This is not your typical review. I’m not going to go in to technical detail about the music; this is my personal experience with Sunday School and why my friends and I keep coming back each year. With exception of the first Sunday School, I’ve attended all of them and 2010 was one of my favorites.

I arrived to SSFD just in time to see the Adam Beyer and Ida Engberg tag team set. I was craving some DJ tag team action all during Winter Music Conference week, and Sunday School was the only place I really got it. After seeing Ida’s performance last year, what I found most interesting was seeing the dynamics between her and Beyer.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHEtoa4m5ak&feature=related

Another musical highlight for me was seeing Funktion live – in fact he was the highlight of my week. He wasn’t for the faint of heart, as his set was a strong hard performance. The techno purist in him definitely, was out in full force. It was the first time catching him play live, and he left me speechless.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tjWq5_p13w

Seth Troxler, Pawel, DOP Live, Paco, along with Danny Howells and Lee Buridge all delivered good sets.  I especially liked Danny & Lee’s tag team set, it was a stand out moment when they played Birds and Souls’ debut single “Birds and Souls” . It’s been a track that has definitely been on my playlist since it came out.

At first I questioned some of the artist on the lineup, mainly Victor Calderone, Sebastian Leger and Tom Middleton. Compared to previous years these additions seemed a bit out of place. But have no fear – in Made we trust. And as expected this year the music was great all around. I can see why Made would want to add artists like Calderon and Leger. They attract a wider audience, which is not necessarily a bad thing; especially if this audience comes to see those artist and they get a taste of a sound. If they like it, then effectively they’ve been converted to “The Darkside of the Underground”. I guess you could say they’ve been schooled! I didn’t make it in time to see Calderone, but I did catch Sebastian Leger, and he surprised me. He played strictly techno and did a good job closing out the party.

There are a number of other reasons beside the music that Sunday School is a must for me. Feeling like a kid again when I wait in line for some ice cream, secretly hoping it would rain to watch people hide under a school bus, and the cast of characters that attend. This year included a Wonder Woman and Jesus.

But most importantly, I know SSFD is the one place year after year I know I will see all of my friends. It’s our final chance to all  hang out and enjoy the music before going back to “reality”. So even though I was walking around like a zombie, I knew I had to make it there because making it there is a tradition we all share.

Sunday School for Degenerates has been arguably the best show I’ve been to for each of the last two years during Winter Music Conference. The first year I went, I was treated to sets from Sebo K and Guy Gerber out in the blasting sun at the Pawn Shop. Then last year the hyper-weird set from Steve Bug, the genuinely intriguing set from Seth Troxler, the stand-out performance by the idyllic and punishing Ida Engberg, and total dance destruction from Jooris Voorn just when you thought you couldn’t take any more.

There are places to lie down and sleep, couches to relax on, school buses to stare ironically at, strange if tasty food cooked to order (kind of), and a convenient convenience store a short walk away, with magically rising prices as the days goes on. There is an ice cream truck, the potential for torrential rain that leaves you with the inevitability of doing the squish stomp on the lawn.

Now what can I say about Ida? She’s my tiny Swedish hero. I’m a sucker for irony, contrast, and fact flying in the face of fiction. So imagine my surprise last year when my good friend comes running to get and and says “dude, you gotta check this out! no really, get, the fuck, up”. So I grumble and get to my feet and slide forward to the front of the inside stage, and there she is, with this little grin on her face, plowing through these huge builds into pounding drops. Never too much energy, just a curious glow and a sweet smile, no jarring movements, just her little dance with her hands before the bass would kick. The thousand or so people who were there last year to see Ida surprise us all will never forget it – the best set of WMC 2009 for many of us. And she was coming back again this year, playing at 9:30 in the morning.

You best bet I would be there.

Now, a funny little story: this year she was playing with Adam Beyer, her label boss. And I gotta say, I truly missed just being able to see her alone and in control. He was constantly adjust her settings, shifting her movements, and playing with effects; there was very obvious tension behind the decks, with her occasionally looking to him for approval rather than just playing for the audience like how she did last year. I certainly wasn’t disappointed in their whole set, it was great. But Adam Beyer and his 8 ft. tall form look as though they should be behind a hard techno set. He dwarfed Ida and made my irony and contrast fundamentals disappear.

