Cars, bars and superstars

>> Summer fun for the club kids

by KRISTA

Hey, what do you know, it's Grand Prix weekend in Montreal! That means prime star-watching, and you can start by heading down to Jacques Villeneuve's lavish new club Newtown on the corner of Crescent and de Maisonneuve. This Sunday, June 10, Michael Watford and Montreal's own DJ Laflèche will be wowing the chi-chi clientele at Newtown. If you can't get in, you can watch from the street like all the other little people.

514 Productions have found a new spot to continue their Thursday-night progressive-trance and house soirées, now that Illume is no more. The new Onset Thursdays will be at Sona (surprise) from now on. Upcoming guest DJs include Paul Van Dyk this Friday, June 7, Seb Fontaine on June 28 and a plethora of other progressive types alongside Genie and Max Graham.

Paging B.A. Barracus!

Something for the ladies: no more complaining about objectification--I'm going to turn the tables right here (no pun intended) with the inside scoop on where to find the boys, and it isn't in the gym or skate park. It's at Bounce Tuesdays ("still representing, still rocking") at Tokyo, courtesy of the A-Team. This scorcher of a night mixes up a lethal combination of hip hop, breaks and drum & bass, handled by DJs DR-One, Buck Rogers, Steady Poochy, Density and of course Future Lad.

A-Team front-man Murad has a few other weekly events worth mentioning. Every Friday you can check Dr. Murad and his lovely nursemaids at Safety First at Jaï Bar. The Bobsy-Twin power duos of Patrick Dream and Nav (the Bombay boys) and Double A & Twist (c/o Dune) set the mood with soothing house and Euro-jazz beats. As well, check out Murad on Saturdays at Blizzarts for SuperYes!, a night of funked-out beats inspired by Japanese game shows. Stars of the show are DJs D-Jon and YRDM.

Jaï Bar must have set a record by now for the number of times they have hired, fired and re-hired a DJ, and changed nights. Here is Jaï's current weekly schedule. Wednesdays, the Air tech-house-and-beyond nights are still held down tight by barman/promoter Mathieu and the deft skills of DJ Pfreud, while Thursdays are currently being rocked by Montreal old-schooler Tiga. The night is called Neon and the theme is body-electric, '80s-inspired techno and house. Mesh one-shoulder tops and pastel R.L. polos only, please. DJ Uzi has forsaken his coveted Friday-night spot in favour of Saturday, and the new soirée is called Betta Daze. Upcoming guests at Daze will include NYC Centro-Fly resident DJs Kafi and JC. And on Sundays, you can check out Heavyweight artist-turned-DJ Tyler and friends for a little taste of everything from hip hop to soul to housey beats.

Last call to first light

Despite the surge of afterhours clubs attempting to open up and steal some turf in this town, the reigning king (or is it queen?) of the afterhours biz is still Sona. Upcoming guests this summer include Gaetano Parisio (June 22), Gilles Peterson and Pete Heller (June 23), Misstress Barbara (June 29), Adam Beyer (July 6), Heather (July 7), Scott Bond (July 13) Deep Dish (July 14), Donald Glaude (Aug. 3), Tony Humphries (Aug. 4) and locals including Max Graham, Maüs, the Bombay boys, Simahlak and DJ Killa Jewel making her Sona debut in the Lounge, June 23.

New kid on the block Aria is currently undergoing a few minor internal adjustments (top secret?!), but weekly residents include Luc Raymond, Yaz and Mateo Murphy down in the big room and Fred Everything and Chris Pronovost up in the house room. The special out-of-town resident is NYC-based, East-coast rave-legend Onionz.

Stereo has announced that its fully licensed bar will be open before the end of June! Among others, superstars like Josh Wink (June 22), King Britt (June 29, and if you miss this, you're nuts), Peter Rauhoffer (July 1 Canada Day event) and Victor Calderone (July 14) will be gracing Stereo with their presence, and local superstar Mark Anthony has a special Ritual event planned for the Gay Pride festival.

The biggest event of the summer, though, is definitely going to be the Moby-conceived, corporate-sponsored, 514-assisted blast Area:One, scheduled to take place at the Parc Jean-Drapeau. All you crazy mega-event addicts can get your fix on Friday, July 7, when huge names like Moby, Incubus, rînôçérôse, Carl Cox, the Orb, Paul Oakenfold and more roll into town for an open-air event that will undoubtedly be more off the hook than any other event you've ever attended.