Enclave

Torn Up 7/28/2012



God I really hate waking up on Sundays… that being said you know I had a good time last night at Enclave during their Olympic Beach Bash Party.

As always the night started with a pregame which was held at my friends Wriggly Ville apartment,and we all know how good and bad of an idea it is to pregame, especially when you pregame harder than most people party. A few of us hopped into a car and took a nice drive down LSD (lake shore drive see image below).We park the car roughly half a mile or so from the car and proceed on foot only to see that forgot knows what reason there s a shit ton of cops out that night. We play it cool and go stuff our faces and McDonald's, because you know when u party hard you have to load up on fat and carbs. After a few more blocks of walking in we made it to the loft turned club enclave. And here where the shit hits the fan.

We were told that it’s free entry till midnight with the birthday party, BUT of course it is not. Its “always”till 11 says the bouncer. So we pay the$20 to get in. One of two things happened here either A) the club is just milking people for money (which they have the right no it’s a private establishment) or B) whoever the promoter is needs to learn his deals and promotions if he wants people to come back to him.

Walking in you enter a big open space with lots of couches lining the walls where you can sit. There are elevated tables in corners of the room and you have your first bar which gets completely surround and later in the evening it take a while to get a drink ($12 red bull vodka in a plastic cup WTF?!?!). There was a small “beachtent”? I don’t know what to call it set up in the middle of the dance floor to match all the floaties, beach balls, lifeguard towers and dancers dressed in swimwear which matched the theme of the party (THAT’S A PLUS). Some clubs don’t put any effort into the theme they set up. Passed the tent you have another bar the bathrooms (ridiculously SMALL) and the DJ booth which had a runway set up probably for that swimwear model show I did not even catch a minute of. Next to the DJ booth you had more eating and Tables. The music here was good, no one special was DJ at least to my knowledge but I didn’t hear a single song repeat and a lot of the music was HARD which I like so I had a blast.

I have to commend the security inside as well as I got to have a chat wit one due to a funny story. Funny story: I was dancing with this girl and went to dip her, but for some reason beyond my comprehension, maybe my low upper body strength (unlikely),maybe the momentum of her curvy behind being in motion (more likely) I proceeded to NOT ONLY drop her on her booty but fall over as well. I had a good laugh but she walked away, that was my last dance of the night. The bouncer that came up didn’treally give me shit just made sure we were ok, I apologized (NOT TO HER TO HIM)and the situation was over.

All in all I'd visit this place again birthday party or not, but if I’m being told free entry till a certain time I expect it or I’m walking away (I don’t like misinformation). A wristband here would be a no brainer since I don’t remember the last time I paid$12 for a vodka red bull, unless I just haven’t noticed the prices going up.But I don’t plan on doing that again. Wristbands at $45 and last from 10-1 I can make it pay for itself in 1 hour.

 

Congress Theater Getting Cleaned up?

Not Necessarily. A few months ago I posted a link to some news article about Congress Theater owner Eddie Carranza having hearings with local authorities and concerned Logan Square residents about improving conditions of the theatre to eliminate some of the noise pollutions during music venues. Having security issues during and after the shows also does not help Congress Theatre as there was a sexual abuse incident after this year’s New Years eve Rusko concert with also parks the communities concerns.

Nothing was announced by Carranza till now. The plan is to turn the ground floor of the building into about a dozen storefronts to encourage entrepreneurs and pump some money into the theater which would (SHOULD) be invested in some much needed renovations. Another part of this plan is to potentially purchase Portage Park on the north side, but that seems like an unnecessary stretch. Finish work on one theatre (before you lose it) and then buy another one that seems like a more logical resolution to this.

Link to the full article is below. The 3rd and last hearing for Congress Theater is on August 16 so stay tuned to see what happens. 

Congress Theater Renovations/ Expansion?

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"the Hooping Life" Chicago Premier

7/22/2012

This weekend’s Sunday fun day I spent at a promotional event for the hula-hooping documentary “The Hooping Life” which was hosted in a North side Chicago loft or Catalyst Collective. Through casual conversation I learned this loft is one of several lofts (one of which is close to The MiD) around Chicago that host these type of events as well as others, and that this could be the “Sea House”. All of this and the fact that the address of the location was not given out till the morning of the event and only if you bought a ticket to the event or RSVP’D points to the fact that this was organized by Chicago’s underground scene. This is awesome as I haven’t been to an underground event/party for some time.

