The Juice Box

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Bottles of Water!

by Steven Satyricon

Dance parties during the Winter Holiday Season can be pretty hit-or-miss, in my experience; with so many stalwarts of the club scene traveling to fulfill family obligations and such, one can never be certain if a critical mass of people remain. I’m happy to report that the Thanksgiving weekend edition of Industry was an unqualified hit!

Craig Gaibler was making his Industry debut as the opening DJ; my Posse and I are all big fans, so we made extra effort to arrive early, both to support and to not miss any of what we expected to be a top-notch set. I arrived at about 10:45 with my two friends who were visiting from Nashville. Due to the remarkably cold weather, coat check took a little longer than usual, since nearly everyone was arriving bundled up (though I’m certain a brave few still left their jackets in their cars and made a run for it); nevertheless, after a few minutes we were all sorted, and ready to settle in. As expected, a decent number of our friends were already on the dance floor showing their support the best way we know how–enthusiastically dancing.

The music was definitely engaging from the get-go. Craig’s overall style is very much the kind of vocal-rich, hands-in-the-air house music that, to me, defines gay dance culture–dating all the way back to the classic disco of the 70s. It is a sound that is timeless in spirit and irresistible in effect; I cannot personally fathom how anyone can resist being caught up in the joy this sound produces. Craig also stands out in both his commitment to creating a journey over the course of his sets, as well as his skill in layering elements of multiple tracks over one another–not exactly mash-up, but an enticing combination of hooks, vocals, and beats from various, easily-recognizable songs–sometimes so complex that one isn’t quite certain what the “main track” is. This sort of laptop DJ wizardry is an inventive and exciting way of keeping the music fresh, so even the songs you think you’re sick of hearing will have you waving your hands overhead, singing along.

To be quite honest, I was so absorbed in the experience I was sharing with my friends on the dance floor that I lost all track of time; I was aware that the club was getting more and more packed, but I have no idea whether the bulk of the people arrived early, late, or at a more or less standard time. I do know that the dance floor was full of sweaty, smiling people well before Craig’s set ended, and nearly all the people within my line of sight were familiar faces, some of whom even came straight from the airport to the club (which provided some lovely “surprise appearances”)…the sense of community was a truly beautiful thing and completely in keeping with the spirit of the holiday weekend.

I was told that Craig’s set was supposed to end at 12:30am; in reality I have no idea what time it was when headliner Luke Johnstone took over the decks. I can say that Craig received an enthusiastic and lengthy bout of cheering, clapping, and howling as he gave the decks over.

I’d like to preface the following commentary with the caveat that I do really, truly love Luke and greatly love and appreciate his style as a DJ. However, I do not feel that he provided the smoothest transition for the thoroughly warmed-up crowd that Craig left him with. He seemed to proceed straight into a vocal-less, driving, and overly-cerebral style of music that frankly felt like a very jarring transition after several hours of pure and easy “fun music.” My visiting friends commented that it wasn’t until his set started that they decided to take a break, rehydrate, and explore the club; I too noticed a definite thinning of the crowd around the time of the DJ switchover. Again, I emphasize that Luke is a fantastically talented DJ–I just feel that he failed to ease the crowd in to the change of direction he was clearly taking. That having been said, before long the dance floor appeared to have reached an equilibrium, with the assembled mass finding their new groove and greatly enjoying the deeper beats that Luke provided. I would be remiss not to also report that a technical glitch in Luke’s equipment led to a relatively seamless transition to Russ Rich taking over the decks for a fleeting moment in the evening, which in itself led to much cheering by the mostly hometown crowd. It was truly a night of local talents, and civic pride.

I can’t say with certainty whether this was a new addition to the lighting, but two multicolor roving LED spotlights flanked the DJ booth on this night; their effect was pleasing overall, though these lights did have a tendency to blind one at eye-level during their oscillation. As usual the projection and lighting scheme at Mighty was effective overall, and added to the experience. The space is always satisfying in its delivery.

Around 4:30am, I had exhausted myself and was ready to close out my evening, so I caught a ride with some folks and left my able visitors to fend for themselves. They arrived home shortly thereafter, and the three of us spent much of Sunday discussing what an epic night of San Framily and euphoric experience we’d all had. All in all, I (we) couldn’t have been more pleased with our Saturday night; it truly put me in the spirit of the season, and made me aware of how thankful I really am that I live in a city where such blissful moments of shared experience are practically commonplace.

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Tags: Craig Gaibler, Industry, Luke Johnstone