2014 Unionville Festival

Finally some good weather!  Was looking forward to this event for a while.  With the crappy long winter we had it just seemed like forever before Jakes on Main could get that patio open! With the nicer weather I knew it was going to be packed.

For some reason Unionville Festival organizers closed down the street party that was supposed to happen and kept Main St open.  Jakes still extended the patio to the street with fences to allow more patrons to enjoy some open air tunes and beverage drinking.  Jakes new patio bar was in full swing and I brought some additional speakers and placed them outside to get some more volume.  Placing speakers at Jakes is not so easy and even though it was in open air it sounded surprisingly good with decent low end.

Finally got to open the windows fully in the bar area.  It's a make shift DJ booth but I love the view to the patio and the fresh air.

Line up at "The Cage"

Me on my perch.  Best view in the house!

Favorite moment of the night for me is when I dropped Usher's "Yeah (2014 DJ Kontrol Remix)" right after the build up in "Turn Down for What."  Big reaction came from the crowd with hands in the air. Thought about it in the car on the drive in.  Guess it worked!

Also played for the first time a tune called "The Prize" by a local artist who usually comes by on Friday nights.  Didn't see him out there but wanted to play it anyways.  Have a listen here and show some support! You can check out more of their stuff at soundcloud.com "wearetheschool."

Unfortunately could not make it out Saturday night as I was tied up with another event.  Probably would have went down early to catch all the other stuff going on in town.  Sunday was a right off so couldn't make it.  But by the sounds of it another successful festival.

Last post was October 13th.  Shame!  Not for lack of events though. Will post some move events in the coming weeks.

Happy Halloween!

If you live in and around Unionville you have probably driven by this home on Main St. owned by friends of mine, Juanita and Pete. They spend countless hours turning the outside of their home into the notorious pirate ship "The Black Pearl" with masts and all. It is really quite impressive.

However the interior has just as much going on as the exterior which sets an awesome backdrop for a fantastic Halloween party held every year.

The Black Pearl

When I first met Juanita a few years ago Djing down at The Bistro she asked if I could Dj her Halloween party. Sure glad I accepted since the last two years have been truly amazing. The guests come out fully dressed in costume and come to dance and party into the wee hours of the morning. This year just like last did not disappoint!

Took me a while to figure out what to wear (last year went as Austin Powers) but last second decided to go with a Canadian cousin of the Duck Dynasty brothers. All I needed was a beard, bandanna some sun glasses and some camo from our friendly neighbourhood hunter across the street.

Moi as a Duck Dynasty cousin....

Wine and Drink was enjoyed out of ghastly goblets, Captain Jack Sparrow never left the dance floor and the one eyed alien kept watch over everyone! This year I decided to bring my sub woofer.   A little over powered for the space but the low end punch made the sound so much better.  Just carefully moved a few vases in close proximity :)

Alien Eye checking out the dance floor!

Didn't play hardly any Halloween-esque music tracks this year... I forgot to play Nightmare on My Street by the Fresh price.  But did play one of my favorite remixes of Michael Jackson's Thriller - The Soundbluntz Bootleg Version.  If u can find it check it out. Song of the night though had to go to Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf.... By request.... Oh boy....

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

It's a Small World...

Yes as the saying goes...it is a small world. Last night I Dj'd a 40th birthday party. A good friend of mine Lahav was in charge of putting together a play list for his friends birthday.  Instead of a playlist he brought me in to DJ the party.  As I was loading in gear I heard someone call behind me "John?  Is that you....?"  I turned around only to be greeted by an old high school friend.  Someone who I have not seen in over 20 years!  We were really close in our later high school years only to lose touch when I went off to University (yeah back then we didn't have Facebook or cell phones...)

Myself with an old high school friend Bob!

 

What a surprise!  Anyhow party was hosted at the home of the birthday boy and was catered.  Finger foods were amazing as was the bar service.  I set up in the backyard as it looked like the rain would hold off.  The humidity was killer but didn't seem to bother the guests.  I kept it pretty chill at the beginning and then slowly ramped it up.  Was fun to play a lot of the older classics. Got a little nice classic house set going just before they brought in the birthday cake.  The reaction from some of the guests was fun to see.  I love some of these tunes:

Follow Me - Aly Us
Do You Know What I Mean - Number 1
You Used to Hold Me - Ralphi Rosario
I Can't Get No Sleep - Masters at Work Feat India
I'm Hot for You - Lil' Louis
Deep Inside - Hard Drive
In & Out of My Life - Adeva
Good Live - Inner City
Twilight for Some - Mark Rogers
Work it to the Bone - LNR

Yep those are some classic tunes.  Anyhow good times had by all!

