- If you ask someone in the New York scene about Cielo, opinions differ vastly and quickly. The repeated criticism of the venue's Funktion One sound system is hardly justified, as it delivers some of the crispest frequencies in the city. The real problems lie in the layout of the club and in the crowd the club attracts. The sunken dance floor can create an annoying discontinuity, distributing the crowd in an awkward fashion. Situated in the lavish Meatpacking district of New York City, the venue attracts Pacha-esque revelers and ever-multiplying throng of yuppies. To avoid this, go on a Monday when Cielo caters to a more underground audience with its Francois K Deep Space night.
Promoters Dance.Here.Now program on weekends, and bring in an array of local and international headliners. The talent ranges from underground to mainstream and from old school to new school, so one can imagine that Cielo would be a proper fit for any disc jockey, including techno honcho Chris Liebing. We arrived shortly after Liebing took the reigns around 1 AM. The CLR boss was already deep into a set of hard, driving techno. Two indicators of a good night greeted us immediately upon entrance: Liebing was already expertly slashing the high end EQ to unveil Monoloc's "Nohouse," and the guy handing out wristbands was a dwarf dressed up as a Leprechaun.
Setting up camp in a lofty corner gave us a panoramic view of the club. The sea of airborne hands bore resemblance to a massive temple procession. For the next three hours until closing, Liebing didn't let up. A four-deck Traktor setup allowed him to add and subtract extra percussion in the mids and highs, with each reduction accompanied by a roar traversing through the crowd. One example of Liebing's sheer expertise was his attention to sub bass drops. Just when you thought the bottom end could not get any more bone shattering, the maestro would throw in an indecipherable note emitting even further vibrations.
Hearing the name Chris Liebing from the very beginning of my days as a dance music fan set high expectations that were undeniably satisfied. To be honest, though, the experience as a whole could have been improved with a venue change. While it's commendable that Cielo and Dance.Here.Now caters to a whole realm of sounds, Liebing’s techno might have been even better with something more intimate, darker and with less bottle service.