London nights pt. 2

Some of the things that I loved about the gay nightlife scene in London is that it's diverse and plentiful. Yes the usual dramas are there (who's avoiding who? Where can we get drugs? did you know he's sleeping with so and so? He's so cute, I see him everywhere, he doesn't know I exist....) but the Montreal club scene has gotten so small in comparison it was refreshing to attend so many parties in all its potential, trashy, glittering, hot-mess glory.

Some quick observations: Just because you're a Bear and are into Bears it doesn't mean your club needs to look like a dungeon or that you can't like Britney Spears remixes. Amazing London DJs are approachable: I was so happy to meet Superchumbo (the one and only Tom Stephan) and also reconnect with Larry Tee at his party at East Bloc.

Good Music and big beats can be played in small venues: pumping DnB coming from a dark bar on Brick Lane at three in the afternoon, Garage at a Deli in East London, East Bloc looking more New York with its Keith Haring decor than, well, New York...who says a small lounge can only play lounge beats? DJs f*ck up and (gasp!) no one cares!: We saw Honey Dijon spin at Summer Rites when her CDJ suddenly stopped working. Horse Meat Disco killed our buzz with its classic, vintage disco, Larry Tee mixed electro and electro hip-hop, two DJs played the same track at Fire Afterhours and one of them failed to match his beats in one transition. It all made me realize that maybe in North America we take this DJ job way too seriously. Maybe I take this DJ job too seriously. Does it really matter if you play the same track as someone else in one night or if you screw up a mix or your equipment messes up? Why do some people feel it's important to make you feel like less of a DJ if you don't use Vinyl when all these superstars are on their usb keys or laptops, syncing beats and making people dance? How come I doubt my musical taste when I DJ here only to find that half the tracks I bought on beatport are being played out and loud across the pond? Thanks London for making me feel like maybe I can really be a DJ after all.