Bond. James Bond.

"I'll have a vodka Martini  says the man in the tuxedo as he takes a seat at the bar. "Shaken or stirred?” the barman asks; "Do I look like I give a damn?” - That was probably my favourite line from James Bond in Casino Royale!

Last night I headed back to Roy Thompson Hall for another Pop series concert - James Bond: The Music. Here is the primer:

"Bond, James Bond! Conductor John Morris Russel returns to the TSO to highlight the dramatic music of the blockbuster 007 film franchise.  You'll feel like film's most infamous spy when you hear the cool bossa nova beats and passionate torch songs including Diamonds are Forever, Live & Let Die, and Goldfinger"

James Bond: The Music

Now that I got to hear a bunch of 007 themes back to back my favorite is a toss up between "Skyfall" and "For Your Eyes Only." I may be a bit more biased towards Skyfall only because I watched Adele perform it live at the Oscars not to long ago which was incredible. However listening to vocalist Capathia Jenkins last night, who did a pretty good job on her own with Skyfall, was simply amazing all night. She definitely gave Sheena Easton a run for her money when she sang For Your Eyes Only. Probably one of my favorite Moore era Bond Films - probably because it takes place in Greece and I actually visited Meteora and took a picture of that famous monastery!

Right after the break they did a quick "Spy-Fi" segment including the theme songs from Austin Powers, Mission Impossible & Pink Panther amongst others. Learned that Mission Impossible has 5/4 timing which is very rare in music and difficult to dance too! During Pink Panther the conductor had everyone snap there fingers along and the crowd did a good job keeping on beat. It really showed how awesome the acoustics are in that building.

As always the TSO put on a great performance. Conductor John Russel was super enthusiastic about the performance and his Bond history lesson along with his witty comments between songs was a lot of fun. Vocalist Ron Bohmer was also great - having to change singing styles as much as his outfits throughout the night.  This must have been tough but it did show some versatility in his singing abilities.  Capathia Jenkins however definitely stole the show with each performance more powerful then the next. She was superb!

As always a great time at Roy Thompson Hall and the Pop Series.

Here is the setlist:

James Bond Main Theme
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Thunderball
For Your Eyes Only
Dr. No (Suite)
Tomorrow Never Dies
Surrender
From Russia with Love
Diamonds are Forever
Live and Let Die

Intermission

Soul Bossa Nova (Theme to Austin Powers)
Johnson: The Avengers
Peter Gunn Theme
The Avengers
Mission Impossible
Pink Panther
Theme from Shaft
Skyfall
Licence to Kill
The Look of Love
You Know My Name (from Casino Royale)
Nobody Does it Better

Encore: Goldfinger

John Morris Russell, conductor
Capathia Jenkins, vocalist
Ron Bohmer, vocalist

St Patrick's Day!

Geez...last post was in January! Well...hockey refereeing has finally come to an end for the season. What a time killer! So figured let's get the blog going again...

Last week was St Patty's day! Can say I have never DJ'd a party with green beer so was looking forward to it. Was invited the week before by Mike at the Dragon Bistro, my old stomping ground. Jakes has a band every year so I was out! So played traitor Dj for a day.... Anyhow had to quickly get a catalogue of tunes going. Some quick internet research and itunes and I found myself with a play list of over 100 St Paddy's day favorites! itunes is great for this type of thing by the way. Picked up two 50 pack albums for less then $10 each!

Green Goodness!

Unfortunately the crowd was not where the ownership wanted it to be but there was a steady flow of customers coming in to enjoy some beer with green dye dropped in and an Irish flavored menu (damn I missed out on on the Irish Stew...) I did imagine an out of control drunk fest where everyone was singing top o the lungs with singing and dancing on the tables but that didn't happen. Nonetheless still had good time playing tunes as always!

