Sara2214
Excited for WMC 09!
Registered: Apr 2002
Age: 32
Location: NYC!!!
Posts: 19219
 
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 My WMC 2006 Review |
 WMC 2006 Review
Whew…where to begin? Such a fantastic, amazing, party-packed, loooong week! This year will be the longest road to recovery for me, I am sure! But well worth it….so to recap….
I was settled into Miami but around 8:00pm on Tuesday, March 21st. I met up with tj5 and of course, we headed to Wet Willies. After only two Call-A-Cabs Sara was tipsy so we headed back for Jeremy and Ann to arrive.  Then the boyz went to a bar and Ann and I caught up and got some pizza. 
Wednesday, March 22nd:
We woke up to a hot and sunny and perfect day in Miami. 85 degrees, clear skies…it was heaven. We went to the beach for a few hours and then headed over the Beatport Session Remix party at the National Hotel. What a perfect spot for a party! Gorgeous pool, beautiful scenery….Ann and I made our way into the “hotel guest only” area and laid on nice beach chairs and hammocks…I was in absolute heaven! Must was good for a while then had a chance to some drum and bass so we headed out.
We hit up Wet Willies again and then made our way to Automatic Slims for the 80’s party with Lee Burridge and Danny Howells. Unfortunately, there were way too many guys there so Ann and I could only bring in 1 guy each….I had a few friends from college with me (all guys) but luckily they found their own way in and it all worked out. Lee came in first with a funny blond wig and pink sunglasses and started the party out. Danny showed up shortly after and we greeted him with all smiles and hugs. 
The 80’s party was nothing less than I expected…hours of fun, silly, twisted 80’s music. An amazing vibe just like last year. Highlight of the night (just like last year) was absolutely the Humpty Dance. Man did I let loose on that one! On the stage, dancing our a$$es off, it was insanity.  Such a great party. Also got to mix and mingle with some industry people…Digweed, Neil Quigley, Junkie XL…and made them all wear Joe Mama’s Plasic Sex Sunglass flyers and got nice pics of them in it!  Had interesting conversations with Tom (Junkie XL) and had lots of fun dancing with Jed and Matt, college friends, and their crew.
Ann and I left around 1:00am to hit up Porterhouse @ Suite for an hour or so…and SO glad we did!! The vibe in Suite was fantastic…place was packed, I saw a friend everywhere I turned, music was off the charts…and Eli was out of control! I loved the club too – it was beautiful!! We made our rounds and I caught up with a whole bunch of friends, got some good pics, then at 2 or 2:30 we headed back to the 80’s party to close that out.
Some classic pics from the night! 
Thursday, March 23rd:
As soon as the 80’s part was over around 5:00 we headed to Cafeteria for Plastic Sex. Really nice venue, some technical problems at 1st but then it got going. Good to mingle and chill with a lot of friends, get crazy, take silly pics, and act stupid. The night got long and the morning got blurry and I believe we headed back around 9:00am. Gina had arrived and got QUITE the greeting from me (as usual).  I proceeded to lie down in the hallway and almost fall asleep as they were getting ready to head to Wet Willies around 11am but insisted on still going. Ann, Mike, Gina and I headed down and I had 1 drink (which I spilled) and then fell asleep at the table and had to head back. Gina and Mike stayed to pound a few more drinks. It was time for rest.
Luckily, it was a rainy day so we didn’t miss out on much during the day. It actually rained quite hard all day so we stayed in and slept. This was also the start of the weather changing from warm to cool for the rest of the week.  We got up later and a bunch of people went to the Proton Party and we hit up the Reversible Records Party @ Onda which was quite fun. Eli was rocking out again, then Chris Micali was awesome! Great vibe in there, fantastic party. Then we went to the Blue Sky Thursdays party @ Sofia to catch Maya’s set….where I met up with a bunch of my NYC friends who I was quite happy to see…Brenna, Melissa, Nora, Bronzie. Cool spot. Back to the RR party for a bit then off to bed.
