We did a number of different events at The Shark throughout 2003, Bikini Contests and such, but finally, in Feb. 2004 we made it our home on Thursdays. The great people that I met over the next 18 months of $1 Beer Thursdays were innumerable. Those nights were legendary, with Paul, Chase, Brian & Jon behind the bar, as well as 600-800 people every Thursday night, the formula never failed.

Our first run at the Shark ended in October of 2005, only for us to return 3 different times over the next 5 years. Whether it was Vendetta, Just Us, F*ck The Paparazzi or “The Bracelet” it was something to write home about. If you haven’t ever been to one, you’ve missed DJ’s like DJ Scene, Risk One, Evil One, Deniro, Reaction & Steve1Der. You’ve missed acts like Dan Purser, Shwayze & Dirt Nasty. Don’t worry, you have one more chance to make it down, this Thursday 3/11/10, at The Shark Club

What Makes a Good Party Rocking DJ/How to spot a Rookie

1. Musical Knowledge - Next time there is a headlining DJ in town, listen to the opener. More often than not he’ll get the crowd going, but he’ll do it with all the “bangers”.  Great DJ’s can get the crowd going with any type of music at any time.  Anyone can hype up the crowd with Radio cuts, the good DJ gets you excited by playing that song you haven’t heard in forever at the perfect time.  I’m a firm believer that any DJ can fumble his way through a 3 hour set, there is a large enough database of current popular music out there to accomplish that.  Put the same DJ in Vegas and make him play a 6hr set, i’ll bet you hear the same songs 2 or 3 times a piece.  Playing longer sets forces DJ’s to expand their musical knowledge and forces them to take chances.  So, next time you’re at a club, listen to what the DJ is playing and watch what the crowd is doing.  If he’s playing the current radio top 10 and only that, you probably have yourself a rookie.  That might not make sense, especially if the dance floor is packed, but, i can promise you it will only be packed during the peak hour and if its the same DJ week in and week out, that hour of dancing will get shorter and shorter. Conversely if he’s playing the exact opposite and people are just standing there, you probably have yourself a rookie, someone who is playing “out side the box” just so he isn’t classified as a “mainstream” DJ.  The best of the best will play the right things at the right times, it will seem new and fresh even if the songs are 20 years old, you’ll get that amazing feeling without the same old music.
2. Technical Experience - There are so many technical aspects to DJ’ing, honing these skills comes with a little natural ability and a LOT of practice.  You want to get an idea of how good your DJ is, watch his hands.  Watch how precise his movements are, how often he moves and what he’s actually doing.  Bad DJ’s are really good at faking like their busy, they’ll fade into a song, then sit back and adjust volume controls.  Watch the hands, pay attention to the music….are the transitions crisp, do the beats match, are the scratches clean and on time, does the DJ make the song his own by adding his own personal flair?  DON’T FORGET, watch the hands.  The reason I say this is because some of the world’s best DJ’s have taken their lives remixes and transitions and sold them to younger DJ’s.  The younger DJ’s just download the transitions and let the computer do all the technical work, instead of mixing it right on the spot.  This isn’t always a bad thing, it allows the DJ to focus more on music selection, but having your whole set pre mixed is lazy, the customer deserves better.  There are other ways to spot pre-programmed sets though, if you have the same DJ week after week, listen for similar transitions, you’ll probably pick it up subliminally.  I’m sure there has been more than one instance where you know what song is coming next, while some of this is expected (some transitions just work well) you shouldn’t be able to do this more than once or 2x in a night, if you can, your DJ isn’t doing his job and he’s getting lazy.
3. Playing to the Crowd - This does NOT mean taking requests.  Just a word to the wise, there is a reason most big name DJ’s do NOT take requests.  You have to understand that you are one person, you like what you like, others are not the same.  You need to trust that your DJ has done his homework and knows what type of crowd he is playing for.  A great DJ needs to be able to execute like a well trained boxer, he needs to be able to adjust his strategy/style if what he’s doing isn’t working.  Too often DJ’s think they can come in with a pre-programmed set and kill it.  This may actually work %60 or %70 of the time, but, if things go wrong, if the people aren’t feeling what you have ready for them, you’re fucked.  Make your DJ work, don’t be afraid to make a casual comment, if it’s educated they’ll know it, if you say something like “why didn’t play my song” they’ll shrug it off and be on to the next one.

