- A usual Monday night at a Chicago club is often a sorry sight, with patrons only there to drown their sorrows in overpriced drinks and half-listen to thumping tunes mixed by a nameless, but no less hard-working DJs. When Get Physical superstars/labelheads Booka Shade come to town, however, Chicago knows how to fill a club, regardless of where it falls on the calendar. Two hours before Berliners Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier were set to take the stage, the Funky Buddha, one of Chicago’s relatively few places to see live Pas by bigger electronic acts, was already near its capacity. Crosstown Rebels signee Jamie Jones’ set was widely ignored in favor of tipsy conversation and visits to the Rehab energy drink table for free samples. (I did appreciate his closing with Stephan Goldmann’s remix of Marc Romboy vs Chelonis R. Jones’ new track, ‘Helen Cornell’.)
With a table completely covered in gear and a separate rack for even more beat-making equipment, you would have thought Dan Berkson and James What were about to write an album in front of an audience. But their Ableton-less set up seemed perfectly functional for the duo, pushing minimal tech-house through the club’s adequate, if poorly-mixed soundsystem. It took a while for clubgoers to give into the popping rhythms and start dancing, and eventually a few cliques started to shake it as best as able in the limited space. Berkson and What looked a little disconcerted at their lukewarm reception, but powered through and brought the audience to a simmer – ready for the headliner.
After numerous technical problems with the monitors were put to rest, Booka Shade revealed their impressive set-up: Two large screens flanking the stage flashed a myriad of Shade-related visuals, while Merziger and Kammermeier’s large rigs were decked out with glowing, neon blue bandstands and dramatic red can lights. Acknowledging the crowd’s fervent anticipation, the duo launched right into hits from ‘Movement’ with matching intensity. All wide grins and sweat-covered foreheads, it was readily apparent how much Booka Shade enjoy live performances, as well as how prepared they were to replicate their richly detailed signature sound. Kammermeier’s live drumming, done with stylistic and joyful flair, lends even more life to Movement’s already vigorous tunes, and had the audience going off with cheerful abandon. Imploring the crowd to spazz out “like they do in Berlin,” Booka Shade pounded their rigs as feet hammered the floor. The pair showed no signs of exhaustion even through the additional three song encore which included ‘Mandarine Girl’ and ‘Darko’, and ended with a big bow and retreated to Funky Buddha’s inner depths.
All in all it was a pretty fantastic night for electronic fans. At times the massive crowd – half of which seemed to have never been to any sort of electronic event previous to this one (based on casually overheard conversation) – was more of a hindrance than an asset, clogging up the club’s poorly designed doorways and leaving little room for the dancing-inclined to bust a move. But ace performances from all involved and ecstatic reactions to Booka Shade’s set proved Monday night in Chicago can be just as potent as any other day of the week.