ON THE FLOOR
Cassy Matthew Dear
Summer in the City As New York’s sweltering summer continues, DJ Mag USA
keeps it as cool as possible at the city’s best outdoor parties....
A
funny thing happens to club culture as the temperatures rises here in New York City. The pale,
skeletal shapes that hide in clubs through the long nights find themselves up early and dancing in the great outdoors of the concrete jungle, from the early afternoon till not much past midnight. This isn’t because the city’s gone soft, but in a place where winter and summer are extremely polarized, it’s no surprise that residents take what they can get during the warmer months.
Saturday begins with the time-honored tradition of ‘drunk brunch’ before midday. We have a boozy meal on Grand Street in East Williamsburg where a free block party, featuring local DJs and circus performers, has been set up by residents, old Masters At Work jams pumping loud well before we’re supposed to start partying.
Next we head up to Long Island City in Queens to MoMA’s PS1 museum where their weekly Saturday summer party Warm Up – now into its fifteenth year - is starting. Dave P and JDH, who have been running the region’s Fixed parties, which bring many UK and European underground acts to America, kick off with a nice set of warm-up tunes from Simian Mobile Disco and others. Next MikeQ, part of the new wave of vogue ballroom culture, drops old-school flavored beats as members of the crowd break out into stylized dance routines. We take a break to walk around the museum and come back to local rapper Le1f spitting
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rhymes. The crowd is well lubricated thanks to the craft beers on draught, and Sepalcure decide to eschew their live, bass heavy set for something a bit more in tune with the crowd and weather. At the forefront of the New York Cpost-dubstep scene, they drop an old Crystal Waters gem as the crowd sings along. Finally, Matthew Dear takes things tech-house and techno for the final set of the night and the crowd leaves ready for more at 9pm.
Luckily Cassy is playing a secret outdoor warehouse party, named Elegant Mistakes, in Brooklyn. A spin- off of the year-round BLKmarket Membership, the promoters wanted to throw a smaller version of their main soiree for friends. No expense is spared on the soundsystem, lighting, and chill-out areas as we arrive towards the end of Taimur Agha’s (BLKmarket founder and record buyer at Halcyon) driving set. Cassy takes to to the decks and plays one of the most infectiously energetic sets of the summer, constantly dancing while grinning as she drops everything from Cajmere & Dajae to Shed in his Wax guise. We’ve had twelve hours of of partying and it’s only 2am.
On Sunday we take a trip to the most chilled and fun Sunday party this side of the Atlantic: Mister Sunday. Another summer-only party from year-round Mister Saturday Night duo Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter, it should be noted that both Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday are about to celebrate their 99th and 100th parties the weekend after we visit. Mister
Sunday has undergone a few name changes since it began years ago, but the location - Gowanus Grove area in the beautiful Carroll Gardens neighborhood near downtown Brooklyn - has thankfully stayed the same as it’s vital to the party. In the middle of some trees is a simple white canopy with a DJ booth that’s flanked by a great soundsystem and ceramic fairy lights running between branches.
Thought the line-ups range from Moodymann to Move D, this week is just the two residents all day long. The space is busy but never uncomfortable, mixing down-to-earth, hangover- nursing Saturday warriors, families
Sepalcure at Warm Up
with kids, and a few people pushing the feeling on from the night before. Eamon and Justin know exactly what the crowd needs with a feel-good set that peaks when Justin drops Juju & Jordash’s amazingly named new single, ‘Jewsex’, and Eamon pushes it right into Blake Baxter’s ‘Sexuality’. Classic disco reigns supreme for the end and the crowd, giddy on the homemade sangria and full of the delicious Mexican food onsite, stumble across the canal. It’s only 9pm so there’s time for one more drink and a sleep before Monday approaches and we await next weekend to do it all over again. ZARA WLADAWSKY
Pics: MIGUEL LEGAULT
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