SIRIUS ISSNESS aka Mad Maxx Rip-Off Gig@SOMA

I really would like to say something positive about Max Peterson's (geomagnetic.tv) gig, but I won't. I showed up at their much advertised dance party at SOMA - Spring Equinox and still can't get over feeling like I was tricked. The event was advertised as quasi-underground party, i.e. "location at a warehouse - to be announced." Here is a quick and dirty review of this event, if you were thinking of going and missed it, it's your chance to rejoice at a thought that you didn't miss much.

The "warehouse location" was announced as 58 Tehama street, which is in a small alley of SOMA and under any circumstances , is NOT to be called a warehouse. I've been there to a few gigs, mostly private parties, hosting live music. It could be called a small, intimate space, or a dinky hole, or a room reminiscent of your mom's basement. I don't really have any issues with the space, I am just bloody peeved with the shamless advertising by Max and Co. Needless to say, by the time I realized the location, I already paid my buck. The line-up looked intriguing, so I figured, I could take the risk with the space and potentially the crowd (18+ is rarely a good thing), but Music, surely that will be worth my dough.

The crowd was a bunch of serious pot-heads, your typical high-school drop out kind. They reminded me of my days in high-school and those awful basement parties with a sort of sad, sad , sorry feeling to them. As it goes with these kind of parties, the front row was sprinkled with ethnic drunks, huggie-kissie blah, a few dudes ready to F&*! anything that moves, and friends of the friends of the friends of the DJ. Smoking was everywhere, and while pot is tolerable, cigarette smoking is not, I seriously considered trashing my clothes after the party as they were reeking with cigarette smoke.

And finally, the highlight of the night - the super-dooper, psytrance producer Max Maxx. Monotonous, boring, repetitive, unimaginative, the first 15 seconds of every new transition had you jamming and then right back into the same, familiar routine, over and over and over. Within 30 minutes, it was painfully obvious that Mad Maxx didn't have the stuff to jump start the party.

All in all, next time you see a gig by geomagnetic or Max Peterson, save yourself some money and time. Go take your good vibes somewhere else.