1997 May 18

DJs: Armand Van Helden, Erick "More" Morillo, DJ Sneak, Junior Sanchez - all from N.Y.C.

Venue: Industry

Decor: the Usual

Crowd:
Wide Mix with a group of unusually high profile beefcakes on the dance floor. Some pumped-up dancers on stage in bra-tops, a group of what P. called "girls from Rimini" in their colorfully coordinated clubwear, hair piled high, S&M gays, Seventies-influenced polyester top, Primal Scream hairdo, flare-trousered guy, ravers, plumb young girls, the coat-checker from Guvernment who's forever dancing stylishly, hedonistically and drugged-out like, some obnoxious Asian guys, some suburban Brits.

The Asian barmaid is forever so friendly and smart. She will handsign you to find out what you want before she comes over.

Industry is the only place where you'll see people dancing even when they are queuing for their coats at the coat-check regardless of whether they've just arrived or are leaving.
Courteous securities.

Music:
Erick Morillo span mostly N.Y. deep house with soul vocal. He paused too often to search for that atmospheric build-up. But the last song was rather memorable --- deep but with a bright jungle base mixed in. The first time I hear something so deep, so fast in such a danceable song.
Amand Van Heldon was god. He started with Blondie's icy, dreamy voice mixed with a hip hop beat, then gradually built from hip hop to dance/ house, from progressive to deep but keeping the hip hop tempo,( kinda relaxed) interspersed and not too packed. He always mixes classic house such as Move your Body with other basslines or drum beat, then gradually moving to deeper, more soulful N.Y. house with vocals adding siren or other sounds. At one point he used an apocalyptic, wailing, electronic, string sound as the intro, then sneaked in a dance beat but rhythmically halting to a kinetic silence that drove the crowd completely wild. They chanted the rhythm and the power was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Maybe it had to do with the location I was at at the time. I was standing by the end counter of the bar with an almost panoramic view of the dance-floor. What I heard was no casual chanting. It was an out-right begging-for-more. It was at this moment that Armand brought in the bass drum while the light flashed like lightning and the crowd brought to a climax. It was a celebration of life, hedonism at its highest, pagan ritual rapturing in full form.

P. likes to describe that kind of soulful voice, "punishing". It definitely has to do with suffering transcended. I was melted and almost on my knees. Industry has never looked so good. He then played a few more songs with a jaded, husky, Euro-female voice overlaying the dance beat. Very classy indeed.