Two Tribes 2004

What an Adventure!

We arrived a the venue a bit later than we were supposed to. Tim and i rocked up to Linas' house at about 3.30ish... They were making final preperations for their set. They were encouraged by my obvious enthusiasm - i had never been to a dance party with 20,000 people there. Linas' and Adrian were supposed to arrive at 5.00pm for sound testing. Originally the plan was to got ot Linas', then Vlat's, and then to Melbourne Park, but their didn't seem to be time.

We got some Fish and Chips quickly for dinner... I didn't particularly like the callimarri rings, they were far too rubbery... but my stomach was full and i was ready for the adventure before me.

I am not used to arriving so early. I usually roll up to parties around mid-night, but it was good to cruise around the place, and get a general feel of the vibe, it was consensus of the atmosphere that all present would be up for a good night.

Truth be told, I am still pretty wasted/scattered as i write this, but i would like to recollect my evening now so i dont forget too much. My eyes were a little bigger than my belly i must say. I had an awesome pill to start of with... just a simple MDMA pleasure machine, 4 hours later i decided to have a cap with 1.5points of MDMA powder, and that when my night was adversely affected by the negative side effects of drugs.

Its always been an issue about the music for me... Whenever i go to an event, it's because their are a couple of acts that i really want to see... Other than my friends, there was no one on the bill that i really cared to see. Our little group of 15 or so friends had scored a nice location with table and chairs outside the planet hardware venue... i could saunter on in whenever i felt to catch a glimpse, but nothing was really interesting me or persuading me to dance - Samuel L Sessions was pretty cool, and Renato Cohen was a little different, but Vitalic played the same old story... i was simply far to chilled as a result of the MDMA powder though, and the allure of sitting, talking and joking with my friends was stronger than dancing till i sweat it out.

My body was trying to reject the foreign substances with all its might... Every 15 or so minutes i would find myself dry-reaching and suffering from stomach discomfort... My state of mind was a wierd one though, and i was not greatly troubled until the end of the night... I was just having too much fun with my friends that it was not a immediate problem.

When people are on MDMA, they really open up to you, and its a heart warming feeling. People say things they normally wouldn't be comfortable with saying in a normal state of mind... I had a lot of friends last night tell me how much they enjoyed my company, and I was the same... I really have to say that it is a welcoming experience to have pure conversation amongst your friends without the possiblility of conceited attitudes... When you are all on the drug, it makes for a really fun and happy experience.

People take it too far though i am afraid, The dance culture in Melbourne will suffer from it. I got home tonight at about 9.30pm from chilling at Linas' house (soon to be our house!) all day to check up on reports i heard on the radio, and this article was headlining Melbournes major broadsheet newspaper. There is a new drug that is becoming more and more common in Melbourne, its called GHB (Gamma hydroxybutyrate) however, it has earned the nickname Grevious Bodily Harm, you can read the facts on the drug GHB here. I tried some for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and i can understand why the use has increased so much. Its very cheap, and easy to obtain and the feeling is quite euphoric. People just dont have respect for their bodies though, and fail to educate themselves about the substance before they abuse it... Its just too easy to overdose on GHB, and unfortunately, what little credit the dance culture did have in Melbourne will be happily eroded away by the media over this issue.

I in no way condone drug use... If its not for you, then i respect that, however, i believe its my choice to use drugs, and i also take the choice to use responsibly. Last night, i partied a little too hard, but i will learn from it, i stopped when i was feeling rank, and i know my limits. Most of my friends are the same, and last night, i always knew i would be ok because my friends were looking out for me, especially Adrian who really went out of his way to make sure i was fine.

I can also categorise the responsible drug users and irresponsible into two different scenes within the Melbourne Dance community. You have your NRG/Trance kiddies who just go out to get high and see their favorite crowd pleasing no tricks DJs who are 'cool' because they do lines of Cocain on the records.... And then their are the techno faithful, a majority of whom went through the kandy kid stage at one point, however evolved to admire the real essence of electronic music and mixing skills. Vodaphone arena had the majority of the Kandy Kids (Trance NRG Groupies), and I was at planet hardware, where glow sticks and fluffy leg warmers are frowned upon... I didn't see one incident of trouble all night in that area. All the fights between charged up ice heads and the overdoses were at the Vodaphone arena... I guess there is nothing we can do about it though.

We can just go on about our merry way, and live our lives as we please with consideration for others. Its great to be a part of the Melbourne Techno Community. On the dance floor front and centre were the same friendly faces you see at the club nights you frequent, and you can talk to anyone there about anything, you can be assured they are on the same wavelength as you. I admittedly felt a little too cool for school with my V.I.P access all areas pass, and drinking in the morning with guys like Green Velvet and BT was definitely a highlight... Just another case study for the old saying - 'its not what you know, but who you know'

I really did have one of the nights of my life though, i haven't laughed so hard for a long time, or enjoyed the company of soo many friends all in an extremely happy mood! My experience was tainted by my silly decision to consume too many drugs, but i consider it to be a lesson of what i can or cannot handle. I will definitely lay of the illicits for a while though, i owe myself that much.

BAM!!!

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