I almost feel like I shouldn't write a review for this one. Anyone who knows me can easily guess what I'm gonna say. But, just in case you haven't been to a desert rave, let me tell ya: Emerald Forest III was soul stretching, mind bending, organ grinding, jaw shaking, body slamming, back rubbing, lip smacking, eye jumping, bunji swinging, campfire burning, story telling, squeeze'n'lovin' party of a life time.

I got there around 8 pm and people were already coming in. By 9, there were at least 100 people there. We hoped to have only around 200 people total since we wanted to keep it a little on the private side. But, over 400 people ended up coming. Which was all good. We had room:) There were small groups of happy people every where, huddled up together around the big campfire or by their tents. We kept the fire much smaller than last year to keep it under tight control. Besides, the air was just the perfect temperature and humidity. Even by 3-4 am, if you danced for only 1 minute you'd feel perfectly warm and cozy.

We all had all kinds of toys to play with and a lot of people got on the bunji swing by the camp fire and enhanced their night with a few extra vertical Gs. The moon was soooo bright that you didn't need any flashlight to go wandering in the woods. And, more than the moon, people's faces were glowing with incredibly bright smiles... I saw the most beautiful faces I've seen in a long time and I was still perfectly sober;)

Quentin, Aaron and Al played for a while with a mixture of ambient, jungle and drum and base. Russ started the show at 9 with a totally detroit written and produced set of electro. He told me he had put a lot of time and practice into it and hoped that everyone enjoyed it, which I'm sure everyone did. Then, Mitch Mills started to rock with hard acid. Later, Tigger took the night to the heavens with a solid set of hard and psychedelic trance. CL McSpadden followed and took us all into the next morning with a flawless and sustained set of hard progressive trance.

Despite the fact that the first mixer went out early in the night and there were a few interruption, the vibe did not diminish one bit. This was not about egocentric DJs or fancy laser optics. This was about the spirit and the human connection. This party achieved it's goal beautifully. Everyone smiled from ear to ear all night. Everyone was completely relaxed and content. It was all oh so fuckin' good:)