Off the Hook, Now Get Out of the House

Date: 9/14/07
Location: People Project
Show: OffGrid Radio Benefit with Environmental Encroachment, Rand Sevilla, Livewire, Protman, and DJ Demchuk vs. Eric lab Rat
Cost: $5 suggested
Drinks: $1 beer, $1 vegan jello
Things I missed to be there: Rooftop Party with DJs Hilary Rawk, Joel Brown, Menowah, and Emily Tragic; CHIRP benefit with 3 AM Fever, Ultratumbados, and The Slim Pickins at the Mutiny



The night started on a surreal note. DJ Demchuk and I frantically trying to fix my equipment, which all decided to go to shit at the same time. We look up and realize that the only people in the room are the members of Environmental Encroachment, all dressed as bunnies, and the goons, a large group of leather jacketed hardcore guys from the Southside. We shrug it off and get slug through a mediocre set as people filter in. The people who run the gallery have already dismissed us.



I now know a few common sense things I never would have thought to ask before, mainly, once someone accepts your request to use their place to host a party, offering no conditions of their own, ask again. I figure that when someone says I can have a party at their place, I have permission to use their place until the cops come or it peters out on it's own, at the very least until the same time as the bars close.

This was not the case.

Two days before the party, we were told that we would have to clear the place out at nine. I should've argued but I didn't. I figured that if the party was still going strong, they would let it keep going for another hour and, if not, we could probably bribe them. Unfortunately these guys had some integrity, they were steadfast, and between midnight and one, over 100 people got turned away at the door.



Of course, only some of those people missed out on a worthwhile party. The night started out strong with Environmental Encroachment pulling out all the stops, pushing the bass to eleven, drumming on a ventilation ducts, even sneaking a Radiohead song into their drum-and-brass madness; the night ended even stronger, with Rand Sevilla getting people naked on the dance floor for a big, sweaty jukefest, but the middle of the night kind of dragged with not too many people dancing. That was probably my fault for not thinking enough about the lineup order. Livewire set a good mood, taking people out of the marching band music with a freeform set of disco and electro but Protman was a bit too clunky to keep what Livewire started going, so the Livewire people retreated to talk and drink in the back of the room while the Protman people got back on. It wasn't until Rand got going that the whole room erupted, and once he did, he only got to do it for a half hour.



At least I've learned my lessons, and I can say without a doubt, that when the party was going well, it was the best thing in the city.