Avaland Premier

Miami

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home > nightlife&clubs > Avaland Premier

September 12, 2004 12:00 PM
by

With one of the more elaborate and visually stimulating flyers that the LA dance music community had seen in a while, the Avalon contingent set about stoking an anticipatory fire.

Belly dancers, secret agents, Audrey Hepburn look-alikes and a bedazzled crowd awaited entry to Avalon on the large, colorful tri-fold invitation. They called it “a world at night”, and in large brilliant letters displayed the label that had been so successful on the East Coast -- Avaland.

Most people in Los Angeles had never heard of “Avaland”, but knew Giant as the venue’s running Saturday night. In what is now a collaborative effort, Giant and Avalon are working together to make Saturday night at Avalon an unprecedented weekly escapade.

Walking in was quite an experience. First, the line was tremendous. Mayhem at the door, but the people waiting seemed curious enough to not “hem and haw” at the size of the queue.

A sizeable chunk of LA’s dance music elite was there: Raul Campos from KCRW, Jason Blum from Deepsky and his lovely wife, Eve Falcon, Roy Davis Jr., to name just a few.

Then, walking in, one couldn’t help but notice the surprising contrast from the usual surroundings. Props were everywhere. There were onion-domed minarets, as well as plants, and once fully inside the main room, it was impossible to not be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of projector screens.

The Avalonians had put them in the back, on the sides, on the ceiling. They even had a guy walking around with a harness that fit around his torso that was stacked with projectors. He would cruise through the crowd and project effected images of the go-go dancers on other people and on walls.

And then there was the music. Halo was on first, and rather than ease in to the evening he opted instead to get down with a beefy blend of tribal-funk progressive. Truly invigorating.

Miguel Migs was awesome as well with his brand of deep, funky, soulful house. And by the time Layo and Bushwacka showed up, the revels were in full swing.

People didn’t know what to expect, as the music had been so diverse so far that evening, and Layo and Bushwacka’s latest mix “All Night Long” was equally as diverse, if not more so. The boys from The End did not disappoint and laid down a fantastic tech-house set (with a few surprises of course).

In a diverse world, full of different flavors and colors and styles, it’s nice to see a world at night that takes the time and the energy to celebrate that.

And take our word for it: the time and the energy that Avaland expends is well on its way to raising the bar permanently for showmanship in dance music and nightlife in Los Angeles.