- Two heavy-hitters share the bill in Chinatown.
- Chinatown Central Plaza at Gin Ling Way was built in 1938, which makes it historic by Los Angeles standards. Home to old-school shops selling Chinese goods and a handful of hip bars and restaurants, the pedestrian-only zone is known for its recognizable lanterns, neon lights and Chinese-inspired architecture. But in recent years it has occasionally served as an events space, hosting the kind of big-name DJs—Guy Gerber, DJ Harvey—who are too big for LA's clandestine afterhours scene.
For Future Primitive's day-into-night party with DJ Tennis and Dixon, the plaza had been transformed into a fully functioning nightclub, complete with a massive disco ball rigged above the open-air dance floor. Tennis, who helped put on the party, was deep into his opening set when I arrived, actively working the EQs over a funky, chugging disco-rock tune, before transitioning into a string of bass-driven house cuts. With the plaza still bathed in daylight, people mostly stood around chatting or bobbing their heads, but as the sun dropped behind the buildings, attention turned towards the dance floor.
Just before handing the reins to Dixon, Tennis blessed the sunset with the instrumental version of Mr Fingers' "Can You Feel It" while dancers shot confetti canons into the air. It created a blissful moment, but at the same time, it wasn't clear if the audience recognized the deep house anthem. Unlike the Downtown LA warehouse regulars who live and breathe electronic music, this crowd had a more mainstream air, with shades of Coachella or modern-day Venice Beach.
Regardless of their familiarity with the music, everyone was fully onboard when Dixon stepped up. Employing the moody basslines and EBM sensibilities of Random Factor's "Convergence" and Sascha Funke's "Surumu," he built a sustained sense of drama, intermittently pausing his tracks to tease the crowd into applause before dropping the beat back in. Meanwhile, Tennis caroused in the background with an ever-growing entourage.
For the finale, the two DJs joined forces for a back-to-back, which at first felt just as careful and calculated as their solo sets. But just before the midnight cut-off, Tennis surprised everyone and transitioned seamlessly from a house tune into the distinctive guitar opening of "Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley And The Wailers, dipping the volume so the crowd could sing the hook. Earning the biggest reaction of the night, this felt like Tennis's way of rewarding the dancers for showing their trust in the DJs across seven hours.