Friday, March 24th:
Friday we hit the beach early for another beautiful day then went back to the National Hotel for the Beatport Session Remix Party. Caught a bit of James Zabiela’s set and got some good pics. Good to meet up with some GNer’s there including Ms. Jessica and see Ben Lost! The GN meetup at 6:00 got messed up because there was such a long line at Wet Willies…sorry about that! Some people went to a café next door and others went to Basic @ Beach Plaza Hotel. We went to the Beach Plaza Hotel again for the Basic NYC party which was going off! Had a great time dancing. Always a stellar vibe at those parties. Stayed there for a while then headed back to get ready for the night. Plan was to hit up the Apt DJ’s party At Blube…what a great lineup…Farina, Heather, Lawnchair Generals, etc….1st we tried to go to Cafeteria for Nic Fancuilli and JZ but it wasn’t open yet. We got to blue at 10:30 and the line was long and not moving and we realized there was no way were were getting in Instead, we went to Basic @ Boombox for Justin Martin, Sleepy & Boo, Justin R, etc which was a chill party. Then, we hit up the Hallucination Party at the Marlin which despite how PACKED it was, was not hot at all…I really enjoyed the party there…..awesome sets by everyone and I had some fun with some messed up people upstairs…..got some good pics too.  Caught Holden, Three, & some others toward the end. Solid night.
Saturday, March 25th:
Saturday started out as kind of a groggy day…hit up the beach, then went to the Grizzled Miami Party at the Catalina hotel which had a solid lineup with Chuck Love, Hipp-E, and more but it wasn’t’ really going off. Then we went to the Marlin Bar for Heather and Fred Everything….great scene in there….met up with my friend Pete from NYC who ended up knowing Louis…such a small world!! There were a lot of great parties going on that day but we stayed there then rested a bit before Lee Burridge @ BED.
We got to BED for Lee Burridge around 11pm or so….what an amazing night. One of the best nights of the week. Absolutely amazing and fantastic. Lee really worked that room. Played a solid, dark, twisted, funky set. I loved every second of it. Good to see a lot of friends out and just dance the entire night. Got some fantastic photos, hung out with friends, danced around, and had a blast. Good to run into Nora, Gaaf, and Christian.
After Lee, headed home like a good girl for bed. 
Sunday, March 26th:
Woke up feeling refreshed and headed to the Raleigh hotel pool with Ann. BEAUTIFUL. We hung out in tubes in the pool then went to the beach to meet the crew. Such a beautiful day. Had a good day in the sun, then headed to the Basic Party @ Beach Plaza Hotel for DJ Heather and Phil Weeks. Always a solid vibe at that place. Great beatz. Danced, hung out, then headed back to the Earthdance benefit at the Raleigh Hotel pool for Mark Farina!! Was so pumped to see him. We got some food and it got cold so we headed out about 15 minutes before his set ended but had a good time.
Back to the hotel for some R&R before the looong night of Howells. By this time (6:30pm) Teamj5 was just getting back from the Degenerates Party at the Pawn Shop….the stories I heard about this party were surreal. A piece of me wishes I made it…even Sunday afternoon...but I needed rest and some fun in the sun….glad all those had a fun and crazy time who went!!
Now for the main event…. Danny Howells @ Pawn Shop on Sunday night!! Whew…where to begin??
Howells at Pawn Shop was one of the most twisted nights I have ever experienced. twisted just really sums it up. And it was due to having Howells spin the say he did in that venue - such a unique club!
After a bit of a driving escapade with Pete leading the way (lol) we finally found the right Pawn Shop by around 11:30pm. Ann, Jeremy, Igor, Pete and I walked in and saw Ruben, Illicia, Gina, Andrew & Co. Jorge, Yosra, Claudia, and tj5 came later around 2am which worked out so that Mike and Claudia could get some more rest after spending 12+ hours at Pawn shop the day before. Rockstars!
Walked into an insane club. A full school bus, a half bus where Danny spun, sick terrace, massive back room, big bathrooms…just the perfect club. Greeted Danny with is cute haircut and he was slowly building up the night.
I didn't like Howells set at first...I thought the first 1-4 hours were a bit too dark, dragged, and were almost boring. But that was just my first impression. I just had fun mingling, dancing, hanging out, not being too blown away by the music and almost hoping it would pick up. Then, looking back, I realized it was the set up for a mindphucking, funky twisted journey and how the set build. This was not the typical NY Howells set at all...no real upbeat, electronic, dancey house music...very dark and almost sullen, some techno…but it really told a story. The middle of the set was a bit more upbeat but continued with the same theme. The music got really liberating.
The last two hours (8am-10am) of the 11 hour set were probably the best two hours I have ever had in a club.  It's really hard to explain without sounding like a loon to people who are not in "the scene" but the two hours was a long extended moment where I had to keep pinching myself to make sure it was real. It was very emotional...very surreal...it was a total mindphuck. Danny just totally used the room to exhibit what he can do in an environment like that and take the entire night to a whole new level. He played to the room. And having all my friends there at the end made it all the more memorable. It was amazing. That Holden track he dropped at 9am was sick. And the last 4-5 tracks…unbelievable.
