Make a return to AAHZ once more

[Funky Dredd]

I will be making the trip back to AAHZ next week. Will anyone else be going? I can't wait honestly and I've been going to the reunions every year and it will be sad to finally have the last one but I think it is time. They did an interesting little article highlighting the event in the Orlando Sentinel today. Check it out:

AAHZ Reunion Orlando - OrlandoSentinel.com

[Baader Meinhof]

Re: Make a return to AAHZ once more

There was an interview with Sasha recently where he mentioned this being a big track for AAHZ

Hysterix - "Talk to Me" (Sasha's Full Master mix)

[Funky Dredd]

Re: Make a return to AAHZ once more

Yes it was a huge track back then (and still is).

[floridaorange]

Re: Make a return to AAHZ once more

Now this is interesting, I'll try to make it... an MS meetup would be killer.



Jim AbbottSOUNDBOARDJune 27, 2013


Gazing upward at the high ceiling inside The Beacham, DJ Kimball Collins reflects on the role that the building itself had on the mystique of AAHZ, the progressive house-music parties that put Orlando on the international map as a hotbed of electronic music in the early 1990s.
"There was no way to explain it," says Collins, 45, who will be manning turntables on Wednesday, July 3 at AAHZ Legacy (The Final Reunion), a celebration that alsowill include DJsDave Cannalte, Chris Fortier and host Stace Bass, all fixtures on the AAHZ crew in its heyday.
"We always wanted people to come experience it here," Collins says of the Beacham. "This is like our Studio 54; there's just something about this room."
Between roughly 1989 and 1992, AAHZ blossomed into a weekly all-night Saturday dance party that attracted devoted fans who would travel from across the state to dance until daylight. Before becoming an AAHZ DJ, Fortier was one of those fans, traveling from Melbourne for the intense music and lights.
He recalls his first AAHZ encounter in cinematic terms.

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"There's a scene in the movie '54,' when one of the characters walks into the club for the first time and everything just slows down and it's sensory overload," Fortier says. "Well, that's really what this was like for me. As soon as we walked in that first night, I turned to my friends and said, 'We're coming here every week!'"
He did.
Fortier became one of the aspiring DJs who stood all night next to Collins, watching the way he changed the mood on the floor by changing records. Fortier, 42, is now an internationally known DJ and head of his own label, Fade Records, one of the numerous successful careers launched at AAHZ.
Collins considers Fortier the "third wave" of DJs in the AAHZ legacy. Collins, the second phase, was influenced by Cannalte's record-spinning at the wildly popular alternative-music night Spit, where the two started working together at the now-defunct Park Avenuenightclub in the late 1980s.
"It was heaven for me," Collins says.
At the same time, Cannalte was challenged by the way his new partner constantly pushed new underground music into the mix. At the time, it was customary for DJs to stick with a formula that worked.
"By him taking chances, it made me want to take chances," says Cannalte, 55.
That philosophy yielded AAHZ, a concept eternally beloved by its fans and those who created it.
"Many long-lasting friendships have developed because of the time folks spent at AAHZ," says Bass by email fromCleveland. "The legacy left behind is a positive one."
To maintain the integrity of that legacy, Collins and the others have decided that Wednesday's reunion will be the last in a series of such as events staged since the late 1990s. There's also a mini AAHZ documentary in the planning stages.
"I don't know anywhere where they are as dedicated, devoted and passionate about something that happened so long ago in a nightclub," Collins says. "It's managed to hold a reverence for people and that means a lot to us. We would never want to run this into the ground."
Nor would they host a reunion anywhere but the Beacham.
"It still has some sort of energy in here for them," Collins says, looking around the room. "We feel it."
jcabbott@tribune.com or 407-420-6213
AAHZ Legacy
(The Final Reunion)
What: AAHZ Reunion with DJs Kimball Collins, Dave Cannalte, Chris Fortier and host Stace Bass
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 3
Where: The Beacham, 46 N. Orange Ave., Orlando
Cost: $25-$50
Call: 407-246-1419
Online: thebeacham.com

[Funky Dredd]

Re: Make a return to AAHZ once more

I'll probably be in my usual spot which is down by the stage on the right side just off of the dance floor. I'll wear my "Duck Commander" shirt (white t-shirt) so if you go and see me please stop by for a chat!

[chadmc]

Re: Make a return to AAHZ once more

I went to this. Absolutely awesome time. Heard so many tunes that really took me back to that era. I grew up on these guys also but in Charlotte NC when a guy from Melbourne FL named Kris Krause would bring them up to the Park Elevator. Hearing Kimball, Dave, and Chris in that club till the sun came up is the reason I dj and produce today. The real suprise of the night was hearing Sasha - Magic and Sam Mollison singing it live. Last two songs before the encore were Real Thing - Tony Di Bart and Perfect Motion. Those guys are true legends and class acts all they way thru.

[Michael^Heaven]

Re:

I was there & had a blast! Stoked the rain stopped just before my walk from the hotel. I basically lost my voice the next day from screaming . Classic track after track. I missed Dave's set but caught Chris & Kimball. Top shelf! I'm kind of sad that was the last one but I guess that made it more special. Overall amazing night!

Next up...Dubtribe at the Firestone Reunion.

[floridaorange]

Re: Make a return to AAHZ once more

I'm sure it was recorded, what do ya think?