Under the most ideal of circumstances, every night for anyone who dreams the dream of being a club shaking, body rocking disc jockey would be like what occurred at Fur on Saturday night during the MSTRKRFT/Crystal Method/Will Eastman triple bill.
It was a riotous confluence of epic proportions as the right crowd and right DJs met up with the perfect night for a sea of excited revelers. Will Eastman more than capably opened, giving the crowd a taste of the current alternative dance hits, some Amanda Blank mixed with some Blaqstarr, a lot of other faves we’re all aware of, with a bit of himself as well, as his remix of Ruby Isle’s “So Damn High” fitting in with pretty much any mix, with it’s unmistakable pop appeal.
The Crystal Method, a landmark duo in the dance music genre were next, and played a sweeping set, exquisitely taking the glowstick waving and eagerly raving crowd on a joyride, building to a crescendo in which the entire room, when met by a certain waving and pulsing rhythm, made the dancefloor look like a sea of undulating neon coral, with the Crystal Method’s electric rhythms swimming fluidly through. Nearing the end of the set, they even showed their attempt at being with the times as well, as they dropped a mix of their own track “Sine Language” with LMFAO, yes, the same LMFAO of “I’m in Miami, Trick” fame, either the most genius or utterly annoying song of the year, but, nevertheless, there were moments in the 90 minutes when the Crystal Method played, where it was patently obvious that you were watching two men who knew exactly what it takes to build a crowd to a ravenous point, and take their minds and bodies to the stratosphere.
Closers MSTRKRFT are really a phenomenal collective. Jesse Keeler was clearly a member of DFA 1979 who felt he had a lot more to offer. With original DFA 1979 producer Al-P, the duo takes elements of electro and elements of thrashing rock and punk sounds, and crashes them together in ways that owe as much to being awesome to being unsure of what the sound will be, and hoping, along with the listener, that they will be awesome. Their second album, “Fist of God,” in which the duo records with all manner of hip hop and R & B stalwarts from John Legend (whose “Heartbreaker” proves that they guy sounds good over pretty much everything,) to E-40, Ghostface Killah and Noreaga, proves their desire to expand sounds, and explore everything in the element of just creating a more raucous yet inventive affair. Their set was massive as always, high energy electro fused with elements of just about everything, from old school b-boy breaks to Baltimore club, punk rock and literally everything in between, with, of course, an ironic kick in the pants at the end, as they closed with a typical closer of theirs, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Yes, after five hours, in which I saw fuzzy boots, all sides of the naked female anatomy, enough glowsticks to make me think it was 1999, and a veritable myriad of frolicking revelry, the last thing I heard was Freddy Mercury saying, “Nothing really matters, anyone can see, nothing really matters, nothing really matters, to me.”
Pure, rollicking, mindless, necessary fun. If I take anything from this, it’s pure, rollicking, mindless, necessary fun. Phenomenal.
Photography by Carly Arnwine & Mark Maskell
