In a few weeks the world traveled and world recognized DJ and producer Paul Van Dky comes into the city of Philadelphia. For the scene, PVD is going to bring more then hundreds of loyal fans from the entire northeast region and high energy melodic trance. He is also going to bring a clear and resonating message that despite the recent hard times in the Philly electronic dance music world, despite the growing legions of the jaded with their veneration of "back in the day" and endless prophecies of looming doom, Philadelphia does in fact still have love for techno and a heart strong enough to pump out big names. October 6th will find the world's number two ranked DJ doing what he does best, moving crowds to the highest levels of trance euphoria. It will also find the production crew Local 13 doing what they do best, throwing an amazing party, and combining names and numbers in a city that should have been taken over by sports bars and hip hop clubs months ago.

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As slow simple beats made with synthesised keyboards punctuated with "yeahs," "whats," "oks" and dancing instructions blanket the entire nation, it makes sense that the nightlife of cities including Philadelphia would under go changes to reflect the new tastes. The musical quality of Lil John's crunkalous magic is beside the point, it is what the kids wanted and Transit, Chrome, Emerald City, and others converted to meet the need, or simply shut down.The scene that was first dominated by large venues can now be found buried in small bars and lounges, a very possible symptom of the impeding heart failure, now enter the loving hands of Local 13 and the bi-annual defibrillation it gives Philadelphia in the form of Whistle and Bang. For the past few years both these parties have maneged to be consistently successful in an environment that far too many have already written off. Local 13 are not the only production crew left fighting the epic battle against the growing dark army of the jadists, however they are one of the biggest. During the last impact of their two hit combo of Whistle and Bang, Local 13 was able to get talent such as Infected Mushroom, Mark Farina, Bad Boy Bill, The Crystal Method, Dieselboy and Ak1200. While the plans seemed to have faded, at one time Local 13 even had their eyes on resurrecting the legendary New York City massive Boo, demonstrating more than just the desire to throw a good party, but their hunger to throw better parties. Like PVD, Local 13 has a shown a history of improvement and innovation, reflected in their parties getting bigger every year and now being able to get a Philly a spot on the World Tour of Paul Van Dyk.

Strings out, I entered the scene a mere six years ago and my child-like curiosity has caused me to be lodged between various clucking of oldschool party goers, all of them scratching at the hard ground trying to unearth the phatest stories from the times way back "when the scene was actually good". For six years I have heard these stories with the fear that with each club closing, each small party turnout, and each time an underground spot faded away into the dark city nights, the rest of the scene was soon to follow. And yet the final breath was never drawn. Whether it was a party thrown by Local 13 or another production crew, for the past few years there has always been those parties that silenced the haters, making them forget that everything was supposed to be better back then and is absolutely terrible now. Early in the month of October Philadelphia gets a little something to keep the blood flowing, in the form of Paul Van Dyk. This party alone will not be able to rout all of the deeply entrenched faith in the Philly scene's impeding demise. However history has shown that this should get Philadelphia to step away from the light just long enough for Local 13 to perform its next miracle.

9/06 

-maurice gomes