noizemagazine - Index

noizemagazine - noiZe Magazine Issue 60 May 2009 - Index

Promoter
Spotlight:
Mark Baker
Orlando’s Master of the Mega-Party
Senses a World Vibe
by Matt Kalkhoff
After literally changing the face
of the gay party circuit earlier this
decade with his legendary groundbreaking
soirees held during
Orlando’s Gay Days, prolific party
producer Mark Baker took a few
years off to rest, reflect, recoup
and recharge. Now he’s back with
a brand new party concept for
Central Florida’s first major dancemusic
festival held over Memorial
Day Weekend: World|Vibe Orlando.
Following five years of consistently
(and incredibly) topping his own
extraordinary creativity with parties
that included Colosseum, Magic
Journeys, and Stars, the Circuit
impresario finally maxed out on
ideas. In 2005, he sold his Disneybejeweled
party scepter to Johnny
Chisholm and retreated from the
spotlight to focus on his other
career, directing television commercials.
He still produced the occasional
corporate event (at least until
the economy went south). Now
he’s back producing parties, this
time inspired by sexually ambiguous
(i.e., mixed) mega-events like
Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, Los
Angeles’ Electric Daisy Carnival and
Montreal’s Black & Blue.
While Gay Days has always
focused on its gay male audience,
World|Vibe Orlando is less about
lifestyle and more about the music—
House music, to be exact—and will
cater accordingly to that genre’s diverse
legions of devotees. “It’s not a totally
different audience,” Baker assures. But
a different one nonetheless. Headliners
include DJs Boris, Chus & Ceballos,
Oscar G, Jonathan Peters, Roger
Sanchez and a host of other established
and emerging talent.
This is a big step for Baker, who made
his name taking big chances. Back in
1982 he moved from Toledo, Ohio, to
Orlando and began working for Walt
Disney World at the Hall of Presidents
on the technical side of the animatronic
show. After attending his first Circuit
party in 1996, he recalls thinking, “I can
do that.” After a couple of false starts,
he finally hit his stride in 1998 with a
late-night affair called Magic Journeys.
Originally held at Front Row during Gay
Days, the party later moved to Arabian
Nights to accommodate thousands more
revelers and expanded to several nights
throughout the weekend.
It was the award-winning Colosseum
party he threw at Hard Rock Live with
DJ Abel that really put Baker on the
international party map. “It was like a
hybrid Circuit party,” Baker says. “It’s an
entire evening put together with shows
that interconnect. With my background
in television, I thought of doing it like an
entertainment show with a progression,
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Happy Am I! Healthy Am I! holy Am I!