Little Louie Vega brought his Elements of Life to Singapore. Unprecedented response in Zouk, lead him to play a second gig the following night in Velvet Underground. Unable to catch him the first time round, I was thrilled to find out he was DJing again. And truly, the right elements were there that night.
Velvet Underground was already laid down with an up-for-it crowd by
midnight. People were moving in unison to the soca-influenced beats that's typical of Louie Vega's sound and championed by Masters at Work. When the infectious drum works for River Ocean's Love and Happiness came on, everyone was grinning and then the strong and powerful vocals of India could be heard when Louie Vega played Backfired. Throughout the night, he unleashed anthem after anthem, from Kings of Tomorrow's Finally and Changes, to DJ Gregory's cult Elle and Don't Know Melendro and disco diva Donna Summer's I Feel Loved. The atmosphere was fantastic.
Wearing funky glasses, the master behind the decks kept us all moving to groovy beats with melodic vocals as well as soulful ones too. His wife Anane came on and sang two songs live but her performance was too short to make any outstanding impact and some on the crowded dance floor didn't even notice there was a live act! Although I wished Louie Vega didn't chop up the tunes quickly for he mixed in at almost every breakdown, he had a stellar track selection. He kept it tight and had most of us jigging all night long.
He even obliged with an encore last track after a few of us shouted for
more. Louie Vega did show who the master was indeed.
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