Clubhopping - Lawler disappoints and locals rock

June 17, 2004 12:10 AM
by

The best thing about clubbing on South Beach? You never know how it’s going to turn out.

You start the night out idealistically, with tentative plans in mind and expectations of what each event will bring. But most of the time, in the end, your expectations and plans have been whisked around, turned upside down and you’re left in a state of dizziness and awe.

Well, ok. Maybe it’s not that dramatic but that’s how I felt on Saturday (June 5) night.

Our exciting schedule for the night?

Start out at X-type at the Delano to see the ultimate chill out DJ and former Muzik Magazine assistant editor, Rob Da Bank; at 2 a.m., move onto Privilege to see a show I’m unsure about (since I’ve never seen them play) by local DJs B612 and Otto; drive over to the mainland to Space for Steve Lawler, which I know is going to be amazing, because in my eyes, Lawler’s never played a bad set.

We arrive at the Delano. I’m elated because I haven’t heard a great chill-out set for as long as I can remember. Plus, unlike the weekend before, there were no rain clouds in sight, which means the music would carry on uninterrupted all night and there would be no huddling under the bar’s bamboo roof to torrential downpours.

As usual, the Delano was a makeshift Paris runway, with hot models and beautiful people looking fabulous, drinking the club’s $25 cosmos and mingling with the common folk.

The music was nice, but I noticed it wasn’t anywhere close to ambient or chill-out. Soon, we saw Diego (you’d know him as Space’s ex-marketing manager) who informed us that we just missed Rob Da Bank’s set.

Of course we did.

After paying a small fortune for drinks, we decided to go to Privilege. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about this night. I told the people I was with that we had to go because I’d heard the productions of B612 and I wanted to see how he measured up as a DJ.

But as everyone knows, just because a guy can use software programs, it doesn’t make him a great DJ. I had a small fear that I dragged my friends here (after driving for an hour in search for a free meter) and the music wouldn’t be good.

As we walked in, B612 was already on the decks. I have a love-hate relationship with Privilege – the concept is good (I love techno!) but for some reason, the club always lacks that certain energy.

Maybe it’s the crowd or maybe they’ve got some bad chi floating around, but it always seems to have something missing. In fact, the only great night I’ve had there was for the WMC M-nus party with Richie Hawtin and Magda.

But Saturday night changed my mind. The club was packed, and B612 had the crowd going mad from the beginning. I haven’t seen that kind of energy in a club in so long and just being in there for a few minutes made me really happy. But it wasn’t only the crowd that made the atmosphere so positive – it was also the music.

B612 is one of Miami’s obscure gems. His music was a driving force in itself – dynamic and impressive. He led the crowd through a one-hour journey of tech-house, tribal, house, acid house and more.

Some of the notable tracks of that night were JV and Red Eye’s deep and dark “Possession”, Jay Tripwire’s “Ok, This Might Be Tech House” and one of Richie Hawtin’s charted tracks, Josh Wink’s “Fill Me With Acid.”

Not only was he playing incredible tracks, but he was really getting into the music as much as the crowd was – that’s always a plus!

After B612, DJ Oddo twisted the music and the crowd with harder techno beats. This was the perfect medicine, as the club was full and it seemed the evening was still getting started, even though it was the middle of the night.

As much as I love techno and wanted to stay, I felt Space and Lawler calling my name from across the causeway.

We arrived at Space around half past three, after giving a couple of crack heads parking money. By the time we walked in, Lawler had been on for a while.

Before I trash Lawler, let me say that I love him. He’s the best A-list DJ out there. His sets are like a musical grab bag or having sex with a hooker – you never know what you're going to get. What incredible tunes is he going to pull out of that little record box of his?

On top of that, his mixing is almost always flawless and the best part is, he loves DJing more than anything else in this world, and it radiates through to the crowd.

That said, Lawler’s mainroom set sucked. I was very, very disappointed. I was in shock, because I’ve never heard him play such mundane, pointless tracks. This is the only time that I’ve seen the crowd absolutely lifeless during a Lawler set.

The sad thing is, I knew everyone in the club was really trying to enjoy the music, really trying to grasp that excitement they’ve experienced during previous Lawler sets, but they couldn’t quite reach that euphoric point.

For a while, I stood in the corner, feeling an uncontrollable urge to climb into the booth and strangle the DJ. That violent urge subsided after a while, and I lingered there bored to death.

I even saw people shaking their heads in dismay and from the reaction on several message boards on Sunday, I knew for sure that I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed in Lawler’s set.

5 a.m. was about to roll around and I couldn’t stand it any longer. I really wanted to stay for his terrace set but I was feeling depressed and wanted to go home. I should have stayed however, because I heard that he redeemed himself on the terrace.

So that’s how a night of club hopping goes – you win some, you lose some. Some events turn out better than you expected and some never live up.

On a side note, we had a great time at Lawler’s private birthday party on Sunday night at Rok Bar. Rok Bar is a small, intimate venue with red walls and huge photos of buff rock chicks playing guitars above the bar (fitting, considering the club’s owner is Tommy Lee.)

The funniest part of the venue is the fact that the only way you can get to the DJ booth is by climbing up a ladder, so it’s quite amusing to watch a wobbling DJ trying to balance his his fifty pound record box and his grasp while climbing.

Cedric Gervais played excellent music at the party. There were only fifty people there but the highlight of the night was talking to Steve. He asked me if I went to Space on Saturday night and I had the privilege of telling him happy birthday … and that his set blew. The best part was that he agreed: “I wasn’t feeling the energy either.”

Happy Birthday, Steve! Miami still loves you.