Andre Solaris Live (vinyl set) @ Cafe Lura April 6 2002 | DEPARTURES

In 2000 a new series of events produced and promoted by FUEL (www.fuelinfo.com) took off. DEPRATURES held residencies at many of Chicago's "cool" spots. Downtown nightclubs were home for many of the installments and even ran as monthly series of events. We have always been on a lookout for a proper venue that provided the room and the freedom to produce true underground progressive house nights that were inspired by Andre Solaris' trips to London. In particular, the vibe he experienced at Fabric, The End, and Heaven. Cafe Lura became a miniature of that experience. A brick walled dungeon-like space that became home to this many hundreds of other events put on by Fuel. It takes a bit more space than offered here to describe the vibe but let's just say it was one-of-a-kind with people travelling to these capacity limited (~400 ppl) parties from out of state. Fuel Ultra Heavy Sound System, as it became to be known, powered the "lost in the moment" crowd. It was magical!