BAD BOY BILL

February 7, 2005 8:38 PM
by

Friday January 28th, 2005
BAD BOY BILL with Steve Smooth and the Emerald City residents
At Emerald City

By DarbyJones

I am going to write this article a little backwards, starting with my synopsis instead of some crazy revelation like I normally do. This was by far the best party I've been to all year. I am not trying to be sneaky, as the year is only a month old. I mean, this was the best party I had been to in the past 12 months, and for that matter, the best party since I moved to Philly.

Why was it so great? There is never any one thing that makes a party stand out. Certain elements can stand out individually (the music, the vibe, your choice of recreational assistance, etc.), but rarely when all cylinders are firing in sync to drive the internal combustion engine forward. Do I sound like a nerd ? Well fuck you, I had a great time and I am here to write about it. If you're reading this and are thinking we werent at the same party, then fuck you again cause you werent paying attention. I was there and I was taking notes. So yes, I am a nerd.

For once I felt like I got to the party late. It was only 12:30, but it was obvious the Emerald City DJs had their own pulling power. The flyer said Bad Boy Bill went on at 1:30, so what were these people doing here so early? Exactly! This was also the first time I had ever been to Emerald City, and damn, their
system is L-O-U-D, loud. Thats not an acronym or anything, its just that you can't tell how loud it was just from reading this. The bass was so low I
thought I could feel my balls vibrating (now if I can just learn to do that on command, maybe I'd have better luck with the ladies).

Though I didnt think this was possible, the back room was actually LOUDER than the front room. And it wasn't loud, crackly bad crap either. Apparently JBL
has a monopoly of the clubs here in Philly and justly so. The lows were low, the highs were high, and there was no clipping. Someone there knew the difference
between a crossover and a compressor, and how to use each one properly. Told you I was a nerd.

It was pointed out to me at some point that some dude had a whistle (not that I could hear it over the sound system), and there was a fair showing of glow sticks
to boot. Despite how this sounds, there was still more of a club atmosphere than a rave vibe as the crowd was very well mixed. From the rock n roll Miss DJ t-shirt girl (who was smokin btw), to the cute raver couple with pink fuzzy shoes and pony jump suit, to the 40 something divorced gym teacher with no rhythm. Hey, he was still dancing (if you can call it that). But Ill leave the guy alone. Loved the
mustache and silver chain dude, you rock.

It was now well passed 1am and Steve Smooth had the crowd in the palms of hands. Straight up house music, funky, bumpy, discolicious with smatterings of horns and guitar licks. He even managed to throw in remixes of Push It by Salt-n-Pepa and "Song #2" by Blur for the extra excitability factor.

Promptly handing the decks off to Bad Boy Bill upon his arrival. The crowd was both sad to see Mr. Smooth go, and giddy to get some Triple B action. Without
missing a beat (pun intended) Bad Boy picked up right where Steve left off. Rocking the crowd with that oh so good Chicago House we all know and love, through to some break beats and back with the requisite name dropping: Ba-B-Ba-B-B-B-B-Ba-B-Bad Boy Bill. Not as heavy on the scratching as in days of past, he still worked the mixer like a maestro and had the crowd moving to the bitter end.

And what an end it was! Dropping Lithium by Nirvana over a steady pounding beat with a heavy bass line. It was'nt some "Hey, listen to this remix I have"
trick either. He had them layered smoother than a stack of buttermilk pancakes. Alas, the lights came up and the song died down. No sooner had the song
faded out than the crowd starting chanting Bad Boy! Bad Boy!, demanding one more. Once the nod was given, the needle dropped and the place erupted. I
shit you not, the girl in front of me leapt right out of her shoes. It was the little raver girl with the pink fuzzy sneakers. Totally appropriate I think. As
much as I would've loved to see the dancers jump out of their plaid school skirts, the party really could'nt have been any better. Many thanks to Deep
Productions for throwing this event. Rumor has it their bringing Felix da Housecat to Philly next. Youve been warned.