White Party Palm Springs T-Dance

Posted 12-Apr-2010 to Dance Parties, Reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 bottles of water.

by Jim Hauck

The T-Dance at the White Party Palm Springs is known for being one of the best outdoor dances in the world. This year the site of the dance moved from the lot near the strip of bars in Palm Springs to a new, larger lot, across the street from the convention center. A brand new slab of concrete was poured to make a very large, almost 2 to 3 times larger, dance floor for the event. This was a great improvement alone because more people could dance on the harder surface rather than the dirt that surrounded the dance floor.

The lighting rigging that was brought in and built was similar to years past, with a rectangular box built over the primary dance space and stage. A number of moving lights and LED color bars above painted the space below when the sun trailed away for the night. Overall, the space was much improved by this relocation, except for some early issues as the wind drove up the dust a bit (but heck I have been to Burning Man – what’s a little dust at a dance). The Ferris Wheel was back as well as a new free fall ride called the super shot – very fun!

Arriving around 4PM, Wayne G was already playing the music that has made him a superstar DJ. After a quick run around the grounds to check everything out I settled into a line of shade cast by one of the light rigging peers for a day full of dancing. Wayne played a fun, bouncy and grooving set of his classic anthems. Paired with a sunny day, the music brought joy to your soul. Moto Blanco came on a bit later, and while the general feel of the music remained high energy and fun, the duo DJs started with some of their trade mark DJ tricks of killing the music to allow the crowd to sing. Now, I love that once, maybe twice, but at one point it was just too many times in one song, and it does get a bit annoying.

Finally the time approached for the entertainers to do their thing for the evening. I hoped they would not do a big drop out and have someone on stage talking too much, but alas, that hope was dashed when the music stopped and Miss Chi Chi LaRue came out with a very long winded speech and thank you. My crowd was just dumbstruck at how long the talking went on before the introduction of Kim Zolciak (Bravo’s Real Housewives) to sing her hit, “Tardy for the Party”, followed by another talk from Chi Chi and a repeat of the song. Not good – not what I wanted – not what my group wanted. But we adapted and moved on for more dancing and fun for the evening. The next performer up was Agnes, and when she sang her hit “Release Me” the crowd was in heaven. So one out of two performers certainly hit the mark and made the night come alive.

Once the performers completed their shows, Wayne G returned to the decks and got us ready for the fireworks show. Now many years in a row the fireworks at the White Party have brought me to turns of joy as the emotions of the evening swell, the perfect song comes on and the fireworks show explodes above you. The song choice this year was a mash of “Don’t Stop Believing” and “When Love Takes Over”. The song choice was good and the fireworks show was amazing. The new location of the dance allowed for more firepower in the show we heard and I believe it was one of the better fireworks shows I have seen at the White Party.

Thank you Jeffrey Sanker and your team of hard working and dedicated staff that bring the White Party to life. After several years of going and a point last year when I swore I would not return, I am hooked, if not addicted to this gem in the deserts of Southern California.