Tag Archives: Silent Disco

Prince Fox Leads BangOn! To Victory On Moffat!

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BangOn FireTwo years ago I was lucky enough to experience one of BangOn’s first events. This night to remember involved The Chainsmokers, KOAN Sound, Minnesota, carnival rides and a whole lot of good times. 2 years later, almost to the day, there I was in the Green Room, chatting with Prince Fox about future music & high fiving people who couldn’t wait to see the rising star. He had the prime set for the latest BangOn extravaganza, Soulstice.BangOn MasksSet up at the end of Moffat street, one of the few pristine Brooklyn hoods not fucked by gentrification, the space was smartly arranged & expertly decorated. BangOn!has real production value, so anyone thinking this is the same kind of party as the outlaw/illegal raves that NYC saw in the late 90’s/early 2000’s is in for a serious surprise. The security was tight & the amenities were on point with portajohns away from the food (critical) and the silent disco near the chill space (also critical). The bar, away from the dancefloor & directly opposite the facepainting, and it faced a new feature I’ve never seen at parties: A hairdresser. There was a hair artist giving people blowouts and mohawks and all manner of dope hair. Frankly, this needs to become a standard at every party I go to. I’d love to have someone properly style my mop. Shit, this is a reason to get there early. But, the real reason we were all there was the music, and Prince Fox was there to greet them. In a word, wow. He wasted no time, playing through technical difficulties, dropping into a punchy, future set almost immediately. I’ve talked about this kid more than once, but seeing him live was an entirely new world. I was overjoyed that Prince Fox could keep the relatively ADD crowd focused. Brooklyn took his signature style of Future Pop and ran with it. I saw the crowd go from filtering in to full in 10min. Again, full main stage dance floor, before midnight. The remixes and originals came quickly, but one of the highlights was his mashup of Turn Down For What & Rick Roll. This actually got plenty of ravers concerned he was going to drop the stupendous bass of DJ Snake on them, but then, BANG, he never gave us up.BangOn Dome

The set, pound for pound, was the best I’ve heard at BangOn! in some time, but the night was just getting started. My boy 2Melo put out a fantastic signature global bass set on the Silent Disco, and Breach made short work of the main stage. We were there for hours after Prince Fox’s set finished, as BangOn! does a great job as a selectro brand, and has for quite some time. Their A&R deserves congratulations, but at the end of the day, so does everyone else associated with the event. Start to finish a delightful reminder that quality still hides in Brooklyn. You just gotta go searching for it. This is Terry Gotham, see you on the dance floor.

Photos from BangOn! NYC’s Instagram

The bassAware Drop Is Now Available For Purchase! Personal Bass FTW!

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http://www.bassaware.com/products/the-holster-aka-the-drop

The surprisingly awesome bassAware system (named “The Drop”) that I wrote about being Kickstarted (is it a proper verb? I feel old) a while back has arrived for retail sale! It’s coming in at approximately the same price as the kickstarter, a little less if you were late to the game. Just in case you thought I was kidding, it’s totally bass on your body. From the item description:

The device uses a tactile transducer placed on your upper back – this is a special type of audio driver creating vibration rather than sound. These sensations travel through your body to the inner ear where your nervous system translates these felt vibrations into “heard” sounds. The result is an immersive bass experience that no one but you can hear or feel.

One of the points that the inventor brings up that I think is important to note, is its utility for touring DJs. There’s very poor monitoring in the vast majority of venues, and the bass/sub-bass is even worse. Using this, a DJ can get a sense of what’s coming out of his outputs, without obliterating their hearing or lugging studio monitors on the road.

