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8 gigs in 10 days - Turin, Rome, London, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Mamaia, Liverpool & Aberdeen.
Posted: June 9, 2009
What’s happening House Gangsters?? I know it’s been a while since my last blog, but after this past tour I needed some down time to do things on the home tip. I’m a very busy bee even while I’m at home resting. Lots of fun things have been poppin’ up, and believe me, it’s still lots of work. A quick recap of the current events … The studio computer has been put on overload and has been pumpin’ out a train of remixes & original tracks for this summer. I’m finishing up more music than ever, plus bouncin’ music from old (DAT) tapes …. Remember those little things?? If not, look it up! Ha-ha! I’ve been pulling out many original tracks from the Vaults to add to the digital world. It’s all original music from 1992 ‘till 1999. I’m re-mastering and digitizing masters from the early rise of my career. A lot of it was released on independent labels but they don’t have the unreleased mixes and dubs that I have, so as a treat for everybody, I’m spending many days doing the work so it can be up soon. Look out for it on your friendly digital provider, I will send you all a note when they’re ready!
If there is an old Sneak track that you’d love to hear again and/or even have to play out, drop me an msg and a little quote about the tune you like and I’ll do my best to find the old track, dust if off, put it in my case and even get it online for download. Some of these old records are not available any longer but the music lives, so I’m bringing it out again for everybody to enjoy!
STAY TUNED for ...Send your track request to Sneak ...It’s a crazy thing, but workin’ all day and night in my studio really gets me charged to get back on the road soon to play festivals, parties and random events that are scheduled for this summer. A bunch of my summer gigs have been updated on the website so stay in touch and follow the “Original House Gangster” for some great House vibes around your town or country soon.
Now let’s get chattin’ about this past tour, and what an amazing tour it was … it was a tough one, but it was nothin’ the big man can’t handle!
And we’re off ….. 8 gigs in 10 days!
So after many years of not going to Italy, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I haven’t visited this country for close to 10 years and was a little skeptical when I found myself on route to Turin (Torino). When I arrived I was blown away … people where super excited to see the return of Chicago House and I truly believe that Italy is now finally ready for House Music again. I arrived to be greeted and taken care of by an old acquaintance GIGI, this Italian guy has been into House from way back when, he even traveled thru the USA hitting cities like New York and Chicago meeting and experiencing the US House scene first hand to bring it back to Italy. Turin is a great looking city, I believe it is considered the first real city in Italy before Rome took over as the capitol. I had a very exciting time in Turin, the people were real excited as well. I played at Esperia Circolo Canottieri, the space was awesome, the sound was right, and the crowd was well ready to get Housed up! We all had a great time and best of all, I know I’ll be playing more in Italy cause I’ve now seen it with my own eyes that the change has begun and House music wants to be heard. Respect to all the people that took care of me … Thanks for the nice dinner, great Italian wines, and to the occasional “spliff”.
Another party, another serious House down! Now I get on the road again on my way to “Roma” for a “fiesta privata”. So I only had a few hours of rest and BANG!, I’m back in Rome trying to make it to this outdoor day event. Straight from the airport, I was ushered to this day party and into the booth area where once again I start bangin’ the beats down. It’s around midday and I’m schedule to play an outdoor party before heading back to the Rome airport to catch a later flight to London… And all this is to happen in 24 hours!! So, I get to Rome and get right into the party. There were like a few thousand young Italians jammin’ out in the sun in a park and it was a great sunny day. This party was also a great event hosted by a young guy that works with “Circo Loco” in Ibiza. The vibe was incredible, I played for like 3 hours, I gave them a good taste of the “sneaky styles” and I believe I won the crowd over when I started droppin’ music they recognized while mixing it up between some cutting edge new House joints that I have in my arsenal of music. Rome was great and I’m looking forward to getting back there soon to keep the House vibe going. I really want to thank “Marco Tron” Rich Smith & Diego (F&G) for the best time in Italy … so for now, Ciao Bella!
