Remember the Time

Making Time's top 10.

by Dave P

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Published: May 19, 2010

Michael T. Regan

[ history in the making ]

On the verge of Making Time's 10th anniversary, we asked Dave P, the impresario of Philly's long-running rock 'n' roll dance party, to run down 10 defining moments.

1. May 25, 2001

The one-year anniversary of Making Time, at Transit. We had The Strokes playing. I had first heard The Strokes at a house party in New York. A guy who later became their manager had played me a demo tape — yes, a tape — of some of their recordings and I freaked out. I told him about Making Time and that we had our one-year anniversary coming up. I basically booked them right there. The night of the party was magical. I remember watching The Strokes from the DJ booth, which was above the dancefloor facing the stage. They were the perfect band to play the party — the entire crowd was dancing and it was most peoples' first time ever hearing them. It was apparent at that moment that this band was going to be huge.

2. Nov. 2, 2001

Very similar to the night with The Strokes. DJ Mike Z had been given some of Interpol's demos from a friend. I remember the day he played them for me at the Last Drop Coffeehouse, while I was working. We realized they'd be perfect for the party and we booked them. The response was mixed, to be honest, but I knew someday people were going to look back at that night and be stoked that they got to see this band at Making Time before they blew up.

3. Feb. 1, 2002

At the time, this was the biggest Making Time with over 1,200 people. We weren't used to having crowds like this and neither was the club. It was one of those nights that any moment could have turned into a complete disaster. While The Faint were playing, the main dancefloor was literally buckling. People in the basement could actually see the ceiling moving from the crowd above. A few songs into their set, a speaker fell and almost crushed someone in the crowd. Luckily one of the bouncers intervened. I went over to that side, climbed up a metal pole and held the speaker in place for the rest of the set.

4. Sept. 5, 2004

This was one of the first times we had a band at Making Time that wasn't necessarily a "party/dance" band. I just really loved the Electrelane record that had just been released, The Power Out, and wanted them to play. The musical format of the main floor definitely started to become more diverse around this time, in terms of the bands and the DJing. This was the first Making Time that I actually DJ'd the party. (Till then I just promoted and organized.) I remember writing out my whole set list beforehand. I was so nervous. I wish I could hear that set now.

5. Oct. 1, 2004

A few months prior, I'd been at the Rough Trade store in London and heard a 7-inch of "She's Hearing Voices" by Bloc Party. I thought it was the best thing I'd heard in years. There was an e-mail on the sleeve so I wrote them, and Gordon, the bass player, replied immediately. Soon we had them confirmed to play Making Time during their first trip to America. I rented a van, and some friends and I drove to NYC and picked them up. On the way we stopped by WPRB in Princeton where they played on the station. In Philly that night I saw what was probably one of the best live performances at Making Time ever to this day. (Although Yacht was pretty incredible a few months ago!) Bloc Party played with so much energy and everyone there freaked out like crazy people to a band that they'd never heard before. This was definitely the beginning of something very special for the band, for music in general and for Making Time.

6. Nov. 3, 2006

The lineup: Justice, Hot Chip, The Rapture, Digitalism and Lo Fi Fnk. Basically, if this Making Time happened in 2010 it would be an outdoor festival for 10,000-plus people. I remember during the sound checks we couldn't fit all the bands' gear onstage. At one point I thought that there was no way this night was going to happen. Neither did the tour manager. But, through the genius of Jon Hiltz (our production manager), we got it done and it was epic. I didn't think we could ever top the lineup we had that night. But we have a few nights this summer that are going to try.

Right after Hot Chip played, as Justice was going on, we had six people stationed on the mezzanine at Pure with boxes of glow sticks. I think there were about 1,000 total. Right as the band started playing we dropped all of them onto the crowd. Justice spent their whole set dodging glow sticks, and we realized it might not have been such a good idea. Made for a good story nonetheless.

7. Any of the three times Soulwax Nite Versions played

I feel like SNV, from Britain, is one of the most exciting bands of our time. Every time they've played has been incredible. Even when they had to play with a Phillies World Series game projected on them — definitely one of the most ridiculous Making Time moments ever. I believe it was game three in 2008. I basically told them to imagine if your country's football team was playing in the World Cup and you had to play a show the same night. They got it and every time the Phillies scored, the crowd went into a frenzy. They won during Soulwax Nite Versions' set. I don't think anyone ever cheered for a band at Making Time more than they did that night.

8. Oct. 31, 2010

The Making Time/R5 Productions Halloween Freakout. This was by far the most daring and most epic endeavor we had ever embarked on in the entire history of Making Time. We basically converted an office/studio space with no sound system, no stage and no lights into a three-room club with Simian Mobile Disco playing live. It was the most DIY event we'd ever done. Also one of the most stressful nights ever — especially considering the party was completely illegal. It was epic, even though it got shut down at 2 a.m. This one opened the door for us to work in more non-traditional spaces. One of the funniest moments of that party was seeing Sean Agnew of R5 Productions, dressed as Jesus on the cross, talking to one of the police officers who came to shut us down.

9. Date unknown

One night at Transit a crackhead off the street managed to sneak in the back door of the club during the party. At some point she made it onto the dancefloor in the basement and proceeded to take ALL of her clothes off and dance for a pretty long time. The whole dancefloor cleared and the woman danced naked directly in front of the DJ booth until finally a security guard escorted her out. There was an amazing picture of the woman dancing, completely naked, with one of the guest DJs, JDH, looking very serious, probably not noticing that the only person he was playing for at the moment was a naked crackhead. I need to find that picture.

10. Date unknown

It was a Making Time at Pure two or three years ago. I was DJing on the main floor and a very drunken man came storming into the booth, smashed into me while I was playing, made the record skip and then proceeded to pee on the floor in the corner. That drunken man was Sean Agnew. Hee hee.

(editorial@citypaper.net)

The Making Time 10 Year Anniversary Summer of Radness Blast-Off Weekend Finale with Liquid Liquid, Sat., May 22, 9 p.m.-3:30 a.m., $10-$15, Voyeur, 1221 St. James St. More info on all Making Time events at igetrvng.com.

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