U:Move

    Joe Cummings, co-creator of the local party-throwing conglomerate known as Umove, now has a normal day job.  But beginning way back in 1998, when some of us were still too young to get active in any kind of scene, he did his part in putting on the legendary KC X-Mas parties.  He wrote in an e-mail interview, “I started KC X-Mas more as a party for a bunch of friends to get together and listen to music from some friends who were DJs.”  Each year for several years, always on Christmas night, he threw together lineups filled with some of Kansas City’s premier spinners, from DJ Booth to Nitro among others. 
    “The idea was to showcase local, up-and-coming DJs that did not get to play out as much as well-established artists,” Cummings wrote.  With an ever-evolving influx of younger faces coming out to dance events in the city, things have changed, but the theme of the party has not.
    With Bill Pile holding rank as head honcho of Umove these days, he’s decided to bring KC X-Mas back from the dead for 2010, showcasing nearly 30 local DJs between three different venues in the Crossroads (Luna, Czar Bar, and Crosstown Station) on the night of December 25th.  Consider it the local DJ scene’s answer to the Crossroads Music Fest.
    Cummings wrote, “Whenever I see people out around the holidays they always want to know if KC X-Mas is happening again.”  With local music sluggers like the Love Bullies, LC, Spinstyles and Johnny Bradford among many others performing this year, this is an event that you should make a point to attend and tell a friend about, as well.  With a tradition as old as Christmas, and a tradition that seems like forever ago since it began for many area dance heads, this year’s December 25th will be a celebration from morning to night and then some…gift-wrapped by none other than Umove.    Written by Chris Mills