experience june 1995

Let me tell you about four wild days and nights in June of 1995. Kris Clark a/k/a KC and the Sunrise Gang was throwing a boat party on Thursday June 22. Doc Martin and Dubtribe were touring (Onionz was originally touring with them but dropped out due to some problems he was having) and Kris had booked them to play on the boat. The previous summer Kris had thrown Juicy with Dale Charles on the decks and it had been completely out of this world. I knew Kris was tiring of throwing parties and the increasing drug use and increasingly younger crowd. I did not realize this would essentially be Kris' last party.

I had thrown summer solstice parties the previous two summers that had been a lot of fun even though it had rained both years. I was planning the 1995 edition for Wednesday the 21st when Kris mentioned that Doc and Dubtribe were going to be in town and might be up for coming to Bridgton and spinning. Since I wasn't paying them or anything when I passed out flyers I simply put special guests on the flyer. Now Excellent Drinks was running full throttle at this point in time and I was at the party every Saturday night and pretty much knew everyone. The whole winter and spring of 1995 had been very magical and we New England ravers had a real family vibe going on. While the previous two summers editions had been local affairs, this one was attracting attention from all around New England. It also turned out to be a beautiful day.

A handful of people showed up real early. We had no soundsystem or anything so I lit the bonfires and encouraged people to play drums and enjoy the grounds. I wasn't gonna truly count on Doc and Dubtribe showing up until they actually did. More and more people started to show up and as beautiful of a day as it was, they wanted to be entertained. I was pretty impressed by all the people that were showing up, though. I went out back and was banging on a drum when I saw some decidedly San Francisco people headed toward me. They were here! Kris apologized for the delay explaining they had some last minute details to deal with. I had planned on having them set up out back for privacy but they wanted to play in the field across the street so they could enjoy the view. I remember Sunshine of Dubtribe introducing himself and saying "congratulations" as we looked at the view and I pointed out that I just lived there. He commented that I must have done something right to be living there.

The soundsystem was quickly set up and the party was on. More and more people were showing up as Doc and Sunshine played to the setting sun. An image that people get of ravers (somewhat deservedly so) is blaring techno and raging club-kids but these guys were spinning amazingly beautiful soulful sounds that were echoing back from the hills. Adam Warped whose party Paradise that winter had been my alltime favorite big party was sitting in the field grooving amongst many others. I met Donovan a/k/a Disco D who was doing the lights on the tour who I had a blast with over the next couple of days. As it grew darker even though the scene was truly pastoral I became concerned about the eventual arrival of the police. I told Micheal from Montreal the tour manager that it was probably time to move it inside. My timing was perfect as a bewildered Officer Chadbourne pulled up just as we were heading in. There was a full on raging party brewing on the Burnham Road and he was probably the only cop on that night. I felt honored because I got to carry the legendary Doc Martin's record case inside.

Once inside the party went to another plane. They set up the tables right on the woodstove. It was so beautiful. The house was packed. Sunshine went on first. Plenty of people were still outside but the tunes were in. Donovan found my copy of Not So Quiet on the Western Front and let me in on the secret that Sunshine of Dubtribe used to be the lead vocalist of Intensified Chaos an early 80s Bay Area punk band. The reason I had that record was because Tom Flynn's band Fang had a cut on it and Donovan knew Tom. He told me about Neysa the Earth Girl the West Coast Smart Bar Guru and told me I should be getting my powders from her (he was right, the drinks I made with her stuff were vastly superior to the Durk and Sandy stuff I was using). Donovan later wrote about that party in his tour notes for XLR8R magazine and he described Doc and Sunshine rocking the foundation of the house. When Doc Martin went on it was in many ways a climax of all the living that had gone on in the 10 plus years I had lived at the Farm.

