2 Saturdays ago, in a small dark room, people from multiple generations enjoyed the love of electronic music. It was safe, secure, and filled with fuzzy vibes. The “Aries Birthday Bash” was to celebrate the birthdays of The General Lea Kogan, Darla Kogan, NONCOMPLIANT, and DJ Curtis Jones. The show served as a canned food drive for the food panty at Indiana Youth Group. I had the opprotunity to meet up with Agressivley Positive Media at the show and we checked out what Trinidad Traxx has been up to at the VFW. APM has her rundown of the venue for us below.
“The VFW Post 2839 is a small, unassuming building off of Tibbs on the west side of Indianapolis. If you blink you might miss it. (I did, three times). On one side of the building there is a bar, tables, a pool table, and smoking is permitted in the bar area. And make sure you take your manners with you, because one firm rule they have is no dropping the f-bomb bar. On the other side is where the DJ and dance floor are. The stage and lighting for the DJ booth were both lighted well and decorated, but overall they kept it simple. The VFW shows are as underground as it comes and a much needed option in today’s electronic music scene.”
-AGM
Graveyard Radio and APM representing!
In regards to what Pheobe said towards the end about the VFW shows being as “underground as it comes”, she is 100% correct. I was so smitten by this incredible small dark room at 1:30 AM, I didn’t want the party to end. With the exeption of everyone having cell phones, the vibes at this show had me back in 2000. The main dance room was pretty packed most the night, people were all up dancing, being interactive and lots of energy. At 3 AM, we still had a significant amount of people on the dance floor getting down. I looked at my friend and stated, “This is what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter if there are 20 people on the floor or 2000, those people will dance until the music is over. We are all here, with different opinions, from different backgrounds, yet despite our differences, we are all here, under this roof, in a semi-secret location, for the same reasons. No other place on earth right now, is quite like this.” He told me, I sounded like a raver.
Trinidad Traxx has more than 2 decades in the game. They haved used every opportunity to spread awareness and help others.
As far as sound and lighting goes, everything was top shelf. Uriah G and Curtis cooperated on that front. The sound system bumped the small room exceptionally well. Lighting and lazers were enough to be plenty stimulating, but also leave tons of dark spaces in the room. Pretty dope. Like Pheobe mentioned, there is a bar area. One note I loved about the bar was the being able to hear the music from the party perfectly well and still be able to hold a dinner conversation with your friends at the table. Making it a great place to chill, to cool off from dancing, and not miss a beat.
Craig V was playing when I arrived at the show. He really brought some amazing old school vibes with a slamming set of break beats. He was 100% professional behind the decks and his entire set was on point and nostalgic as it gets. Unfortunately, myself and APM arrived too late to catch 100 Proof’s booty house set, but we heard he rocked it!
Curtis Jones throwing down the set of a lifetime!
Curtis Jones stepped up to a whole new level. I am biased, yes. We’ve talked about Curtis many times on Graveyard Radio, however it is myself and Pheobe’s full belief that Miami Music Week has changed this man forever. Every mix was on point and he kept the floor jumping with an amazing house set.
Noncompliant is no joke. She brings techno that’s heavy, raw, and in your face.
Noncompliant is the epitome of old-school and rave culture. She has been DJing since 1995 and had big involement with the earlier rave days of Indianapolis. Some of my favorite sets I saw back in the day were performed by her. Noncompliant spilled professionalism all over the decks. It’s no surprise her brand of techno made the dance floor rumble in approval as she cut into each new track with a cunning precision. It proved up close and personal why her skill set has given her opportunity to travel the world and set dance floors ablaze.
Uriah G always to the point. Keep the bodies moving as long as they keep the club open.
Last but not least, Uriah G closed the night up with a plethora of house music. Even with about half the patrons filtering out of the venue, Uriah G brought straight heat for those who stuck around till 3 AM. He kept that group of people moving on the dancefloor till the very end.
Uriah G? Oh, you mean “The Don”
Uriah banged out bassy tech-house that you could feel in your gut. He got roars of delight when he drop new remixes of No Diggity. The boomer crowd hanging out in the bar the whole night all came out and rocked out when the played his favorite dance remix of Welcome to the Jungle. He then obliged the newly interested crowd with a house version of Born to be Wild that me and Pheobe both delightfully sung our hearts out to.
Vivid Creations was also on site as a vendor with amazing hand painted UV art. Another great touch that help create an authentic experience.
Trinidad Traxx has already announced there event for August 26th. Like always, the event will help a good cause, partnering with Overdoes Lifeline, INC. Click here for the official press release. Ticket are on sale now at Eventbrite.