Show-wise, there were definitely too many great events to name check, but here I go anyway. Laptop sets generally don't excite me, but the Rephlex/Braindance Coincidence show at I-Spy was outta control. DMX Crew won me over and proved that if you have the attitude, you can get up there with a garage door opener and still rock it! Another laptop honorable mention goes to Swayzak at the Baltic Room. They fucked shit up.
The Seattle house community also gets my props. Whenever out-of-towners come to DJ or party, I'm always proud of our crowd. Again, there are too many stellar sets to name them all, but here are some: Mark Farina at I-Spy/Chop Suey, Carl Cox at the Showbox, Lazy Dog with Ben Watt, Flammable, all of the Life and Slink and Home Cookin' parties, the Bohemian's after-hours, and Habana's after-after-hours!
It was also good to see hiphop nights like Broken Beats, Involution, and Yo, Son! flourish. Real hiphop nights with a sincere devotion to DJing and dancing are long overdue. In the words of Bob from Circle of Fire, "To dance is to truly be free." Word up to that. I was at the recent Cut Chemist show trying to adhere to those ideals when a woman kept giving me an irritated look. I asked her if I had bumped her, and she stood there, arms folded, and bitched, "Yeah, kind of. I'm trying to see!" Sorry, lady, but there isn't a whole lot to see. The biggest respect you pay a DJ is to fucking dance!
Well, this is it... sniff sniff. But before I go, I've gotta say that the biggest lesson I've learned, passed down from an old sage, is this: "If you're not having fun, take your ass home." NICOLAE WHITE
