Venue: The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
Presented by: Vinyl Boy

Kat and I arrived to the Masquerade's Playhouse, featuring Rick West, about an hour before the rush. I had prepared her to front ten at the door but with the ever so secret password, Kooky Kevin, she could be let in for eight. To further the reduction of price a certain DJ (slight clearing of the throat — Rick West?) did not show, so all partiers paid six. This saved four dollars got everyone in the mood for the fun evening ahead of them.

Unlike the bouncers and friskers at big raves, the Playhouse exhibited nice and friendly doormen who were eager to talk for as long as you wanted. They seemed as if they actually belonged to a ticket booth in a 50's theatre.

Once inside, the music started to consume us as it had the, oh let's say seven people who were actually on the dance floor. Don't worry, it massively picked up as the evening progressed. The vibe started out pretty weak despite the half house, half trance coming from who knows what DJ. This leads me to a very important point regarding the night. When asking what DJ was spinning, a different answer was given from each individual asked. When approaching the DJ booth it was entirely too loud to get a direct answer despite the fact they seemed very nice and eager to talk. I think that it's important for the people who are enjoying the music to know who's DJing. It would be pretty tight if somehow the 3-D laser show, put on by PULSE, could have incorporated the DJ's name once in a while.

Right before the evening picked up and the vibe strengthened I was lucky enough to have a conversation with the Vinyl Boy himself, Chad. After one or so, the place was rollin' pretty good (no drug connotation, as it seemed to be very dry). After long periods of dancing I escaped to the comfortable couches behind the bar. Yet another feature of the Masquerade that I adore.

When returning for another dose of surreal techno that everybody seemed to be enjoying, I saw an old friend from high school chillin' in a corner. He asked if I wanted to dance. I accepted not realizing this was his first experience with any sort of rave environment. He was bashfully cute when he came to the revelation that you don't booty dance with people but instead liquid dance on your own. He eventually caught on. To my surprise I noticed that there were only two glowsticks in the entire place. The whole atmosphere was completely different from any time I had been before due to the lack of rave-like aura that it had. Instead it was more like a techno club. Regardless, everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Kat and I believed Adonis to be the favorite of the night as everybody seemed to hit the floor once he was on...but then again whether or not it was actually Adonis is under speculation due to the DJ confusion throughout the night.