The crowd in Nocturno’s New Wave vs. Darkwave room on Saturday, November 30, dancing to Mareux “Lovers from the Past” (Pic: Liz O.)
It’s 9 a.m. and I just poured my second cup of coffee after waking up an hour ago, so last night is a still kind of a blur. I played in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Nocturno, which was lit almost from the start. Like, I remember seeing people dancing in the line for the bathroom by the third or fourth song of the set.
I finally had the chance to play “Digital Slaves,” from Gesaffelstein’s latest album, Gamma. I’ve been listening to the album for a few months now and keep going back to that song because the lyrics are very 2024, but the sound is very 2004, and that juxtaposition makes a lot of sense in my brain. But, I haven’t had a gig where I thought it would work until last night, right after I heard the screams for She Wants Revenge “Tear You Apart” and noticed that the room was packed. Tl;dr is that “Digital Slaves” did really well and it’s a total keeper in the sets now, which is nice because I haven’t really played his music out since The Lash closed.
Anyhow, overall, the vibe was more darkwave than new wave, which is always fun. Thanks to Nocturno for having me play and for everyone who hit the dance floor last night. Check out the set list below.
Beetlejuice hanging at Alex’s Bar, October 17, 2024 (Pic: Liz Ohanesian)
I think I have a backlog of playlists that haven’t been posted, but this one is from last night at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach for Klub Nocturno presents Darkwave Night. Thanks to everyone who was there. The energy was fantastic. I’d write more, but I’m still half-asleep, so peep the playlist below and I’ll see you on the dance floor soon. Click on this link to see what gigs I have on the calendar for the rest of the month and follow along on Instagram.
Attention, Long Beach pals! I’m back at Alex’s Bar on Thursday, October 17, when Klub Nocturno presents Darkwave Night. There’s no cover, so come down and dance to your faves from bands like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Boy Harsher, French Police, Ultra Sunn, Lebanon Hanover and loads more. This is a 21+ event and the party starts at 9 p.m. Alex’s Bar is located at 2913 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach 90804. See you Thursday night.
In other news tickets are running low for Club Underground’s Halloween party on Friday, October 25, so click here to get yours now. Larry G., Malvada, Jesse B. and I are going to be on the decks and it will be a good time. The night before that, Thursday, October 24, I’ll be playing Olya Sonica’s Record Release party at Hotel Ziggy. Olya Sonica, The Dirty Shirts and Veronica Bianqui play live. I’ll be spinning Brit Pop and rock classics. Tickets are available now, so click here to get yours on Dice.
As for the rest of this week and early next week, check out the list below for some very reasonably priced events. It’s pretty heavy on movie screenings on account of October being a very good month for those. You can also head over to my Discover Los Angeles column “Get Into the LA Groove,” for more events happening this weekend and early next week.
On Thursday, September 12, I headed down to Long Beach to play with Klub Nocturno at Alex’s Bar. It was my first time playing at the venue and it was a total vibe– super cool crowd with great energy. My set was roughly from 8:30 p.m. until around midnight and the set list is below the jump.
This was my new from DJ booth in the Jewel’s Room at Catch One for Nocturno on Saturday, August 31. (Pic: Liz O.)
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.
Want to know what’s happening in L.A. this Labor Day Weekend. Let’s start off with where I’ll be DJing.
Friday, August 30
Club Underground: Depeche Mode Nite @ Grand Star Jazz Club
Not only is it Depeche Mode Nite, but we’ll be celebrating the birthday of Underground’s founder and resident DJ Larry G. Both floors of the Grand Star will be open, so expect Depeche Mode jams and deep cuts, plus your Underground favorites on Friday night. Larry G., Filthy Rich and I are DJing from 9:30 p.m. until 2 a.m.
Grand Star Jazz Club, 943 N. Broadway, Chinatown 90012; 9:30 p.m.; 21+; Get tickets
Saturday, August 31
Klub Nocturno @ Catch One
Nocturno is back at Catch One on Saturday, August 31, with five rooms for dancing. I’ll be playing in the Indie vs. 80s Room. There’s also Rock en Español vs. Cumbia, Deftones Night, Corrido Night and Sad Bunny Night. Online tickets have already sold out, but there will be a very limited amount available at the door. Early arrival is suggested and the line starts at 8:45 p.m.
4067 Pico Blvd., Arlington Heights 90019; 9:30 p.m.; 18+; Online tix sold out, limited amount at door only, follow Nocturno on Insta for updates.