And everybody knows, even if the purists fight against it, that no show is just about the music. It’s about presentation, about environment, about vibe, and a million other things. Last year was perfect in all regard to Ida’s set. This year was perfect in everything except that fact that she was sharing the stage. I’m sure he’s technically a better DJ, with tons more experience and technical ability, but he should have taken the moment to step back and let her ride the music. When everything is right, a show can be magical. The interactions between the two of them while they were playing took away some of that.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh66Yhepm3g

Paco’s set was the surprise event of WMC 2010 for me. I’ve seen him a few times before, I’ve listened to his productions and mixes, and never been totally blown away. But this time, it was mind-bending. It may have helped that the speakers were the loudest, the lights were the brightest, and that I was completely at the end of my energy limits. But there he was, with his super-serious face on, smoking his cigarettes and crushing the last few hours of my Miami experience away.

I was front row and center, with a bunch of the people I’d come to the show with, letting out the last bits of energy that I had left. By the time Paco started, I had already been at Sunday School for Degenerates for 10.5 hours. I’d heard wonderful music from Ida, from Seth Troxler, from Tom Middleton (barring that strange excursion into trance for a few records?), from Pawel, from Mathias K, from Funktion, with his super simple computer and MIDI controller set up that he punished us with, and from Steve Bug.

I was totally spent, drained, wrung out.

And yet here was one last final hurrah in catastrophically pounding fashion. I was curious, looking at the lineup earlier, why they would put Steve Bug before Paco. Now I understood why. Paco brought his arsenal with him; 50 cal. beats. This wasn’t about sharpshooting. It was about laying waste to anyone who was left alive on the battle field. And then you were resurrected. And gunned down again. Double shot to the head, execution style.

It was the last set I heard during WMC 2010.

I said bring it.

He brought it.

For all you wild and crazy techno-heads- take note. This is your final stop during the 2010 Winter Music Conference. From late Saturday night and long into the day on Sunday, Made Events will be putting down for one final blowout of conference, Sunday School for Degenerates. They are taking over the Ice Palace and bringing together a huge, eclectic lineup of techno and house music superstars from all over the globe. Buying a ticket (link below) gets you a wrist band with entry for all 24 hours, with re-entry so you can take a breather, get some breakfast, or grab a disco nap. All you party people will take comfort knowing that there will be full service bars going for all 24 hours of the event. As far as the talent, there are too many highlights to go over here, so just check the lineup below. Hot.

Saturday night:
Victor Calderone with Adam Beyer

All day Sunday:
Adam Beyer, Adultnapper, Agoria, Danny Howells, DJ T, dOP (live), Function (live) EXCLUSIVE, Ida Engberg, Lee Burridge, Mathias Kaden, Matthias Tanzmann, Mr. C, Paco Osuna, Pawel EXCLUSIVE, Sébastien Léger, Seth Troxler, Soul Clap, Steve Bug, Tom Middleton, Vincenzo

Sunday School For Degenerates
Saturday-Sunday March 27th-28th, 10PM-10PM @ The Ice Palace
>> $50 Buy Tickets Here (21+) <<

If you haven’t seen Steve Bug perform, if you haven’t heard Collaboratory or The Lab 02, and if you’ve never run across any of the productions from his label, Poker Flat Recordings – then there is a bright path for you to follow in the near future. Find the Bug, and follow the Bug.

Steve Bug’s productions and live sets define the perfect balance of deep house, minimal, techno and bass music. You can dance, you can nod your head, you can fade away. I’ve had the opportunity to see him in Miami and in Detroit, and each time I catch him is a reminder of why I love this music so much; there are no words to describe the depth and character of sound when it hits in the right place at the right time.

Steve Bug on the main stage in Detroit for Movement ’09.

[youtube id="qS1ZnZr3lWU "]

Steve Bug on Listed’s Freaky Tikki at WMC ’08.

