Pjanoo without the Pianist

Too good to be true.

Five words that explain the momentarily fleeting thought that I felt when I heard that the Swedish dance legend ERIC PRYDZ would be hitting our shores later this year. It all felt so surreal. All of a sudden this wonderfully fresh company was introducing a multitude of big scale events for Maltese clubbers. It was bound to be an event that would never be forgotten. And boy was I right!!

When I was 14 I was musically immature. Don't get me wrong. I always held music close to my heart. At school, I was one of the few people who would know of a song months before everyone before it became a hit. However, I was more of a mainstream junkie. It was during this period that I really started discovering different forms of dance music. My earliest influences (at 14) were David Guetta, Ian Van Dahl, Armand Van Helden, Armin Van Buuren, Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, Benassi and the mighty Eric Prydz. Therefore, you can say that these people are heroes to me. They marked the beginning of a new love. To see them live would be an emotionally rewarding experience.

That was what Ice Music Medium was supposed to deliver yesterday. Result. Utter dissapointment. My hero of heroes didn't even turn up breaking not only my heart but the hearts of hundreds. In all due respect, the organisers cannot be pointed at 100% because this kind of business is always subject to such happenings. Malta is separated from mainland Europe so it makes it just a wee bit harder to get here. Eric Prydz never visited our island due to his phobia of flying. In retrospect, I wonder how the organisers actually convinced the man to catch a plane here. Well, almost convinced because he backed out in the last minute. I can understand that the man is on meds and subject to hysteric episodes of doubt but come on!! How can one leave such an issue to chance?? Mahoney Thomas, one of the event organisers released the following statement on the Ice Music Medium facebook page:-

Dear all,

On behalf of Ice Music Medium I would like to fully apologize about yesterday’s mishap. Allow me to explain what the problem was. Eric Prydz, together with his agency decided to plan their Europe trip over to Malta using trains, Ferry and Plane. As we all know Eric is not too keen on flying on planes but he took full responsibility and planed to complete the last part of his trip by flying over from Milan to Malta yesterday evening. He was due to arrive shortly before his performance time. As soon as Eric was going to board the plane together with his tour manager he got into a state of panic and shock. From what was reported to us in the last 12 hours Eric’s anxiety medication did not do its job! Although Eric missed his plane, late into the night Ice Music Medium was also ready to incur and a massive big cost and send a private jet over for him in order to make it on time to Malta for his gig. Eric totally couldn’t make the flight. His tour manager told us “he is in bits and pieces”At this point in time we are eagerly waiting for a reply from Eric and his agency to give us an alternative solution for this mishap. We will surely keep everyone posted with any info they will update us with. Once again I would like to apologize for the above and I truly understand everyone’s disappointment, as i am the one to feel it most.

Thanks


Eric Prydz's managers didn't release any statement on the website, MySpace or Facebook pages which is really unprofessional seeing that hundreds of people paid money to see this great DJ. I cannot explain if my respect for him has wavered or not. This was definitely a blow not only to the organisers but the ticket-holders. I feel cheated like many others. The sad part is that some people actually thought that Luc Adams was Eric Prydz as one co-ordinator fervishly started filming the man as he started to play Pjanoo. The ones who knew the truth sadly retreated as soon as that tune graced the decks. It was the worst feeling in the course of my whole clubbing life.

On a lighter note, the party was still amazing. Moose, Luc Adams, Mahoney Thomas and all the other Maltese djs present really held their part of the event. The room hosted by Owen Jay and other djs was also very cool. Too bad I couldn't fully appreciate all this. It truly would have been a massive night.

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Update(9/9/2008):- This article by Christian Peregin was published on the Times of Malta regarding the above mishap
Fear of flying keeps superstar deejay away from party. A lot of people are commenting that they weren't given their ticket stubs for proof of purchase. However, my friend and I still have ours. It is true that at most parties these are not given out but lately it seems door staff are making an effort to give these out. It is such common practice not to give these out that when they are given out most people throw them away. I have often seen party venues littered with ticket stubs from unaware consumers. Hope this serves as a lesson to organisers and party-goers. Start your stub collection now!! LOL