- Friday December 10 saw the return of RA columnist Hernan Cattaneo to Crobar in New York City. After a crap week that saw the demise of my laptop and constantly being drenched in the rain, I was ready for a good night out.
I had not seen Hernan play since 2001 in Ibiza. That year he filled the role as Cream’s opener for their parties at Amensia and always led into things well. I remember him caning Mike Monday’s remix of “Waiting”- one of my favorite tunes of the year. In the following three years his international profile has seen as rapid an ascendancy as any other in the world, culminating in his recent #6 ranking in the DJ Magazine poll.
I arrived at Crobar at about quarter-til midnight to find the que outside bearable, but not moving. Although it could be pure coincidence, but the free reduced lists closed at midnight and the line was held until then. Magically, when the clock struck 12 and the free list closed for most, the line started moving again. Now, I think Crobar is the best run club that I have EVER been to, but I think this incident seemed quite suspicious….
When I entered the main room Samasara were finishing their set in fine chunky house style. Crobar has installed a new program where any DJ can send in a mix tape and land an opening slot for one Friday. Chris and Kai were the first to take this prize, opening for Sander Kleinenberg, and tonight locals Samsara got the nod. For all club owners wondering where the next batch of talent is going to come from, and all DJs that complain they cannot get a booking, this is a great idea to get you started.
The first thing I noticed when looking up at the booth were the three Pioneer CDJ 1000s. For the entire time I was there I did not see one record played. It seems that vinyl is starting to finally completely die out among the big jocks.
Although I was unaware that two openers were on the bill, I was pleasantly surprised when another Argentinean, Ariel Baund, stepped up to the decks. He had kind of fallen off my radar in the past years, but he’s definitely still got the goods. As people started to arrive, the groove got thicker as room to dance got scarcer.
Hernan stepped to the decks at 1:40 and started off with a good assortment of vocal tracks and solid basslines. By this point the main floor was full and the attendees were grooving. The initial build climaxed with a vocal loop of “Forget the World” with a breakbeat-driven backing that sent the place into a frenzy.
Hernan kept things moving until my eventual departure at 5:15, but I never felt his set really had a solid direction to it. However, given that all the punters had smiles on their faces and each person seemed to be having fun, and that’s the point of a night out innit?!
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the photos I took on the evening did not come out. For some reason, Crobar likes to layer the room in smoke, which really turns into a fog a points. It helps to reflect the lights and lasers, but it really inhibits my photo taking!
Overall, everyone really seemed to have a good time, and I hope to see Hernan return to New York early in ’05!