[youtube id="MF3BAAcEgqc"]

Steve’s Bug’s podcast from Save the Cannibals:

Save the Cannibals Podcast #1 – Steve Bug

Essentials
——————————————————————————————-

Name: Steve Bug (Stefan Brügesch)
Resides: Berlin(?)
Known For: Deep techno and journeys into audio chaos

2010 Confirmed WMC Parties: Sunday School for Degenerates, The Freaky Tikki
Productions released on: Poker Flat Recordings
Find Steve Here: Facebook / Twitter / MySpace / Discogs /

• Complete sound systems installed and engineered by Integral Sound
• Open-air terrace lounge open all night Saturday
• Shade, seating, hammocks, and DJ sets on the terrace all day Sunday until closing
• Full bar available for the entire 24 hours
• Food available at the venue for the entire 24 hours
• Parking available across the street

Lineup:  Adam Beyer, Adultnapper, Danny Howells, dOP (live), Ida Engberg, Lee Burridge, Mathias Kaden, Matthias Tanzmann, Mr. C, Paco Osuna, Sébastien Léger, Soul Clap, Steve Bug, Tom Middleton, Victor Calderone, Vincenzo…plus many more to be announced!

Notes:

-21 and over with valid state issued photo ID
-Rain or shine
-Tickets are valid for the full 24 hours and include re-entry wristband

Sunday School for Degenerates

Saturday March 27th 10PM to Sunday March 28th 10PM @ Ice Palace

>> $50 buy tickets here (21+)<<

Preaching to the choir at Sunday School for Degenerates ...

Can you make it until the bitter end? That’s the question that the Sunday School for Degenerates party has been asking Miami for the last four years. After the week, after Ultra, after Conference, at the end of the weekend, do you have the strength for one last show? For the last two years, a few friends and I have answered that call.

Whichever of us were still standing dragged ourselves for the final shout for mayhem and chaos, first to the Pawn Shop in 2008, and then to the Ice Palace in 2009. We were wrecked, exhausted, sunburned, cranky, hungry and broke. Our clothes were dirty, our shoes had holes in them, and our heads had been stuffed with so much music that there was absolutely no room for any more. At all. Period.

And yet SSFD, for the past two years, has been the best party, the best music, the best experience at WMC for those of us who made it. 24 hours from start to finish, each party would stand on its own as event that you would spend a month preparing for and a month recovering from.  And yet here it is, at the tail end of the madness. When you have nothing else to give, it whispers in your ear, demanding that you sacrifice your very soul to Techno.

Ha. I’m just kidding. It’s only music.

Right?

A few hundred zombies inside. A few hundred of the walking dead outside. A few thousand monsters and vampires in each direction. It’s too hard to count the numbers. There’s a canopy and some burning sunshine. Walls of speakers against a fence. A school bus. An ice cream truck. A thunderstorm and wet grass. There’s Sebo K. The best set of WMC 2008. There’s Ida Engberg. She’s playing peak hour techno at noon, 14 hours after we straggled in. It was the best set of WMC 2009, hands down.

But don’t worry. You don’t have to believe me. Like with any show, everyone has their own personal experience with their own musical tastes and their own set of friends. It’s literally impossible to describe a day-long party, especially with the performers that Made Events brings to their Sunday School. There are no words to convey what it means to be able to take a nap on a couch and feel safe, knowing that a few hours later Seth Troxler will be waking you up.

Bring it.

Why you need to go:

Our friends over at Made Event are throwing their legendary annual Sunday School for Degenerates 24 hour party at the Ice Palace, Miami. This means an ice cream truck, a school bus, thousands of degenerates who survived the week of WMC mayhem, and of course a boat load of talent entertaining you for 24 hours!

Sunday School for Degenerates Super-Early Bird tickets Sold Here – only 100 $35 early bird tickets available!

***UPDATE: First batch of 100 tickets SOLD OUT!***

Sunday School for Degenerates

Saturday March 27th 10PM to Sunday March 28th 10PM @ Ice Palace

>> $35-50 buy tickets here (21+)<<