I kinda fell in love with NYC again this weekend...
It all started Friday when we had DJ Cabide do an in-store performance at the LAB.




Dude was ill-matic on the MPC, and super humble and friendly, despite not being able to speak a word of English. Check the video I made, more (professional) footage coming soon:

Then Saturday night I dj'ed at Bembe , my favorite monthly gig in NYC. I do 6 hours straight, and as usual, it was packed, sweaty, and the energy was incredible. People were going crazy to my afro latin house set, and the percussionists were slamming away.
Here's a short snippet of that part of the night , before getting into the cumbia, salsa, and reggae later:

After Bembe ended at 4am, I went over to my friend's Justin Carter and Petrit's Easy Lover Loft Party. It was 5am and people were still going for it. Lots of LAB heads were in the house too. Lloyd, Jemz, Spank Rock, and Neil Nice pushing it to the limit. Good times til 7am...
Sunday i was pretty out of it all day back at the store, but after we closed, i somehow got a 4th wind, and headed up to Pacha, for Danny Krivit's 718 Sessions Party. His guest DJ was none other than Joe Clausell, so it was basically a Body and Soul reunion, and it was AMAZING!




Notice they were playing records and CDs - no Serato!!
If you like house, soul, and disco, and you've never seen/heard these two play - you are SLEEPING!!!
Now I remember why i would go to Body and Soul every weekend religiously, back in the Club Vinyl days.
The crowd was very mixed, and very open. EVERYONE was dancing, and cheering, and nobody was checking out each other's sneakers. I even got to see a Vogue-off in the basement by the bathrooms, with like 10 trannies just battling. So ill.
The sound at Pacha is fucking huge, and these guys worked that system like i've never seen before. Joe's EQing is simply untouchable, and they worked every single record from beginning to end, making it sound better and more incredible than i'd ever heard before. Joe dropped some insane 15 minute long version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and the place went ballistic. Here's my favorite shot of the night:


Joe get's so into every song he plays and when he's EQin, it likes he's staring into heaven, waiting for the signal from above to know when to drop the bass back in. Here he is bending back almost totally horizantal before slamming the crossover back and just murdering the crowd with massive amounts of bass. This was so inspiring to watch, words cannot even explain.
What a weekend. Thanks New York City. I still got mad LOVE for you.