Last night at Remembrance there was plenty to remember. At first, I went into this event rather irritated. The disorganization was almost on level with the Identity Road to Ultra tour 3 years ago. It was so bad I never forgot it. Nobody last night working the event seemed to know what was going on. There were 3 events on the same block and most security guards didn’t know which one they were securing. I was sent to 5 different lines before getting to the press line. The press line itself was in a line for an entirely different event. I stood in that line for a half hour before I finally got in… to the wrong event.
Not to worry though, once I made my way through one party, through the VIP bathrooms, to the other side of the building, it was clear that Remembrance knew what they were doing. The stage was impressive, and the DJs were throwing down hot track after hot track. The crowd was amped up and the vibe was nothing but positive. I even ran into about 20 EDM friends from all different groups throughout the venue. You know it’s a good event when you run into people you’ve run into at numerous other awesome events.
As far as the DJs go, they brought their best. Tommy Trash and Chuckie were solid as usual. Dada Life’s set was so fire that 3/4s of the club didn’t even notice that somehow a smoke bomb firework was set off and part of the club filled with smoke and was forced out a side door. The unlucky 1/4th that had to deal with that, including a large part of my crew, stampeded out the side doors gasping for air. They clearly were not aware of the fact that they followed the prankster out the doors for more gas. Then they weren’t allowed back in for another half hour as the security had to search them all and escort them around to the correct side for re-entry.
Jorge Ramirez, one of the gas bomb victims, informed us that the fire marshals showed up and had him give them an account for what happened. This is what he told me…
“There was a pop right when a big drop happened so nobody really heard it too loud. All I know is there was a lot of smoke and people couldn’t breathe so we all left out the side door. I am pretty sure it was one of those gas bombs you can buy at a firework store. We ended up missing at least a half hour of the show but nobody got hurt or anything.”
I was fortunate enough to have been buying a drink and turned around just in time to see the empty floor, the gas clearing and one girl dancing in the middle, not caring at all about the cloud of smoke she was dancing in … MY +1. I knew I chose the right friend to come.
Soon after, Maarten Hoogstraton, living member of the Bingo Players got on stage and thanked everyone for attending Remembrance. For those of you who didn’t know, the event took place to honor his friend, and previous Bingo Player, Paul Baumer, who lost his life to cancer December 17th, 2013. In his honor, a percentage of the money made at this event went to cancer research. From 3am until midmorning, the solo Bingo Player dropped all their best tracks and so much more.
This event was certainly entertaining, and I had a great time. However, I feel that many people who attended will forever remember this event as the time that a smoke bomb went off. Maybe if the security wasn’t so damn clueless they could’ve prevented this. At least it was only a smoke bomb. Could have been worse though… Get your shit together Ice Palace.
Rebecca Furman – Writer