MARQUEE REOPENS AS AN ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC MECCA
There is nothing casual about a “casual Wednesday” at the latest fixture in New York City nightlife. New York’s Marquee is, by no means, a new name to the club scene; having opened in 2003, New York is the original location of the global club brand that has since expanded to Las Vegas and Sydney, Australia.
The West Chelsea hotspot closed for renovations last fall and reopened to the public on January 18. The newly remodeled venue, complete with a new state-of-the-art, half-a- million-dollar sound and lighting system, has been completely restructured to create the ultimate musical experience.
Having played the club’s grand opening, techno DJ Dubfire made it crystal clear that Marquee is not one to follow the crowd when it comes to its talent. With Gareth Emery, James Zabiela, Danny Howells, and David Guetta booked through February; Marquee will showcase a wide variety of music genres in an effort to offer its fans a club-going experience that is more concerned with quality beats than selling magnum-sized bottles of champagne and passing off pop music as “EDM.”
That being said, Dubfire’s performance kicked off a weekly slot dedicated to the underground music culture, while Dirty Dutch maestro DJ Chuckie made his debut last Wednesday, marking the new night for big name talent in the city. Doors opened just after witching hour at 12:30am on arguably the coldest night Manhattan has seen in the past year, yet there was a sizable crowd bearing the bitter cold, hoping to cross the guarded velvet ropes. Marquee’s door is no turnstile - the crowd was sophisticated and as you looked around, you just got a feeling that Manhattan nightlife was back.
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There is no way the new Marquee could not leave an impression on you. Leaving reality behind at the door, you step into an intriguing 6,200-square-foot hazy violet club land. The first thing we took note of was the spacious layout – unlike other venues, you don’t feel like you are trapped in a box or tripping over tables; what used to be three segmented rooms is now one colossal dance floor, illuminated by bedazzling, glass beaded chandeliers. It is very sexy inside– the two-story space has 30-foot, high- vaulted ceilings tricked out with LED panels as go-go dancers wearing vibrant leotards sway to the sultry beats on elevated catwalks above partygoers.
But not to worry, Marquee is not any less exclusive than before. VIP tables with bottle service are more like raised booths, thrones if you will, that preside over the enormous dance floor, with the DJ booth on an elevated stage being the summit. There’s also an upper deck from which you can see the entire dance floor and the LED-studded DJ booth.
Chuckie and his signature flat-brimmed hat could be seen taking the decks about five minutes past 1:30am. It’s always interesting to see what Chuckie will play for his patrons, especially with club owners Jason Strauss and Noah Tepperberg in attendance. Throwing down dirty tribal house beats like “Freaks!” by Andrew Phillips and “Just Another Groove” (Lookback remix) by Mighty Dub Katz, he kicked the Wednesday party series into high gear. He chose to drop one of his darker remixes of “Who is Ready to Jump” by Nico Hamuy and Ortzy. The Funktion-One sound system proved to be absolutely fantastic and highlights the club’s emphasis on an all-encompassing music experience.