Dead or alive? by MIREILLE SILCOTT Had to stay home for the Bal en Blanc. Bad club reporter, I know. Terrible. But I did get an e-mail from a kid who went to last Sunday's party, which was bigger than ever, at 7,000 heads. Wow. The BBCM can't be happy about that. Anyway, the letter: "...I was disappointed, because I was costumed for a drag ball, but it was just another muscle queen party. That's all we have in this city!" My friend will thus want to remember the opening of Unity (Ste-Catherine, corner Montcalm) this Saturday. Pierre Viens says he wants to make this new venture different from the Village value of the last club he managed, Sky. Although he has retained the unfortunate idea of an '80s alternative room. And all the Sky DJs. Stéphane Grondin plays the opener. Info: 523-4429. >>> Word on the street is that "Groove Society is dead." It's not my word, so don't pull your ads, Groove. I don't think your club's dead. At least not in the lounge on Wednesdays. But then, you don't seem to want those people. I'm not going to get on a racism high horse here. But why, when EVERY WEEK DJ Donald D is packing the lounge solid, does Groove insist on keeping a house DJ in the main room, with no one dancing there? Why is Donald in the cruddy lounge? "Urban music is doing extremely well commercially now," says Donald, who is also a promo rep at Universal Music. "Here's the OTHER side of the TV commercial: urban DJs do not get the same respect or salaries as other DJs. Even now, when every club NEEDS a R&B/hip hop room." No kidding. Go to Sona and witness the thousand kids in the urban room downstairs and you can see that Donald's right."People worry about violence, but there've been no guns at Groove, not a fight. That's not my people." Groove is supposedly plotting to recoup its house crowd of yore--they should know by now that trendies don't come back. So maybe they should give their only DJ keeping a night afloat the dancefloor he deserves. Now how did that high horse get in here? >>> News you need! Ninja's white-guy hip hop Funkungfusion extravaganza lands next Friday. Herbaliser's Jake & Ollie, Chocolate Weasel, Neotropic, DJ Vadim plus Choice, Daze, Redd Dredd, Wig & Luv play. Our little Koala is off touring with Money Mark and the Beasties until September. 1008 Ste-Catherine E. ALL AGES! $15-18 * 514 says drum & bass mighty and sneaker merchant Goldie may be coming in May 2. I think we'll all choose to BELIEVE IT WHEN WE SEE IT. Copyright Liberation Front: Highly illegal mixed tape of the week! Fraser Cochrane has titled his latest mixie Obsessed With the Underground Vol. 45. Doesn't scream "pick me up," does it? But pick it you should, if you're craving something in a fag-anthem stylee. From Sounds of Blackness to Kevin Yost. The mixing's not mind-blowing, but his track listing is. You'll be hearing from him. Available at In Beat, 499-2063.