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Scoring Parisian god-jock Bob Sinclar for the launch of its Wednesday industry soiree offered those who either couldn't get in during the Britney Spears grand opening earlier in the week, or those who've had their fill of the pop-diva-cum-train wreck and thus avoided her appearance, an opportunity to experience "Best New Venue" nominee LAX on their terms, not the paparazzi's. Joined on the stage by vocalist Gary Pine, Sinclar's synth symphony dazzled the capacity crowd (which included king of crunk Lil' John and trance titan Tiesto) with his characteristic breeziness, ridding the two-story dance palace of the remnants of sleazy fame and imbuing it instead with operatic electronica. World hold on, indeed. -KC |
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On a summer Sunday, the little underground club in NYC's Greenwich Village known as Sullivan Room, Sully to the regulars, was in a frenzy over BT. The crowd was rushing the DJ booth, fanatic ladies were trying to scale it in attempts to have him sign their CDs, and normally composed owner Serge TK was scene on top of a speaker screaming that he was coming out of the trance closet. And BT, a.k.a. Brian Transeau, went from leading off with "Let It Be" by the Beatles to later unveiling a complex mic and mixer to do a live vocal for "Love Comes Again." -CM |
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DT's always said that his brand of classics includes "present and future" as well as past. But could he revisit his dearly departed Be Yourself party - which ran every Friday for five years at liquor-license-lacking Vinyl, starting in 1999 - without indulging in some nostalgia? For a crowd that included the original 'heads and newbies who only knew the legend, Tenaglia did that scary melting pot thing he does so well: He played it all, from Vinyl-era favorites like Underground Sound Of Lisbon's "The Lights" and Paul Jay's "Spiritual Battery," to Wild Pitch smack "It's Our Turn," to his new work-in-progress. (Working title? "Dangly Dong.") This wasn't about a single time period or club; it was what DT said himself at the night's start: "I'm gonna take you on a tour / Of a feeling." -KLM |
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The beautiful-people crowd at Los Angeles's Arena doesn't usually lose it to a DJ set unless somebody's dosed its drinks. But apparently trance-breakbeat DJ Micro still has the same arsenal as he did when he used to rock it to the ravers at Long Island's Caffeine, slowly building the energy to a roiling boil. "Almost everyone was dancing, and slapping each other high five. The dancefloor was packed, the people were sweaty, and screaming for more," said a witness to the melee. It's good to know some things never change. -JH |
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Apparently, French electro-rockers Justice could do no wrong this year, as this set, scheduled in between rehearsals for their Coachella live set, packed enough punch to even top their sold-out performance months later in the larger Metro space upstairs. Armed with little more than two CD players, their manager/worldwide party don Busy P and their own rough-hewn instincts, Mssrs. Xavier De Rosnay and Gaspard Auge inspired body-surfing, fist-banging and other glorious nonsense from the hardcore Chicago punters. Skeptics need only see the corresponding Flickr photoset to see how daft these punks got. -JH |
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In SoBe's usually desolate off-season, Grammy Award-winning Sanchez rocked Space from the inside clear up to its famed roof, for 12 hours. The club finally closed at six p.m. "The sun rose and set on the party that evening," one partygoer said. "[It was] insane." Sanchez's Release Yourself parties have gained international attention through several summers in Ibiza and continued touring, and his same-named podcast is one of the most successful in dance. One local says the atmosphere that October evening left him "looking around and feeling like it was Conference, except without all the tourists." -CM
www.rogersanchez.com
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