You will probably hear about this from everyone, but, last night, both Soulwax and 2 Many DJs played our humble dance-challenged city. My only question is why would anyone schedule 2 Many DJs to play at 1:30 a.m. in a town where nearly everyone who works has to be there between 8 and 9 a.m. (if not earlier) and sit through no less than a half-hour of traffic (an hour or longer is more likely) to get to said job? Not a good idea. In fact, I'm shocked that I managed to stay until 2:15 a.m. I only stayed so late because of a desperate urge to dance away all the frustration stemming from having to replace all of my brakes and rotors in the car for which I JUST received the pink slip. Of course, I spent today exhausted and still mulling over my current status as Bad Luck Schleprock, but it was worth it for a few hours of good times.

I met up with Amy, my co-conspirator ever since we met in the sort of nasty-ass dorm bathroom where flip-flops are required for showers ten years ago. As we walked towards the entrance, we realized that the guy whistling from a nearby car was my boyfriend. We soon made our way into the club and ran into our new club buddies Bree and Elsie and, several minutes later, found Ivan running around with his camera. Amy wondered who was this Robert character that wasn't there but seemed to connect the bulk of people we encountered. I tried to describe him but I'm almost positive that they have never met.

Thanks to Bree and Elsie, we scored a much-coveted booth and spent most of our time running from booth to dancefloor to smoking patio to bathroom to bar. Vanguard has the nicest smoking patio in town, although the two flights of steep steps make it a miserable climb for anyone who does want to spend most of the night sucking down Parliaments.

At 11:30, Soulwax began an hourlong set of remixed tracks performed as a full band. The songs were seemlessly mixed and, every now and then, the band would insert a sample. (My favorite: "James Brown is Dead.") I humbly submit that Soulwax live was actually better than the 2 Many DJs set if only for the fact that it was a show based around a concept that could easily fall flat, but came across as flawless.

2 Many DJs played roughly an hour after Soulwax concluded its remix of "NY Excuse." The brothers opened with "Welcome to the Jungle" and quickly embarked on a mix that was far more techno/electro heavy than the Coachella 2004 set. Unlike my first 2 Many DJs experience, many of the tunes mixed up this time around rang unfamiliar in my ears. After Who Made Who's version of "Satisfaction," I thought about calling it a night, given that it was already past 2 am. However, every one of my goodbye's was interrupted by something that beckoned me to the dancefloor. By the time the duo worked Arcade Fire's "Rebellion Lies" almost in its entirety with just slightly more of a kick in the beat and some extra flange effects, I had driven myself to a near collapse. Why isn't this the biggest indie club dance song of the decade? It's just as epic in sound and moving in lyrics as the big indie club hits of the last decade ("Common People" and "Disco 2000" came to mind even though Arcade Fire and Pulp sound nothing alike) and as brooding as New Order's big club numbers (particularly "Ceremony," "Temptation" and "Love Vigilantes"). Plus it's a hell of a lot more interesting "Mr. Brightside." 2 Many DJs concluded the "Rebellion Lies" megamix with a snippet of "Blue Monday" before quickly moving along with the set. At that point, I decided that I really, really had to get out of there before I was completely incapable of tearing myself from the floor.
After I fell asleep, roughly at 3:15 am, I recevied a text message from Ivan, who I last saw on the stage photographing 2 Many DJs from next to a speaker. Ivan just wanted to let me know that the DJs were on their second encore. I have no idea what happened after that.

Belgian electro-fiends Soulwax launched into club stardom with their bombastic singles "E Talking" (aided by an equally stunning video) and "NY Excuse." Their remixes of tracks by like-minded disco rockers LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk have also garnered approving nods, and they're currently collaborating with Tiga on songs for his new album. Nite Versions Live is the band's remix of their 2005 release, Any Minute Now; and tonight's show features the songs in exactly the same order as on the disc. The band's core, David and Stephen Dewaele, also flex their turntable muscles as 2 Many DJs, chucking a little Salt-N-Pepa, Röyksopp, and Dolly Parton into the mix.

$15 @ the door

Megan posted more photos on her website. The following were all taken at Long Beach Arena sometime during the summer. Actually 7/19/06 is the date.

Taking Back Sunday
Angles and Airwaves
Head Automatica
The Subways

I don't know if everyone will be covering Nitzer Ebb's string of shows in support of the band's recent singles and remix collections, but everyone should.
First, let's talk scene: While waiting outside for Megan, I ran into the former host of KXLU's Seeds of Chaos, which was the best industrial-minded radio show to ever exist and was hosted by the dude who turned me on to Autechre, Haujobb and PAL, all of which earned extensive play on my CD player in college. Inside, I saw my DJ buddies Frankie and Danny Graver, former flyerboy-turned-bassist for 6xxxteen Days (why does the spelling of their name keep changing?) Xavier, Sam from Imperative Reaction(check them out when they open for Covenant this fall), Vidal from Droid Behavior(check out Droid's anniversary this Saturday with Speedy J) and that guy that I don't know but have seen at 90% of the shows I have attended this year. Das Bunker really did bring in a great crowd, the sort of crowd that showed up early enough to catch Babyland as the duo banged the shit out of things, who graved to Motor and who new every lyric that appeared in Nitzer Ebb's set. It was a great show, even though we had to keep running back and forth to my car (parked two really long lights away at the Fonda) because of all the camera rules. You will read a proper review in The Rockit next month. For now, a simple "it kicked ass" should suffice.
Dia hosted the afterparty at Beauty Bar and I thought that could be fun but then I scratched that because I really wanted to go to Safari Sam's to wish Ivan a happy birthday. By the time Xavier and I started walking towards my car, though, I realized that I was beat and I probably should come home so that I could get some writing done before I had to get to bed.

Let's all wish Contributor Ivan a very happy birthday.

Don't forget his birthday bash is tonight.

I found this on IMDb:

Fergie: Meth Was "Hardest Boyfriend"
Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie insists performing saved her from drug addiction, because it provides a positive outlet for her pent-up emotions. The "London Bridge" singer, real name Stacy Ferguson, has worked hard to overcome a crippling addiction to crystal meth. She tells Time magazine the drug, "was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with. I dug deep as to why I got there. It's the drug that's addicting. But it's why you start doing it in the first place that's interesting. A lot of it was being a child actor, I learned to suppress feelings." The singer, who has just released her first solo album, The Dutchess, says she now uses performing to vent her feelings, adding, "When we're on tour I have an hour and a half of performing every night and improvising. If there's a rafter, I can climb right on it!"