Food, art, and vibes were the hook that drew an eclectic and harmonious mix of people – artists and insiders, hardcore partiers, weekend warriors, and curious adventurers. Tasteful decoration and unique artistic touches made it an immersive experience (as Summerdaze is known to do).

The music was consistently banging and by the time night fell the place was packed with people getting down for the last – or for some, the first – time that weekend.

We’ll keep you posted on the next one, in case you decide over brunch that you’re not finished just yet.

Enjoy the photos below, and follow Summerdaze on Facebook for the first look at new info.

The post We kicked off the party season with Summerdaze (and it rocked) appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

… or you could slip in a cheeky afternoon session of house, techno, and live disco courtesy of the party masters at Summerdaze.

They’re decking out the wicked event space at Steam Whistle and curating grooves that’ll give the streaming sunshine just a little extra “oomph”.

A preview of the space

In the mix are Burning Man vets Bedouin (U.S.A.), techno hippie Oliver Dollar (Berlin) , deep house OG Marques Wyatt (U.S.A.) and some live mother-lovin disco from local 7-piece act Mainline.

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The thang starts at 2pm and ends in time to get a decent night’s sleep.

Tickets start at $20 and you can snap ’em up here. See you there.

The post Your Grown-Up Party Option This Weekend is Summerdaze appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

Aldous Huxley famously described the brain’s function as that of a reducing valve, and on entering the massive space one’s mind had to do an awful lot of reducing to process what it was seeing. Lavish, splashy lasers illuminating the building’s vertigo-inducing size. Light sculptures and live art lending a festival vibe to the mix. And freaking mini-pong. Cmon. All this centered around a heat-generating dance floor with booming vibes provided by Dirty Decibels and Desert Hearts.  [PICS BELOW]

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It’s hard to fathom the immense scale of planning that goes into an event like this – everything from accessible washrooms to city permits have to be arranged and negotiated. Extra-big ups are due here to Summerdaze and their incontrovertible commitment to pushing the boundaries of a good party; they have the good habit of teaming up with other promoters to make sure the scale of their events reaches beyond expectations (we’ve been to a few of their events before and each time it’s a new sensory experience). It’s likely that this was a once-in-a-decade event; the building is slated to become Bellwoods Brewery’s second brew spot in the spring.

That’s sad news for the 500+ people, present company included, who had a freaking good time whooping it up late into the chilly night at 950 Dupont St.

Keep in touch with other dope events from these fine party purveyors at the links below.

SummerDaze | Dirty Decibels | Desert Hearts

Photos below taken by the talented Neil Austen for FUXWITHIT.

*Statistically likely data inferred from Toronto’s Neighbourhood Profile data

Dirty Decibels

Dirty D's

We <3 light sculptures

mini PONG

Deep Jesus

Warm enough..

Live painting by Chris TQT

There's always room

big big big

Photo by Neil Austen for FUXWITHIT

Photo by Neil Austen for FUXWITHIT

Photo by Neil Austen for FUXWITHIT

The post Cool Space, Warm Vibes: City Hearts Warehouse Party a Nice Surprise appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

Five organizing groups collaborated on the Amazon-themed event, and the result was an eclectic fusion of white collar club and underground bohemian. Feel like eating gourmet dishes on padded white couches under fancy coloured lighting? Go right ahead. Want to clear your mind and breathe deep for a bit? Show up for the guided sound therapy session. Is reclining in a reserved booth something you want to do? Do it. Feeling tight in the muscles or the spirit? Pop into a massage or reiki healing booth. Wanna lose yourself in the ritual of dance under a jungle canopy surrounded by pseudo-nude simians? That’s there for you. Feel like pissing in a porta-potty? Knock yourself out. (Warehouse logistics: The mind reels..)

The two huge rooms in the ex-furniture warehouse space were bumping a wicked mash of tunes until sunrise. The back room had house and techno and tribal rhythms in steady rotation, and the main room provided a much-needed break from four-to-the-floor styles with funky bass house, future bass, hip hop and even live rap.

