It’s Sunday morning, I’ve hardly slept. I have Sacred Skin’s song “Call It Off” running through my head and Depresion Post Mortem’s cover of “Yo Voy” fighting to overtake it. Still, I’m going to try to explain last night’s gig at Klub Nocturno in a way that people who normally don’t know what I’m rambling about will understand. It might not work, but we’ll try. (Scroll down if you just want to see the set list.)
Last night, Klub Nocturno took over Catch One, which is this massive, multi-room disco that has an amazing history going back to actual disco L.A. There were five dance floors of varying sizes going all night: Rock en Español vs. Cumbia, Indie vs. 80s, Deftones Night, Corrido Night and Sad Bunny Night. I played Indie vs. 80s in the Jewel’s Room, where the dance floor is on the ground level of the building and a staircase in the corner leads up to a mezzanine, where the DJ booth is located, before heading towards the second level of the club.
I have a view from the booth that overlooks the dance floor and stage. Usually, it’s not until right around 10 p.m. that I see the room begin to fill with people. Last night, I started playing at 9:30 on the dot and began to see signs of life on the dance floor three or four songs into the set. By the time I mixed “Rippin Kittin” into “Something to Remember Me By,” the dance floor was alive and growing.
The first time I heard people scream for a song that night was during “Love My Way,” the Psychedelic Furs classic, which was maybe at around 10:30 p.m. The energy was incredible. I’d look down and see this big mass of people under the purple and red glow of the lights. I could hear them singing along to The Strokes song “Reptilia” and Le Tigre’s big ’00s club hit “Deceptacon.”
When the intro of “Smalltown Boy,” the Bronski Beat’s jam, faded in at midnight, the screams were wild. TBH, that’s really the song of summer 2024, even though it’s literally 40 years old. I hear it everywhere from clubs to the A Line.
The room hit its peak at midnight. People chanted through “Living on Video” and sang along with “Two of Hearts.” There were dancers in the mezzanine lounge area too, so during the stretch from “Smalltown Boy” through “Goodbye Horses,” I felt like I was DJing in the middle of the dance floor.
It was one of those nights that passed all too quickly. I looked at my laptop, noticed it was after 1 a.m. and realized that I had to start dropping the big sing-a-long numbers— “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “There Is a Light,” “Just Like Heaven”— immediately and try to squeeze in as many requests as I could. (I had more than four hours of requests, which came in before the party started, loaded into Rekordbox.) Anyhow, it was an awesome night and you can see my set list below.
Sacred Skin – Call It Off
Holy Ghost! – I Wanted to Tell Her
Love and Rockets – So Alive
Eleven Pond – Watching Trees
The Horrors – Something to Remember Me By
Golden Boy, Kittin – Rippin Kittin
Ladytron – Playgirl
Book of Love – Boy
Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
Depeche Mode – Sea of Sin
Sextile – Disco (rq)
Ultra Sunn – Keep Your Eyes Peeled (rq)
Boy Harsher – Give Me a Reason
New Order – Sub-Culture
Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way (rq)
Killing Joke – Love Like Blood (rq)
French Police – Sueño Humedo
Mareux – Lovers From the Past (rq)
Real Life – Send Me an Angel
Marc Almond – Tears Run Rings
A Flock of Seagulls – Space Age Love Song (rq)
OMD – Tesla Girls
Actors – Cold Eyes
Twin Tribes – Monolith (rq)
Joy Division – She’s Lost Control
Interpol – Slow Hands
The Strokes Reptilia (rq)
Le Tigre – Deceptacon (rq)
Wet Leg – Chaise Longue
The Smiths – Ask
Postal Service – Such Great Heights (rq)
Depresion Post Mortem – Yo Voy (rq)
INXS – Don’t Change (rq)
French Police – HER
Molchat Doma – Sudno (Boris Ryzhy) (rq)
She Wants Revenge – Tear You Apart
Bloc Party – Banquet
Forever Grey – Lost in a Moment (rq)
Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf (rq)
B Movie – Nowhere Girl (rq)
Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy (rq)
Trans X – Living on Video (rq)
Stacey Q – Two of Hearts (rq)
Tapps – My Forbidden Lover (rq)
Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus (rq)
New Order – Blue Monday (rq)
Boy Harsher – Come Closer (rq)
Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith — Not in Love (rq)
French Police – Club de Vampiros (rq)
Q Lazzarus – Goodbye Horses (rq)
Pet Shop Boys – Always on My Mind (rq)
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
Nitzer Ebb – Join in the Chant
Sextile – Contortion
Boy Harsher – Machina (rq)
Human League – Don’t You Want Me (Purple Disco Machine remix)
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle (rq)
Crystal Castles – Crimewave (rq)
Pastel Ghost – Iris (rq)
Glass Spells – Hechizos (rq)
When in Rome – The Promise (rq)
Yaz – Situation
Talking Heads – Girlfriend is Better (rq)
Blood Club – Coqueta (rq)
Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (rq)
The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
The Cure – Just Like Heaven (rq)
Soft Cell – Tainted Love
The Killers – Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Remix)
Depeche Mode – But Not Tonight
Miguel Bose – Amante Bandido (rq)
Echo and the Bunnymen – The Killing Moon (rq)
Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World (rq)
The Smiths – Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now (rq)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs.
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