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
So like a rolling stone I was on my way back to the airport to catch another flight to get to London for a later show at Matter, Fabric’s new club at the O2 arena. I started to get tired but in this world, there’s no rest for the wicked. I got to London, popped into the Hotel, met up with a few friends and then headed out to the club … and this was all in 1 hours time after arriving. I was very excited, as I knew what was about to go down, Derrick Carter and Sneak “BACK TO BACK TO BACK TO BACK” for 5 hours ….What??!! We got to the club, which is a very awesome place, the layout is really dope and the sound systems in all rooms is proper and I was ready. What can I say, when I get to play with my DJ mentor & good friend DC, it’s just one of the best things I could ever do. The moment we rolled into the club, I knew is was going to be one of those EPIC moments in my career. The Party was off the hook! The other rooms were filled with fellow House DJs like Theo Parrish and Dennis Ferrer, they did the House thing too, so all around, Matter was poppin’!! I’m sure there are loads of videos on youtube and I’ve taken a few recordings myself … make sure to check them out. Big Ups to the Matter boys Will & Peter, they really took care of all of us and I enjoyed every second of the night. Looking forward to many shows here. Very special thanks to all of you that came out to this massive arena to support House music. Also big love to Theo Parish, one of my favorite Detroit DJs, he was holding it down at the end of the night, very enjoyable indeed.
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
Ahhhhhhh Amsterdam … after a very long crazy beginning of a tour there is nothing I’d rather be doing then chillin in Amsterdam. It’s the perfect spot to relax before hitting the road again. As usual, I hit up the Grey Area and got my supplies so I could chill out and get some sleep. Monday comes around and guess what, I was off to Rotterdam to hit up Club Vie. Club Vie does this “big DJ on a Monday night” party, mostly for the industry people to come out and enjoy themselves. It was packed with loads of good looking people, a very mixed crowd indeed, many “Caribbean” looking heads were up in the place so I knew right away that I was going to snap a “Latin” House set out and blow them away. The vibe was cool and people were really enjoying the party, and to add to the fun, they had a live percussionist in-house. I’m very amused to see the Dutch enjoying the Latin vibe, so I put the Puerto Rican Sneak On! I rocked it out for a few hours and then to top off a good night, I got a gangster Taxi ride back to Amsterdam in this sick black Cadillac!! The Caddy was pippin’ and the taxi driver was very proud to be driving it around Holland. It’s things like this that really make me appreciate the adventures of my job!
So we head back to Amsterdam for a couple of days off ‘till I hit the airports and car rides again. I had another quick gig in Amsterdam on Wednesday night at “Melkweg” a very cool venue for locals and guests alike. Amsterdam was getting ready for their yearly “Queensday” celebrations and even though I was going to miss the Big Day this year, I was ready to enjoy the pre party. The party was at Melkweg and there was a huge turnout, it was a younger crowd with a few tourists enjoying the celebrations. I was a little surprised but was ready to get them all dancing for a few hours. As the night went along I knew I was giving them a great time so the party went off once again … wow what a tour so far! I came to do work and the work was what was being done, and it was all heppening with great vibes, great people and great music. Shouts ‘n’ Respect to all the “Chiefzz” that came out to support, there was plenty to smoke and I was lovin’ it ....
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
Okay, so the Holland gigs are done and I’m back on the road again … this time I had to rush to my boy’s apartment to grab my stuff and head out to a airport hotel so I could sleep for like 3 hours, to then check out and check in to my next flight to Bucharest, then I had to get to Mamaia. Staying at airport hotels come in handy when I have to fly the very next morning and want to avoid traffic, or in this case, avoid the Queensday lockdown as the city centre gets crazy by 10 am. I did my best to support the Holland tradition and wore my bright orange shirt on my way out … ‘til next time A-Dam … I’ll miss ya!
Next day, next gig, next country … Once again my friends I find myself on my way to one of the best places I’ve been playin’ over the past year and a half. I was greeted by Derrick Carter & Jay Haze and the three of us all got on our way to Mamaia. We got into a Mercedes Benzo and hit the road jack! Getting to Mamaia is a trek, with very little traffic, you can make it in like 3 ½ hours, but today was not our lucky day, it took us 3 hours just to get from the airport to central Bucharest! Then we had to cut thru these crazy back roads that weren’t even finished and were more like dirt roads. We spent so much time in the car and we were starving and needed something fast. Now I would never do this under any other circumstance, but we ended up eating at McDonalds … I HATE McDonalds!! Anyways I thought I would mention this cause it’s extremely strange for me to ever eat at this place ... ever … even the smell turns me off for real. But the Romanian McDonalds are something different, it was like a 5 star McD’s, we ordered our food and they served us at our tables, it was like a real restaurant. It was a very strange experience and we all took turns trying to explain to our Romanian driver that there were simply NO McDonalds like this in the USA or Canada. It was crazy, the restrooms, the eating areas, everything was kinda done like a W hotel lobby, weird man I’m telling you. The food didn’t look so bad but sorry to disappoint the McD lovers, it still sorta sucked.
