Pump History

After several months of planning, the idea worked! Pump started with a preview party at Red, with $1 admission and the usual lineup of djs starting the night. At exactly midnight, the lights went out, and a deep voice came on over the sound system: "On the first day, God created the Earth, and he saw that it was good..." The voice continued: "...on the third day, God created music, and he saw that this was good, so on the fourth day, God created the club...and the people started to move." The sound changed to a soft mandolin playing and Jennifer Lopez whispering, then singing, "I have spent all of my life," when suddenly the speakers exploded with a massive tribal beat, all of the lights started flashing, and Rochester heard it's first Pump remix, created especially for opening night: "Waiting for Tonight." The crowd started screaming and dancing, and Rochester's club scene came back to life!

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A History of Pump: Upstate's Gay Playground
	Pump began in April, 2000 at a club called Red, located at the corner of Andrews and St. Paul Streets in Rochester, NY. Rochester's club life had become stagnant after the demise of Club Marcella, which was located on Liberty Pole Way, so the party's creators, DJ Barry Robinson, Promoter John Ritter, and Red's owner Rob Maher, decided to start a once-a-month NYC-style party designed to draw the gay/gay-friendly crowd to a different venue for a party that was unlinke anything people experienced in Rochester. The goal was to "pump" some energy into the scene, hopefully bringing back the people who had stopped going out because they were bored with the scene, and giving those who were still frequenting the clubs the opportunity to do something different so they wouldn't stop going out.
	After several months of planning, the idea worked! Pump started with a preview party at Red, with $1 admission and the usual lineup of djs starting the night. At exactly midnight, the lights went out, and a deep voice came on over the sound system: "On the first day, God created the Earth, and he saw that it was good..." The voice continued: "...on the third day, God created music, and he saw that this was good, so on the fourth day, God created the club...and the people started to move." The sound changed to a soft mandolin playing and Jennifer Lopez whispering, then singing, "I have spent all of my life," when suddenly the speakers exploded with a massive tribal beat, all of the lights started flashing, and Rochester heard it's first Pump remix, created especially for opening night: "Waiting for Tonight." The crowd started screaming and dancing, and Rochester's club scene came back to life!
	Pump drew huge crowds (consistently around 600-700 people), featured chart-topping recording artists, such as Kim English and Veronica, and introduced the House of Aviance (NYC's premiere drag house), Sofonda, one of Toronto's most popular drag queens (also featured on the hit TV series Queer as Folk), and Aubrey, one of Washington, DC's favorite drag queens, to Rochester. Local talent graced the stage at Red, including Darienne Lake, Pandora Boxx, Ambrosia Salad, and Pump's Bitch, Helena Troy. Pump also co-sponsored an ImageOut fundraiser and featured numerous theme-based events.
	Soon, Pump outgrew Red, so the party moved to Water Street Music Hall for two parties and introduced Rochester to Kevin Aviance, who had one of the top dance singles at the time and is the most famous member of NYC's House of Aviance, and Reina, also a chart-topping recording artist. The crowd didn't like the space at Water Street, and Red closed shortly afterwards, so Pump became homeless...until the opening of Tilt Nightclub on Liberty Pole Way.
	Pump sponsored Tilt's first large party after their opening, on New Year's Eve of 2001: A Celebration in Silver, and continued to bring talent to Rochester with return trips from Kim English, Aubrey, and Nina from House of Aviance. This was the first time Pump was located in a gay club, and it affected the feel of the party, so a decision was made to abandon the monthly theme party until a new venue could be secured.
	After Tilt closed, the Tilt crew and Pump sponsored events at Tonic, located on East Avenue, drawing crowds of over 1000 people! Pump started hosting events at Tonic, featuring talent such as porn star DC Chandler, Sofonda, Aysa Black, Ambrosia Salad, and upstate New York's release party for Janet Jackson's CD, Damita Jo. Tonic eventually closed, leaving Pump homeless once again.
	Although Pump was homeless, it certainly wasn't silent! PumpRadio, which is now one of the top gay dance music stations online with listeners from all over the world, was launched on March 12, 2005. After almost exactly two years, and several offers from venues that wanted to host Pump, the party moved to Pearl on East Avenue, a gay-friendly and intimate club, with a feel that is very similar to Red. The party was a success, bringing the famous Pump crowd and vibe back to Rochester. Now, Pump is going back to move forward once again, by taking the same Pump energy that Rochester loves and bringing it to Tilt Nightclub each and every Saturday night to create PumpSaturdays!