Glow

I got the phone call at around 9pm on Saturday night from a buddy, "You better leave early to get here in time for your set!" 

I had already been watching the news and getting reports from a bunch of other people saying it was really busy down there and finding parking was chaos.  Sure enough, after giving myself more than a couple hours to get there, we managed to park about an hour before my 12am set time.  Keep in mind, I live about 10 miles from the beach.  It was like rush hour traffic, but in the middle of the night!  We still had to walk a bit to get to the pier, as we were instructed to park at the SM Civic Auditorium.  As we were getting closer and closer, it just became a bigger and bigger sea of people.  If it wasn't for the fact that I had to spin music, I probably would've done a 180 and headed right back home.  It was that intimidating, but we went for it.  Immediately, we started noticing some of the very cool installations and art exhibitions.  The wall of mist and great installations in the water and under the boardwalk gave the pier a very unique look.  I only wish there was more of it! 

There were so many people that it made the art almost a little underwhelming.  I've heard so many different numbers trying to find out how many people were at the pier in Santa Monica for the Glow event.  I've seen 45,000, 70,000, 100,000... even 200,000 from different sources!  All I know is that it was nuts!  I've also heard mixed reviews about the event overall.  All I can say is, from a DJ's perspective, it was fantastic.  The biggest rush a disc jockey can get is by rocking a dance floor.  Sending a crowd into euphoria by spinning music and creating a vibe is the most gratifying feeling one can have behind the decks.  Whether you're at a club, a house party or an event like this one, it's like nothing else! 

Garth Trinidad was in the mix as I made my way to the DJ booth.  I can see that the crowd was definitely having a great time.  By the time I got on the 1's and 2's, which was after 15 minutes of quiet time as the ferris wheel orchestra thing happened, the crowd was ready to dance once again.  We couldn't even hear music from the wheel.  At one point I asked the sound guys if I can start, only to get a blank stare as a response.  So I raised the slider, hit play, and off we went!  All I could see from the booth were heads bobbing up and down and people clapping in unison from the second I dropped the first beat.  The idea for my set was to play happy, feel good house music with a very "stars and moon" vibe to it.  Some of it included "It's A Fine Day" by Opus III, "Throw" by Paperclip People, "Stella" by Jam & Spoon and "Follow Me" by Aly-Us.  By far, this was the biggest crowd I have ever played for.  The pier was rocking...Literally!  I stepped off the wiggling stage to get a sip of water, only to realize the pier itself was moving.  I thought it was just the stage!  At one point the crowd was even chanting "RA UL RA UL RA UL...."

 

The time now is around 1:30am and I decided to drop "World Hold On" by Bob Sinclar.  This was a no brainer to me, but no means did i think it'd be the end of my set.  I mixed into it and the crowd recognized the hit immediately!  It gave me such a warm and fuzzy feeling hearing the crowd singing along to every word.  As the chorus kicked in I dropped out the volume completely and the crowd kept singing.   I felt the goosebumps immediately.  By now, we're in overdrive.

 

I looked over my shoulder and standing behind me were a couple of pier officials and members of SMPD's finest!  I've seen the look many times in the many years of DJing....  It was not good.  I was instructed to shut down the music.  At that moment, I started thinking riot.  "Are you kidding me?!?!" I asked the officials.  "They're gonna start throwing things at us if we do that!"  Luckily, it was a peaceful dissemination of the crowd, but I was a little worried at the time.

 

The biggest bummer for me was not being able to hear Jeremy Sole spin, who was scheduled to play from 2-4am.  He's definitely one of my favorite DJs to watch and listen to.  After they stopped my set short, we got the bad news that the music would not resume and that would be it for the dance area.  But fear not, you can still catch Jeremy spinning every Thursday night at Afrofunke.  If you haven't been, do yourself a favor and get down there, but don't forget your dancing shoes!

We'll see if the pier will Glow once again in the future.  I hear there's already talk for 2010!