A week from now, on Sunday May 10th, trance is attempting to make its way back into Vancouver with a bang. For Vancouver’s resident trance fans, limited options for a night of electronic music on the town are the norm and long has the city’s scene now been dominated by hip hop & top 40. On May 10th, at the sleek and stylish Shine Nightclub in Gastown, DJs Eric Allen (and my personal friend!), Marty Palin and Danny Taylor (resident DJ in Taipei’s Ministry of Sound) are bringing back the trance sound. As the second of two trial trance nights, May 10th hopes to bring out enough trance fans to make the night a regular staple in Vancouver’s nightlife scene.

On May 10th, come down, dance, relax and enjoy a fresh new sound in one of the hottest clubs in the city!  With plenty of seating, an expansive main room and a smooth and relaxing second room, Shine is an ideal venue for this event and with your support hopes to hold many “Experience” Trance nights in the future.  As the event is on a Sunday night, parking downtown is easy and available. Cover is FREE before 11pm.  I’ll be there!

Click HERE for the Facebook Event.

Despite the freezing cold weather and bare legs (thank goodness for nice bouncers and no line-up even at 11pm), we had another night out at Ginger 62. If there is such thing as a “resident club” that I frequent, this would be the one. But only on Friday nights with Canthrill’s Lobby Nights. And, what an appropriate way to celebrate my first Friday night out since exams, with a group of 10+ of us and DJs Kamm and Skilla spinning house tracks and a live percussionist and saxaphon(ist) on stage above a comfortably packed dance floor. All I drank that night were rounds of shooters – Red Dragons, Lemon Drops with a sugarcoated shotglass rim and my personal favorite – Pornstars, made with Blue Curacao and Sour Puss Raspberry. But do not be fooled by the sweetness – alcohol content definitely adds up. Ask for any of these 1-oz shots and they’ll know what you’re talking about – especially “Justin”, our bartender for the night.

POP OPERA (686 West Hastings) had its grand opening last night. After over an hour of waiting in the guestlist line up (ironically, my guestlist didn’t go through…but that’s a whole other story) the only reason why my group of three made it through the wait was because we outlasted the lineup, contrary to many frustrated party-goers giving up and waving down cabs on the street instead. That being said, the lineup was one of the more enjoyable aspects of my night! The weather was fairly warm with no rain, the people in the line-up were civilized not rowdy, the bouncers were respectful not rude and I had the fantastic opportunity to catch up with two of my friends

Once inside, coat check was $5: a steep price to pay on a summer’s evening, but not atypical of the Donnelly Nightclubs. Pop Opera’s interior had the same architectural structure as the old Club 686 yet modern updates, including lighting and artwork, gave it an upscale feel. This club was made for VIP – with several roped off areas encompassing white couches and rectangular tables, on top of which were menus for bottle service. Regardless, the club felt…cluttered…rather than spacious. True, the wooden dancefloor was large and accommodating, but tables were too close to the bar and more often than not, we had to squeeze past people in the narrowness.

Like any other club, the dancefloor had its moments with a jumping crowd one song and a dwindling, thinning crowd the next. Perhaps this was due to an erratic music choice. The featured DJs were “Flipout and J Swing” from The Beat 94.5 FM yet I found the song selection more appropriate for radio, not for a dancefloor. Perhaps that was the sound Pop Opera was aiming for – with a wide selection of song genres – from grungy hip-hip beats to classic oldskool.

A door to the left of the DJ booth led to a smaller area enclosed in dark glass. (For those of you who have been to the previous Club 686, this would be where the VIP seating was). With a square-ish dance floor and rounded walls with full length mirrors, a completely different set of music was being played absolutely isolated and sound proof from the main room.

Overall, the branding of “POP OPERA” brings to mind Andy Warhol style pop- art and bright bubbly colors (ie. the Friday night posters and guest passes for complimentary colors with its contrasting bright pink and pastels) yet the actual venue was inconsistent with my assumptions. Nonetheless, I am glad I had to opportunity to check out such a hyped-up and anticipated club

Last night I went to the Industry and Media Reveal for Tunnel Bar|Lounge (622 West Pender Street) which was an invitation-only event to preview the club before it opens to the general public. Thank you to DJ Skilla, the resident DJ at Ginger 62 for handing me these passes while he was DJing at my 21st birthday party last week. The event started at 8pm-ish and we were given complementary drink tickets (stylish, mini, fuscha-colored cardboard squares) in the line up. By 10pm the club was already starting to fill up with groups of people who know a lot of other people from working in “the industry”. The picture below is taken from the BACK of the club, facing the front entrance:

The Tunnel venue is a long, rectangular club. Looking through the entrance, you could see right to the end of the club, where the DJ booth is located. Coatcheck is on the right, a small, veiled VIP lounge is on the left. Beyond that, the bar, its white counter stretched down on the left side of the club while couches were opposite it on the right. Behind the bar were wide TV screens flashing scenes of a driver’s-seat view of (appropriately) driving through a tunnel. At the back end of the room, with the dance floor and DJ booth, the walls and ceiling curved where they met to give the impression of a tunnel. The washrooms were slightly grungy with its with black walls and pink graffitti yet elegant chandelier lamps hung from the ceiling

At the event, broadcasters were there to film the progression of Tunnel club – from the planning to the launch. They intend to pitch the series to a number of networks later this summer. I have to say, you should check this club out if not for any other reason than to see what the hype is all about. From my blog stats, more people are visiting Modern Mix Vancouver from search terms relating to Tunnel than any other search query.

1. Kanye West – Stronger
2. 50 Cen vs. Bob Sinclair – Ayo Hold On
3. Enur ft Natasja – Calabria 08
4. Commodores – Easy Like Sunday Morning (Tittsworth remix)
5. Axwell – Feel The Vibe
6. Kylie Minogue – Wow
7. Tom Novy – Your Body
8. David Guetta – Love Has Gone
9. Discotech – Sweet Apoloize
10. Eric Prydz – Pjanoo
11. Digitalism – Pogo
12. Whitest Boy Alive – Golden Cage (Fred Falke remix)
13. Holy Ghost! – Hold On
14. Estelle ft Kanye West – American Boy
15. Snoop vs The Jets – Sensual Crush
16. M.I.A. – Paper Planes

From the promotional bags with a media folder full of information on Donnelly Hospitality Management which is the “creative management company overseeing the marketing and operation of leading edge pubs and nightclubs in downtown Vancouver”, here are some cool facts about the group from the media folder and press release I was given:
+ DHM owns and operates 9 venues – four clubs, four pubs and a cocktail lounge
+ Wallpaper, an architecture/design magazine, mentions Bar None as one of the best bars to have a drink
+ The Modern was voted as the best new venue in the Clubvibes 2008 nightlife awards
+ Granville Room and Republic were voted in the Westender’s Reader Choice Awards (2008 ) as the place for the best drinks

Impressive achievements!