Cody Lee at Spundae

Miami

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home > nightlife&clubs > Cody Lee at Spundae

August 4, 2004 11:49 AM
by

Fade In:
EXT: A TWO-TIME DANCESTAR AWARD WINNING CLUB, “SPUNDAE”, IN LOS ANGELES - NIGHT

The queue is long and the party people are anxious to get outrageous at this highly promoted event.

CLUBBER #1 (Just getting off of his cell phone)
Hey I just heard that Junior isn’t gonna spin. He wasn't on the plane from New York, I guess.

CLUBBER #2
Man, that sucks. He does that from time to time when he’s not spinning on his home turf, though. I just came cause I knew that if Junior wasn’t going to spin, at least Cody Lee would. Do you know him? He kicks @$$.

CLUBBER #1
No, I don’t go out in LA very much anymore.

CLUBBER #2 (grinning widely)
Aww. You’re in for a treat.

The above dialog was no fabrication, dear CoolJunkies. It was as faithful a transcription as I could manage of a real conversation that I overheard.

July 31, and the legendary and illustrious Junior Vasquez was supposedly going to take the decks and do his legendary and illustrious thing at Spundae @ Circus Disco. As veteran DJs sometimes do, he asked for a very specific set-up, concessions, etc. In fact his set-up was so specific that it required a separate stage to be built on the other end of the Circus dancehall. It remained over there - lonely, abandoned, and eerily spotlighted - for the entire night. Junior didn’t show up, of course. The limo went to get him at the hotel. The plane was where it was supposed to be too…



Cody Lee

There was also one other element that was right in place - Cody Lee, the supporting DJ for the evening. True, he is most definitely less legendary, but after that Saturday night performance, by no means can he be seen as less illustrious. He tore and twisted and squeezed bliss and funk out of every record, ultimately driving the crowd into a funkadelic riot. His body wriggled and jumped. His face beamed. Not a complaint was heard at Junior’s no-show. It is safe to proclaim that Cody did not disappoint.

Due to the fact that he did not anticipate an all night performance though, he decided to share the night with record-toting friend, MTV Europe’s David Hopper (aka Catfish Boogie Nelson). The two of them, with their complimentary styles just got raunchy with their gathering of dancers. David chose a sure shot track selection - some of the hits du jour - while Cody got experimental, even weird at times, never once losing the crowd.

In a lesser kind of way, this situation might be likened to the incident at Space when Steve Lawler stepped in and took over what Armand van Helden had done to the unsuspecting, hip-hop ignorant crowd several years back. The disappointment that people felt as they came through the door at Spundae that night was alchemically shifted within moments. Some were even throwing money at him over the decks! The message boards the next day reflected a similarly unusual respect, with one attendee saying “House never sounded so good 2 me.” And another proclaiming, “Cody Lee was playing some great ass shaking music.”

URB magazine had it right too when they dubbed him one of the 2004 “Next 100”. Playing like that, he’s sure to move right up to the “Top 100” in no time at all.

www.djcodylee.com

photos courtesy of Maron Hamilton