Spring has been excellent for dancing in New York so far. The past 2 weeks almost killed me. Here's what I did, but haven't gotten to post until now:
Tuesday night (4/10) was the Klaxons show at Bowery Ballroom. I didn't see Bonde do Role because I have recently developed an addiction to West Wing (my roommate got the complete series as a bday gift). Before I get into my review of the Klaxons, I have to say that I haven't heard their album, and that every song of theirs that I have heard has been a remix, or in a dj mix. It made hearing them perform their actual versions of their own songs for the first time an interesting experience. I had a good time overall, but it was not one of the best shows I've been to. Something was just missing. It was just kind of blah...not spectacular, not bad...just kinda there. I wound up liking their songs that I had heard previously (Golden Skans, Magick), but I wasn't really wild about most of the others.
Afterwards I headed to the after-party at Home Sweet Home. Despite the shitty sound system Drop the Lime and the Captain did some serious damage. I've listened to a lot of DTL's mixes before so I had an idea of what to expect...basically you can't expect anything, except for his set to cover everything, old and new, in the most unique and unexpected way to make you move. Having heard nothing of the Captain's before, I was pleasantly surprised by the range of his set as well.
Overall I couldn't say a bad thing about that experience other than the sound sucking, and not enough people were dancing. I met some dude named Gary, who was one of the few people there seriously getting down with a lady friend of his. I realized after we started chatting that he was the same guy I saw at Hiro about a month ago when DTL was performing as Curses!...seriously getting down then as well. We chatted briefly about how awesome those guys (the Cut Crew) are and then he told me I should go to Savalas on Saturday . It's nice to meet people who are so into just getting down. Anyway...I called it an early night b/c I felt kinda shitty like I was starting to get sick all day.
On Thursday night a last minute burst of energy freed me from my couch (which has the power to suck you in and hold you captive causing you to miss shows), and I hurried down to the ISS party at the Tribeca Grand where I heard Trevor Jackson and Oskar Melzer throw down a nice funky set together. Further, the place was pleasantly packed with the majority of people getting down. My only gripe was that it was hot as hell in there, and the trek across the massive lobby and down a flight of stairs to get to the restroom was a bit inconvenient. Booze was pretty cheap too - $6 mixed drinks, I think beers were $5. The party is free every week and it could be a good alternative to Cheeky Bastard at Hiro...which I didn't realize charged $10 for a well drink until last week...also, I am getting kind of tired of going there even though I only go if someone good is dj-ing.
Friday is where the problems started...a long, long time ago I bought a ticket to see Surkin at Studio B...then I found out Trevor Jackson was going to be at APT that night...and then I found out that Kaos was playing the People Don't Dance No More party at Element. There is only one of me...so I was forced to do one of the things I hate most...make a decision...especially when it comes to difficult ones involving DJ's. Seeing Trevor the night prior kind of freed me from that option, but then I was still left with the Surkin vs. Kaos dilemma. I listened to a Surkin dj mix...and I listened to "Hello Stranger"...and Kaos won.
It was a good decision. There was a lot of good and unexpected kinky disco going on. Chatted with Dave before heading out around 2ish? about some good shows coming up at Element...and also how I should really try to see Soulwax on Tuesday or Wednesday. The plan after that was kind of to go home, but maybe to swing by APT to catch Trevor and Oskar again...ended up swinging by APT. Excellent choice, again! Made doubly awesome by the fact that I randomly started chatting with Soulwax's sound tech who hooked me up for Tuesday night's show. Me...Soulwax...it was meant to be. Haha.
So I saw Soulwax 2 nights in a row which you probably already read about. That was awesome...but those 2 nights, combined with the residual lack of sleep over the past week made me voluntarily sit out Arnaud Robotini at Hiro/Riton at ISS on Thursday...which I am still kicking myself about. Oh well...
This week has been pretty tame so far. Probably hitting up the Tim Fite show tomorrow. May or may not stick around for some things on Friday. Out of town for my Mom's bday until Sunday or Monday. Monday night Inouk maybe. Wednesday night, Mehdi!!!!!
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