The End of an Era For A Nightclub I Helped Open - RIP Lotus in Red Deer
Once upon a time, I was a nightclub/rave DJ. In 1999, the owner of the bar I was working at opened a new club, called the Catwalk. He sent me there to help open it, and I ended up becoming the resident DJ for about 5 years. Back then, they called me Spaz.
A few years after my departure, Catwalk became Lotus, mostly in name only. The place more or less remained the same - a giant concrete building that had a thundering sound system and a pretty amazing light show.
From time to time, when I am feeling old, I think back on the glory days of stuffing over 1,400 people into the club, the dancefloor packed from 10pm until 3am.
A week ago, I received a phonecall from one of the management. The building had been sold, and after nearly 2 decades, the club was closing its doors permanently. I was asked to come play a set one last time for the final night. I was honoured. I couldn't say no to that!
As soon as I arrived this past Saturday night, I began streaming from my phone. I couldn't miss the opportunity to do what was never available to me 20 years ago - to share and broadcast the night.
Unfortunately, parts of the stream were, of course, flagged for copyright, and muted in the final video. But I did manage to dig them all out and salvage a copy of the set for those who wanted to enjoy some old school, late 90s/early 00s techno, trance, pop and hard house.
For anyone who is intersted, the link is here to listen on my mixcloud page.
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This is awesome, thanks for sharing!
I really wanted to go but I was driving clients.
That's a part of why I shared it. I streamed so that those who were regulars from way back when but have now... "grown up" (lol)... could join in from their homes.
Then I noticed the copyright muting, so I took the recording devices I had and joined the audio together to share on a platform that won't mute it, and will ensure the artist gets their cut.
I hadn't been there in years, but I heard Brandon has been filtering money from the business into his pockets. Probably why the youngest son is selling cars....
Yeah, people "hear" a lot of things.