- If you're not Italian, Milan is likely not on your usual clubbing radar. It should be. A new generation of promoters are putting on quality nights throughout the city, with big acts and respected DJs the norm all through the week. Last Saturday was no exception: Dixon and Metro Area's Darshan Jesrani spun records at the underground Tunnel club, a former storage space built right under the elevated railroad.
As the city celebrated the closing of its annual Design Week, an uninterrupted flow of international party goers invaded the streets, and an uninterrupted flow of ashes from mighty Eyjafjallajokull threatened to block flight connections in Europe and deprive Tunnel of its guests. Much to everyone's relief, when people showed up at the door around midnight, they were told that both Dixon and Jesrani had made it to Milan via train, one from Berlin, the other from Munich, both leaving Germany in the early morning.
Inside, young Milanese duo The Electricalz was already spinning some low pitch deep house and the crowd was getting in the mood for dancing. As Jesrani materialized on stage, he immediately changed the needles of the turntables, and by 1 AM was already in charge of the controls. He played only vinyl, flitting through various genres, pushing warm, resonant chords into the cavernous room, now finally full. Jesrani is clearly undergoing an extraordinary creative period, with the approaching completion of his new studio/music loft in Brooklyn and the new live project Arcade Lover, but he's lost little touch with the club dimension, despite a few mixing errors.
Around 3 AM, breaking the constant chatter coming from the crowd, Dixon swooped in to take the party to a higher level. Playing only CDs, Dixon was able to hypnotize the floor with a deep, thrilling set, weighted with vocals, solid bass lines and spellbinding piano lines. Masterfully going between house and techno, Dixon mixed his version of Ane Brun's "Headphone Silence" with an old school acid track reminiscent of Erik and Fiedel's "Nous Sommes MMM."
Despite those folks more concerned about looking cool than dancing, the atmosphere was joyous as Dixon carried the sweaty clubbers into the morning. Wandering out of the club to reach my car, under a heavy rain and around grey industrial buildings, I heard a promoter talking about inviting Dixon to play again soon. I'll be there.