Groove Line

Out & About
A recent weekend in Chicago felt like the good old days on North Halsted Street with partying at its finest. On March 31st, superstar DJ Peter Rauhofer spun his magic for a capacity crowd at Circuit for the monthly Nitro party. The line outside to get in stretched to the end of the block as early as 11:30pm and the club stayed jammed packed until closing. Many thought it was one of the best nights in Chicago in recent memory as Rauhofer was in his typical fine form, continuing to prove why he is one of the most gifted and talented DJs around.

(Peter Rauhofer photo by Frank Failing, view more photos from Circuit's Nitro party)

The next day, there was no April Fool's Day joke at Minibar as the uber-cool watering hole launched its new Sunday T Party. Minibar owner John Dalton was celebrating his 30th birthday and wave after wave of folks packed into the tight space for the soiree, which included DJ Oskar's musical soundscape. While it won't be John's birthday every Sunday, I expect that the crowds will return for the very fun weekly T Party.

Country Squared
Centaur Music has partnered with Klone Records to present what is sure to be a big hit: FOREVER COUNTRY. Bringing hi-energy dance beats to twelve country classics, this release is filled with infectious and fun remixes of tracks such as "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Stand By Your Man," and "Nine To Five." And while CD1 of the package presents each song unmixed, CD2 is a continuous mix of the dozen tracks, making it perfect for parties, gym workouts, and maybe even a little bit of line dancing.

Two Decades of Halsted Street Memories
Wow! Roscoe's celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this month. That's quite an achievement and brings to my mind the fuzzy memory of their 5th anniversary party: lots of laughter with friends, plenty of champagne, and then my being kicked out of the bar when I was caught getting a "kiss" in the bathroom stall. Only problem, at least according to the bouncer, was that it wasn't my mouth receiving the oral pleasure. :-)

Anyway, when Roscoe's throws a party, they typically do it up right, and this 20th Anniversary bash on April 12 was no exception and this time I wasn't escorted out. The VIP portion of the night saw a capacity crowd of loyal Roscoevites and other invited guests enjoying comp drinks, tasty appetizers, and a "journey through the years" dance mix blasting in the back bar area of this Halsted Street institution. Mucho thanks to owner Jim Ludwig and all the folks at Roscoe's for throwing one hell of a party and providing fun and merriment for so many of us through the years.

(Photo of Jim Ludwig pictured with Brenden by Dave Ouano., view more photos from Roscoe's 20th Anniversary)

The Elements
"OH MY GOD!!!!!" After wearing out my promo copy of INTERPRETATIONS: CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF EARTH, WIND & FIRE (Stax Records / Concord Music), I am imploring you all to run out and buy it. It's that good. The 10-track CD is a soulful presentation of EWF's greatest hits covered by artists such as Angie Stone, Kirk Franklin, Dwele, and MeShell Ndegeocello. Chaka Khan gets the CD off to an impressive start with a spine-tingling performance of "Shining Star," setting the tone for a series of great performances. INTERPRETATIONS is proof positive that EWF's music has stood the test of time: it will delight its legion of long-time fans and attract new followers who have yet to discover, or truly appreciate, the greatness of this legendary group.

"The Envelope Please"
The International Dance Music Awards were recently held down in Miami during the annual Winter Music Conference with some interesting winners of note. Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" picked up two awards (Best Pop Dance and Best Urban Dance) while Madonna was honored as Best Solo Dance Artist and with Best Video for "Jump.' Depeche Mode earned Best Group title while newcomer Fedde Le Grande went to the podium twice: for Best Breakthrough Solo Artist and for his "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit," which won Best Electro Track. Finally, Junior Vasquez won Best Remixer.

Knapp-Time
The boys at Centaur are back at again with another continuous mix offering from DJ David Knapp called GLOBAL GROOVE: LIVE. It's a typical solid effort from Knapp that starts off with a snappy dance remake of The Dixie Chick's "Not Ready To Make Nice" and includes recent songs by Suzanne Palmer, Pepper Mashay, Sonique, Joi Cardwell. Also in the mix on this fun upbeat CD is the Freemason-ish sounding remake of "It's Not Right, But It's Okay," one of Whitney Houston's biggest hits.
(Buy the CD from shop.chicagopride.com)