The Phoenix rises... Last night at Parkade

Well, as I've mentioned on my 'sister' music blog, we have indeed closed Parkade for the last time, but we gave the place a proper send off ;)

The party lasted for about 8.5 hours, with DJ sets from Andy Asylum, DJNoNo Ulysses, Topher Delcon and me closing the whole thing. NoNo has recorded his set and you can download it from here and I also recorded mine, which whilst being 330MB, is well worth grabbing from here (tracklisting further down).

There were plenty of pictures taken on the night, by myself, NoNo and Dov Watanabe too, so check them out, they're well worth it. Sadly Parkade has gone forever, well most of it has (you'll need to have a scout around Republik midway through April) and it sadly won't be coming back but then as I've pointed out, it's all for the best. We had a blast there and it was one of SL's oldest clubs (Republik is older), but I'm much happier that it's gone out on a high. The crowds were awesome, really up for the whole night and it was nice to see so many people there too...

Anyway as promised, here is the tracklisting for my mix. Please excuse the beat drifting between 'Promiscuous' and 'Edit!'. I blame Dunproofin' :D

Exactshit – Dave
The Doors – Hello, I Love You (Adam Freeland mix)
Eric Prydz – Proper Education (Club mix)
Eric Prydz – Call On Me (Retarded Funk mix)
Dunproofin’ – Electro Sandman
Instamatic – Neon Sex People
Miss Cyberpink – Strangeword
Cookie Crew – Got To Keep On
Space – Magic Fly
Giorgio Moroder – The Chase
Kraftwerk – The Robots
Lumpy – Higher State of Timekeeping
Daft Punk – Harder Better Faster Stronger (X Volt remix)
Fischerspooner – Never Win (Benny Benassi remix)
Justice – Phantom pt2 (Soulwax remix)
Dunproofin’ – Promiscuous
Ian Fondue – Edit!
Dunproofin’ FU2 (remix)
Orbital – Chime
Dunproofin’ – Superquadrophonia
Dunproofin’ - Standing In The Way Of Felix
Pop Will Eat Itself – Can U Dig It?
Utah Saints – Something Good ‘08
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Three n’ One remix)
Supercollider feat. Octofish – Black Metal Tarantula
Pendulum – Slam
The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds

The set was a mix of tunes that over the years have become synonymous with me at Parkade, especially tracks like Dunproofin's 'FU2' which I have adopted as my anthem. I spent a lot of time thinking of what the ultimate Parkade anthem was, with a few others being played by both NoNo and Topher, and I wanted to end the night with what I thought the ultimate anthem was. I think I hit the nail pretty much on the head, especially judging by the reaction from the regulars there.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's ever been involved with the place,right the way from the start with Pontiac at Motorati Island, all the way through to the close. We had a blast, we had some amazing times and we'll all miss the place.

Now, what we need to do is just party our asses off at Republik ;) Shouldn't be too hard :D

The end of one chapter...

Just in case you read this and haven't seen my notice inworld...

"Hi...

As some of you know, I took over Parkade from Andy Asylum back in March 2007 and with the graphical assistance of the erstwhile DJNoNo Ulysses, we reopened the facelifted club in May 2007, on the now long gone Pontiac Motorati Island.

Pontiac left SL and the United Spinal Association took over the 7 sim complex, Parkade grew, with the slightly smaller replica of the Golden Gate Bridge out front and the small chill out area around the back... Same amazing crowd, same fun...

Last year, around June time, I moved Parkade to what was Kara Zor Isle and we had a giggle there, but the sim being sold forced me to move the club to it's current location, Parkade Island. As you know, full sims aren't cheap and I couldn't afford to buy or rent one, so I rented a light use sim, which was adequate but then the delightful LL decided to stick their noses into what we did with these 'buffer' sims and called time on our antics, creating the Homestead sims, which then drastically limited the number of people who could use the places to 20. Not ideal for a club.

However, this wasn't an issue, because with the decline in SL clubbing culture, only the diehard faithful hung around. We'd already lost a few DJs by then and what with the receeding crowds, we lost long time resident DJNoNo. However, we keep going and push on. Saturdays are still busy, with Walt's Boot Camp nights and of course me n' Diva taking it in turns before BootieSL, then there are Walt's Sunday sessions and me on Thursdays... However, things aren't picking up and it's not just this club that is affected, others are too... Once great names like Republik are also suffering. Republik are in the same situation as Parkade too and thats a shame.

Anyway, enough about Republik. This is about Parkade here and this is where it gets tricky. I've taken the hard decision to close one of SL's longest running clubs. What was started in 2006 is ending in 2009, by the end of this month. I've informed the company who I rent the sim from that I'll not need it come the end of March and I'll be removing the build permanently then. Parkade will cease to exist. It's been one helluva rollercoaster ride, but the LL decision to limit numbers has been a huge factor in this, as well as cost too... I'm paying a lot for this sim and frankly, it's not worth it any more.

So, this is it...

Well, so you'd think, no?

What if there was a "But..."?

But... this isn't the end. Oh no. Parkade might be closing, but this isn't the end.

I mentioned Republik earlier on. Republik on their class 5 sim, with a 100 person limit and the threat of closure due to financial issues and dwindling attendance... Well, guess what grrrls n' bois? I'm moving to Republik!!

I'm going to be investing in keeping the sim afloat, along with the other owners, I too will be an owner of the club and between us and the management team, we're going to relaunch the place, complete with a brand new club build that is almost finished and stunningly gorgeous. Even though I'm paying into the tier, I'm still saving money on what I pay now for this cut down excuse for a sim, so I win there, and I know that BootieSL and my sets will continue there and I'm hoping that Walt will come with me and bring his Saturday night and Sunday sets with him too, so if you lot come along, it'll be like home, only darker and posher. Slightly ;)

This isn't the end, it's the beginning. The beginning of something pretty damned cool. Myself, Sable, Lina and Jo are going to really push Republik in 2009 with some different strategies and ideas, plus I'm hoping to bring a live band from RL to perform in SL too and I'm not talking about some kids in a garage, this lot have supported Depeche Mode on tour ;)

So, don't be sad that Parkade is closing, be happy that the music, atmosphere and fun live on.

I am planning to sort out a farewell party soon, and I'll post details of that when I've got it arranged.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough. I wanted to let you all know what is happening and I hope you realise this is for the best.

Thanks, and see you on the other side soon... Amanda xXx"