The Best Blogger Ever

Yes, I've gone from the worst blogger ever to the best blogger ever!  That's right - two blog entries in less than a week!  Okay, that doesn't make me the best in the world, but perhaps the best in my household.  Much better than this hairy individual:

In fact, he can't even spell his name.  What a loser. 

But seriously, moving on to music.  I had two shows last Saturday night - one at O'Asian (which is one of the coolest venues in Seattle - how had I never been there?!) and one at Contour.  It was a white party thrown by promoters that used to throw big events a few years back (when shiny shirts and trance ruled all).  The crowd was extremely attractive (I better head to the gym right now in fact).  I had to make some pretty big adjustments in music.  I started off with very loungy tech house and deep house.  It was early, so I wasn't expecting a ton of dance floor action.  As the night progressed, I brought up the musical intensity, but soon realized that wasn't going to work.  I weathered a few hip hop and salsa requests (apparently, the venue was a hip hop and salsa venue before being remodeled, AND I guess they had countless fights on their hip hop nights - imagine that).  In the past, I probably would have been frustrated and kept on playing a typical opening set of tech house and deep house with a few vocals here and there.  But I think times have changed.  I'm a DJ.  I'm not a jukebox, but it is my job to produce an environment conducive for people to have fun.  First up was Mylo's "In My Arms" (King Unique Re-edit), which is always a crowd pleaser and something I keep on hand at all times.  That brought an immediate positive response from the crowd and the promoter.  I ended up dropping in Groove Armada's "Love Sweet Sound" as well as Stanton Warriors "Shake It Up" (Hook & Sling Remix).  I even dropped some Chromeo.  These are all older tracks (in my world of always looking for the newest cuts), but they are some of my favorites.  I wasn't planning on playing them, but I'm a DJ and my job is to improvise.  I would much rather get a room full of people dancing to some more mainstream-friendly (not mainstream, but mainstream-friendly) tracks than alienate the crowd and play my usual sound (which is a bit more underground).  My friend Carl's goal was always to get the ladies dancing because he knew everyone else would follow.  I always remembered that.  To do that while maintaining your integrity as an artist is a challenge, but I like a challenge.

I'll try and get some pics up from the party soon.