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Blind.
"The French Maid Alliance supports musical talent, quality parties,
worthwhile causes and French Maids everywhere. That's our credo
and we're sticking to it!" laughs Dale Tiver, the main man behind
the successful Blind party held at Traffic in February 2004,
which raised over $3000 for the Royal Society for the Blind.
That's pretty good, considering there was only seven weeks organisation,
and it was a local-only line up.
"We churned about 700 heads through the venue on the night. It was a truly beautiful thing. It just goes to show that the support for these kinds of events is out there," adds DJ Static, aka Andy Hume, Tiver's partner in the French Maid Alliance.
Tiver and Hume are presenting Blind once again, but this year the line up is absolutely huge with live acts and DJs from Austria, NZ, the UK and the USA, plus a wealth of local Australian talent. "We wanted to do something different to the normal formula everyone is used to. We wanted bring down some acts that people haven't had a chance to see yet, but we also wanted the live element to be a part of the show, to give it more of a festival feel," Tiver states "With that in mind we went searching for some DJs that haven't been through Adelaide yet. We were lucky enough to have Stamina MC, one of the biggest names in drum'n'bass today, from merrie old England on board to come down from the start. He helped us get in touch with D-Kay in Austria, who is without question one of the best producers in drum'n'bass, with a plethora of anthems under his belt including last summers' smash Barcelona."
"We wanted acts that Adelaide hadn't been exposed to but that had what it took to rock a party, and leave people blown away," Hume chimes in. "We we're lucky enough to secure NZ based live hip-hop/d'n'b act Ruffneck Souljah, we got Melbourne based K-Oscillate, a 5 piece 100% live act that blend d'n'b, hip-hop, electronica and a bunch of other styles. These guys have played together to massive crowds and have been tearing up the rest of Australia. They're pleased as punch to turn their sights on Adelaide and for a good cause to boot. With these acts confirmed and along with NZ bad boys Bulletproof - always a crowd favourite - and a host of other DJs and MCs from overseas and around Australia, and the cream of local talent in Breaks, d'n'b and hip-hop we were pretty confident we had something big on our hands."
Again, all the acts are freely donating their time. "At the end of the day all the acts are just people like any of us, although they have all been blessed with bucket loads of talent and fame," Tiver smiles, "this is a chance to use all that talent and fame to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Every one of the acts that we approached jumped at the chance to be involved and help out. Plus they all get a free holiday in Oz, who would say no to that?"
The event was originally going to be held at the Shores, but has been relocated to Earth on Hindley Street. "Due to various factors such as the availability of a few acts and the fact we are staging this on AFL Grand Final day, we thought that a night show in town would be better for this year."
"Traditionally Adelaide has a very busy Grand Final night, but we've all seen the streets during the day if an Adelaide team makes the final," adds Hume, laughing.
The future is rosy for the French Maid Alliance, with plans for bigger parties in the future. "The only way is up as far as we're concerned!" enthuses Hume. "We want to continue to grow and expand, try and incorporate more styles into the show along the way, and hopefully appeal to an even wider audience in the future." "We love our Breakbeat, funk, hip-hop, live acts and all kinds of music and have a pretty good feel for how to throw a party, and make it not just a club night or concert," Tiver adds. "Plus we have a lot of love for the Adelaide scene. We'll be pushing the locals and luring in talent from afar and supporting good causes as much as we can and just for the love of it."
"It goes without saying that we would love to be as successful as Enchanted Forest," continues Hume. "That's a long way off, but that is where we are headed. Dance music events and raves have gotten a bad rap of late so bringing the concept to life for the good of a charity and bringing out the best in so many people at once is something that can and should be done."
Julian Cram
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Blind happens at Earth on Sat 24 Sep, with Stamina MC, D-Kay, Bulletproof, Ruffneck Souljah, K-Oscillate, New Pollutants, Terra Firma and a host of local and interstate live acts, DJs and MCs, raising money for the Royal Society for the Blind.
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