- Cleveland is an unusual place as far as dance music goes. It is the home of rock 'n roll and most of the city follows in those roots. It used to have a rather large rave community, but most seemed to have moved on or moved away. However, there are members that still burn hot and a real core of pretty good DJs and people that love the music. Having said that, many of those same people love to talk stuff about one another. They love to bicker, antagonize, and work in a deconstructive manner against one another. It is a very small pool and the only things that seem to draw mass crowds are the Pauls, Armins, and Ferrys of the world, which is fine - to a point. It seems that everyone gets so frustrated at so much dumb shit that one step forward becomes a pace and a half diagonally backward.
Fortunately people got their proverbial ducks in a row and were lucky enough to get Infusion to liven up the city. The Melbourne boys have surpassed their status as just a "dance group" in the past few years and have landed slots playing on almost every continent and in front of over 40,000 at Creamfields, Argentina, Coachella, even Kansas City (town in the middle of the United States). The best thing about the trio is that they play hard every night - no matter how good, or bad, the situation.
The plan was to fly back to my hometown earlier on Friday, but thanks to the fine folks at the airline, I barely made it to the venue on time. Infusion were booked at Metropolis, which is really a cornerstone of clubbing in not only Cleveland, but the midwestern United States as a whole. I had not been back inside of it since I DJed there last a few years prior, and it looked completely different. The lights, sound, and furnishings had all been replaced - even a new dance floor had been installed by the owner. I had promise for the night except there were not too many punters milling about. I hoped that would change....
Luckily I ran into a few old friends and got to catch up with all the latest happenings and such. The warm up DJs were not exactly playing a "warm-up set," but the music was pretty good and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I ventured around the club and found a better crowd in the back room, eventually touching base with Jamie, Manuel, and Frank from Infusion. I got together with them and bummed around a bit as people passed me their cameras to take photos of them. The only odd bit about being in that room happened when the DJ played one of their tracks, which made everyone in the group blush a bit.
As the clock approached 1, the few hundred or so punters in the club filed to the main stage, and the lads got started. The set started off a little slow for about the first half hour. You never know how the night will progress with them as there is never a set list. All of the changes are made on the fly with a note being played, a sudden movement, or a quick word. Everyone in the crowd really started to get down, but strangely half way through the set most people left the floor! It seemed so counterintuitive that as the tempo and electricity of their set picked up, less and less boys and girls were dancing! I think the good citizens of Cleveland need to get themselves in shape! Don't get me wrong, there were still many a smiling face and as some of the more recognizable tunes ("Do To You" & "Girls Can Be Cruel") got a work out, people were bouncing like loons. It was actually really good to see such joy and excitement on people's faces. The energy between those looking down from the stage and those looking up at it, was a great thing to be a part of. The set went for about two hours with the penultimate track (which is a monster and I cannot remember the name of- also forthcoming on the next studio album) shaking the sound system to its roots in advance of the typical closer, “Natural.”
Although attendance did not turn out to be as high as everyone had hoped, a true energy reverberated in the room that night. I hope that Cleveland can continue in a positive direction, and get such great acts as Infusion to make a return trip. I cannot say much else about them except look out for the new album- it is going to be something special.