The last minutes came to pass in the company of friends as 20,000 plus people amassed together to witness the passing of a millennium. The New Year came with a roar of excitement and celebration that utterly racked the soul with a feeling of love, community, and acceptance. And as the mood showed a great excitement for the New Year to come, it also showed a great appreciation for the time and moments come to pass. This was the experience shared from the moment the doors opened at Tokyo, Japan's Tokyo Big Sight till the morning dawn led the party's masses to trains, shine, and home.

Separated, by genre, into four rooms the event carried all the aspects needed to make it one of Tokyo's best parties to date. Space, lights, sound, and the lineup where nothing less than exceptional in showing what 1000 years of progression have given the music we make and love today. The choice of Techno, House, Trance, or Hip Hop brought you into a different array of decoration and music that the rooms portrayed.

The techno room, with one stage set upon construction pallets and speakers hanging, supported by cranes, definitely showed the hard edge style that techno music holds. And that style was pushed to the limit by the likes of Takkyu Ishino, DJ Roland, Fumiya Tanaka, and the legendary king of Detroit techno Derrick "Mayday" May. Words alone cannot describe the energy and emotion that filled the room as these musical greats threw song after song into the hearts and souls of techno lovers held captivated within the never ending stream of music, lights, and dance.

The House Room however, put all the energy into the heart by positioning the DJ booth directly in the middle of the crowd putting you right next to some of house music's greatest producers and DJ's. The world re-known Todd Terry and Japan's own Emma, both threw down track after track of heartbreakingly deep house with enough soul to satisfy any true kats needs. And in the midst, for 30 minutes, Chaka Khan poured her heart out singing some of her greatest songs that have touched us and set standards for many music styles themselves for the last twenty years. The combination of live vocals and deep sets definitely left house heads humming for days.

Taking a turn in a different direction brought us live performances by the best Hip Hop acts Japan has to offer, including the great R&B/Soul singer Sugar Soul. This escape from the normal aspects a rave carries helped to really show how our cultures have become more and more combined and this was a prime example of what we can expect to see more of this next millennium. Sugar Soul, debuting as an Indie, a self-supported artist, is a singer whose style comes from the emotion she felt as a teenager listening to Funk, Rock, Soul, Hip-Hop, and etc... We caught up with her later to ask her some questions and this is what she said.

Last year Hip Hop really broke in Japan. How was it to be a part of the scene then?

Being a big fan of Hip Hop, I was overjoyed that so many people had become interested in Hip Hop. Hip Hop had finally come into the spotlight In Japan.

What are your goals for the year?

To explode and to just keep on going.

Tonight's event had a variety of music. What do you think about events that mix the styles like this?

It is really fun. I wanted to see Chaka Khan and I heard she was playing at 0130. I waited for about 45 minutes until I found out that she was really playing at 0230. I got a kick out of it. But I really wanted to go to all the zones after my performance was done. I feel like it is an interesting party and most likely these types of parties will grow and become more normal from now on.

When was your debut?

My debut was about 2 to 3 years ago.

What did it feel like to finally get ahead?

I am happy but it is also tough...

What is the biggest problem that comes with success?

I have to be involved in all the business side of music too and so I am very busy. Sometimes I cannot get away to do what I really want to.

It's been 600 years since Classical music was created. 50 years since Rock and 20 since Hip Hop was created. Do you think Hip Hop will continue to thrive for a few hundred years to come?

Yes. Black music, as it is constantly evolving, has finally rooted itself in Japan. Japanese people have digested many new things and Japanese people right now are not copying other styles. They are finally becoming able to express themselves through the vibrations they feel within and not from outside influences. This is especially seen in Black music. The Japanese people discovered black music a long time ago but now there is a foundation forming for it in Japan. Good artist do not rise without this foundation. With the different Japanese artists throughout the last 20 years the foundation has become even stronger. Today we are seeing these good quality artists and in this next century you can expect to see more good Japanese artists in the Black music field. They have found a good strong foothold within this foundation.

The one room that seemed to carry the most energy and the most people throughout the night was without question the Trance Room. If the performances had anything to say about it there was no mistake the people here were definitely onto something. International great Tsuyoshi, also a member of the group Joujouka, brought us into the New Year with undeniable precession followed by some of the best trance live acts today. X-Dream, Kokbox, and the Growling Mad Scientist all brought forth a great example of the power live raw Trance music can carry.

All through out the night it was clearly seen on every face the magic the New Year celebration had brought. It was clear to see that this was one night these people wouldn't forget when the normal days of life came back to take control once again. New Years parties have always been known to be something of an extreme but it is nights like this night at Tokyo Big Sight that set the dream in place of what the ultimate party can do to refresh a soul and leave a person ready to deal with the hardships and pleasures the next year will hold.

Brent Csutoras
March 2001

PS: We would like to thank the staff that worked the event, all the DJ's for letting us flash photos in their face, Akira Naitou for corresponding our visit, and Haruka Usui for the translation of Sugar Soul's interview.