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| DJ Indus Creed |
There's a time for us to let go .... There's a time for holding on
A time to speak, a time to listen ... There's a time for us to go on
With that track and those words, the curtain fell on Centro Ybor City Amphitheatre. That also brought curtains on my sole hangout place in Centro Ybor City and almost 5-years of clubbing since moving to Tampa from SFO.
It is still quite fresh - me walking down the streets of Ybor City looking for some good place to hangout for a couple of hours, and stopping right in front of the Amphitheatre to ask one of those "Market The Club" girls as to what was a good place for some good music and dance. She was like "This is the best club in Ybor". I just smiled. "She's just doing doing her job", i mumbled but still decided to go by her words. Once in, there was no turning back. Weekend after weekend, event after event, DJs after DJs - it is hard to accept that the place itself ceases to exist.
The early 2003 - those were still the good days - Ybor City used to be full of people instead of cops and cars. Hip-Hop hadn't yet cast it's mesmerizing spell on more than half the number of clubs out there. So "Masquerade" used to host Rock bands, while "Platform" played select 80s and you could hear a lot of Reggae/Jamaican groups in those teasing open-bars with wick-lamps lining their peripheri. Heck, Hedoism was kept alive, if not exactly in the spirit, by Amphitheatre's sister Club, Hedo.
At Amps, Fridays were a lot of Trance/Techno/Break-beats and saturdays were DJ-specific but still mostly catering to one of the T-T-B genre. The centre-stage at Amps was still meant only for Guest DJs with the resident DJs (Mondo, Kidd Leow, Frank and others) playing only from the Booth on the second floor. The DJ lineup used to be quite impressive - the club had succeeded in hosting many a big names from Sasha to Ferry to Tiesto.
The club was unique in many ways. An impressive sound-system with an equally impressive pyrotechnics - definitely better than quite a many clubs in Tampa and Orlando combined. The entertainers were equally impressive - i have seen them graduate from robotic dance sequence to PPK-Resurrection to seductive "Bilingual". Their dance steps were well-choreographed and were impressive and highly energetic renditions, be it the evergreen "O Fortuna" or the melodious "Nothing but you" or the flashlight leaded sequence of "Follow me". Crystal, Tami - they just went on and on.
The bartenders were like i have never seen anywhere else. I don't recall bartenders offering you a drink anywhere else. "Hey Surendra, it's one me". I used to be plain Amazed. I once busted my car on the way to Amps and Ashley simply said "Hey Buddy, lemme know if you need a ride home". Nothing flirtatious there - very sincere offer of help. I didn't need a ride but those words did count.
The warmth that greeted me everytime i went inside - it's unforgettable. Many of those faces i didn't even bother asking names or if i did ask their names or if they did tell me, i didn't bother to remember. I regret that. Ashley married Paul this feb. Anna quit a couple of years back and went on to teaching at school. Meggan moved west with her boyfriend from the club, then moved back to Tampa again before finally moving back to her parents. Christina moved to Orlando. Tasha was the only one left and i owe a lot to Tasha for providing me free passes to so many (almost all) the evenings. Never had to call her - my name was always there.
In course of time, i got to exchange quite a few mails (often on the decline of Trance/House music at Amps) and also quite a few CDs with Mondo. I gave him some of my live-mix CDs (i doubt if he ever got to listen to them) and he used to keep most of his "Tampa-breaks" or "Kisses" copies for me. Brian Fink and other Radio Jockeys used to call me "Prince" (Sometimes, "Prince of Arabia with a million dollars in his account" - LOL, i so much wish for the "million dollar" part if not so much for the Prince) and i could never figure out why nor did i bother asking. There was an element of anonymity to it and it was good.
Some events were specially memorable. New Year 2004 with DJ Sasha, Tiesto's 2-visits to Amps, High-Energy sets by Ferry, BT, ATB, PVD not to mention the lights-out night.
All in all, it was good to be a part of it while it lasted. Curtains on Amps is curtains to maybe the only decent club in Tampa. John Santoro might have plans to open "La Femme Ultra Longe" in downtown Tampa, but it can't be another Amphitheatre. In many ways, it's the end of a chapter from Ybor's clubbing scene - a good interesting chaper that is.
Goodbye to Amps.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...&q=amps+tonight
http://www.xanga.com/induscreed |
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| XxGrOoVeERICxX |
| The Amp closed down?!? :conf: |
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| KiNeTiC ENeRgY |
| ugh that sux, hopefully another good venue will come. |
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| epdarks |
| Good riddance to Amp, unfortunately its the only EDM club in Tampa. our scene. |
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| SLR722 |
| quote: | Originally posted by epdarks
Good riddance to Amp, unfortunately its the only EDM club in Tampa. our scene. |
Hyde Park Cafe > anything north of South FL.
Great vibe, classy crowd (amazing #/quality of ladies), good music. Awesome after-parties.
...if you like House that is... |
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