Anyways, after almost 8 hours of being in the “Benzo” we finally got to Mamaia. We literary checked into the hotel, grab some grub and we were on our way to do the Do! This was another Sunwaves Spring party and there were loads of students gathered to open up the season for summer. A ton of opening events and a lot of DJs. The nights main event was DJ Sneak & Derrick Carter back to back for like ever … It was the best vibe and the best response so far in Romania for both of the Chicago Bad Boys … we were once again in the same place & same time and we were ready to take over and play one hour sets each for like 8 hours, no joke. We got to play whatever we felt like cause the crowd was just ready to handle it. After the 8 hours, the sun was up and once again I stared at the black sea for a few minutes and said to myself “someday I’m gonna swim in that!” Every time I’ve ever visited Mamaia it’s been a quick in and out so I never get a free beach day. That morning was kind of cold 'n' rainy as the summer hasn’t kicked in yet so I’ll plan it for the next time. I actually ended up having the next day off but after all the traveling I had done so far I was ready to sleep, so that’s what I did, for like a day! When I woke up I hooked up with my new friend tibia aka TBF, a young House DJ producer out of Bucharest, and we went and had a quick meal and hit up a party with my homees Jay Haze and Loco Dice. I spent a few hours at this party then headed back to the same event I had played the night before to show love and support for the local Bucharest talent DJ Raresh, Rhadoo and Pedro were putting it down on the minimal and deep House tip, they’re a solid crew and they really have the love for the craft, I can clearly see it which is great cause we need more House music soldiers spreading the gospel. Good nights back to back to back … this was an incredible tour so far.
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
So yeah! After a long drive back to Bucharest the next day, I’m on my way to Liverpool, England! Home of the Beatles, Nation & Circus … tonight’s party was another all around huge event. Nation, the old venue where Cream did their nights for many years, is now the venue used by the Circus/Chibuku fellows. This was a massive party, totally sold out with an incredible balanced line up, Carl Cox, Darren Emerson, Yousef, Me & Derrick Carter and Loco Dice … we were running the show. I played with DC for a few hours and then he took off to another party while I stayed behind with the entourage and chilled for the night. It kinda felt weird and like a twilight zone moment because we were all partying in this same place like 15 years ago and now we were with a very different young crew who are now the ones running the show. They’re doing a great job though so that’s good. I spent some time in the world smallest bar which is inside this dressing room where they were playing 80’s Music all night long from an Ipod thru a shitty speaker box … It was strange but it worked, about 5 people in the room at a time, that’s it … It’s something to see, experience and to mention cause it is so bizarre. Much love always to the Liverpool massive, Sam Duplay + Cal, My boy Rasta Geoff, Mono-Matt and the rest of the crew, always great to connect with some of the old heads from the past/fast times in Liverpool.
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
After a very long night I escaped the madness and went to sleep for like 4 hours and then I was off to Aberdeen Scotland. So here we are, day 10 and gig #8. This was my first time in Aberdeen and I’ve heard this was a great little place to party, and well, what else should I have expected, it was an awesome crowd ready for some Sneak Beats. I was winding down a little as I knew it had been on a crazy hard and fast tour, I was glad this was my last gig on the road for a little while. SNAFU opened their doors and the party got started, the opening DJ played some cool House, which really put me in the mood to close it out with a bang. We all had a great time for the few hours we spent rockin’ out to some quality House beats. SNAFU is a dope little jam, thanks for all the love as usual…
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
Well, this is it my friends, I hope I was able to give you a sneak peak into the world of hustlin’ for House music. 8 gigs in 10 days in 6 different countries is tuff but well worth it when the parties are all pretty bang on! I’m now at home recharging and getting ready to head into the summer tours. Believe me, we’ve got tons of dope stuff lined up. Keep it up my follow House Gangsters and I’ll see y’all soon.
Much Love & Respect
Sneak
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