- The Bunker is easily the most internationally recognized of New York techno parties, but the team are currently going through a tricky time at home, largely due to their relationship with Output. Too often, the club has felt poorly suited to the kind of parties The Bunker puts on. Bryan Kasenic and co. have looked elsewhere as a result, and of all the venues they've tried out, the relatively new Good Room has been the most promising. There’s a small side room—the Bad Room—dressed up as a record library, and the main room, with its colourful wall panels, massive disco ball, fog and open dance floor. Both spaces are elegant but well suited to intense music.
This was The Bunker's fourth event at Good Room. By all accounts, things had been working well at the venue, with solid turnouts and an atmosphere that recalls the party’s glory days at the now-defunct Public Assembly. The latest lineup was typically strong and diverse, with slots for buzzy Swedish duo SHXCXCHCXSH, old school hardware head Mark Verbos and newcomers Løt.te and Nihal Ramchandani. The side room hosted sets from gay house duo WRECKED and Massimiliano Pagliara.
Arriving at 11 PM, which is still very early for New York, it was nice to find the club in a lively mood. If Løt.te is new to DJing, it certainly didn’t show as he ground out A-grade Birmingham techno and plenty of harder fare, setting the tone for the headliners. Things were going off in the side room, too, as WRECKED got a smaller crowd excited with their excellent house selections. At 1 AM, Verbos stepped up with the night's first live set, delivering an aggressive masterclass of heavy 909 techno to the eager floor. There's little question as to who stole the show, though: SHXCXCHCXSH's set was impressively twisted and rough, their monks robes giving the performance that little bit extra.
Not all parties that start well end on the same high, and the decision to give Ramchandani the long closing slot meant that numbers in the main room thinned out more quickly than usual. The side room was still full and in the grips of Pagliara's machine funk, but things began to die down well before The Bunker's traditional 6 AM finish. That aside, it was a good night overall, and another chapter in what should prove a fruitful relationship for New York nightlife.
Photo credit: Seze Devres