Time never ceases going on with its usual annual gatherings including the now established Toulon’s Sunslice festival, the third edition of which just happened last week-end. What is this to be reminded ? Elements of response from feedback that we've got from the attendees either over there or on our forum, not to mention reactions from Kerri Chandler who stands as the godfather of the event…

Words : LC2Long Pics : JC aka Juan Chris

Strictly (deep) house events aren’t that numerous on a worldwide scale. Not to say the sharing spirit which has been for much in the family affair atmosphere of this 2 y.o. event since day 1 with people like Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer, Betino and MFSB). People who would aptly prove that they were not only good mates who love to spend some time together but also individuals who truly support each other, subsequently leaving the ego thing for the good of the whole stuff, while putting shapes to the memorable Bar A Thym after parties where they would jam along together behind the decks with the crowd… As a matter of fact, one of their improvisations would be for much in the forthcoming release of "The Sun Is Going Up" awaited sometime after the summer break on Madhouse label. In other words, what should remain as an anthem in the memories of those who’d been lucky enough to attend these magic sessions 2 years ago. And the story was to be continued in 2003 with Blaze, JoVonn and Lea Lisa adding their names to the aforementioned, meanwhile seeing the expectations of the fans legitimately growing from a year to the following one. This said, things don't necessarily occur the exact way you would think and it's exactly what happened this year for various reasons… A continuing disturbing wind (the so called mistral) and the absence of a significant amount of extra crowd added with an obvious lack of interaction between the artists as opposed to the previous years have been for much in the mixed impressions left over there.

Never easy to start an event like this and although he had quite a good selection and mix, Ti Joaine mainly had to deal with a capricious wind which would badly push his needles and subsequently interrupted his mix, followed by a Live PA by French band Savannah which, although not badly executed, wasn't more inspiring than that. DJ Gregory who was doing the headline, would mainly provide us with his own Faya Combo stuff, but not much more than that before leaving the way he arrived. In total discretion to say the least. And the after party at Le Bar A Thym with one of the DJ's of Savannah dropping abstract kind of stuff would nothing else but one of those boring sh… , leaving us with an impression of need for something more exciting.

Sorry to say that it was about the same the night after to the sole exception of DJ Spinna who, on his own style, would provide us with an eclectic diaporama of classics, going from a genre to another with hi-class. Hopefully the last day would be the one, from the opening by Hill-G followed by a live PA by Soldiers Of Twilight with real class and the final, as usual, by Kerri Chandler, although equally disturbed by the wind and alone behind the desks as opposed to the two previous years where he shared the duties with pals of his.

Also worth to mention, the befores at La Vague which, melting local talents such as Peanuts, Teddy G, Titou and the likes, would look like a mini Miami gathering. Meanwhile MFSB would unofficially close the whole the night after at La Vague, soon joined by Soldiers Of Twilight saxophonist Demon Richie for a moment of awaited groove craziness.

Got a strange feeling this year, explained Kerri Chandler on his way back to the airport. Don't get me wrong : I love the Sunslice people and the crowd but everything was like different. I mean, I felt this way at my arrival at the hotel where there was no one I knew around as opposed to La Tour Blanche where we would meet around the pool. I guess I would have liked Dennis (Ferrer) to be there and I would surely have brought him if he had been available. As a matter of fact, I would have liked to see more connection between people and eventually share the duties with some impromptu guest as, for me, it's not about doing a DJ set, but more of having improvisations when the circumstances allow this.

Let's hope this is going to be better next year, as this festival truly deserves the very best. Comments that we at IDMW.com, would humbly like to extend internetwise, due to the absolute absence of interaction (if not informative content) of the festival site, but also some noticeable lack of communication outside the Toulon area and, by extension, Paris and more widely Europe where people interested in this kind of event could easily have been found.

Last but not least, not too sure if a live PA between DJ sets ended up being a real good idea. Things which should be clearly looked at for a better Sunslice festival in 2005.

IDMW.com team would like to thank the following people for their greetings, encouragement and help : Jean Chiche, DJ Bool, Franck David, Eric "Chou Chou" & Geraldine "QQ" my cousin + the whole light crew