January 04, 2004
Despite my enthusiasm in advance of the Maitencillo New Year's party, which featured Mambotur, Dinky, Tobi Neumann, chica Paula, Luciano, and Ricardo Villalobos (Dandy Jack was to do a live PA, but inexplicably got booted for "technical difficulties"), the night didn't turn out as deliriously as it should have. The music banged around an acidic axis that didn't really capture the outdoor, sun-up vibe; the sun never rose anyway, lost behind clouds and spitting fits of drizzle; and the crowd was, to be frank, pretty awful, plagued by coked-up meatheads who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. (A brief moment of levity came courtesy two folks fighting with baseball bats outside the premises.) This guy wasn't necessarily part of the problem, but he sure wasn't part of the solution.