- The sun was rising on the last day of the Miami WMC. There wasn’t much of a queue to get into the Pawnshop, but you could already hear the beats emanating from the back alley. The Made Event people were out in full force, and they were treating every partygoer with the utmost respect, hence the rapid entry. With the success of the Pawnshop last year, I was expecting an enormous crowd outside, but it was 6 a.m. and things were just getting started.
Entry into the main room was through a soda machine no less, where Eddie Richards was playing to few people, but I heard Bill Patrick was ripping it up in the back room so I headed over there. The back room was seedy, dark and sweaty but full of energy: 6.30 a.m. on the last day of conference and everyone is going full speed. I then remembered how amazing the terrace was last year so I went to take a peek.
The back alley was another realm of WMC partying altogether, but the first thing to strike me was there was no sign of the infamous RV; it was replaced by an oversized RV ad for cigarettes – not a good move. There were also problems with getting drinks at the bar. Apparently there was a shift change/party change from 5 a.m to 7 a.m at most of the bars: hence no service. Appalling stuff! In the booth, Dollz At Play were playing a very minimal set to punters just settling into their new surroundings. Not enough action for me, so I headed back to check out Bill’s set. He might have been playing in the hottest room in the venue, but it was really going off. My biggest problem was that I had a hankering to see Lee Burridge play alongside Bill, but I was told that he wasn’t going to spin. Sadly I had to trek on.
Outside the morning was kicking in, and there was a DC-10 like atmosphere in the air. Jesse Rose at one point won my heart by dropping ‘Erotic Discourse’, making it clear this was going to be a mishmash of a day. By the time Dan Berkson and James What took to the stage it was definitely on, the terrace was booming and the beer was finally flowing. The organizers had also come fully prepared this year, providing sustenance (pineapples, grapes, apples), sunscreen for the pastier punters, a delightful assortment of your favourite minimal DJs and what seemed like contracts which stated DJs must play Claude Von Stroke’s ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’.
Back to the main room, which was filling up quickly as Beyer drove the semi-truck in trademark fashion with a set that was dark, cold and full of delights. After a quick fix I headed back out to Anja Schneider on the terrace, who was truly a pleasure. As the sun slowly started to creep into the Pawnshop alley, she had the boys screaming for more and the girls finding their groove. There was to be no going back into the dark territories of Pawnshop for me. With Adultnapper destroying the crowd in pure minimal fashion and distributing an assortment of unreleased tracks, promos and vinyl, people were getting excited. Inside, the girls were spinning - Magda was rumoured to have played a good set marred by technical troubles in the main room, and Scarlett Ettienne spun in the main room – but my attention was on the terrace where Steve Bug played an immaculate set for three amazing hours. When he finished, it was time to call it a day and head back to get some rest. Unfortunately for me I missed Cassy and Mr. C on the terrace but all good things must come to an end.
All in all my second session of Pawnshop was a day of bliss. But it was unlike the first. Simply put: Nothing can ever top the original. The Luciano/Loco Dice/Richie Hawtin tag team action last year wins hands down. Also in true DJ rockstar fashion I randomly bumped into Loco Dice, Richie, Lee, Felix Da Housecat and I had a Tommie Sunshine moment there too. Can’t wait till my third session next year – I’m positive that Made Events will have a few more tricks up their sleeve.