a new mix...very annoying. THE DJ IS NOT A JUKEBOX. grrr. -for some reason, ltj bukem wasnt able to make it, and i heard unconfirmed reports that hype wasnt there either... i say unconfirmed because there was a guy there with striped pants and a shirt that said "hype" really big on the front.. unfortunatly, we had left to trek back to the states before i could find out. all the other dj's were there, though. -with my VIP pass (do not ask how i got it ;) ), i was able to go "backstage" and chat with/give tapes to most of the uk dj's. i'll say this, for a person who has people coming up to her saying "i love you" constantly (i counted 3 in about 30 minutes), dj rap was really cool and down-to-earth... i even found out what gear she uses in her tracks (akai s3000, atari 1040 w/ cubase, if anyone's interested). oh yeah, i gave her a tape, too ;) (hey, it worked for deee- lite...) actually, all the uk dj's and such that i talked to were really nice and attitude-free. -so finally, after a gabber set that seemed to last about a day-and-a-half, darren jay took the stage and things got *serious*. the hard beats came on.. and on....and on...and just didn't stop. i know that i'm asking for trouble by saying this, but i was hoping for something a little *more* from this lineup, something amazing and incredible that would leave me gasping for air. well, i *was* gasping for air due to the frenzied beats and high temperatures on the dance floor, but i have to stop short of "amazing" and "incredible". why? well, its a matter of different styles, really. or lack thereof: the selections for the night didn't really seem to stray from the format regardless of which dj was spinning...it was all hard from start to finish. nothing happy, very little trancy/uplifting stuff either (my own particular fave). now don't get me wrong, i liked what was played, but after a while i wAs hoping for a change of style ...which didn't happen. i was hoping that the music would take me to a different level (something which i get from a lot of the better mixtapes, so i was hoping for it here), but it didn't. by the time trace came on i was so tired (2 1/2 hours sleep the preceeding night) that i just wanted a rest. rap's set (which i thought was the best of the night by far...very smooth and a tad more musical than the others) had ended, and i thought that it was a fitting punctuation to my night. the main problem with renegades is the distance, i suppose.. after 12 hours of travelling, its a bit harder to be ener- getic on the dancefloor. but, as of now, canada is the only place to go to hear to hear top jungle dj's...i suppose chicago is getting some big names, but thats nearly as far distance-wise (maybe even farther). as far as east coast promoters getting involved in something like this, i might as well check on hell freezing over. if you ever do get the chance to check out a toronto party, by all means do it...if this was any indication, they know how to throw a party. :) {{jason/method one - Richmond, USA}}