Party of the Month: Cosmic Mirrors by Gratitude NYC

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Tickets Here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/fb/511435

This event last year was actually my inspiration for my “Party of the Month” series & this year’s version looks incredible. At a secret 60,000 sq ft. location in Brooklyn with different theme camps, areas domes, lounges and ostensibly, activities! There’s something for everyone at this event, with the Impresario Drew Meeks being joined by Daniel Zen, Tim The Enchanter, The Wizzard Disorient himself & an old friend KaytiBunny and a literal cavalcade of stars. I’m actually kind of concerned the post is going to be too long and you’ll stop reading because of all of the music I’m about to shove into your face. And just to top it all off, this is all being done to support the artists, Figment (discussed here), Dance Parade, Burners Without Borders and other charitable organizations. Yup, it’s non-profit and awesome.

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An-ten-nae is Acid funk/crunk/spunk at its finest, and OneGoodReason has pulled some strings & called in some favors to get some excellent West Coast talent out here. Kraddy is another highlight, Android Porn (one of his best tracks) being one of my very favorite tracks of all time. The Human Experience is showing up with a delicious funky, dubby, soulful batch of goodness, being backed up by Love and Light, emerging to remind us we’re wonderful with heady beats. I’m not going to mention every DJ spinning, but there are some real stand outs for me on this line-up.




Connie has a devoted techno & tech-house following in Brooklyn & once you put one of her mixes on, you’ll understand why. Smooth perfection awaits you. Orion Keyser does wonderful house-related work & I can happily brag that I’ve paid the man for his time and skill. I’ve not had the honor of doing so for the deep, funky & stunningly smooth stylings of REsy (discussed previously here, here & here), but give me a minute. Tektite & Tim The Enchanter are doing something that looks like a vs. set, which, has officially has a billion percent chance of being awesome.




In the Silent Disco (Fuck Yea Silent Disco!), the hits just keep on coming, with dueling beat warriors pushing out some of the best underground music in NYC. Alex Funk has been talked about quite a bit around here, as has Barney Iller. These two could just spin for 6 hours and people wouldn’t mind in the slightest. But they’re being joined by some other stalwart Burner warriors like DK, Friar Tuck, Kannizle & 2Melo. I could yammer on about how awesome they are, but, the music does the talking way better than I do. There’s even live acts, with the rock band I recently interviewed (Suntalk) performing. I told you it was going to be ridiculous.







The VJ work is going to be second to none. VJ Krunch is joined by a platoon of VJs & art by DomeStar, Thunder Gumbo & Livio Mancini. It’s going to be as wonderful for your eyes as your ears. KaytiBunni Roberts is bringing like 30 flow performers to amaze while Kae Burke & Anya S will be repping Lady Circus in glorious fashion. Rewi Bracy & Jeff Robinson of Hoop Hooligans are actually traveling all the way from New Zealand (yes, really) for the first time to perform for all you lovely people. Locally, Seanna Sharpe has been amazing audiences overhead for years, traveling the world & finally settling down in NYC to blow minds and win hearts.

This is an event with all of the trappings, so dust off your favorite disco tuxedo and angel wings. Just in case you need some help, DanceSafe will be there along with Gratitude’s own Love Patrol to ensure that people remain hydrated and can deal with the massive sensory experience that this is going to be. If that’s something you’re into (I’m a HUGE fan of these kinds of services at dance events), drop them a line, they’d love your help.

There are very few tickets left, so grab them if you want to enjoy something special this holiday. I know it’s a touch pricier than the events you usually see me recommend, but this is one of the few cases it’ll be worth it I wager. If you can swing it, swing for the fences & enjoy yourself in grand fashion. Check out this photo gallery from 2011 if you don’t believe me: http://gratitudenyc.org/2013/gallery/gratitude-2011

This is Terry Gotham, see you on the dance floor.

Ten Questions with Terry Gotham: Michael White talks Silent Disco & bassAware

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(I got to sit down with an amazing underground hero in NYC, Michael White, who is responsible for the Silent Disco and is currently crowd-funding a new way to listen to music that just might change everything. Get at his Kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/996007929/bassaware-holster)


1. You’ve been the standard-bearer for years now, do you find Silent Disco is catching on? Definitely. There’s another whole outfit now, called Quiet Events that is doing lots of stuff. It’s run by a friend of mine named Will Petz. It’s huge, there’s a need for it. I think it’s something that will become more and more common and I think it’s great that more people are doing it.
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Digital Love Delivers.