In closing, it’s up to you the customer to control your entertainment, be satisfied with the normal and force yourself to go out every week, or go in expecting to have the time of your life.  Most of what you’ve experienced in the past, most of what you’ve picked up is probably more subliminal than it is painfully evident, but, now, you may be able to control another aspect of your good time.  Trust me on this, whether you know it or not, if you have a GREAT DJ, you’ll have a great night, they can generate energy out of thin air, its amazing and it needs to be recognized and appreciated.  You don’t need to go in and analyze every week, but, do it once, and see if you notice these little things, you’ll be surprised.

*Don’t believe the hype, a DJ isn’t good just because he lives in a major market city, has a good mixtape, or markets himself well, it’s all about the live performance.

I think it’s really important to realize that most of Seattle’s promotion companies share the same demographic and oddly enough that demographic is relatively older in comparison to some other cities. It just so happened that our nightlife scene was flourishing between 2000 & 2007, and, it just so happens that most of the socialites from that time period have continued to involve themselves in Seattle Nightlife. The influx of new party people has been evident, but, it pales in comparison to the number of new patrons we were seeing years ago.

What does this mean ? Well, it means that your current crop of socialites have had their fill of mass texts, mass invites, mass messages and the general harassment that goes along with it all (if that wasn’t already evident with the death of MySpace). I’m not criticizing anyone’s practices, I’m just telling you how I feel. I’m sure you’ve seen a few status updates from me talking about the 20 mass texts, 100+ invites & 100+ messages I receive every week in regard to events. Believe it or not, I also talk to people and try to get their feedback on current practices. I ask them why they deny event invites, I ask them why they don’t go out as much, or, why they don’t go to certain places. The answers, more often than not, have to do with the heavy amount of promotional material they receive for events in general. So, here is a small list of behaviors that i’ve seen, i’d like some feedback from both sides of the fence on this one so please, feel free to comment.

1. Fighting over “friends” - You would be surprised how often promoters working on the same event fight for claim to a particular event attendee (ie. “I invited her” “No I invited her”) More often than not this results in 2 or 3 people bombarding the same person with “You’re on my list, or, make sure you talk to me and get on my list”, as if one persons list is better than the others. My take on it, how about no cover, so we don’t have to worry about lists, and how about using that competitive spirit to bring everyone TOGETHER instead of fighting for who gets who. Don’t you think people are stressed out enough with the economy and such, do you really think they want to have to worry about pissing someone off because they didn’t get on the right f*cking list ?

2. Facebook Invites/Messages - Okay, this ones tricky, here is my take on it. If you have a special event coming up, post an event invite. I don’t mind getting invites for once a month events, or events that feature special talent. However, once you send that event, don’t send me 4 or 5 updates a day on how your ticket sales are going, or, how close you are to being sold out. You have to remember that invites and messages are invasive, they aren’t like ads, ads don’t clutter up your inbox or your event invite page, ads don’t force you to act on them. You would be surprised how many people like to have their Facebook home pages looking pristine (meaning all messages, invites and suggestions handled), the current promotional practices make that nearly impossible. Lastly, if you do weekly events, change the date on your event the day of so you can re-use the same one, don’t send out a new one every week, we get it already.

3. Mass text messaging - Put bluntly, if you care about me then take the time to write a message that I know you didn’t send to 30 other people at the same time. I’m guilty of this, on a number of different levels, i’ll send out a mass text if we decide to do something last minute, just due to sheer time constraints, but, that probably happens once every 2 months. You’ll be surprised how much of a difference the extra 30 seconds per text makes in terms of response.

