Venue: North Atlanta Trade Center - Atlanta, GA
Presented by: Liquid Groove

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to tell you a story. A story of smiles, dancing, music and beauty. A story I like to call: "My Journey into the Liquified Universe."

I anticipated the huge crowd that would gather before the party, so I knew I wanted to get there early. So, since there were only two of us — my friend Greg, better known as Superstar DJ Uno, and I — agreeing on a time wasn't that hard. We rolled into the parking lot at about six o'clock. (This was luckily before the crowd of kidz had gathered at the parking lot entrance, stopping cars, looking for extra tickets.) There were only about fifteen kidz there before us. So, we parked right up front, turned up the CD player, and began to talk to five kidz from Nashville. They were all looking for tickets, which made me feel terrible. How could I let anyone miss this party?! As time went by, the parking lot became full of kidz, either looking for tickets, or jumping around excitedly, like me. The greatest thing I saw during the parking lot portion of the party was the van full of candy kidz, in full costume, with the huge smilie face blow up toy, with Sasha and John Digweed written in huge letters on the back, sitting on top of their van.

Around eight, for a reason that is still not clear to me, kidz began to migrate toward the door, forming the biggest line I've ever seen. And, since Greg and I were one of the first to arrive, we were in the very front of the line. Now, this was no ordinary line. A girl standing about ten people behind us saw an old friend of hers walk by. She then screams the girl's name and pushes through the people to hug her and scream some more. So, the entire crowd starts screaming right along with her. After it quieted down, I looked at my friend Greg and screamed, "Oh my god, GREG!!!!!" And again, the whole crowd started screaming and jumping up and down with us. It was great! I guess everyone thought the whole screaming thing was pretty funny, so, this started the count down. Every five minutes, the time was screamed out, and the kidz went wild. Nine o'clock came. The doors did not open. The countdown ended, but someone must have missed all of the screaming. One kid jumped up on the rail and screamed, "This is the best line I've ever been in!!!" WHOOOOOOOO!!!! We were constantly teased by the security guards coming outside. The doors would open: WHOOOOOO!!!!! Out came a security guard. The doors would close: BOOOOOOOOOOO!! We were given instructions on what would and would not be allowed inside. A riot almost broke out when the security guards yelled, "No cigarettes allowed inside." So, like an idiot, I throw three brand new packs of cigarettes into the masses behind me. Then it hit me! April Fool's Day!!! Liquid Groove, you owe me three packs of Marlboro Lights!

At nine thirty, the doors opened. And guess who was the very first person inside! That's right! I was. Greg followed me in, and for about five minutes, we jumped up and down in the lobby and laughed at everyone else who was still in line. I know it was immature, but you would have done the same thing! We ran into the main room first, and had to pick our jaws up off of the floor. The North Atlanta Trade Center was HUGE! We pretty much got to see the place "naked," which was cool. But within an hour, the place was packed. I hope people respected this venue because it was gorgeous. Besides, who wouldn't want more parties to be thrown here? So, we hit up the Rabbit in the Moon stand, bought a RITM shirt, and got a free shirt. Then, it was time to dance!

Ulises opened the party with his well-known house anthems. By the time he played "Get Get Down," a personal favorite, the dance floor was packed. I had to stop for a minute to catch my breath. I looked around and saw tons of kidz dancing their asses off, with giant smiles on their faces. It was a sight that made me feel good. I was so glad that Ulises opened the party, because he set the mood for the whole night. He had the whole place pumping with energy that flowed through the thousands of dancers. As usual, everyone I talked to said the same thing about Ulises: "He tore it up." And they were right. Going to see Ulises is always so exciting because you know that you're gonna hear some great house that will make you move. He NEVER disappoints.

Monk followed Ulises, which made people even happier. He blew kidz away with his hard Gabber house and jungle. It was the perfect formula for this crowd. Monk had everyone so hyped up. I have never seen so many kidz dancing at one time. I looked at all the kidz around me dancing, then, I turned around and saw that EVERYONE was dancing. Monk's music made my heart pound so hard that I thought it might explode. Thanx to him, I lost all feeling in my legs for fifteen minutes, but it was well worth it. I had never seen Monk before, but I assure you, I won't miss him again.

And what came next was pure beauty. Everyone rushed the stage when it was time for Rabbit in the Moon. The bass line kicked in, and all the kidz started to scream. But when Bunny came out in his Robo-Bunny costume, the kidz went WILD. Rabbit in the Moon took a live PA one step further. Not only was the music mystifying, but Bunny's performance and different costumes per song drove people to the brink of insanity...myself included. If you have never seen Rabbit in the Moon, see them, see them as soon as you can. When the very first beat of "O.B.E., Out of Body Experience," was heard, I actually saw people with tears in their eyes. This song is so unbelievably beautiful, that I was hypnotized. I have the CD, and I listen to it all the time, but hearing it live is quite a different experience. For this song, Bunny came out in the Bunny-glow costume. (He's in a black suit with long glowsticks all over himself.) He began to throw handfuls into the crowd, and everyone began swinging them around over their heads. It created beautiful mood lighting for this song. I must give MAD props to Bunny for his elaborate costumes, which had to be incredibly hot as well.

If you missed some of his costumes, here's some to add to your memory: Robo-Bunny, Bunny-sloth, Bunny-beatle, Bunny-ring, Bunny-mirror, Bunny-samurai, Bunny-fire, and Bunny-glow. Another cool thing about Bunny: he stage dives! I don't think anyone will ever top Rabbit in the Moon's performance in my eyes. I've never seen anything so amazing in my entire life!! From now on, wherever Rabbit in the Moon will be, I will be there too.

After Rabbit in the Moon exited the stage, the excitement still hung thick in the air, for it was now time for Sasha and John Digweed to make their entrance. All they had to do to drive the kidz crazy was walk out on stage. I'd never seen them live before, but I had heard Northern Exposure. I had high expectations of them, because Northern Exposure is one of my favorite CDs. My expectations were not nearly as high as they should have been! Sasha and Digweed did not disappoint me, or anyone else for that matter. They blew the roof off with their progressive house and trance. The main room was packed and the kidz danced like tomorrow would never come!

I looked around, realizing that Sasha and John Digweed had put us all on the exact same level. Everyone was having the exact same feelings simultaneously. You could tell just by looking at everyone! Often, I would look up on stage, and wonder to myself how two people could be responsible for such exquisite music. I had to escape for a while, so I finally made it over to the jungle room.

When I had finally made my way through the masses, I took a good look at the jungle room. It wasn't full, but there were still a lot of people there. The good thing about this: you had room to dance, without smacking anyone in the face! Most know that I'm not the biggest jungle fan, but that changed within a matter of seconds. Grooverider, AKA "The Godfather," and Fabio had captivated me into a drum & bass/jungle zone that I had never been in. Over a solid hour of dancing made me understand why Grooverider is known as "The Godfather." His ways of drum & bass moved asses! And Fabio! Fabio should be known as "The Jungle King"! This UK DJ showed me all the wonderful things about jungle that I had never noticed before. This set was pure brilliance.

This party will never be forgotten. The vibe was great, the kidz were psyched, the venue was awesome, and the DJs were astonishing. If you missed this party: how could you have done something like that, start kicking yourself now, and I'm so sorry. Truly, the Atlanta scene was reflected throughout his party. I must thank Liquid Groove for throwing the party of the century!! And, as Blake, AKA Blue Boy, said, "This party was PHAT."