The even had hooping workshops from 1pm till 430pm ranging from beginner to higher level trick workshops. Following the workshops everyone was treated to several performances, ranging from individual hoopers to belly dancers to pyrotechnic performances (my favorite). All of which were very awesome. (SOME PHOTOS AND VIDEOS BELOW). At 6pm it was time to view the movie which gave you a brief history how the hula-hoop transformed from this common household children’s toy to something that could create an artistic movement and even save someone’s life, through that movement. After the movie ended roughly 8pm you had a marching band open with a 20+ minute jam session. When the band finished the DJ on hand played tunes for everyone to jam to till 10pm.

Though I don’t Hoop and probably will never start (ill stick to liquid raving, playing with glow sticks and glow stringing) it was a fun event to attend. Got a chance to mingle and meet a few new friendly faces from around Chicago. I made some connections also if ever needing entertainment for a party if I were to throw one. My friends who started hooping a few weeks ago had a blast as they learned some new moves and got to perfect their craft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's "The Hooping Life" Trailer

http://spanproductions.com/film/ <<<<Link to Film info

Ishkur's Guide To Electronic Music

I'm super excited to share this with you because I remember seeing this for the first time years ago, and it opened my eyes to how many sub genres there really could be in EDM. Its also nice to see how it all came about and to see where each genres roots are. With all the different sound samples on this site you can explore your favorites and maybe find some new ones.

Follow this link and enjoy!!

Proof - Chicago

Partied on 7/14/2012



Holy hangover helper!! I need one!! That being said you'd think I have many good things to say about Proof, but I don't. But I also don't have many bad things to say, simply put there's not much to say about Proof and that's good and bad.

Proof is located on Chicago's famous rush street and occupies the same space that Level occupied some time a go. It's a stone throws away from Le Passage, whoops I mean Board Room (seriously why do these clubs change names and or management almost yearly) and other bars and restaurants. So its in a perfect spot to party hop if you decide to do so.

On Proof's main level you have two bars lining one wall and are divided by an elevated DJ booth. On the opposite wall up a few steps you have lots of room to sit and chill if you have bottle service. This area is slightly lit and the decor is very nice. The rest of the club is super dark which can make for interesting situation when dancing with someone and not being able to see their face. The space between the bars and seating is the downstairs dance floor. On each end of the building you have stairs that take you to the second floor.

On the second floor there is a second DJ booth and another bar. Up here you'll also find lots of room to sit and you don't have to have bottle service, thank god!! Not everyone who wants to sit wants to pay a few $100 for a bottle worth $30 c'mon now people there's a recession out there, or so i hear.. Bathrooms are located upstairs and downstairs.

I told myself I wouldn't mention the crowd in my reviews of Chicago clubs just because I assumed it would always be the same, but given that there were a few birthday parties and bachelorette parties at Proof last night it made the night that much more enjoyable. Also I'm glad to report I didn't have any run in with tools and douches which was a pleasant surprise. This means either they weren't there or I was having too much fun with my friends to even notice. I must give props to their staff as everyone is super nice, even the bouncers which you don't see often.

Proof in a nutshell is a fun place to go when having a reason to go like someones birthday. It doesn't have anything that particularly stood out to me to make me want to go back on a regular basis. Maybe it was an off day I'm not sure. But purely because of location and that the staff is so friendly it's a place worth visiting.

P.S getting a $35 wristband to drink for free till 1(or was it 2?) is always a good idea $45 wristband gets you top shelf, but buying shots which aren't covered in the wristband...not a good idea haha.

Did you ever go to Proof? what do you think? Leave a comment down below.

Electric Forest 2012

Enchanted from 6/28/12 till 7/2/12

So for those who actually follow this blog you know that I drove up to Rothbury Michigan over the weekend  for the second annual Electric Forest Music Festival while most of Chicago was partying on Montrose beach for Chicago's first annual Wavefront Music Festival. Words almost cannot describe the vibe that permeates everyone and everything at this festival but I'll try my best to share this epic experience with you.

