PvD Destroyed NYC
I had a magical weekend. It was so jam packed with awesome events, I can't believe I am still alive. As I sit here Monday night, it hasn't even ended. We are about to go to Cantler's for Kevin's birthday. I slept for 10 hours last night, and I am ready to go to bed. It's like playing a soccer game for 120 minutes. You have to just keep going.
Lets get this started with Friday. I was lucky enough to take a half day at work. Herczed, JGood, and I were to met in New Brunswick around 330pm to take NJTransit into Penn Station. I spoke to Susan Friday morning. She was going to let us chill at her hotel room Friday Night. We were hoping to drop our clothes off there before PvD's set in Central Park, but the NJ turnpike reared its ugly head. I was a half and hour late, and we had to take the 430pm train. We decided to pack a change of clothes in a few bads, and met Susan at the show.
The train ride in was fun. Its always fun going into the city. We joke around and are all excited for our impending adventure. We got off the train and quickly found the subway. It was crazy to see all the people going places in Penn Station at 530pm on a friday. We took the 8th Ave number 9 train up to 66th Street. We walked up to street level and saw overcast skies. We knew it was going to rain, but who could predict what happened next. It monsooned. I mean poured. It began with a light sprinkle then just dumped rain. We walked three blocks east through the park. I was soaked through and through after five minutes. We could hear the beats in the distance. I was so pumped.
At the entrance near 69th and 5th, I could barely pull my ticket out of my rain soaked wallet. I hoped the bag Jeff let me borrow was remotely keeping my clothes dry. I could only hope. We walked into the Summerstage area to a mostly full crowd dancing in the rain. Some people were smart and wore ponchos. A few people carried around umbrellas, but they looked more like a hindrance then a help. We found Susan by the Heineken tent and camped out for a few hours.
During this time, it kept on raining. It would pour, then sprinkle, then rain normally. The one constant was it never let up. It was like Chinese Water Tourture. We made it allright. The beers helped keep us warm. Susan told stories of her new life in Atlanta. Meeting Icey, and working in a few clubs. We also conspired to find the shortest bathroom lines and spoke to random people from all over the east coast! Of course, the entire time PvD was dropping mostly new beats and some tracks from Reflections. It was a cool set, and I throughly enjoyed the first half.
When the sun started to go down, the temperature drop dramatically. We had to convience Jeff to stick around. I mean, when would be the next time we saw one of the world's greatest DJs in the greatest city in the world in the pouring rain? I don't think ever. To keep warm, we pushed forward into the crowd.
There were some noticable differences from last year. Most importantly, the sound was greatly improved. Summerstage placed speaker stacks behind the crowd to give the sound 360 degree feel. You could hear some delay toward the back, but it was much better then last year. The laser light show was also improved. The lights seem to move with the music at a more precise rate. Plus, the rain added some cool effects. You could see the drops falling through the streams of light, and steem rose from the heat of the light! It was sick. At one point in the night, the stage crew shot what felt like 100s of clear beach balls into the crowd. It was so cool. I tried to dance, but it was hard while holding my bag. I didn't dare place it on the rain soaked astroturf. I got a few moves in, but I really enjoyed just listening to the music.
PvD finished up around 10pm. He played a few encores, and announced he would start an hour later at the after party. Everone needed sometime to clean up. During the set, we decided to go to the after party with Susan. It was just easier then going to another club. Especially, when we were leaching her hotel room. The funny thing was, the rain stopped five minutes after PvD stopped, and it didn't start again all night.
Jeff, Mark, and I took a cab over to Susans hotel on Lex. We had split up during the show, but I had a key and the room number. Luckily, she was already in the room with PIZZA!!!! I hadn't eaten anything all day. Jeff and I scarfed down a few pieces and went searching for more. We found a shop a few blocks down, and we picked up some starbucks to wake everyone up. MMM Pizza and Vanilla Latte never tasted so good. Everyone started to clean up and shower for the after party. It was going to be held at Spirit over in Chelsea? I think it was Chelsea. The club use to be the infamous Twilo.
