December 10th, 2009. By Niklas
Amsterdam – Friday – Melkweg
Track of the Night
I think its cool to pay tribute if a producer or DJ I like comes to the gig to show support. Sebastien Leger came out to Melkweg and i played his “Le Moutache” which also ended up being the biggest jam of the night!
“Le Moustique” Sebastien Leger – Mistakes Music (mp3 clip)
Amsterdam Overview
It started at my hotel while i was waiting to be picked up for dinner. A woman walks in the lobby of the hotel who doesn’t look anything like a promoter of a nightclub. But she starts walking straight towards me like she knows me. I go along with this cause i meet a lot of people and maybe she does know me. She gives me the ole Euro kiss kiss on the cheeks and a huge hug like we are great friends. I am thinking…OK…this has to be the promoter even though she looks like a lawyer. 2 seconds later she realizes that she is coming to see the guy who is sitting on the other couch. She bursts out laughing hysterically and goes over to the other guy. They are all speaking Dutch so i don’t know what they are saying but it was a very funny greeting to Holland.
I had an Ostrich steak with truffle sauce for dinner on recommendation from Roy, the promoter. It was actually very very good. It tasted like a very nice lean steak. Who knew a bird could taste like a steak. I was thinking to myself, is it cannibalism if i eat bird meat for dinner?
Melkweg is a big room that probably holds 1100 people. I think there were maybe 1000 there. The show was great but it could have used that extra 100 to set it over the top I think. I tried out a lot of ideas and most of them worked but sometimes I drew dead and this was the kind of crowd that was motivated by a track by track basis so it was tough to get a hot vibe going and keep it steady the whole time.
On rare occasion I get asked about my bear hair, meaning my very hairy body. I prefer this to be a woman asking but it is always funny to me when it happens and it happened in Holland this night. It makes me know the crowd is not taking the show too seriously and it always cracks me up.
David K followed me and i stayed for his set. He did not fair as well as me with the crowd but he stayed strong and I quite liked the music. It was one of those things where David was really good but the crowd didn’t get it all the way, so i blame them not him.
After we finished playing of course i was excited to hear that David K had some weed and we were going to light up. I was thinking we would get a fat Dutch style joint just like Cali. But then i realized David is French and not Dutch. So of course he rolled our joint with tons of tobacco. Uggg. Foiled again by Europeans. (****see below for further explanation) Either way I got super high and it was totally fun walking around with David in downtown Amsterdam at 6 am with our weed on. I think i ate like 3 plates at breakfast too.
London – Fabric – Saturday night
Track of the night.
I opened with this shit following Voodeux. The intro is insane!
Marc Houle – Yonkers – minus (mp3 clip)
FABRIC/dirtybird
There are 3 rooms in Fabric. The main room, room 2 which is also big, and room 3 which is very personal and smaller. It’s pretty rare that a label takes over room 1. They usually do that kind of thing in rooms 2 and 3. (in fact Wolf+Lamb had room 3 so it was a very American night in Fabric.) I was like a proud poppa bear all night because we took over the main room and did not disappoint.
J Phlip opened up at 11 and played a really thoughtful and awesome warm up set. I think it was her first DJ trip to Europe. Who gets to play Fabric room 1 on their first trip to Europe? Insane! Her set had everything from the deep stuff to booty bass and the room went from a few stragglers to totally full by the time she was off the decks. It also was awesome to see that her track of the night was her Bootsy Collins remix.
The Greasy Beat ft. Bootsy Collins (J Phlip Remix) – Claude VonStroke – dirtybird (mp3 clip)
Justin Martin followed her from 1:30 to 4 and he killed it! Last week he thought i was bagging on him when i said he destroyed the room but I meant it as i said it – he DESTROYED the room. Meaning he played incredible, lots of rolling jackin beats. At one point the energy was so amazing at Fabric all i saw was smiles and asses shaking all throughout the club and in the booth and even from the Fabric employees. The room had really caught fire.
Justin Martin – Robot Romance – dirtybird (mp3 clip)
Tanner (performing as Voodeux) was on next live. His gear was set up on the stage on the other side of the room and the sound of Voodeux is quite different than the Dirtybird sound of me and Justin. Voodeux is more techno and soundscapes and harder beats so i was a little scared for Tanner that the room might turn on him. Of course as soon as he started it was amazing. All fears washed away instantly and Tanner had an incredible hour performance. This was also his first DJ trip to Europe. At he’s standing there on stage in front of all of Fabric just killing it, jumping up and down, loving it. It made me so happy. I could see that Rose, his girlfriend was so proud and excited. It was a great moment.
Voodeux – The Curse – mothership (full DL free!)
After Tanner’s deeply dark vibe it was time to shake up this place. I opened at 5am with the absolutely killer “Yonkers” by Marc Houle. (see above) The intro is so sick, everyone freaked out. I played for what seemed like an hour and then it was already over. It was such an enjoyable night that my car to the airport showed up at 9am and i wasn’t even done DJing…ooops. I had to quickly wrap it up, grab my bags, and jump in the car. Thanks to everyone at Fabric, especially Judy and Julienne. Definitely the best Dirtybird night I’ve ever been to outside of SF!!
Now going from a rockin club straight to Heathrow airport then to San Francisco is pretty much as severe as it gets. Its like someone pouring a large bucket of ice into your hot steam bath or like having sex and stopping right before you jizz to go do a math equation in the living room. I didn’t make the upgrade so i stuffed my ass in the back of the plane and just sat there like a zombie for 10 hours. Some lady was complaining that i had too many carry-on items. I just stared at here with a blank face and watched her fat lips open and close. Sometimes it actually doesn’t pay to live in San Francisco.
***** Euro-weed
Like president Clinton, right up front I’m making the statement “I did not inhale,” but lets take a minute to talk about joints. Amsterdam is known of course for it’s famous coffee shops where you can smoke some of the best hash and marijuana in the world. I have been known to dabble but i’m not a stoner by any means. Maybe once every couple months or so i’ll partake in some extra fun. Before a DJ set is a no no for me because i am one of these people who gets really really hiiigh even on just a little.
For some reason back in history the Europeans decided that a “joint” must be rolled with tons of tobacco mixed in it, more like a rolled cigarette at its core. Now i absolutely hate tobacco. i don’t smoke and tobacco just makes me feel like shit except maybe the initial buzz. In California and some parts of Canada everybody knows that when we roll a “joint” that means all weed, no tobacco. This leads to getting way more stoned and in my opinion is way smoother and much much better with no nasty tobacco interfering.
The only exception to this crappy Euro practice of rolling in tobacco into a joint is in the city of Amsterdam. In Amsterdam they know about the California style and they don’t fuck around. A joint is a motherfuckin joint in Amsterdam. Like a Royale with cheese. All weed. Of course when you are in my situation on Friday night where i was hanging with French guy in Amsterdam it could go either way. Unfortunately for me it was a combo tobacco/weed joint.
A few quick differences between America and mainland Europe.
(there are a million but for the sake of time.)
1. In America a joint is a joint, no tobacco bullshit.
2. NO ONE like Sarah Palin in Europe. (or any of those losers)
3. In the US you can find a sandwich and a cup of coffee at any time of night. In Cali you can even go grocery shopping at 4am. In Europe you’d be lucky to get a dry roll in the middle of the night.
4. DJ is a legit occupation in Europe for an adult. You can be 43 and a DJ and it’s totally normal. Really, it’s true.
5. In Europe a lot of people want to travel and visit California
6. In America a lot of people want to travel and visit Hawaii (screw you Justin Martin).
My latest chart (klik)