Most DJ sets build to certain crescendos and then break it down only to build back up to a higher crescendo. That night Doc just kept taking it up and up. He played on my Fisher Papa Bear stove for 3 hours as more and more people showed up and danced. My local friends TP and Nillard who had been to the previous solstice parties were blown away by this one. My old friend Kurt was there and completely mystified by our culture. The cops called once to ask us to turn the music down. I passed this on to Doc who chose to ignore me. Soon people's feet were barely touching the ground. It was truly amazing.

Doc finally walked away from the tables and Adam had the sizable task of spinning after him. He played some retro-disco and shortly after someone walked into my kitchen and introduced himself to me and asked if he could spin next. It was the one and only Sir Charlz who had spun at many a party I had been to but I had yet to meet. He is the perfect 3AM DJ and he kept the party going.

Around the crack of dawn the party started to wind down. Everyone had to rest up for the Boat Party after all. After the music stopped people still continued to turn up from the woods and the fields. Kurt sat out on the porch playing his guitar and singing as the sun came up. House music was still playing in my head.

Chandra and I were doing the Smart Bar on the boat. Chandra, who was always stunning, looked exceptionally beautiful that night. While the boat party was fun it never quite reached the height of Experience. I didn't find out till later that the business they had been trying to take care of the day before was that all of Dubtribe's cables (they do live performance, not spin records) had been left in Montreal. James, a promoter from Montreal, was bringing them down for the boat party but had had car trouble. He actually had to take a Water taxi to the boat and by the time Dubtribe played I think the stress had taken its toll and they were not at their best. The after party was at Zoots and was reasonably fun, but I had yet to go to sleep and was ready for bed.

The next night I was on-call at the Epicurean where I worked as a waiter but I was also supposed to do a party in Boston that had been cancelled and rescheduled. While I loved Mike Human and Chris Mellow who were throwing the party I was miffed at them because I had arrived in Boston for the original date with all my money invested in my supplies only to find out through hearsay that the party had been cancelled. So I wasn't gonna cover my oncall shift but when the Epicurean didn't need me I hopped in the car and went. It was a good thing I went, too, because it was in the old Boston Body Works and it was really, really hot and there was nothing to drink until I got there. I sold out very quickly and went to the 7-11 to at least get more H2O and check out the whores and transvestites while I was there. Pete Moss spun an exceptionally good late night/early morning set. I remember Mark Slater a/k/a DJ MGee showing up after the party was over to play his set. We went out to IHOP for breakfast and I caught some Zs at Mike Human's as House Music continued to play in my head.

So I was off to Hampshire College and its 25th birthday gathering. The Hampshire Affair turned out to be a bit of a bust but there was a good time to be had at Mark and Rachel Cook's in Northampton where I chilled with many old friends. I was doing Smart Bar at a party called Decade in New Britain, Ct. (outside of Hartford) and tried to talk them into going but I headed off solo.

Again the party was practically in full swing when I arrived and it was a big one. It was my friend Todd a/k/a DJ Pharaoh and his new wife Fran's wedding party (Todd would later spin at my wedding). DJ Dutch from San Francisco was the headliner and there was some Love from San Francisco going around that was simply the best I'd had since I used to get it straight from San Fran myself. It was one hell of a party and I had a really, really good time. The Smart Bar was jamming busy and I recruited some kid to help me. The girly girls whom I had just met and would later become my Smart Bar staff were there and I remember many smiles and hugs all around. Tall Paul who was a promoter from Boston was I think the only person beside myself who had been at all four parties and we talked in the AM about how truly amazing it had all been.

My sister Beverly and my brother-in-law Rick actually lived in New Britain so I had a short ride to sleeping it off. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner that night and then I headed home. Now I was used to the big party on Saturday and maybe a little dancing at Zoots on Thursday or Sunday or maybe going to Zoom in Cambridge on Tuesday's but those four nights were something else. And you know what? As much as I partied I felt on top of the world as I drove home not the slightest bit hungover or partied out. I really felt truly blessed to be part of such an amazing scene.