4. General Harassment - If you see someone’s birthday coming up (or if you have an event coming up), you should hit them up, see what they are doing. If they have plans already and you think you can better take care of them, offer what you have in a simple and cordial manner. What I see too often is “f*ck that place, f*ck those dudes, they’re a bunch of d bag’s, our party will be better”, or, “wtf, why aren’t you going out, you’re lame”. Newsflash people, you’re dealing with grown adults, and you should be a grown adult yourself, so act like it. If you really give a sh*t about the person you’re inviting then you’ll be happy for them whether they are at your club, at someone else’s club or at home on the couch watching movies, just as long as they are happy.

In closing, I know promoters are going to have some questions. So help me out here. When you don’t get invites/texts/messages do you question whether or not the event is going on or whether or not the promoter is still there ? This is something I personally battle with in regard to the TPD mass text as i’m sure some of the promoters sending invites and messages do as well.

Looking forward to everyone’s feedback on this, i’m not perfect, i have been or am currently guilty of a lot of this stuff, it’s feedback from socialites that’s going to help us all refine our processes. We want to make going out fun and relaxing again, not a situation that makes you feel like you’re letting someone down if you don’t come see them.

I’m not sure when the switch flipped, but, i’d like to think that it started with a combination of the local club owners devising better profit sharing strategies and local promoters recognizing how awful our nightlife scene is. Collaborations are nothing new though, SNL/Rareform/True/Xcite, Steady & Whisper, Pak Pros & Pin Point as well as others have been using this formula for years with quite a bit of success. It’s the rest of us that have been slow to catch on.

Examples of great collaborations have never been as evident as they are this weekend. A Friday collaboration with Lush Life/Steady & TPD came to fruition at the last minute when it came to light that TPD needed a place to call home this Friday. The fact that this happened 2 days before the event is miraculous, it shows that people in this industry are developing trust again, that people in this industry value their relationships, for this I am thankful. There are more than a few promoters out there that could learn a lesson from this, i won’t name names, but this goes out to those of you who think you are dope enough to burn every bridge in the industry and still get work, good luck.

Another good example of this is Saturday at Tia Lou’s. PURE productions has had their 4yr anniversary mega-party in the works for 6 weeks. They had planned on throwing it at the brand new club Republiq, unfortunately some last minute administrative issues made that an impossibility. Did PURE freak out and cancel the event, no they didn’t, they called upon every company in the city to push this event as hard as possible (for free i might add) and everyone came to their aid and put it down, as they should have.

If you don’t work in Seattle Nightlife, this might not mean much to you, but for those of us that do, this is a new era, we are on the way back up. These collaborations are bringing together people from all circles, which in turn creates larger circles which in turn increases our socialite population as a whole. So, for me, for all of us, attend these types of events, they are amazing, so much great energy, so many people to make sure your night is fantastic, trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Where are the real promoters at, where are the companies that can take an empty venue and put 700ppl in it on their first night. I’ll tell you where they are, they don’t exist anymore and unless someone steps up and starts regulating this sh*t, they never will. I sound angry don’t I, and I am, there are too many people, promoters, owners, bartenders, bar backs, cocktail waitresses, security guards and managers that have poured their lives into this cities Nightlife scene and all these new “promoters” are f*cking it all up. You want to know where this is coming from, I’ll tell you, it’s coming from me being absolutely sick and tired of people TALKING about what they can do. There are no weekly event promoters left, take that as a challenge from me, unless you’re a promoter with a niche market and limited options, you’re a joke, and there’s nothing you can say about it because you haven’t accomlished shit. Call me when you’ve produced 1,000 events, call me when you’ve had 2000+ people in a club, call me when you’ve worked with every major DJ talent in the country, call me when you develop some type of technology that revolutionizes your nightlife scene, call me when you successfully spin off 7 promotion companies, call me when you purchase and rejuvenate the nations largest photography company, call me when you open your own club, call me when you do ANYTHING that brings a positive vibe back to Seattle Nightlife, until then, f*ck off.

Please, PLEASE don’t let the medium of social networking sites be the forum of discussion for gossip, he said-she said absurdities and the grapevine.

During this time of loss and mourning, we’d like to remind you that though he may not be here anymore, his presence and spirit will live on with us forever.

Rest in peace, Granger Lam.

