Stepping into Pacha on Friday night for David Guetta was intense – so busy, people were literally charging to get through the crowd. One girl turned to me and said, ‘Can you ask them why they let the whole of Staten Island in?’ New York borough racism aside, I am not going to complain because many ticket holders were left to wait outside until 3am, at which point they were told no more people can enter (thank god for our safety, however $50 and a Friday night down for them). This problem re-appears in clubs around the world; clubs need to learn to sell the the tickets and expect the turnout. Considering I don’t think I will be able to start a revolution anytime soon, let’s move onto the action inside.
Warm-up DJ David Waxman was pumping full blown floor-fillers from the start of his set. Even as I walked in just after 12, he was playing like a headline DJ. And while his portfolio of remixes and sets portray an extremely diverse talent, the tracks which stood out were the bouncing electro power houses. These were the kind of tunes that once dropped make you stop and go ‘oh shit!’ While, throughout his set, Waxman DJ’ed with unheard of control and poise; the opposite to the bounding, red-bull guzzling David Guetta. However, as 2am approached the crowd no longer could hold their anticipation and began chanting ‘Guetta, Guetta, Guetta….’
As Guetta stepped into the booth, the crowd erupted and camera-clutching hands shot into the air – I wonder if we actually danced more before our digital craze? Anyway… the world-renowned DJ jumped to the helm of the decks and began sounding a fog horn from a pull-string above (reminding me of those hip-hop DJs, such as the awful Tim Westwood from the UK). However, for Guetta it completed worked with his party-boy fist pumps and jumping hip-hop/pop infused tracks.
His set was a run through of the biggest tracks from his fourth studio album, One Love, intermixed with older tracks and then some hard house beats infused throughout. The crowd could not get enough of his sound, swaying backwards and forwards as the over-full Pacha was bursting at its seams. People began climbing up the booth to get to the DJ-come-celebrity and security had to constantly release hands from their obsession-driven grips. He is attracting a ever wider audience with his commercial connections, yet seeming to still generate the cult following he has enjoyed since the beginning of the nineties in France.
My favourite moment of the night was the mix of an old school hip-hop beat, a selection of ‘yo’s, what’s and word’s’ and a pounding dance bassline. He even used drum pads to produce a ‘1,1,2,1,1,1,2’ beat (no I don’t know the tech term), that led into another section of Love is Gone – a chart-topper that was interspersed throughout his set.
Overall, if I am honest, his latest efforts are a little commercial/pop for my liking. However, that is definitely not the case for his throng of fans, and I am definitely not criticising his move because it is clearly bringing feverish joy to millions of people. Just take me back to the open fields of Electric Zoo – or otherwise find a super-super-club that can host these thousands of fans who will endure anything to get that little bit closer.
