Lonnie Fisher founded Ultraworld in 1992 after attending several Catastrophic raves that were hosted in DC by the Baez brothers. Ultraworld is known for throwing the first rave in Baltimore city on October 3, 1992 which was titled “Ultraworld Excursions.” The warehouse that this party was hosted in was located in a segment of Baltimore known as Canton. Canton is located along the outer harbor on the southeastern section of the city and is considered to be centered around O’Donnell Square. With an attendance of 600+ people, it was the first of over a decade of successful Ultraworld events.
For the next two years Ultraworld hosted parties in the Erdman Ave Warehouse, 40 West Warehouse, Moravia Park Drive, a campground in south central Pennsylvania, and eventually at Timonium State Fairgrounds in Baltimore County which drew 3500+ in attendance. By 1994 Lonnie had moved into a warehouse where he & his roommates began to host events. In 1996 a narcotics investigator named Sergeant Smith became interested in the events at the Azar Court warehouse. Soon after, Sergeant Smith arrested both Lonnie & his roommates in an attempt to cite them with utilizing their warehouse events to distribute illegal substances.
During that same year Ultraworld had begun planning for an event at a Baltimore City Park called “Lost City”, however plans became halted when Sergeant Smith contacted Ultraworld’s co-sponsor for the event to slander Lonnie by referencing the Azar Court arrest & criminal charges. Another narcotics officer named Detective Galbreath was then assigned to investigate Ultraworld. “Lost City” was moved to Tracks nightclub in DC after the police refused to grant a permit to Ultraworld for the event.
After being told by the DC police “you can have a rave anytime” the next Ultraworld event called “Phoenix” was scheduled for November 27, 1996 at the DC Armory. The Baltimore police contacted DC officials and warned them that the Ultraworld event at the Armory would be a hotbed of drug activity. “Phoenix” pulled a crowd of 4000 people and had no issues.
Ultraworld’s next few events went off without a hitch but in May of 1997 Detective Galbreath continued to cause permit problems for Ultraworld by slandering the company in conversations with their sponsors as Ultraworld planned their next Sunrise Festival. Detective Galbreath had collected data from rave email lists to use against Ultraworld in an attempt to prove that drug use was rampant at raves, particularly Ultraworld events. In a meeting with the Baltimore police & the detective it was determined that the permit for Sunrise Festival would be denied.
On August of that same year Ultraworld hosted a party on one of Baltimore’s Harbor Cruise ships, The Lady of Baltimore. The event sold out at $50 per ticket, resulting in 550+ partygoers attending the event. In the middle of the night the Coast Guard came onboard and advised the crew that certain permits were not in order. The boat was directed back to the harbor where Detective Galbreath waited with a large group of police officers who were ordered to search everyone attending the event. No drugs or paraphernalia was found on anyone or on the cruise ship but one person had $1200 hidden inside his shoe. As a result Lonnie Fisher was detained and charged with three infractions which were made up by Detective Galbreath. The charges were eventually dropped by the city in 1998.
Lonnie Fisher met with Mayor Schmoke of Baltimore on April 27, 1998 to discuss the issues with Detective Galbreath and the city. He & Mayor Schmoke discussed the culture of the American DJ scene and it’s impact on a global scale, referencing magazines like URB, DJ Times & Mixmag. By the end of the meeting, the Mayor asked: “What is it that you want?” To which Lonnie Fisher proposed that Ultraworld host two outdoor festivals in Baltimore every year. One to be held at Ferry Bar Park and the other to be held at Fort Armistead Park. Later that year Sunrise Festival 1998 took place at Ferry Bar Park but the event did not last past 1999 as Starscape at Fort Armistead proved to be the most superior venue and most successful event. The Starscape Festival of 1999 is where Scott Henry claimed his famous “sunrise sets” as he closed out the last timeslot of the party.
In 2000, Starscape was rated by URB as the year’s best party. However the event continued to grow in size for every year consecutively from 2001 to present day.
This mix was recorded in 2008 after The Oldskool Series became fully established. A majority of my breakbeat records were from the early millennium so this gave me a perfect opportunity to dust off some old wax and create a unique journey with tracks from Lot49 and Botchit & Scarper.
Momu – This Is Momu
Sensei – I’m The Only One
Orange Krush – Swerve On
Karsh Kale – Distance (Might Junn Remix)
Beber Tamra – Traveling (Koma & Bones Remix)
Apex – Jump Funk
Meat Katie – Lapdance
DJ 43 – Pepper Spray (DJ Infiniti Remix)
Robin Fox – I See Stars
Backdraft - Demons
