Party Review: Victor Calderone

In continuation of the 11 year Stereo anniversary celebration month, Stereo Collective – Joubin & Nicola Torriero with special guest Victor Calderone certainly brought it on Saturday November 13, 2010. 

Upon arrival, Audrey & I got settled – we immediately noticed and were amazed by the new visual screens beside the DJ booth. Just when you think Stereo could not get any better – it does ! These screens are manned by the impressive videographer VJ Gridspace, who has taken great videos and pictures in Stereo. I really look forward to upcoming events to see what fun things will be on these screens.

SUPER AMAZING pictures from this event available at this link : VJ Gridspace at Stereo 13/11/2010

Joubin and Nicola Torriero were spinning great tracks, and the crowd had settled nicely on the dance floor. There was a great vibe in the place! I really cannot stress the importance of supporting the Montreal DJs. THEN…Victor’s entrance blew me away – as he stepped up to the decks, it sounded like a jet – or even better, a fighter jet - was landing on the Stereo dance floor. WOW! The first few hours of his set were really fantastic, track after track, it was moving. But what I love about Victor is that while he can provide high energy moments, he knows exactly when to incorporate a vocal track, or something a little more “mellow”.  Later in the night, it almost seemed that he lost a bit of “magic” – or was tiring out slightly – or I was tiring haha, and while his set was still great, it had lost a certain something. As a side note: we had also seen Victor in August at Stereo, and we noticed the same thing – high energy start & then a steady flow afterwards.  Nevertheless, it was a great night & we were happy to be a part of it.



((())) lights on the ceiling ((()))

I will say that Victor has some dedicated and devoted fans!  It seems that every second person you meet will claim they are Victor’s biggest fan…It cracks me up a bit. But he deserves the love…I had a small chat with Victor – show my appreciation towards his work.  I also just had to mention that every year I vote for him on the DJ Mag Top 100, and every year I tell him he deserves to be there. I realize he doesn’t care about this sort of thing (commercial awards), but once you see Victor at Stereo – you will understand, he is a master behind the controls & deserves to be recognized. But maybe Victor’s amazingness at Stereo is a better kept secret, whereby if you know – you know and if you don’t – you are certainly missing out ;) 

* Small video clip to tease you - mind you the sound quality is bad & I guess it overwhelmed my iPhone and cut out :P

If you have not seen Victor at Stereo, I would highly suggest checking him out next time.  He is a resident, so he is there fairly often – about every 3 months or so.  While I have seen him at other venues, he really does shine & step it up at Stereo. Time after time, I am never bored or disappointed by his Stereo sets. As a fan, I really get the feeling that he is enjoying himself and loving every minute of his set, along with the energy of the fantastic Montreal Stereo crowd. 

Thank you to everyone who was involved in making it a fabulous night !!!

((( <3 )))


Look at Sparkle - so tired w his droppy eyes! He is one tired unicorn lol

((( TATTOO )))

In continuation of my last post about My First Time at Stereo, I thought I would provide the in-depth story behind my (((tattoo))). It is a simple enough design, but there is a lot behind it. As previously mentioned, the idea of getting the Stereo logo was implanted in my head as I was leaving the club for my first time.  But it took a good 2 years for the process to be conceptualized, visualized and completed.

For originality purposes, I wanted to add my own signature to the Stereo logo. In the beginning, I was going to add the religious Hindu AUM symbol to the middle of the Stereo brackets (see picture). More specifically, the aum symbol is a reflection of absolute reality without beginning or end – embracing all that exists = divine energy. Sounds like Stereo right? However, as much as I loved this idea for what the aum symbol represented, I was never 100% certain about it. I needed to feel that this tattoo was going to reflect me and this stage of my life – after all, it was going to be there forever haha. I didn’t dwell on it too much since I knew when the right idea would surface, I would immediately know.

On Valentine’s Day at Stereo with Victor Calderone behind the decks, the idea of a heart in the middle of the brackets just suddenly popped into my head. Magic. Of course the heart made complete sense: I put my heart into everything I do and into every relationship I have, and quite simply, I love Stereo. I feel the heart is a natural representation of me. 



I let this idea of a heart in the middle of the brackets simmer for quite a while since I was now unsure about location of this tattoo. At first, I thought the perfect place would be on my foot – since we dance at Stereo. But, I did not like that it would be covered by my shoes most of the time, and the placement on the foot seemed awkward for the shape of the tat.  Back to the drawing boards...The right inner ankle idea again just came to me and I ran with it.  I just simply love this location! 

