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Circuit Party + Palm Springs Desert = Revolutionary?

I know a lot of you are asking: “What happened to a so-called revolution that was supposed to be taking place in Palm Springs this April?”

A grassroots movement formed quickly amid talks of a series of events to be held concurrently with the traditional gay vacation weekend popularly known as “White Party Weekend.” These events were coined “Revolution Weekend” and aimed to “reclaim the circuit” from the established events, which are widely seen as pillars of corruption, greed, ego, and the for-profit mechanisms whose main purpose for over 20 years has been to fatten the pockets of a single individual: Jeffrey Sanker. Not only have the events been obscenely self-serving for Jeffrey, but they have existed with only a minimal reinvestment in the community and charity; the intended benefactors envisioned by the initial creators of circuit parties in the late 80’s and early 90’s.

With promises of a superior circuit experience which included dramatically lower ticket prices, an unique roster of DJs and talent that balanced the hottest new circuit DJs from around the world with popular and highly regarded headliners, where event spaces would be transformed into lavishly decorated destinations featuring affordably priced refreshments available for purchase with good old fashioned American cash (as opposed to the outrageous and unnecessary drink ticket model), and an overall return to the early days of the circuit where events were ultra popular and music and fun reigned supreme.

So, what happened?

In many ways the revolution is going on without most people even being conscious of it. In many other ways, the establishment that created an appetite for a revolution was even more prevalent and influential as they ever have been.

To be certain, Jeffrey Sanker saw a clear and present threat to his profit machine and the sustainability of his fleecing of the gay community, as he responded to our Revolution Weekend strategies with immediate and increasingly severe moves to undercut our primary strategies. First, with our invitation to Peter Rauhofer to spin our main event, he in turn approached Jeffrey with an opportunity to pay him more if he so chose to prevent us from booking him up against Jeffrey’s main event. After months of negotiation the two finally came to an agreement, and I can assure you Jeffrey reached deeper into his pockets than he would ever normally be willing. Next, news of our plans to acquire Robyn to perform during our main event, was somehow leaked and Jeffrey took immediate action and made a winning and overpriced bid to secure her within his already clogged talent roster. Finally, the heat really got turned up when Jeffrey saw our first full page spread advertisement in a popular international circuit periodical and went on the offensive to determine the location where our parties were to take place. Upon receiving a credible lead that we were scheduled to utilize the Hotel Zoso as our host and primary venue, he quickly offered the hotel a deal to back out on our events last minute. A week later, Jeffrey officially announced the Zoso as a newly added host hotel for his White Party events. The Zoso did not respond to our inquiries of whether their decision had been due to a more appealing offer from Jeffrey nor were they influenced when reminded of the charitable nature of our events.

While it is certainly flattering to elicit such a dramatic response from someone who already held every financial and logistical advantage, to a large extent, the fact that we effectively influenced the makeup of his events significantly enough that the end result is a better overall experience for partygoers, then I would consider it a battle won in large part, even if the events themselves are still put on by Jeffrey, as I’ve long viewed his events as uninspired and minimally planned.

But, more importantly we learned a lot in this process, like what not to speak to anyone about, not even apparent friends or seemingly unbiased 3^rd parties. We gained insight into the planning process, so now we are positioned to not throw something together in an inadequate amount of time, but to rather make well developed choices and implement strategies in virtual lock-step with the same announcements Jeffrey makes, as he makes them, over the course of the year. And we’re thinking outside of the box to create never before used venues and party concepts that will infuse the type of mystique and creativity and experience that will stand out amongst partygoers as world-class and superior to the cookie cutter, hotel ballroom multi-night greed fests they’ve become inundated with. All of this and the proceeds of these much better and much more affordable events will go to gay charities that desperately need funding? It’s a no-brainer.

The long and the short of it: Bringing about change and standing up for a good cause in the face of greed and power is by no means a walk in the park, and while we’ve had some unfortunate setbacks, we are proud of the influence we’ve succeeded in making in the short term and excited and motivated for the long-term as we proceed with next year’s planning, from a much more well positioned launching pad than we had this year.

As always, thank all of you for your ongoing encouragement, support, time and financial assistance and for helping to make sure the dream of a better circuit is still a viable one. We can’t wait to welcome the new generation of circuit boys onto the dance floor for the first time, because for the first time the parties will be affordable for them and to welcome back the massive number of partygoers from the original circuit days, who separated themselves from the circuit in recent years because it was more and more a profit and greed machine and no longer represented the circuit they stood for back in the day.

Thank you!!!!!!

I’ve had an obscene number of inquiries asking when a new podcast would be up on the site, so with all of the above taking up my free time lately, I leave you with a brand new podcast to enjoy.

“MOIST” V.Apr.11.Pt.1 | “Pending Revolution”

1. Rihanna – S&M (Thiago Antony Club Mix)
2. Katy Perry – E.T. (Edson Pride & Thiago Antony Club Mix)
3. Britney Spears – Till the World Ends (Ander Standing  Reconstruction Mix)
4. Kelis – Brave (Third Party Remix)
5. Talia Coles – Never See You Again (Razor & Guido Club Mix)
6. Barbara Sheree – Bring The Fire (Edson Pride & Thiago Antony Club Mix)
7. Samuel Andres – Yo Te Amo (PG Calderone Mix)
8. Yinon Yahel Feat. Emmi – Tonight (Club Mix)
9. Yinon Yahel – I’ll Keep Waiting (Club Mix)

Play the podcast streaming from one of the flash players embedded above, if you have difficulties streaming you can also download the podcast as well as the individual tracks as follows:

DOWNLOAD PODCAST HERE

DOWNLOAD TRACKS HERE (Requires software and understanding of how to extract .RAR files)