Blank & Jones @ Metropolis Review

October 6, 2005 12:16 PM
by

With a fresh and invigorating lineup, Metropolis is poised and ready to take on all challenges. What is one of the more difficult tasks that Metropolis is resolute in overcoming? To bring back a genre of EDM long thought to have disappeared in South Florida… Trance!

Focused on bringing House acts on Fridays and Trance on Saturdays, Metropolis is aiming to satiate the palettes of the majority of music aficionados in South Florida. With an upcoming schedule that includes: Judge Jules and Oliver Lieb, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso, and John OO’ Flemming, Metropolis has set its sights on talent rarely seen in the “Magic City.”

After painlessly maneuvering my way inside, acquiring all the requisite wristbands for the special events in the various rooms, I was ready to party!

First stop…Amazonia.

Though still empty at such an early hour, DJ Ron Luna was dropping some serious tunes. He pleasantly surprised me by dropping some soulful house courtesy of Michelle Weeks’ “Be Thankful.” A track I would have never thought to ever hear within the confines of Amazonia!

Readying the VIP areas, were three scantily clad staff members. Perfectly complementing the tropical décor of the room, they were my favorite visual element of the room by far!

Walking back into Prophecy (main room), George Alvarado was already on the decks.

Throwing down house early on, George mixed it up between old and new. From Depeche Mode to newer stuff courtesy of Deep Dish’s “The World Is Mine,” his set ranged from vocals to some more bangin’ tunes.

George Alvarado’s set had some tracks that I enjoyed, but his energy waned at times. During one of these moments, I made my way into Azucar to listen to some Latin beats.

“Wall to wall packed with beautiful women,” is the best way to describe the sights of Azucar. Early on in the evening, there was a DJ spinning everything from Shakira to Jennifer Lopez. In attendance, was Suzanna, the winner of the Telemundo show “El Principe Azul”.

By 1 a.m., the room was rocking as a popular Venezuelan band called “Voz Veis,” performed live. The crowd was singing in unison to their songs as I carefully maneuvered my way toward a packed Nile, back toward Prophecy.

Prophecy had quickly filled up in my absence. George Alvarado was throwing down some more trancey tracks in anticipation of Blank and Jones’ set. Accompanying George Alvarado’s set was a percussionist situated upon a small platform in front of the VIP area. Standing in the center of the dancefloor though, the powerful Dynacord system negated the drumming of the percussionist as the music drowned him out.

At approximately 2 a.m., Blank and Jones took to the decks for the first time in Miami!

During the late 90’s trance explosion, Blank and Jones’ music dominated the German dance charts. After meeting at the PopKomm music conference, one time record clerk Piet Blank and DJ Jaspa Jones collaborated to form the production team of Blank and Jones.

As a result of their financial success, they quickly moved toward full length productions and remixing such artists as Mauro Picotto and Moby.

Today, Blank and Jones stand behind a plethora of hit singles, albums and mix compilations and continue to play at nightclubs and large outdoor festivals to throngs of fans!

Amidst a sea of energetic tranceaddicts, Blank and Jones delivered an inspired 3 hour set.

Playing for the crowd, Blank and Jones enthusiastically clapped and raised their arms (in an almost prophetic fashion), throughout the night.

Playing mostly newer tracks, Blank and Jones was not afraid to delve into their cd cases and drop some classic tunes as well.

From their own production entitled “Perfect Silence” (E-Craig remix), to Filo and Peri’s –“Closer Now” (Whiteroom remix), the bombs came early on!

Suddenly, as if in a tempest, the preliminary sounds and subsequent air blasts of the Kyro jets took effect. Not more than a minute later, the entire room was enveloped in a blinding cold smoke, energizing the crowd into a frenzy!

Taking his position atop a side platform, one exuberant fan displayed his skills for the crowd with dual lights (glowsticks)!

Paul Van Dyk’s “The Other Side,” The Killers- Mr. Brightside (Blank and Jones remix), and Underworld’s “Born Slippy,” elicited a huge positive response from the crowd.

Though the size of the crowd diminished somewhat as the night progressed, there was still a decent size crowd dancing and jumping about till the very end.

Overall, Blank and Jones’ set ranged from catchy vocals to more bangin’ beats.

Displaying appreciation for their fans, they took a request from an eager young lady as their last track. The sexy vocals of Elles De Graaf soon resonated throughout Prophecy as they dropped their own original production entitled “Mind of the Wonderful.”

After their set, Blank and Jones took photographs and gave out signed T-shirts. Fan friendly to say the least!

Though the main event had concluded, the evening was far from over as the afterhours crew took over. Playing mostly electro and progressive house, DJ Mood and Nikolas closed out the night.

Todd Garner’s – “Make Me Feel,” Sono’s -“A New Cage” (digitalism remix), and Carl Cox’s -“That’s The Bass,” (Norman Cook remix), was just a few of the tracks that ended the night at Metropolis

Many have been clamoring since Blank and Jones’ highly successful appearance for their subsequent return. According to my sources, Metropolis is interested in having them back soon (in fact you can count on it!)

Now that is a “Prophecy” that I am sure many trance fans will sing about!