The approximate 350 capacity venue offers the feel of high school hallways with cheap linoleum, obnoxious fluorescent lighting and their outdoor patio/”cabana” area (which was supposed to be the icing on the cake) produces an atmosphere one would imagine similar to that of a garish prison yard, confined by concrete walls.

Though Vela isn’t quite finished and they appear to have much more up their sleeve, it’s still exactly what Seattle needs - new venues. We’re crossing our fingers they’ll come out of left field and give us a little something more.

Where to begin when you’re trying to summarize all the important bullshit and highlights of the career of a flourishing prodigy? Oy. We’ll start here: Montreal, 1995. Alain “A-Trak” Macklovitch, age 13, invests his inherent Bar Mitzvah money in a set of turntables and a mixer and two years later effortlessly takes the title of 1997 DMC World Champion.. at age 15. Tone set? Okay.

Since then, he’s taken home 5 world turntablism championship titles (amongst many others); toured the globe with the likes of Q-Bert, Craze and Kanye West; founded 2007’s “most buzzworthy label,” Fool’s Gold whose mission is “dedicated to bringing you the crème de la crop in club music.”

This kid pretty much emerged from the depths of .. well, Montreal, and kind of took over the world of turntablism with so much ease, you’d think a caveman could do it.

ANYWAY, July 18th, A-Trak along with Treasure Fingers (Fool’s Gold, Evol Intent) and Theophilus London will be taking over Chop Suey (1325 E Madison, Seattle) for their 10,000 LB Hamburger Tour, with local acts, The Dowlz and OK Dave.

So, the moral of this story is: This is going to be a dope show with amazing talent and you should probably check them out.

Yep.

Listen close enough and you’re sure to hear the euphonious sounds of the up and coming productions company, Dynasty. Combining the intrinsic talents of Dan Grossman and Spencer Green, they’re quickly revamping the Reggae scene here in the shadow of the Space Needle. Whether they’re producing tracks for world renown artists like Sizzla and Perfect to hosting live showcases featuring local artists such as Bobby Hustle, Dway and Papa Black Davinci, Dynasty is without a doubt creating a name for themselves, both locally and internationally in the Reggae/Dancehall world.

In 2009, Dynasty has partnered up with Imperial VIP to host and produce a few hip hop/reggae showcases, featuring the up and coming squad of local artists, to which seem to have been moderately successful. Their next show is set to go down Wednesday, August 12th @ Nectar Lounge in Fremont, with DJ Cide and Dynasty’s artists on the roster.

For more info and discounted tickets visit www.imperialvip.com - keep your auditory senses open and let us know what you think; we’re eager to see what’s in store for the revival of Seattle’s live Dancehall scene.

50 years, 13 Grammy Awards, two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and over 800 MILLION records sold worldwide - There’s no denying MJ’s unparalleled talent and unsurpassed influence on our generation.

“Michael Jackson’s financial woes were well documented: Numerous lawsuits, loss of control of his Neverland and reports that he was hundreds of millions of dollars in debt all point to a complex money mess that trailed the King of Pop as vigilantly as his most ardent fans.”

- Lisa Respers France, CNN News.

In no way is this an attempt to negate the accomplishments or influence of our generations most eminent musical figure but more so a brief rant about how I feel someone who I once held in such high regard blatantly capitalized on his fans loyalty and trust. When did exploitation become socially (or fanatically) acceptable?

Michael Jackson had two core followings: people who appreciate talent and people who like Michael Jackson. The latter of the two, a breed in their own right. These will be the estimated one million people or “fans” in attendance to the public viewing and funeral this Friday, July 3rd, at his beloved Neverland Ranch north of Santa Barbara, CA.

Fanatics or lunatics, hmm?

But, such is life.. And such is death. The way I see it, we’ve already been left the legacy; there was nothing more than one last world tour and countless remixed/re-released hits coming our way, regardless.

Michael Stone said it best,

“Michael Jackson was never trying to impress anyone, only competing with himself, simply because, there was no competition. Regardless of what you say or think about him, you can’t take that away from him. That lasts forever.”

