- Initial edit: I've had trouble writing this review as there are so many fragments to my thoughts about this night, I'm tired, I've had to write this piece in fragments, and I am about to leave town (again). I hope you enjoy this discombobulated collection of words.
Clubland wars are now hot and heavy in New York with smaller places opening all the time and the four super-clubs; Crobar, Spirit, Avalon, and Pacha, battling it out for the masses each and every week. Pacha is the new kid on the block and has had some early growing panes, but seems to be righting the ship. It stands in the old space formerly filled by Sound Factory, which I never actually made it to.
Upon arriving on Friday night I caught some slack from the doorman for not having a RA business card (i.e., how could I work for a website if I did not have a card), but I managed to get myself in. I had heard a lot of things about the club- all of which were not exactly glowing. The former incarnation, SF, was known for marathon parties with bad drugs and worse music. However, I thought Pacha to be a rather nice place, with a relatively cozy feel. It has a hardworking PR director and are trying to be forward thinking in their bookings. Upon entering I went down through the basement where some New York locals were playing. I hear that the space is being refurbished, which is good, because it currently looks a mess. There were a few folks gathered around, but I shot upstairs to get a better feel for the whole club. The entire night was promoted by rhythmism.com, a local New York website. It turned out to be a good idea as many members of the board were in attendance.
When I got onto the main floor my favorite Robot, 112 Crew member, whatever other collective he's now a part of, Dennis Rogers was warming up the room well. He's a quiet sort that takes his business behind the decks very seriously. His mix of teched-out house had the room moving nicely. Dennis still only plays records, but proves that it sometimes only needs two Technics to get a proper crowd response. I also used his set as a soundtrack for my adventure darting and ducking my way through the three levels that compose the main room.
The main floor is a decent size although the DJ booth is about three feet too high for my liking. The place has a TON of sound. Everywhere I looked I saw a massive speaker. The monitors are roughly the size of Yugos, and the subs could double as armoires. The second level is nothing more than a ring that surrounds the main floor. There is space for some couches and tables (need that bottle service money!), along with an area so the kids can watch what is going on in the booth. The top level is where things got a bit odd for me. It is quite spacious up there with a bar, tables, couches, space to dance, and girls in showers. Yeah, there are girls taking showers to the awe of wide-eyed, fake tanned, and heavily moused young men. If only Betty Friedan could see what all her hard work had culminated in....
After a minute or two of regaining my composure, I cruised back downstairs to feel out the remainder of Dennis' set. He did very well and started to pick up the tempo toward the end of his time (although there might have been one too many bass drops toward the end).
There is a quite a departure from what Dennis does in the booth to what James does, which leads me to my next tangent. Why do so many “DJs” now call what they do a “live” performance? Is standing at a computer reading a wav file really creating something live? The tracks seem to sound the same, but things are just less interesting as the computer is essentially mixing track one into track two. It defeats the purpose of it all! There are notable exceptions, Sasha and Richie Hawtin spring to mind, but most guys in the booth are really a joke. Well, from what I witnessed of James Zabiela on Friday, I can now pronounce that JZ plays live. Yes, this is a world exclusive claim. I know. I'll rep it in a few years.
I've followed James' career since first seeing him play at Space, Ibiza, in 2001. His rise has been well documented and it would be redundant for me to get into it again, but a few things have must be said. First, each time I see James play something new has been incorporated into his sets. In order to save myself time here are the bullet points:
1. scratching (only using vinyls)
2. efx (only on the Pioneer DJM 600 mixer)
3. CDJs (this was a major step as it allowed for looping and hot cueing)
4. Pioneer efx 500 unit
5. Pioneer efx 1000 unit
5a. DVJ 1000 (although this has not really been used too much)
6. Two Pioneer efx units (when incorporating the Pioneer DJM 1000)
7. Ableton Live (He actually thought to use this in with his set on a sleep deprived plane flight from Space Miami to New York in July)*
He never stops evolving. He never stops practicing, learning, nerding. Each time he comes through town he has incorporated new elements into his sets and has improved his techniques on the old elements. He bounces between loops, Ableton, effects units, scratching, etc. Most tracks he plays are being remixed in real time, mashups are created on the fly, he is creating at warp speed. Hence, his performance now should be deemed "live." End of.
Back to Friday. After James hooked his Mac and midi controller in to the well apportioned booth (2 Technics, DJM 1000, 3 CDJ 1000s, and 2 Efx 1000s), he started off by creating a loop off Dennis' last record. As he manipulated the feedback loop (which sounded good no matter what he did to it- bastard), things got moving on the floor. He then quickly moved into Ableton and used his Midi controller to create all kinds of sci-fi sounds. The set progressed through all of types of techy, break-ish house with effects thrown in here and there. He played well, but I felt his set never really found a proper path. Although I could not close out the night, James just did not grab my attention like in times previous. This could be due to him only being in his fourth hour of a five hour set, but he had only just started picking up the tempo.
All in all, it was a fun night. My first impressions of Pacha were solid ones, and the locals + James were a good combination.
*Now, let me be clear I'm not a stalker, I'm just attentive.