We caught a cab around 1230, and drove down to the club. The line outside wasn't bad, and the security only hassled me a bit to get in the building. Its a good thing they are being strict. The local government is really out to close these places down. I was so excited to finally be inside. I haven't had a chance to go to a big club in a new city for a few months. Plus, this was a brand new place! The entire place was situated on two floors. The area between the door and the main room and the entrance housed a chill room and the bathrooms. The main room is a large square with a VIP 2nd level around the top. Bars are located in the corners, and areas to walk around are under the second level. The main floor is sorrounded by finely tuned speaker stacks. The sound was well balanced, and not deafenly loud. I was also impressed with the lights and video. Behind the DJ both was a circular large screen to project visuals. We grabbed a few redbulls, and positioned ourselves dead center just in time for PvD to take back the decks.
He started out the set just like he always does, banging. We made an observation this weekend. Could PvD be compared to an 80s hair-band? I think he could be... His tracks are normally over the top. He loves to get into it with the crowd. Everything he does is exuberant. He even played 4 encores before the club through on the house lights! Im not saying it is a bad thing, just a neat comparison.
I really really wish I knew the names of some of the tracks he played. Ill tell you that most of them came from the late 90s and early 2000s. All old stuff I have heard of mixes from him, Oakenfold, and other djs. It was so cool to recognize track after track.
Throughout the night, I was able to met a bunch of different people from all over the world. A girl from Croatia, a few people from England, a guy from Australia, and of course those from all over the states. One guy named Ryan stuck out in my mind. He said that, "We are the hippies of our generation." I have been saying that for years, but never really heard someone else say that. It was pretty cool. At one point, a group of us were reminiscing about the central park set. Everyone agreed it was a set that would not soon be forgotten. After this, one girl named Stephanie invited us all up to the VIP floor! Crazyness.
We walked right past the bouncers. I guess she was friends with them. The VIP floor was awesome because; we had so much more room to dance. I could not imagine how much a ticket to this level cost. I camped out behind the light and sound boards to get a direct view of the dj booth. After awhile, I asked Stephanie if Mark, Jeff, and Susan could come up as well. She was cool with it, and we found them downstairs shortly there after. I couldn't stop thanking Stephanie. It was so nice to have room to dance and sit directly infront of PvD from the second level.
The four of us claimed half of a booth back in the center of the VIP floor. I couldn't believe where we were! It was astounding. I never would have guessed it in a million years. Plus, it was so much fun! The crazy old school tracks kept on coming. I thought I heard him tease Rapture more then once. I wish he would have played it. I would dance like crazy for 20 mins, then take a break. I couldn't count the number of floor fillers. During the breaks, I sat next to the manager of Spirit. I had asked him some random question, and he introduced himself as the manager. He explained to me that the sound system was all new, and the night was going off without a hook. Sounds like a cool job.
Toward the end of the night, the VIP became boring. Not as many people were dancing. Mark convinced me to go down to the main floor. Jeff and Susan stayed up top. The energy was nasty downstairs. Everyone was still dancing and packing the floor. By this time, it was about 5am. PvD proceed to wind down the set. Like I said before, he played four encores. The last was about three tracks long. In between each, the crowd was yelling for more. I think we could have stuck around till at least 8am, but Spirit was having none of that. The lights came up and the room closed down around 530am.
We found each other outside in the morning light. It was kinda overcast, but at least it wasn't raining. We took a cab back up to Susan's hotel and chilled for a little while. The first train we could make back to NJ was at 7:14am. Around 630am, we went down to MSG and sat outside waiting. Too bad we didn't just live in the city so, we could go home. Oh Well. Maybe in a few years. The train ride back to NJ was allright. It is always annoying. I can never believe how many people are awake that early on a Saturday! We grabbed Jeff's car from the JnJ lot, and went back to the UN to sleep. After all, we had to be up in a few hours for Holland vs. Sweden.