Given that this was only my second music festival ever (never been to North Coast or lolla, Spring Awakening was my first) I came in with pretty much a clean palette of expectations; which were blown away. Not only is this 4 day music festival filled with amazing bands (many of which I've never heard before) the DJ line up was great as well. Add to that camping which is half of the fun since you are meeting and partying with new friends till the sun comes up and a forest that was transformed into a crazy laser filled wonderland with surprises and artwork around every corner. Even if you weren't trippin, you were trippin when you walked into that magical forest. Everyone here was friendly and just happy to be there to experience everything. I did not have a bad interaction with anyone that I met.  The music fit the atmosphere well too, many bands were dub, dub electronica, jam bands or just a mix of electronica with some instruments (Big Gigantic) as one example, which worked very well. String Cheese Incident had 3 3-4 hour shows and they were great too, especially if you needed to get away from some bass drops for a while.

The festival held different events in order to get people engaged  with a food drive (Roy Price Memorial Food Drive) from which you were rewarded a free limited edition poster if you brought 20 non perishable food items to donate. Add to that ELECTROCOLOGY, or in normal terms a recycling competition where every time you brought a bag of recycled material (beer cans, plastic bottles,paper) to a specific location you received an "eco point" which then could be redeemed at the vendors for merchandise. Each trash can location was split up into compost recyclables and trash to promote keeping the grounds clean and to make it easier to drop off recyclables for the competition.  There was also the ultimate camp competition which encouraged people to get creative with their campsites. A winner was chosen on Saturday of the festival. The winning camp received 4 free tickets for next year and I believe a very special VIP show by some artists. During the entire weekend you also had performers walking around the different venues. From jugglers to magicians to people walking on stilts and even "statues" just added to the wonder of the forest and event.  

The festival had vendors by the campsite and inside the festival grounds by each stage where you can anything from the typical "MDMAzing" hats to hammocks to led lights to hula hoops (hula hoop girls = hot) and even some decent food (ranging from breakfast to fast food) and of course water and beer n so forth. Each stage had a water bottle refill station next to it and thank god because it was super hot all 4 days. There was a good amount of porta-potties by each stage as well.  First aid stations were plentiful just in case you couldn't deal with the heat or god forbid something else happened. There was a general store near the campgrounds where you could buy anything from ice to toilet paper to 12packs of coke. Prices were decent on items you would need but slightly steep on things you could consider a luxury (12pack of coke $10/ bag of ice $5) showers were available but for $10/shower so if you wanted to shower all weekend you'd pay $40 for just a shower a day.  You also had plenty of security guards walking around or riding around on golf carts and horses. Over the weekend when more people showed up with weekend tickets you could also see state police patrolling the grounds.

Originally I chose to come to this festival because of the DJ lineup which was fantastic. I've never been to lollapalooza or other festivals because if I'm paying a few hundred dollars I want to make sure it is worth it to me. The DJ lineup alone at Electric Forest seemed worth it to me, but I was pleasantly surprised with other acts. Ghostland Observatory, Reggie Watts, String Cheese Incident and Big Gigantic are only a few that stood out and blew my mind all weekend. Below you'll find a list of shows I remember seeing haha.


The shows I visited during my 4 days at Electric Forest.

Day 1

Reggie Watts
Afrolicious
Thunderball
Borgore
Wolfgang Gartner
Ghostland Observatory

Day 2

Nit Grit
Break Science
Auto Erotica
Paper Diamond
Paul Basic
Felix Cartal
Zeds Dead
Steve Aoki

Day 3
Glass Candy
Dada Life
Gramatik with Grizz
Girl Talk
Major Lazer


Day 4
Mimosa
String Cheese Incident
Bassnectar
Big Gigantic

Some photos, which should convince you to come next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With 25,000+ amazingly fun happy and nice people all weekend and amazing musical line up Electric Forest in Rothbury Michigan is something everyone should experience at least once. But be sure to come prepared for bare bones camping if you don't pay extra for the good life packages or VIP. Come with an open mind and let your inner child run free through the magical forest and its interactive art displays.

It's a good change of scenery from the typical juice heads, tools and skanks you see in Chicago (even at the Spring Awakening music festival) no one here wants to prove anything they're just here to enjoy themselves whether on chemicals or not.

I know I'm going back next year and I'm taking part in more festival activities, are you coming? You definitely should.


Did you travel to Rothbury or maybe know someone who did, leave a comment down below and lets hear your story.