By Art Santos | November, 2000
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| British trance maestro John Digweed does some needle damage at the Mayan Theatre on October 30, 2000 |
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It looks as though John Digweed has caught a case of millennium fever. And after his showing on the decks at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles, on October 30th it seems that he has figured out how to spread that joy to a crowd of willing participants.
Don't get me wrong. Digweed is still full of the funky smooth beats and tribal house that built his international reputation. But now he has added new chapters of apocalyptic bass to his already epic story. And while he introduced the night with fairly standard house tracks, he quickly built his set up to a more progressive, harder sound.
At the Mayan to record the 19th installment in his insanely popular Global Underground series of mix discs (which has featured such current dance floor darlings as erstwhile Underworld beat meister Darren Emerson), Digweed definitely seemed in the mood to get his groove on -- for the record, so to speak. But, regardless of the fact that the event was being taped, which had to play on his mind just a little bit, he never let the event seem canned or stifled - there was plenty of room for tearin' it up on the dance floor, and visuals that interlocked with the beats kept the live atmospherics intense.
And that was it - A DJ, his records, and some lights, the pure essence of electronic dance music. Not many people could get away with conjuring such a huge thrill out of a minimal experience -- not many DJs, especially in the trance arena, know the art of subtlety.
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| The master at work: Digweed searches for the next perfect groove. |
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But Digweed stuck to his guns, locking in on the gradual build-up formula that he has tried and perfected, holding out and bringing up the energy slowly. As the set continued, he switched on the heavy machinery rhythms and kept a solid, pounding rhythm for the duration of the five-hour show, strobe lights, and sound waves vibrating the very skin on your bones.
Digweed, always an inspiration in sonic invention and innovation, surprises the audience with an edge of style. For most DJs, familiarity breeds contentment. For Digweed, remixing the familiar isn't necessary, not even a thought. He has a framework for his sets - start small, end big, don' rush it. Just push, push, keep pushing that phat bass over your entire body. You have to move. Push it up, up, up, so smooth, so hard, until sweat is cascading down your chest. By the end of the set enough groovers had left (they just couldn't take it) to clear the dance floor for the hardcore to finish the experience the only way Digweed knows how: pushing the edge closer and closer until the beats kick you in the ass and throw you down. It sounds brutal, and sometimes a DJ's got to be cruel to be kind. Let's hope the album that comes out of the show can deliver the same punch as the live experience.
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