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LOVE IS A PLACE YOU GO TOGETHER

The organizers seemed to have a grander theme in mind than cut-loose solipsistic debauchery. When you get the right people together and headed in the same direction, you go somewhere. The ‘Place’ I’m talking about was most clear during and immediately after what was billed as ‘sound therapy’; a combination of group meditation and free-association sound wall.

Hundreds of people participated under the jungle canopy, seated at first as soaring voices, trilling chants, drums and fire all wove together in unison. The thing swelled into a fierce drum-driven dance, and the audio transmorphed into a swilling, ethereal electronic soundscape that lasted the better part of half an hour.

Just listen to ^this^ recording right here. I mean, jesus… this chord progression was going on for at least eight minutes on end, just pouring and pouring out of a dozen speakers at a volume that disabled cogent thought and left you with no other feasible option but to hug someone – anyone – while you daisy-skip in a psychedelic place of peace and serenity.

And that’s the crux of it: This party was not meant to be taken at face value. It was designed from the ground-up to bridge regular and open-minded people to inspiration, uplift, catharsis through experience; not just indulgent distraction. The jungle theme, the sounds, the voices, the art… it all pointed towards something, and not just to the music or dancing; those things pointed, too.

In the wild, love is free. The nature of real love is self-generating surplus: you give it out and it comes right back to you. It’s in the air, and it comes in through the ears then out through the body – I think that’s what Michael from Lovelution meant about dance being a pure expression of love. It makes you feel good on a macro level – about who you’ve been, who you are, who you want to be.

LOVELUTION: ROLE MODELS FOR LOVE

In a time where music and the rituals around it are muddled by metaphor and doublespeak and presumption, Lovelution cuts to the chase. They strike right at the heart of it (pun intended). There’s no insinuation or bullshittery, just straight up love.

Lovelution seems to be made up of people with fewer layers between their selves and the cosmic. Unburnished by mundanity, these people are leading a growing tribe of like-hearted people to better and more peaceful places. They are, frankly, much-needed role models for love.

A funny thing happens when good role models are around: people pick up on it. They shape up. Mirror neurons are activated and they learn by watching. Monkey see, monkey love. This changes the vibe of things in a foundational way: There’s still dancing and smiling and catching people’s eye, but the interactions that spring from there are more authentic and open and, dare I say it, human.

Ego dismantles and shame dissolves and you find yourself speaking sentences that begin with “I feel” and “I learned” and “I love”.

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THE COMPLICATED DICHOTOMY BETWEEN CLUB TYPES AND HIPPIES

Ultimately, not everybody can feel liberated by demonstrations of love. Some brief words need to be said about the barometric pressure change from between 11pm-1am with the influx and subsequent outflow of what one could oversimplify as Club Types.

As the rooms became diluted with newcomers who hadn’t yet absorbed the themes of the night, there were more than a few funny faces.

Don’t get me wrong – this wasn’t some Warriors-style rivalry or anything, but the tension was palpable and one cringes at the idea of the vitriolic self-protective judgment that comes from across the dividing line of lifestyle choices between these two camps (from one side maybe more than the other).

What FIVE+ was getting up to there, in the warehouse’s back space, was a clearly-advertised attempt at united celebration, which makes the disdain even more unfounded. Berating peoples’ honest effort at loving togetherness with no further claim to superiority than the fact that you tied your own wingtips and used your pinkie to swipe yourself a surge-price Uber is adolescent in an unsettling way. Self-respect is a fickle thing…

LOVE IS A SMALL SPACE BETWEEN SURRENDER AND FEAR

In all, FIVE+ NYE was a peacock-feathered success, and introduced a lot of people to the awesome vibery combo of Lovelution, Summerdaze, Provoke, Bespoke.Experience, and Way of Acting.

It also set the tone for an inspired leap across calendar years, even if it culminated in the sad but entertaining scene of seething clubbers bitching about Hippies through gritted teeth while paying for armloads of Lays and Gatorade by credit card at one of the few convenience stores still open late into the night.

Here’s to 2016, and a new normal.

The post FIVE+ NYE: The Party So Fun It Didn’t Feel Like New Year’s appeared first on FUXWITHIT.