BED would have been SO different and I have loved his last 3 sets at BED for WMC. The set was like it was this year because it was Pawn Shop. I had to keep looking to my friends like "holy shit". You just had to really appreciate it for what it was.
Now for people who had already been at Pawn Shop for the afterparty for 13 hours the day before and were really tired, they may have been looking for some more typical, upbeat housey NYC Danny Howells stuff. Some people did not like the style of the night...which is to be expected. Can’t please everyone! But you had to look at it in terms of what he was doing, why he was doing it, and how...he was building the night. It was like this story. This deep, dark story. I have not heard music like that in YEARS. It was astonishing. It was unmatched in my eyes. It was twisted!!
And I know I said this before...but Mike really added to the night. The kid is a freakin trooper. He partied at Pawn Shop for 12 hours then got to Howells at 2am and was the last person dancing when Howells closed. He was giving off this crazy energy in the room dancing his little a$$ off. So cute! 
SO that's my Howells recap. Another highlight to the night was hanging out with so many industry people...Sasha, Digweed, Lee, Desyn, Demi....and actually sitting down and talking to them.... It was just really cool to hang with all those people. We have some fantastic pics!!
Got back to SOBE around 11am and had a little afterparty at the Clay hotel then caught some shut eye. That was one long day!  
Monday, March 27th:
I went to bed around 1:30pm after the Howells adventure and woke up around 7:30pm to find out my parents thought I was coming in Monday night and had been waiting at the airport for an hour. Oops! We got up, got ready, and headed to Wet Willies. I had two drinks and some food but was not feeling it. I was just done for the week. I attempted to go to the OM party at Mansion which I had really been looking forward to, but only made it an hour or so. Caught sets by Greenskeepers (Live), JT Donadlson, Fred Everything, College, and DJ Heather all briefly. It looked awesome though. After causing some drama due to the fact I was sick, tired, and drained I called it a night.
Tuesday, March 28th:
Got up, ran some errands, enjoyed the day, got food, went home
The journey had ended.
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So that was that! WMC 06. I thought overall the conference was fantastic this year. Definitely the best year yet. Met a lot of cool people, had a lot of crazy adventures, heard so much fantastic music….can’t wait to make my scrapbook!
Things I wish were different/better this year:
I wish it was hotter – I couldn’t wear skirts most nights and it was COLD. 
Wished we had a balcony at the Clay.
I wish I got more tan and had more beach time the last few days
Wish we got to get together with Danny for a drink
Wish I saw Paolo – I tried!
Wish I didn’t crash and meltdown at the OM party – I couldn’t hang as well this year. I liked WMC better other years where it was 4-5 days of parties and 4-5 days of hanging out and relaxing in SOBE. This year was a bit too much IMO.
Wish I made it to more parties I had on my list.
Highlights:
Chilling with the posse, no drama, all good times!!!
Getting to meet and interact with so many industry peeps
Eating pizza
Call A Cabs! 
Seeing tj5 dance more than he ever has in his entire life and having his plastic sex sunglasses make an appearance everywhere the entire week
Lindsay Lohans photoshoot
Coming home with $$
Realized I like Corona!
Getting to chat with Sasha, Demi, Desyn and other industry peeps 
Shoutouts! – We had QUITE the crew!  Can’t even name everyone. Amazing time with everyone and great to meet a lot of new people including Destynee, Pudding, and Emilia (briefly) as well as Teeza!! Too bad our meet up didn’t work out and we were all always doing so many different things!! The best part of WMC was ALL OF YOU! 
Awards:
Jorge – best picture
Tj5 – best video and best photoshoot (Lindsay Lohan)
Kevin (o) – uber rockstar
Tj5 – hardest partier/most energy
Ann – Best tan
Matt Beck (college friend) – best dancer
Demi – best twirler
Sara – best greeting (to Gina who got an eyeful when she arrived in Miami)
  
"Sometimes, we need to listen to our heads rather than our hearts because our hearts leap before they look." [/I]
"Actions speak louder than words."
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04-03-2006 10:03 AM
I highly recommend it 
Rocked out with Ali, Julian, Bons and Dill till the early morning, went home and passed out! 
. Grabbed pizza with Alex and Obie, went home and fell fast alseep 
i'm thinking July 