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“Excuse me, could you please make some room and let him through? We have a celebrity in our midst!!” 

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I thought nothing of it until I looked up and saw Guncle, the St. Peter of Brooklyn’s pearliest & most ephemeral of gates, ushering me forward. As he is one of the most visible and delightful members of the underground, the line parted like the Nile, as we all know not to question the man when he wants something. After presenting my ticket, I received my wristband from Bob Bob-omb, the resident Techno Viking of Digital Native. In case you weren’t aware that East Coast burner camps had techno vikings, one would only need to look down to reconfirm this fact, as there were two large swords on the check-in desk, which were a wonderful way of reminding people coming in off the street not to screw with this party. Digital Native was here with The Love Muscle, and they weren’t getting pushed around by anyone while having a good time. After thanking my friends Guncle & Bob (it’s Mr. Bob-omb when you’ve done something wrong), I dropped off my outerwear & headed to the bar to take in the space. The BEX was there, performing, keeping the attention of the crowd on the dance-floor, DJ booth, and generally being the Mistress of Ceremonial Awesome that only she can be. The combination of sound, well-costumed staff, the alt-culture bus and the ridiculous art made me want to dust my costume off and take a sip from my camelbak if you know what I mean.

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Shiny Silent Disco Balls, Gratitude & Balancing Acts.

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image_1356408818741589Sitting at the diner on Lorimer & Metropolitan, I watched the scores of people lamenting the dysfunctional G train with a quiet smirk. After finishing up the burger & red bull I’d ordered when we were forced out of the station like confused cattle, I made my way to the Electric Warehouse just as cold drops began to fall. Tonight, the unofficial Burning Man Decompression event for NYC was going down and a little rain wasn’t going to stop it.

I shook hands with my friend Drew, the producer of the event and congratulated him while he processed my entry/ticket rapidly. There were dozens of burners in stilts, top hats, fur coats, el-wire tuxedos and all manner of costuming that were aching to get into the space and I didn’t want to get in their way. After checking my coat I received what I have come to cherish at Drew’s annual event, my hug to enter. Every attendee is given an honest-to-goodness hug. Not a patdown, not a security check and not a grope. A straight up “thanks for coming, you’re cool, gimmie a hug” hug. Which feels great, and there’s a person of each gender so it doesn’t get weird of course. I get hugs from both people (because I like to live on the wild side) then head in to check out the Silent Disco. Two DJs I am totes crushing on right now were rocking out.

The Silent Disco, run by a clever fellow by the name of Michael White, provides each of the listeners in a space with can-style headphones, with a button to press to switch between two DJs spinning in the room. This solves two problems. First, you can have two DJs playing violently different music standing next to each other with no problems, and secondly, if you want to have a conversation with someone, you take off the headphones & the room is splendidly quiet. The consummate professional DJ Pony & the gorgeously talented DJ Orange Krush were opening the night there, generating the dance floor from thin air yet again, like two beat-matching magicians. Slowly but surely, burners, ravers, club kids, hipsters, girls in slinky dresses & heels, guys in camouflage pants & hoodies, all manner of person came in, put their headphones on and got down. By the time the duo were halfway through their sets, the tent outside the party was packed warm, with projection work on the ceilings and two simultaneous dance floors intermingling I went back inside to grab a bottle of water, suddenly being reminded how big the old trolley repair station actually was. 10,000 sq feet, high ceilings and places to hang lights & equipment galore. A friend was delighted to find his pictures were playing off of a projector, and a stream of amazing HD photographs lit up the bar. As I chatted with DJ Resy, who was taking the night off behind the decks to help out at the bar, I remembered what Gratitude was all about. Many of the people at this event haven’t seen each other since Burning Man, while others see each other daily/weekly.

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