As you might have heard, the first half of the Fool's Gold x Dim Mak "Screaming Bloody Murder" tour - starring A-Trak, Sinden, Steve Aoki, Sammy Bananas and guests - kicked off last week with dates in NYC, Toronto, Montreal, and Philly. It was an unbridled ravestravaganza - but don't take our word for it, check the pics and video from the FG crew after the jump. And come party with us on the rest of the tour dates in Chicago, Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco.
The first show of any tour is always the most nerve-wracking. Even though our last Fool's Gold party at Hiro Ballroom was a sold-out affair, there was no guarantee the follow-up last Thursday would be as popping. Gnarls Barkley and Santogold playing down the street, people at home doing their taxes, general pre-weekend malaise... still, we packed it completely full and made sure to live up to the tour name!
Kid Cudi did his damn thing as special guest.
Sometimes the human compulsion to order people to throw their hands in the air can not be satiated by just one show, so as soon as he was done DJing for Santogold our homie Pase Rock came through for extra hypeman satisfaction.
A-Trak looks like Max Headroom sometimes.
Steve looks like a blurry human pogo stick sometimes
Tommie Sunshine and his lady friend also came thru and danced. A lot. Apparently TS is a big Sammy Bananas fan! Check some more photogalleries here and here.
En route to Toronto I realized where I last saw Sinden's neck pillow...
The TO show ended up exceeding expectations as well. The venue kept changing - we ended up booked at a somewhat jiggier spot then anticipated, and didn't know what to expect from the party. But it was also fully sold-out, complete with wild-ass, wardrobe-malfunctioning dancers on stage all night long! Blue Jays fans get pretty debauched. More pics here.
Our Canadian bros Nacho Lovers and Jokers Of The Scene (get your F2 on!) joined in for the fun.
This girl's double-sided tape game was impressive.
As was Sammy's starter kit moustache...
And schweet new hat he bought in Toronto.
The shot up top of a stagediving Trizzy was taken the next night at Montreal, and kind of sums up the whole night there. We knew the tickets were selling well (exactly 666 presales!?!?!?) but had no idea just how hype things were going to get over the course of the evening. Everyone agreed it was one of the best shows not just of the tour, but of EVER.
JOTS came to get mad again, and the Neon and Peer Pressure crews were all in the house as well. Gotta let the pics do the talking on these. More shots here and here.
Strobes rule.
Once it was all said and done we grabbed a few minutes of sleep and went out for the Philly show. The R5 promoters were absolutely slaying it on their flyers (above) and email blasts. "Remember when Steve Aoki used to write manifestos on a racial equality and freeing Mumia? I do!"
No visit would be complete without checking out Diplo's newly renovated studio complex, the "Madsoleum." We stole some promo tees and watched Brazilian metal YouTubes.
Then it was time to get soundcheckin.
Treasure Fingers came out from ATL to do a guest set at this one. His style is dope, a mix of funky disco-influenced productions with that crunchy stuff y'know, "for the kids." Expect big surprises from him real soon.
Kid Cudi guested too, and got his John Legend on during "Maui Wowie." (Oddly enough, Legend himself was crooning in Philly that same night at the Trocadero - he didn't stop by, but opener Estelle came thru for a bit during A-Trak's set. PS: She's dope!)
Nu rave earplugs are a must...
All the nights have been sold out so far, but the cool thing about doing a smaller venue (Barbary) in Philly directly after after the Montreal insanity was that it was not only easier to hang out with local friends ("Intimate club!") but also gave everyone an opportunity to do different things with their sets.
Check Sinden going heavy on the "oh shit!" UK stuff none of us had heard before. And when the night was over and everyone at the club left smiling, we packed our shit, scarfed some bad Wawa sandwiches and unholy-hued chicken fingers, and hit the hotel. More coming soon, stay tuned...