Engagement Party for The Crystal Method's Ken Jordan

Passed over my usual weekly haunt the Monday Social last night to attend a special event--the engagement party for my good friend Ken Jordan, who as you electronic music fans know is one-half of the great dance music duo known as The Crystal Method. It was held all the way across town at the Pourtal wine bar in Santa Monica, mere blocks from the water's edge. It was a refreshingly laid-back and relaxed atmosphere, which perhaps isn't so surprising since wine bars aren't exactly considered to be party central. A bunch of my old friends were there to help Ken celebrate: DJ Eva (lovely as ever), ex-Digital Assassin Mike Licata, Misty Roberts--fresh from New Orleans, Alex Greenberg, old-school rock manager extraordinaire Tom Bunch, and of course Ken's TCM partner Scott Kirkland, among others. It was definitely nice to have the chance to just chill and hang out with good friends in an atmosphere that's far removed from the madness that'll be happening this coming weekend at Electric Daisy Carnival at the Coliseum. I suppose we all have to grow up sometime...

The funny thing is, Ken and his fiancee Janine sure waited a long time to throw this little gig, considering that Ken actually popped the question live onstage at Avalon all the way back in February! Here's what that moment looked like as it happened:

Needless to say, it was quite a moment--the crowd went wild when they realized what was happening, as you might imagine.

I should say here what a privilege it's been for me to have known Scott and Ken as long as I have...it's been about twelve years now, and I consider them both to be good friends. I've shot and hung with them many times over the years, and it's been a real pleasure to have been able to watch them develop as artists during that time. As far as I'm concerned, there are few bands of any musical genre who can not only deliver such a wide variety of sounds and musical styles as TCM does, but also rock the house to the point of their fans reaching luscious heights of beat-driven delirium. They've just finished their current live tour--a shame, to be sure--but they'll be on the road again soon doing their dual-DJ sets, which are nothing to be sneezed at. If you get the chance to go see them, I highly recommend that you do, even if you're not particularly a fan of electronic music. For real. So congratulations, Ken and Janine...you two definitely deserve it.