Emerson and Deluxe at Stereo, New York

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    Oct 14, 2002
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    Resident Advisor
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  • Darren Emerson, and Tim Deluxe, for STEREO, at IVAR In the land of LA clubbing, Hollywood has its comes and goes . Most “cool” venues start off with a great scene, but gradually deteriorate into clogs of film-industry wannabes, or LA’s bridge and tunnel crowd (sorry, Valley kids.) Darren Emerson It shall be interesting to apply this plug and play formula to Stereo, LA’s newest Jason Bentley function Bentley. (Check out Bentley’s radio show, “Metropolis” on www.kcrw.org) Stereo’s opening night hosted a very private, very Hollywood, GQ magazine party with Miguel Migs, followed by a very public grand opening party with Darren Emerson and Tim Deluxe. As a venue, Ivar—home to Stereo-- is definitely sleek. Its inside trails a shot of Miami with a swish of New York on the rocks. To your left as you walk in, and off to the side of the main dance floor, are three, very cool-looking spherical booths. Lit up in retro-Jetsons blue, with a private view of club, and all marked, “Reserved,” these are the perfect booths to sneak something past someone. Local scenesters were everywhere: Neil Thomas (Spundae) chilled in the DJ booth, chatting with Darren in between sets. Ricardo (Thrive Records) grooved alongside. And Dave Dean (Giant) enjoyed from the audience’s vantage point. With crowd-pleasers like Groove Armada’s “Superstylin’,” Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s Your Head At?”, and this summer’s favorite, Layo and Bushwacka’s “Love Story,” Darren Emerson and Tim Deluxe hit all the right spots. This was my first time hearing Tim Deluxe live, and although I was impressed, I was not wowed. Tim’s take on the night was a deeply tribal house with a funky twist. He is not as elaborate as Darren in his performance, but his mixing is solid and his timing, impeccable. This was my third time seeing Darren Emerson, sans Underworld. First time was at Fabric, and then, at WMC. Every time I hear him, he is coming more and more into his branch of chunky, tech-house. Throbbing beats and flirty, liquid soul, give Darren an unfair advantage: you just can’t help but dance. He teases, cajoles, and then pounds your brain with bass. You may not groove, but your body sure will move. As an outfit, the two put on a fantastic show. I couldn’t stop dancing. Their energy is exactly the kind of Fabric-exported vibe that LA needs. The only missing element were the visuals. The lasers were tame and limiting, sporadically confined to the DJ booth, with an occasional “let’s turn the lights on the crowd” spotlight effect. The visuals could have included a bit more variety, as well. Sinewy females cavorted in slow motion, in a lens-flared spectacle of cool, but the images were a bit too pop-ridden for an electronic venue. The sound system, unfortunately, was complete crap. Word was that one of the speakers had blown out, earlier in the night. After dropping a white label remix of Cassius’ “Sex,” Darren Emerson confirmed the rumor by pickeing up the mike and apologizing. “It’s my fault. I fucked it up,” Darren smiled, “But we’re here to party, right?” He reached for the crowd, like a kid, in the spirit of the moment. Applause and cheers filled the room. “We’re here to party!” As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Darren and Tim outdid themselves. The crowd was smiling, and shakin’ their booty, and the only real bummer of the evening was the infiltration of the Hollywood hooty. Notable quotes of the night came from: Raymond Roker, (DJ, Publisher of URB Magazine): “There was to much leftover GQ in there. There were many cool music headz who couldn’t get in because of too many satin shirted boys.” Niels Alpert (Director and LA Veteran Clubber):The fab Hollywood attitude and the $6 beers have got to go. There’s too much of a lame Hollywood cheese factor. In face, there’s extra cheese, here tonight. The drinks are too expensive, and the fancy pants look…well, I’m not buyin’ it. But hey, I ’m here.” That’s it, residentadvisor lovers. This is Dirty Quotes Deana, signing off
RA