Check out what’s happening in L.A. for the rest of the week. Everything here is under $30 and it ranges from Spanish oldies at Grand Star on Thursday night to an L.A. Synth Club event in Long Beach on Sunday to a meet-and-greet with Night Tempo Tuesday night. There are some killer film screenings too, especially on Labor Day. If you’ve never seen The Time Masters, from Fantastic Planet director Rene Laloux, I highly recommend it.
View from the DJ booth in the new wave/darkwave room at Klub Nocturno. (Pic: Liz O.)
There were a lot of requests for the new wave/darkwave room at Nocturno on Saturday night. Most of them came before the event and I started a separate playlist in Rekordbox just to keep track of them. The most requested song of the night was “Club de Vampiros” by French Police, which you heard a little after midnight at the start of my second set.
My favorite request came in person at the club, maybe a little before 1 a.m. Someone asked for Miguel Bosé, which I was happy to oblige. For a minute, though, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to play it after all because the night was coming to a close and I kept thinking of big songs that hadn’t been played yet, like “Tainted Love.” Fortunately, though, “Amante Bandido” made an appearance right before the last song of the night.
As always, Nocturno was a blast. Thanks for dancing and thanks for the requests. Keep reading for my set lists.
On Saturday, it felt like summer had arrived. That is unfortunate if you, like me, have an aversion to sunlight and sweat. The upside was that I was DJing in the new wave/darkwave room at Nocturno on Saturday night, so I could avoid the sun. Since online tickets had already sold out, though, I had to prepare for a hot night. That’s when fishnets really come in handy. In fact, I think fishnets and Sambas might end up being my 2024 club uniform. After a four-and-a-half-hour DJ set, I felt pretty good. (Three cans of water probably helped too.)
It was a really fun night. There were stilt walkers who came out to the stage in the new wave/darkwave room twice, dancing to French Police and Sisters of Mercy during one set and Depeche Mode and Visage in the other. The crowd let out disco calls during “Blue Monday.” It was a vibe.
Boy Harsher’s remix of Chelsea Wolfe’s song “House of Self-Undoing,” which was released earlier in the week, made its second appearance in my sets this weekend. Since it’s brand new, I’ve been testing it out early in the night, but I’m really into it, so you’ll probably be hearing this later in the nights going forward. The remix is available on Bandcamp, by the way, so get it into your own collection if you’re so inclined. (That’s not an ad or a sponsored link, btw, but Bandcamp is my personal first choice for digital music.)
On Saturday, June 15, Klub Nocturno heads back to Catch One in Los Angeles for five rooms of dancing. You can hop between Rock en español vs. cumbia, new wave vs. darkwave (where I’ll be DJing), Deftones night, Sad Bunny Night and disco. Tickets are available now. Click this link to get yours.
On Friday, May 24, I headed down to San Diego to play in the new wave vs. darkwave room at Klub Nocturno’s show at House of Blues. This was the first time I’ve played a club in San Diego and it was definitely a good night. The energy was fantastic, with people staying on the dance floor until the house lights went up. Plus, there were some great requests and a few cool band t-shirts that I read as requests. Keep reading for the set list.
Dancing to “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Klub Nocturno’s 4th Anniversary Party on May 10, 2024 (Pic: Liz O.)
Thanks to Klub Nocturno for asking me to be a part of their 4th anniversary party last night. It was amazing. Online tickets sold out a few days before the event and, from what I saw on Insta, the few remaining tickets at the door went quickly. A big surprise for the night was the first U.S. performance of Depresíon Post-Mortem. I didn’t get to see their set, but did get to hear soundcheck, which was a real treat. You can hear Depresíon Post-Mortem on Soundcloud or Spotify and you should do that as soon as you have the chance because both their covers and original tunes are fantastic.
I played open to close in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room. Sometime after 11 p.m., while playing “Sex Dwarf,” I flashed back to Stigmata, which was *the* big Friday night alternative club when I was fresh out of high school. It was a combination of the song and the energy inside the room that made me think about being out with my friends when we were 18 or 19 and dancing so hard that we were dripping sweat, but still couldn’t leave the dance floor. I dropped “Sex (I’m a…)” into the set after that and realized that I’m 99% sure that’s how those two songs were played at Stigmata. It was long time ago— like, back in the days of paper flyers and L.A. Weekly club ads— so maybe I’m misremembering, but some things just stick with you. And, for me, those things are usually songs.
