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Louis Louis
Lil Louis ‘s French Kiss was the first house song many people ever heard and still remains one of the biggest tracks ever to cross over to the mainstream.
It was an unlikely hit built around a twisted minimalist synth riff, some orgasmic moaning and that famous middle section where it slows down to a stop and then gradually speeds up again.
Last Friday at Roxy Blu , Lil Louis ended 30 years of DJing at the Solutions and Milk co-presentation of his Last Dance tour. To make the night a bit more special, the promoters brought in an extra sound system to run alongside Roxy Blu’s in-house one and installed an old-school strobe light for Lil Louis to play with.
The strobe provoked mixed reactions from partiers. Some were annoyed that they couldn’t see anyone’s face and weren’t thrilled by it’s disorienting effects. Others dug the way the strobe forced you to concentrate on dancing and listening rather than trying to talk to people.
There were enough classics for the nostalgia junkies and enough new deep tracks for the DJ nerds. Though not technically spectacular, the mixing was clean and effective.
Roxy Blu appears to be making a bit of a comeback. It wasn’t that long ago that it looked like it might not survive the dwindling crowds, but in recent months a younger scene of partiers has replaced the older heads who’ve moved on.
This is good news for local deep house fans concerned about the aging scene and lack of new faces.
Boa goes deep
Late Friday night, Boa Redux took a gamble on a deep house event as well. It paid off with much better attendance than the club gets most Friday nights.
Also unusual was the temporary liquor licence for the night, a strategy that definitely helped get people out early. The number of partiers proved that a deep house party can work at Boa, something that’s been a subject of much debate.
Montreal’s jojoflores rocked the main room to start the night off, adjusting his style to a late-night big-room sound adeptly. He’s always good at reading a party, a skill that betokens a certain amount of humility and experience.
OM Records artists Kaskade and DJ Colette , both enjoying a good run lately as producers, followed jojoflores. Kaskade played harder than he’s known for but still in the deep house vein. The crowd responded well, but in some ways jojoflores had a stronger hold on the dance floor.
DJ Colette took things to another level by incorporating her live vocals into her DJ routine, a concept that’s always crowd-pleasing but rarely sounds this good. The only way you’d know her vocals were live was if you looked up at the booth, a strong testament both to her skills and to Boa’s sound system.
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com
