Area 709

If you've read Rusty's blog already, he pretty much described the proceedings of last weekend to a tee! A whirlwind trip to Phoenix for Pulsate with Vibrasphere, filled with sun, drinks and more laughs imaginable. Oh and a bit of music too.

The Phoenix crew really knows how to take care of things. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left we were taken care of in epic fashion, which is a bit of a task considering it was five of us (not just a dj traveling alone) all there to let loose. Yardz, Spyder, Sunny, Chris, and Kevin, thank you for the unbelievable hospitality (although I'm not sure what your impression of Canadians is now!).

After spending a good chunk of time sipping drinks and catching up with Rusty and Ada, who we all dearly miss (Rusty, it was more than a treat to kick back like we used to once again, can't wait to do it again!), as well as witnessing an ongoing pool circus show courtesy of my wife, Christie and Ada, it was off to the venue for the big show.

I found out first hand that Phoenix is an interesting place when it comes to electronic music. Not only is the scene very segmented, but there have been many problems in the past with promoters, venues and more; and stiff government crackdowns have tried to eliminate the scene altogether (sounds familiar doesn't it Calgary?). However, with a lot of time, money and energy invested, the crew that brought me down is responsible for the transformation of the Stratus Event Center - the only venue now by law in Phoenix that can have underground parties.

And what a venue it is. Filled with massive amounts of lights and sound, along with upscale bars and areas, it truly is state of the art in every way.

The party itself, due to a bunch of competing events, had lower attendance than anticipated, but the people who did come were very into things all around. My set ran all over the place from prog to trance, dark to epic and ended up turning out to be quite the journey. Rickard from Vibrasphere, who was exhausted having just flown in from the Gaian Mind festival in Philadelphia, was up next and pounded out all of the duo's great tracks from over the years.

From there, after a quick beer and catch up with Rickard, along with a few more at the hotel, it was time for some much needed rest before the flight home on Sunday.

All in all, a great trip and experience, and there's already talk of returning to Phoenix in November for a gathering out in the desert. For those who weren't there or would like to hear it again, I'll be re-recording my two hour set from the show and posting it as my next episode of 709Sessions.

Next up: Opening for Markus Schulz here in Calgary on July 2nd. Another big one...