The Outline - its ready

Now for the important part – who was going to do this tattoo?  When I was sharing my preliminary ideas with PM, he mentioned that one of his friends was a tattoo artist & highly recommended him – Jimmy Strip.  So I had a lead...And oddly enough, when I was at Stereo in January to see Ned Shepherd, Sultan and Maher Daniel I was chatting with someone on the dance floor. They asked me where I was from and when I replied Ottawa, they said they only knew one person in Ottawa, a guy who does tattoos by the name of Jimmy Strip. I could not believe it...Soon after, I messaged Jimmy on Facebook, and never got a response back. But in all fairness, that was best since I had not quite figured out the design and location.  

The Process

On a Thursday morning at work in July 2010, I decided that this was going to be the day. No more talk of getting this tattoo – I was going to get it done!!! On my lunch hour, Audrey & I walked to Planet Ink to get a price quote and to see if I could be squeezed in after work. Everything seemed fine & I just had to come back in later.  Oddly enough, as I returned back from my lunch hour at 1:11 pm Jimmy Strip had messaged me back on Facebook on that very day. I called him and we had a great chat – I felt comfortable, he had time in the evening, and then I discovered he was also a DJ.  The appointment was booked & I was going to get inked for my very first time.

The finished result

Seeing as I was quite nervous about the entire process, Audrey volunteered to go with me. As we arrived at the tattoo studio, I came to realize it was the same location where my cousin got her tattoo, and the studio name was 666 – I am a firm believer in the 11:11 theory, so this was a good sign.  Jimmy made me feel comfortable with the whole process, sick house music was playing in the background, we designed the tattoo, got the outline on, and before I knew it – the ink was in. Did it hurt? NO ! In fact, I could not stop laughing because I had been so nervous, and I expected complete pain.  The great part about it is that I made a new friend in Jimmy, he has also helped me with my DJing & I had a beautiful work of art now permanently part of me.    

 

My Stereo logo tattoo means numerous things to me:

1.  Stereo – the club
     * Related values: Be Yourself, Love, Openness, No Judgement, Passion

2.  The heart representing my love & life resonating throughout everything I do and everything I aspire to do

3.  Music frequencies – my love & respect for house music

4.  A journey through one part of my life

5.  My dream to become a superstar international DJ hehe



Jimmy & I showcasing the tat on Cday

Sometimes when I meet new interesting people at Stereo, I will show them my tattoo. People will either get it or they don’t. But so far, the most common reaction to is “Oh wow, is that real?” haha hilarious! My parents were fine with it - at first, their comments included : Why is it so big? Why did you choose black? What does it represent? but I think my dad is still waiting for the day I say it was a joke and wash it off.

And there you have it ladies & gentlemen, the story behind my (((<3))) tattoo...

((( My First Time )))

My First Time

My first time at Stereo was in April 2008 with PG, JB, H-AS, EK & SG after a night out at club Opera.  We had decided to venture to Montreal to visit one of my international friends Florian from Switzerland – it is not every day that European friends are a short drive away.  After having a great time at Opera, we were ready to say goodbye to Florian since he had an early morning flight, and say hello to Stereo…we were ready to begin our new clubbing journey.  And little did I know, Stereo was going to change my life…Having partied all over the world, I was curious to see what was awaiting us…



Old School Stereo



We bought our tickets at Stereo bar, and I remember thinking it was rather expensive at about $25 each. Oh to be inexperienced haha. AND then we waited patiently in Stereo bar for Stereo the club to open…Stereo bar was not fancy, but I could see the excitement in PG’s eyes as he had told us such great stories about this club (ie the night where Danny T spun an 18 hr set)…so with all that anticipation, the wait was excruciating…


Stereo - from back corner

 As I walked up the stairs and emerged onto the dance floor, I was just in awe of the giant disco ball, the stars hanging from the ceiling, just the beauty of this place – back before the renovations, it was more underground. I stood in the left back corner and took everything in; I immediately knew I was at home. I was so happy dancing on that dance floor to the amazing sound system surrounded with likeminded party people.  DJ Vibe was supposed to be spinning that night, but unfortunately he could not make it…one of the Stereo residents replaced him & it was my music to my ears haha.

Stereo new design : Look from the DJ booth !

Naturally we weren’t mentally or physically prepared for the evening – the girls were wearing high heels & had dresses on, we had all drank quite a bit of liquor at Opera, and it was a high energy night – by 5 am or so, we were done! Short but sweet ;)

Stereo new design : the dancefloor ~ beautiful !

