D. RAMIREZ USA TOUR – BRAZIL // PART IIII // AUGUST 2009
D. Ramirez & Thomas Schumacher // Brazil // August 2009
Wednesday 19.08 (Brazil)
Seriously, it feels like i’ve just touched down in LA and i’m off again, this time all the way to Brazil to DJ in Sao Paulo and a city called Curitiba. I’m working in Sao paulo at Club A on Friday night and on the Saturday we fly over to Curitiba to DJ at a huge festival for over 20,000 people called Tribal Tech. What’s exciting is that i’m the headliner of the festival yet i’m playing with DJ’s such as Thomas Schumacher, Tigerskin and Format B amongst others – very exciting! I love the festivals in Brazil, they really respond to my music. The last festival i played was called Tribe in Sao Paulo which was for roughly the same amount of people and it turned out to be one of the best DJ experiences ever – a true God moment for me on stage with all 10,000 of em cheering my name – i love Brazil!
What was funny is when i told somebody (not a DJ) that i was playing in Brazil the first thing they said was ‘Do they all dance with their tops off?’ like it’s some stereotypical image of carnival that everyone has. For now though i have to contend with another couple of long flights to get there which right now is not what i need. My girlfriend is coming along on this trip to film the whole event but neither of us are that up for the long haul travelling. Too many flights too many cities, we just want to stay in Los Angeles, the coolest city in the world which, as yet i have to fully experience.
D. Ramirez & Paulo Jardim // Sao Paolo Brazil
Friday 21.08 (Club A Sao Paulo)
A resident of Sao Paulo once described the place as Caos-mopolitan which i think sums up the place perfectly. It’s possibly the most hectic city in the world – a real concrete jungle, so vast and so hugely populated i often wonder what it would be like to live in such a place. To get from A to B, regardless of distance takes you a minimum of 40 minutes. Today though it’s a little different as we have the pocket rocket, my promoter in Brazil Paulo Jardim who proceeds to get us around the city like it’s the last day on earth – i close my eyes and pray!
Paulo has booked us a table for lunch at one of the best Churrachias in town and i’m excited! For those of you who aren’t familiar with these places they are restaurants that serve Brazilian speciality meats along with a huge buffet bar serving all manor of salads, Sushi, rice dishes, traditional Brazilian dishes and they are a real gastronomic treat! I really like them as you can eat as much as you can fit in and believe me, i can fit a lot in. They come to serve you with skewers of beautifully cooked, dripping steaks and beef cuts which they slice in front of you and you take what you want – so good for a meat eater like me i can’t even begin to describe.
When we arrive at the restaurant it turns out that none other than Thomas Schumacher is at the same restaurant at the same time and he comes over to join us – talk about fate. It’s a real pleasure to meet him especially as he’s been one of my influences for years and continues to be a huge inspiration for me. i explain i’m doing a blog and a video diary of my time in Brazil and he kindly agrees to be part of the whole thing. Thomas is at the same festival as me in a town called Curitiba and has flown into Sao Paulo a day early to relax. Personally i think he’s here for the Churracio, especially when i find out that one of his tracks last year was called ‘Pichana’ which is named after one of the cuts of meat that they bring out.
The festival in Curitiba promises to be something special – DJ’s such as Format B, Tigerskin, Thomas Schumacher, Chris lake, Gustavo, D Nox and Beckers are all playing and who happen to be my favorites right now. I’m excited to hear them all play and the fact we are all playing on the same main stage is such a treat for me i literally cannot wait!
We leave the restaurant (after i thank all the cows for giving up their lives for me) and Paulo takes us to the best shopping centre in Sao Paulo – i couldn’t be less interested as my stomach is now so shiney i can’t even moooove -) we opt to take a taxi from the shopping centre and typically being Sao Paulo the drive which is about 2 KM takes us – yes you guessed it forty minutes! Paulo picks us up a little later on a we head to the club which is around the corner from our hotel. As we arrive there’s hundreds of people outside with different car stereos blaring away a full volume and it feels just a little intimidating. I get spotted by a group of over enthusiastic Brazilians who drag me off for an impromptu photo session as i’m trying to get into the club – i do love the attention though.
The club is packed out so we all agree at that moment to not drink anything as none of us fancy battling our way to the toilet through the crowd. Of course all that goes out of the window as soon as the two bottles of vodka arrive behind stage and we proceed to drink it neat! Paulo is on before me and he’s doing a sterling job of warming up and keeping the vibe nice and deep. Now, after an hour or so and a few more vodkas it’s my turn and i start with a special intro acapella i’ve created which always works a treat. The crowd is clapping and cheering ready for me to drop a beat and when i let the first beat kick they all go off! At this point i’m having a ball (for anybody who’s seen me DJ they will know what i mean) and i’m dancing around like a crazed loon on fire! I’m on for just over an hour and it’s one of the best times i’ve had in ages – Brazilians are such warm vibrant up for it people and it’s always a real exchange of energy whenever i play there. As i finish im replaced by a young girl who proceeds to play Psytrance at 160 BPM! – very strange but at the same time it shows the diversity of this place and i can’t knock it.