I mixed in a bunch of top40 and rock with the Irish music. But here were some of my favorite St Paddy's day tracks on the night:

1. The Wild Rover - The Blarney Lads
2. Rocky Road to Dublin - Waxies Dargle
3. Muirsheen Durkin - The Blarney Lads
4. Culchi Lad - Irish All-Stars
5. Streams of Whiskey - The Pogues
6. Seven Drunk Nights - The Kilkenny Brothers
7. Paden O' Rafferty's - Irish All Stars
8. P Stands for Paddy - Irish All Stars
9. When Irish Eyes are Smiling - The Limerick Rovers
10. The Night Paddy Murphy Died - Great Big Sea

I guess special mention should go "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys.  Those guys seem pretty angry!

Cheers!

A Year in Review

Well 2012 is coming to an end and I must say it has been a super busy year on the DJ front and I am blessed to be able to be this busy doing something I really love to do!

Busy busy busy...  The year started out with several company holiday parties along with the weekly gig at the Dragon Bistro.  The summer saw several corporate functions along with a wedding for some good friends of mine.  The latter half of the year saw more corporate functions, sound gigs, more holiday parties and now for the last several months a weekly gig at Unionville hot spot Jakes on Main.  Tomorrow night gonna finish the year at The Ben Wicks Pub in TO a gig I have been doing over the last several years. 

Gear and more gear...  Along with all the gigs came the purchase of some new gear.   Earlier in the year when I started the weekly gigs at the bar I purchased the Traktor S2 DJ controller.  This made for easy set-up.  It's compact size also made it great to take up to the cottage. 

Merry Xmas to me!

Late summer Native Instruments had a deal on their Maschine Groove Production Studio controller and software so I purchased it to give a go at making my own music.  Although it has been slow going I am hoping to focus a little more on it in the new year.  It is a whole lot of fun...

On boxing day I decided to give more of my hard earned money to Native by purchasing the Traktor F1 Remix deck.  This should make Djing even more fun next year with that  hardware addition. One things for sure...there will be lots of buttons to press.

The most fun DJing...  The last several months I had the opportunity to Dj weekly at Jakes on Main in Unionville.  I really enjoy this gig.  Young crowd...great staff make for a fun night every Friday.  What I like most though is that I can pretty much get away with playing anything and with that I try and mix it up every week digging up songs old and new.  Here's hoping it continues into the new year and especially the summer.  With the patio open and all the kids back from University things get pretty crazy there.

Jake on Main!

Vinyl heaven!  In September I recieved a phone call from a family friend asking me to come over to his place and pick up all his vinyl.  You can read about it here but I am hoping to get a set going and bring the turntables to a gig next year.   A night of nastalga I guess with lots of clicks, pops and maybe a few skips!

The one thing that has been great this year though is all the experience gained working with multiple genres and mixing the old and new.  Especially with the weekly gigs I've noticed a huge improvement working the Traktor software mixing pretty much everything on the fly.  At home I am usually just mixing up house music and rarely "practice" mixing top 40 or other genres.  But with the weekly gig I am all over the map...top40, retro 80s, 90s hiphop, house, dubstep...everything.  It has been a lot of fun...especially digging up old tracks and seeing the reactions from people. 

Well, it has been a super awesome year and I am hoping to continue the trend into the new year.  More gigs...more gear...and of most importantly...more great music!

Happy New Year Everyone....see you next year!

Merry Jackson Everyone!

Last night myself and the crew from "The Michael Jackson Experience" a King of Pop Production headed up to Newmarket to perform a Christmas surprise performance for a super fan of Jackson as a gift from her spouse. 

Kevin, myself, Bishop Soul & Dean.

I've seen this show many times and it doesn't matter if this MJ impersonator is performing at Casino Rama, arena shows across the country or your private house party these guys know how to put on a show! 

What makes it so special is Bishops Soul and his dancers ability to interact with any crowd, in this case a family and a few neighbors, and just make a party out of nothing! 

Of course it helps when you are playing music from a catalogue as large as MJs countless number ones all of them which make you wanna move your feet. 

Here is the set-list from last night:

Wanna Be Starting Something
Working Day & Night
Smooth Criminal
Billie Jean
Human Nature
Beat It
PYT
Thriller

If you have to step out for a few hours from personal Xmas eve festivities might as well do it hanging out with Michael Jackson!  Watching this show is always a treat and seeing the clients blown away always makes for a fun evening.

For more information on this show contact Alan Lamothe at King of Pop Productions  416-876-8936

Merry Xmas!