Peace Love & Beats Directed by Mike Burns Toucan Cove Entertainment DVD (2005) $14.98 Available at Amazon.

The movie's opening credits play to an answering machine message from a very annoyed "Gavin" (Lloyd, the producer) to "Mike" (Burns, the being-pressed-into-service-as-we-speak director). It seems that Peace Love & Beats' original helmsman "fuckin' drank himself into the hospital" -- occupational hazard? -- and will therefore be unable to fulfill his directorial obligations.

Things only get more complicated from there. In a pre-departure crew meeting, we discover that the former director blew most of the film budget on the hotel and limo (hey, at least he didn't blow it on... blow). They don't have all the equipment they need, they don't have money to pay the clubs' cover charges, and no one has bothered to set up interviews or invitations to parties. They're gonna have to wing it.

Lucky for them (and us), they're pretty resourceful people. Fortuitously, the group includes two cute girls (dance music web site Raves.com Senior Editor Annalee Stone and Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Warner) and a smarmy schmoozer (music producer and comic relief Johnny Jos). And the schmoozing begins without delay. At the MIA baggage claim, Warner runs into an acquaintance: influential DJ and producer Dave Aude. It turns out to be a good thing they have a limo (a bling-o-licious stretch Excursion, actually), since Mr. Aude just happens to need a ride. And thus we get to see our first interview of the week. Like most of the interviews in the movie, it's not terribly long on substance. To a certain extent these performers are in Miami to network and promote, but they're also there to have a good time. Aude's main pearl of wisdom (delivered with beer in hand, of course) is "It's all about eclecticism."

But the encounter with Aude is just the first of many examples of the serendipity that always seems to make itself useful when you're maintaining an ever-increasing buzz in an unfamiliar city, surrounded by crowds of strangers even more fucked up than you. The intrepid crew weasel their way into various A-list parties using an assortment of techniques: homemade laminated badges, the old "we're with MTV" line, even fake British accents. The star-studded event of the week is the DanceStar Awards -- the "Grammys of dance music"; the crew talk their way red-carpetside and manage to secure flying interviews with about a million people. Their craftiness is actually more engaging than the brief statements they get from the likes of Juliette Lewis (who's "integrating (herself) into the musical world"), a barely coherent Crystal Method (topics of conversation include beat programming and urination) and BT (who's practically the only artist ballsy enough to give an unequivocal statement on his feelings about the US's then-imminent invasion of Iraq: "I'm ashamed to be an American right now").

On Tuesday, March 19, 2003, the TV news puts a bit (but only a bit) of a damper on the good times. Obligatory Dubya footage signals that while we're watching people drink, dance and make out with each other, we're also in the midst of a "countdown to war". But a good point is made: "What could we do?... go to more parties." It's the perfect rationalization for these self-absorbed, hedonistic, financially comfortable young people, most of whom will never have to worry about actually fighting. There's a line about the "threat of war looming" on the DVD's label that might create some worry about faux-political spinnage (and at one point in the film, there is a recorded phone conversation in which Gavin Lloyd considers "turning this into a war documentary", which is pretty amusing). However, the subject is actually treated quite gracefully. There's a funny-ironic moment during an interview with DJ Nigel Richards, who opines that "It appears (the war) might be pretty brief."

While PL&B does keep a single finger on the pulse of the world outside Miami, it largely focuses (appropriately, I think) on the fun to be had. By the fifth day everyone's pretty ragged; Stone and Jos confess in after-the-fact talking-head testimonials that they "don't remember Friday". Because it's a documentary, the crew's antics often seem like the main concern, but there's also the film's actual subject: music. A lot of it, and good stuff, too. The performance footage (with Iio, Afro-Mystic, Mea, The Latin Project, Paul Van Dyk and several others) is well-edited, though more often than not overdubbed with studio audio instead of live sound. A notable exception is the Remix Turntablism Party at the Ritz Plaza, where DJ Craze improvises an impressive set of scratch n' mix artistry, after which Killa Kela upstages him with a jaw-dropping display of beatbox drum n' bass. The Iraq talk might lend PL&B a sense of history, but musically, certain other (ahem) historical references date it a bit -- it gave me a chuckle to hear electroclash described as a "hot new genre".

The DVD's production is slick and attractive, with intuitive menus (including special features such as the movie trailer and additional interviews) and a booty-shakin' soundtrack (available on CD) that includes songs from all the performers featured in the movie. The editing is the stuff of high-budget docs, skillfully intercutting face-to-face crew testimonials, interviews with musicians and industry figures, performance footage and narrative. Every party the crew attends gets a smoothly designed and integrated label; the more "important" industry figures get graphically enhanced freezeframes and voiceover introductions. Less innovatively, there's a superfluity of MTVish sped-up action shots, mostly while the crew's hoofing around town.

And oh, yeah, in case you hadn't already forgotten about PL&B's "real" plot-- Jen, Annalee, Johnny and the rest did eventually find their "record of the conference" (it was Paul van Dyk's "Nothing But You"). The resolution was as tacked on as this mention of it. But that's not what Peace Love & Beats was really about -- it was about fun, and this movie undoubtedly is, in all its altered-state chaos. Grab the popcorn... and don't forget the candy!

-- Sarah Zachrich