And that is how my love affair with Stereo began...PG remembers that I was the only one who did not want to leave – surprise surprise, and apparently as we exited I declared that I had found the love of my life & that I would have the Stereo logo tattooed to me...

Saturday Nov 6 - Danny T - pic Christian Pomerleau

Do you remember your first time? ;)

STEREO !

For those that know me, it comes to no surprise that I would dedicate the month of November to Stereo.  Stereo is one of my great loves encompassing a large part my life; for no other reason, this is why I am writing about Stereo & sharing my love. While Stereo always has amazing DJ line-ups, this month is simply incredible! For those that have never been, I highly suggest you check out at least one event & hopefully my blog will inspire you to do so; for the regulars, I will see you on the dance floor :)

November 2010 marks the 11 year anniversary for Stereo nightclub Montreal.

*** Happy birthday Stereo! ***

I am thankful that Stereo has persevered throughout all its hardships; thankful that Stereo is in Montreal - only a short 2 hour drive from Ottawa; and thankful to everyone that helps make Stereo the place it is.  Here is to you Stereo and another 11 +++ years !!!

What is Stereo?

Stereo is an after-hours club located at 858 St-Catherine Street East in Montreal. It opens around 1 am on Friday and Saturday nights (Sunday on the long weekends) and closes when the DJs, staff and crowd decide when the party is over.  It boasts one of the best sound systems in the world – believe it or not, people can have normal conversations on the dance floor without raising their voices. As if the music was not enough, the themes, the visual screens, the lasers, the disco ball, and the dancers are all beautiful bonuses at Stereo to add to the experience.  In the back of the club, there are comfortable seats on different levels so you can sit down – rest your legs & body, and still enjoy the party.  There are bars and vending machines providing energy drinks, vitamin water, juice and water – no alcohol of course. The staff are always dedicated, welcoming and kind – just think of all the work behind the scenes just to make the party successful. And if you need to take a breather from it all, there is a great lounge area on the main level, or you can step outside in the smoking area. Washrooms located on that main level, or in the back of the club behind the back bar. Prices of the events run anywhere from $20 onwards, with the usual price of the ticket at $35 – well worth every penny! 

Who DJs at Stereo?

Stereo is a DJs playground ! The best international & local DJs can be found at there all the time. 

* Friday nights are slightly different since they offer various genres & host talented DJs such as Steve Lawler, Sander Kleinenberg, Sharam, Misstress Barbara, Richie Hawtin, Ned Shepherd, Sultan, Maher Daniel, and such.

* Saturday nights see the likes of Danny Tenaglia, Victor Calderone, Chus & Ceballos, DJ Vibe, D-Formation, The Martinez Brothers, Roger Sanchez, Joubin, Nicola Torriero, Peter Rauhofer, and such. 

* The great thing about Stereo is that both Friday & Saturday nights can be & are amazing.

Who goes to Stereo?

People who want to have a good time! For the most part, the people that go to Stereo share a passion for house music and dancing in a judgement free environment where everyone is free to be who they want to be.  Regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, and nationality we all dance on the same dance floor!

Rules?

There are a few rules at Stereo that are easy to follow: no cameras – it is a safe zone! no gum, no drugs, no weapons, no smoking on the dance floor (or inside really) and be respectful of yourself & others.  You will be patted down & checked at the entrance.

Party Tips & Suggestions?

·        Wear comfortable clothing and running shoes.  

·        Arrive with a friendly attitude, smile once in a while ;)

·        Keep personal hygiene in mind – it gets hot dancing all night long amongst others, and body odour is simply not pleasant.

·        Stay hydrated!

·        Tap the end of the nozzles in the bathrooms to make the water run

·        Personal remark: please do not throw your garbage on the floors – it is hard to dance with things stuck to the bottom of your shoes :P there are tons of garbages around, so put your garbage in the garbage bins...you wouldn’t just toss your water bottle on your hard wood floors at home, now would you? just saying...

·        Buy your ticket in advance – it will save you time at the door & money.

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Please stay tuned this month for: a description of my first time at Stereo, commentary on my tattoo, the DJs I have seen at Stereo, other people’s experiences & comments, an interview with the owners of Stereo, and event reviews.

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For more information on Stereo nightclub please check out their

Stereo official website

http://www.stereo-nightclub.com/

Facebook Fan Page

http://www.facebook.com/#!/Stereo.Mtl

MySpace Page

http://www.myspace.com/stereomontreal