If New Wave vs. Darkwave were a real battle, IDK who would have won. Last night, in the Loft at Catch One, where I DJed all night for Klub Nocturno’s fundraiser for those impacted by the recent wildfires, new wave was visibly the clear winner. Nothing packed the floor like the ‘80s jams last night. However, the requests were overwhelmingly for the darkwave bangers and the groups nearest to the DJ booth, some of whom were dancing virtually the entire night, definitely were into Boy Harsher, French Police, Molchat Doma, etc. , so darkwave was also a winner.

Anyhow, here’s the set list from the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Klub Nocturno on January 17, 2025. The only new song— as in the first time I’ve played it out— in the set is “God Whispers” by Soft Vein, whose latest album, Through Blinds, came out on Friday. Check it out if you’re into dark, EBM-influenced synthpop, which you probably are if you’re reading this post. 

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. 

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.)