Reported by: Derek Fitzgerald
To say I had high hopes going into Wednesday, October 9th would be seriously underestimating my anticipation of Dimitri from Paris appearance here in Vancouver. For one, every Gold Club Series event Ive ever attended has been off the hook, and among house DJs, it would be a bold-faced lie to say that anyone other than that god among men, Miguel Migs, has left me more anxiously awaiting his arrival. Apparently, this sentiment was not limited to myself and a few of my friends, because tickets were sold out days in advance, leaving me and many others without any guarantee of witnessing his authentic Parisian, French Touch sound firsthand.
Fast-forward to the unusually cold Wednesday night in question. The doors opened at 10pm, so my buddy and I arrived shortly after 9pm, anticipating that being near the front of the non-ticket line would insure us a place inside the heavily varnished oak-wood doors of Luce. Considering we were numbers 9 and 10 in the non-ticket line, it seemed a solid gameplan.
No such luck.
By 10pm, only two such hopefuls had gained passage into paradise, but it cost them $100 a head. The bouncer informed us they had sold 600 tickets in advance, had 100 on the VIP list, and the fire code was 450. Im no mathematics major, but 700 reserved spots in a 450-seat room usually means Im shit out of luck. Undeterred, my friend and I waited another hour in the bone-chilling cold without coats before resigning to what we thought was our fate. Just after 11pm, we made our way from the inside edge to the outside edge of line to step over the rope and head home, disappointed.
But talk about being in the right place at the right time! At just that moment, a scalper walked by, quietly offering a single pair of tickets at face value. $50 bucks later, we were both finally! headed inside the doors of Luce.
The environment inside Luce fit perfectly with the brooding, 50s and 60s retro-lounge feel of Dimitris brand of house. High-backed leather couches, a swirling staircase, and aquariums on the wall set a mood very conducive to what I quickly recognized as one swinging, funked-out set. Felix was on the downside of his turn at the tables by the time we got in, and the club was absolutely packed, grooving hard to his sexy beats. I realized the temperature must have been at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit in there after I felt a tear of perspiration run down my right temple while I was undertaking the exhausting task of waiting in line for a drink.
Just before midnight, the man wed all come to see stepped up to the wheels of steel. After struggling through the solid mass of torsos and bodily appendages that made it nearly impossible to move, I got a closer look at him: sporting a red-velvet silk shirt, slicked-back hair and a close-cropped goatee, he was every bit the retro-chic Chanel contract DJ youd expect him to be. Right from the opening beat, the tracks he laid down were emblematic of the decadent attention to detail and honed craftsmanship of days gone by that Dimitri himself acknowledges as the primary inspiration of his eclectic musical tastes. The atmosphere his music created housed the club in a bubble that refused any attempts by the rampant capitalism and obsessive mass-production that control our society today to infiltrate the overwhelming aesthetic vibe inside. Mixed among the sensual beats were favorites from his past albums like Salome de Bahias Outro Luger, Bah Sambas Reach Inside, and Ashford and Simpsons Found a Cure. The only problem? Luce was so full, to dance was to inadvertently kick somebody in the legs and slap somebody in the face! I occupied myself with mild grooving in a 2-by-2 space I managed to clear on the edge of the dancefloor.
By 1am, most of the disinterested high rollers and megalomaniac scenesters had departed, leaving enough room for the rest of us happy hardcores to really kick it up. It was only then that it became apparent how masterful Dimitri is with tables; no DJ I have ever seen live before can manipulate a crowd as expertly as he can. It would impossible to count how many times I thought the set was climaxing, only to hear him take it even higher with the next track. Nor can I recall how many times I found myself unable to stop dancing, even though my body begged and pleaded for a break. The countless exhausted faces plastered with irremovable smiles that danced around me were a definitive assurance that I wasnt the only one the music was having that kind of effect on.
It was past 2 when the music stopped, only to be met with a deafening outcry for a curtain call. Ever the crowd pleaser, it wasnt long before Dimitri obliged, laying down the funkiest of the funky house. The slick, roaming beats serenaded through the speakers onto the appreciative dancefloor, and I began denying my bodys pleas for mercy all over again. It was pure insanity; a mental state we all readily embraced. No one wanted the night to end, yet, we all knew it had be to be soon.
But the music kept playing.
The curtain call lasted well over half an hour. Just when we thought hed finally wrapped it up, it was but a momentary pause before he threw in his own mix of Stetasonics Talking all that Jazz to put the perfect nightcap on an absolutely unforgettable evening. As my friend and I rode home in a cab, we discussed how never in our years of infatuation with the scene had a DJ owned us the way he did. We were putty in his hands and could do nothing while he molded us into the perfect receiver of his beautifully crafted set. It was truly an awe-inspiring performance, and one we know well never forget. Mad props go out to Benson & Hedges for bringing Vancouver a DJ of the highest eminence in the house scene.
If anything put a damper on the evening, it was that his reputation as a jet-set DJ seemed to hold true despite his own objections. Luce is a place where the upper crust wallflower crowd seems more prone to frequent, so that may have had something to do with it. Having one-quarter of the fire code met by a VIP list that was predominantly of the bar star variety was a little ridiculous, but once the casual observers left, the last 2 hours were an epiphanous experience.
For those of you who have yet to see Dimitri live, it is a must for lovers of the funky and jazzy retro-house that he lays down. The French house scene is not one that gets much exposure here in North America, but artists like Etienne de Crecy, Alex Gopher and Dimitri himself are making it hard for aficionados to ignore. His new album due out in 2003 should be a cant miss if this show was any indication. Then again, the finest show youve ever attended tends to have that sort of effect, doesnt it?
For more on Dimitri and his new album visit his website
http://www.astralwerks.com/dimitri/