ANYWAY, whether you agree with me or not, there’s still no denying the eminent impact Michael Jackson left on our youth, our nation and the world of music. That is what it comes down to and that is what is relevant. His impact is legendary and we will see it manifested in our culture for generations to come. I guess when it comes down to it, that is what it’s all about.

/end directionless rant.

My gripe here is the boys and girls that think their Affliction tees, $300 designer jeans and token Louis purse warrant some sort of fashionisto/fahionista recognition. Don’t get it twisted, your cookie cutter image is not only easily replicable, it’s more than likely 3 seasons old.

C’mon Seattle, you can do better than that.

There’s only one place to be if you’re in town this Memorial Sunday and that’s Venom - TPD & Pak Pros bring you the swagfest of all swagfests this holiday Sunday !

TPD & DList Magazine Present: The biggest Cinco De Mayo party in Seattle, May 5th @ Venom with a LIVE performance by Pittsburgh Slim! Sponsored by Don Julio & Grand Marnier, this is sure to be one hell of an event!

If you all remember our last Tuesday night holiday party at Venom in 2006, you know what is going to go down. For all of you who don’t let us refresh your memory…

Party down.

Today kicked off the first day of opening statements in a civil trial against rapper, Snoop Dogg, by a Seattle man who claims the artist and his entourage severely beat and robbed him after jumping on stage in a concert in a Seattle in 2005. Richard Monroe, Jr. is now seeking $22 million in damages against Snoop (Calvin Broadus).

Monroe was under the impression he had permission to join Snoop and his entourage on stage during “Gin n Juice” but in turn was allegedly beaten and robbed by the performer and friends. And there’s a video recording of the incident to bat. Considering Snoop already owes the state of California over $280 thousand in taxes, one would imagine the rapper is sweating major bullets right about now.

He rocked the world of feel good summer hits last year with the hit singles “Buzzin” and “Corona and Lime” off his laid back self titled debut album with a “cooler than a sea breeze” hip hop delivery. When paired with Cisco Adlers deep seeded rock’n roll roots and footing, Shwaze’s sound creates an energy that is unparalleled to anything our generation has possibly ever seen.

And we’re bringing you a live 60 minute performance - Shwayze, who’s currently on tour with Mickey Avalon, and Cisco Adler will be at the Shark Club on the Kirkland Waterfront, Thursday April 9th… TPD Live Concert Series in full effect!

Limited Discounted Presale Tickets available @ teampartydown.com/boxoffice.asp

Party Down

Check it.

Privilege Saturday March 14th @ Glo (Seattle, WA)

Dirt Nasty Thursday March 12th @ The Shark (Kirkland, WA)

Privilege Saturday March 7th @ Glo (Seattle, WA)

Three cheers for everyone in the industry, TPD or not… Keep the support systems strong and keep showing love for our city!

Hope to see you all out soon!

The jist of it is, Twitter is a mini blogging site. Unlike status updates on Myspace and Facebook, you’re updating the people of your choice with mini blogs and blurbs into your daily life. What better a way to bridge the gap between texting, blogging and saturated social network sites?

If you’re on Twitter, add us! Click the names/links below to follow TPD and our personal accounts… tweet ya later!

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW TPD

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW TJ AKA one Timothy Richie

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW Shara AKA one Shara Bean

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW Eric AKA one Eric Hilton

Pretty much the best thing ever.

Presale Tickets @ TPD BOX OFFICE.

It’s official, one Simon Rex AKA Dirt Nasty of The Dyslexic Speedreaders (with Andre Legacy and Mickey Avalon) will be performing LIVE at The Shark Club Thursday, March 12th, in the biggest show to ever hit the Eastside - TPD & The Shark are selling discounted tickets by CLICKING HERE !

Mm.. so the people on myspace who update their status every four minutes now have a place where they can go where the people who actually pay attention to what they’re doing can “follow” their updates?! In a sense, for the rest of us who don’t really care to be force fed what everyone is doing at every given moment of the day, it’s an ingenious filter… but in regard to the rest of the site, content is lacking. It’s like one big clusterf*ck of a chat but everyone is just talking about themselves. The site revolves around peoples’ egocentricity?

