Mon. February 23, 2004
Chicago, IL -
Hello children! It's time for the annual Fireball 2004 Kii Kii review. Overall the weekend has some highs and lows.
FRIDAY: The one thing that was present in the air was a great energy and good mood shared by all. Everywhere you looked people were smiling and having fun. The music was simply off the hook with a ferocious lead-in set by Chicago's own DJ Greg Drescher. Tracy Young took over to make the kids jump and bump until 6am. The only complaint that was heard was that whomever did the light wasn't too savvy at keeping up with the music.
CHILL: The chill out lounge was cute, quaint and deliciously smooth with DJ Plez keeping the kids warm. Kudos to Kat and Plez for a good chill time
SATURDAY: The Finkl Steel Mill was all the rage this year, honey child! The space seemed larger than last year with all kinds of children running around. The crowd was more universal: Boys, gals, clowns, and clubkids from all over just jumpin and bumpin to the cha cha of Rosabel. Saturday's music explains why Ralphi and Abel are simply a caliber above your average circuit DJ. Kevin Aviance and her flame throwing counter parts let us have a ferocious medley of her 3 #1 hits. Definitely grade A.
SUNDAY #1: The Museum of Science & Industry is simply a gorgeous space. Sauci Bernaise let us have a hell of a performance despite sound & lighting problems. Supposedly cat hairs flew between Kimberly S & Lydia Prim regarding the double booking. The kids lost interest in the drama and departed sometime around 11pm.
SUNDAY#2: Excalibur proved to be fun with a lively crowd ad Roland Belmares delivering the sounds abound. Good call by the Heart's folks to have this as a back up.
SUNDAY#3: The place to be----Crobar Chicago. Luckily Susan Morabito didn't piss in the DJ booth this time, but all sources agree that this was simply the party of the day. The crowd was LIVING as Susan worked the hell out of those tables. Hostesses J.J., Cad'lac DeVille and Sal made the kids feel right at home.
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Seems Sound-Bar is definitely the Phoenix rising from the ashes. They will be opening in the spring sometime and promise to bring 20,000 sq. feet of danceable pleasure to Chicago. While on the tip of other fun things to do, have you ever been to Rhythm? It's located on Madison St. just west of the Loop. You can sit down, have a cocktail or Mojito and play some bongos with a group of friend. Yes, bongos and drums. Sounds cheesy right? WRONG! Patrons claim it's the most fun they've had at a club in years.
Flashy Trash is going out of business. It's sad to see another one of our shops close up. The owner is supposedly going to work for Opra and everything in the Store is marked 50% off. I'm heading there to pick up on all those fabulous wigs they sell!
Hydrate Chicago boasted the likes of Oscar G (Funky Green Dogs) and Barry Harris on Fridays past. Expect to see more from them with Hex Hector and Allyson Calagna returning too. But what of Jim Lewis? He's still delivering his ferocious style to the kids on Thursdays now and is building quite a cute following. Speaking of the house of Wet, after a recent drag show security found a LINK card on the dance floor where one of the patrons was sharing a table. Can you buy a Bloody Mary with your welfare check one wonders?
DISH!: What local lounge owner recently had his car repossessed? Is it the same one who still owes his former employees W2 forms? Is it the same owner who Kii Kii recently reported bounces payroll checks like Shaquil O'Neil bounces a basketball? You figure it out.
So what have you been missing? On the 14th, in addition to it being Heart's weekend, Erick Morillo threw it down at Spundae (Vision) and children indicate it was actually a lot of fun. Gabriel & Dresden will be stopping by the Spun-crew on the 28th of February. Smartbar will be home of the house-heads with Dayhota on March 5th. Winter Music Conference approaches in Miami while Crobar Chicago throws its music conference party with Timo Maas on March 3rd and Danny Howells on March 4th. And last but not least, Zentra Mondays with Derrick Carter is growing strong in the absence of the Boom Boom Room. This night looks like it might become the next "Monday Thing" of Chicago.
That's it for now kids. Remember that kissing a frog doesn't make a prince…it really just makes you really gross for kissing a slimy frog.
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