After spending 10 minutes on the site, I have come to the conclusion that Twitter is just another means for peoples’ time to go wasted. I just don’t get what the craze is all about.

Edward Graziano, father of John Graziano (the kid Nick Hogan left in a vegetative state after his 2007 car accident) was arrested today for attempting to solicit a hit man on his wife, Deborah. And, ironically, the fact that he wanted her killed in a car accident is only the icing on the cake.

The kicker: he paid for the hit with $1100 cash, a $1000 personal check and a $13.06 giftcard to Westshore Pizza.

Really??? Haha what is wrong with people?!

Hello, Pot, this is Kettle and you are black.

Nightlife as a whole is susceptible to the criticisms of anyone and everyone; whether they’re jaded by something, not part of the “inner circle” of their choice or those who simply chose not to live their lives in the limelight. But the criticisms and maxims come with the territory, as they do in any other industry. Stereotypes and prejudices don’t define people and if you truly believe otherwise you’ve got another thing coming. Hell, if they did I’m sure every mortgage broker or loan officer in the past two years would have been to rehab twice and filed bankruptcy by now, every “Joeys Girl” would have made their way through every social group in the city and those of you who simply enjoy going out on a regular basis would be deemed coke heads and groupies.. or both.

What a lot of people do not take into account is that behind the scenes, first and foremost, what we do is a business; the limelight comes with the territory. No one in their right mind is going to let some farcical speculation get to them in this industry. Especially when it’s coming from someone hiding behind the comfort of complete anonymity. I guarantee whoever feels the need to berate others for anything, whether between friends or on a public forum, is losing more sleep than the people they feel so compelled to talk about. Like I have always said, if people are talking, you must be doing something right. It’s flattering, really.

And flattery will only get you so far… When we’re sittin pretty w/ a hefty skrill flow in 5 years and you’re still running your mouth about whoever pissed in your cheerios that week, just remember: You are only as good as the love you have for other people, including yourself.

Think about it.

Cheers.

… Effing money.

Fanshionisto, Kanye West and self proclaimed Louis Vuitton Don tries his hand at design, partnering up with his favorite designer to release a line of footwear called, Louie… How fitting. West has been sporting the yet-to-be-released kicks on his own feet the past few weeks and they were featured on the LV runway during Paris Fashion Week. Dope style or overly glamourized tennis shoes in flashy colors?

I mean, I like Maroon 5 just as much as the next guy…but I’m getting sick of people asking me to park their car.

One time I did get owned pretty tough by an “Aladdin” reference.

According to Jay Z, Chris Brown is a dead man. Any show he books, Jay will perform for FREE; any radio stations that play Chris Brown will no longer be permitted to play anything produced my Def Jam. A source tells Us Weekly, “He hit the roof. Chris is a walking dead man. He messed with the wrong crew.”

Daaaamn Sammy. Looks like Chris Brown’s got another thing coming.

What happens when the old schoolers turn 30 and are still partying it up like and with 21 year olds? What happens when 21 year olds who once had to earn their way into the scene have egos the size of their “friends list” on some networking site?

If you’re on this site, you’re already engaged in the scene on some level. What defines your scene?

When we say ANY drink we are talking about any drink, like, Patron, Jager, Long Islands, AMF’s, Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Grey Goose and Ketel.  Feel free to mix them with whatever you want whether it be soda, tonic, coke or red bull, its all the same.

So, even if you pay for a bracelet, and pay full cover, you can still have 4 shots of patron and all of it for under $30. Bottom line, unless you’re having less than 2 drinks, someone else is buying all of your drinks, or you aren’t drinking, you should buy a bracelet.

Read the full story here.

See one extremely talented DJ, Evil One, for yourself at The Shark in Kirkland tonight and at Imperial VIP’s 1 Year Anniversary Party at Last Supper Club tomorrow night; Los Scandalous, Sin City, NYC, AZ, PDX & now Seattle - He will rock it, guaranteed.

Time to step up the ever so repetitive game of ‘accredited’ DJ’s in the world of weekly events.

Scary sh*t.