Pacha, Santos and the Amateurs of Nightlife

The New York Nights Insider for November 2, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Events
New York Comedy Festival
Get ready for the New York Comedy Festival, which starts on Wednesday, with recommendations from NYC Go.

Pacha Anniversary
The venerable dance club announces a superstar DJ Line Up to Celebrate its 5th Anniversary this December.

Crime
Santos Party House
According to the Village Voice, Santos Party House, Shuttered Since Thursday Over Drug Charges, Will Reopen Tomorrow

Music
DJ Turntables
Panasonic ends production of Technics turntables. DJs worldwide weep openly.

Prince of the City
Amateur Night During the Holiday Season
New York nightlife is full of amateurs during the holidays. Here's how you can spot them, avoid them and enjoy the weekend.

Politics
Hookah Bars
A Brooklyn City Councilman wants to stop new hookah bars from opening in Bay Ridge.

State Liquor Authority
The SLA moves to clean up liquor laws that haven't been changed since Prohibition.

Have fun.

Gamal

House Music: The Home that Nightlife Built

by Gamal Hennessy

One of the main forms of music associated with modern nightlife is house music. While it did not originate in New York, the diversity and energy of the City created fertile ground for the genre and established New York as one of the epicenters of house music.

House music evolved from disco in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This new form of music had distinct elements of soul and funk blended into a tempo and composition structure designed for dancing. House differed from previous genres because much of the music was generated by machines as opposed to live instruments. While this was a source of aesthetic tension between traditional musicians and house DJs, it did give the house artists the ability to create music rapidly and independently from other artists.

House music developed in Chicago in the early 1980s. It didn’t begin to take off in New York until the opening of Paradise Garage. David Mancuso opened the venue because the gays and minorities he catered to were often harassed at mainstream clubs. One of the first DJs Mancuso hired was Larry Levan, who has been credited with not only developing house music in New York, but bringing together disparate groups like Blacks, Latinos and punk rockers, and introducing an environment designed strictly for dancing.

Paradise Garage gave many prominent house DJs their start including David Morales and Francois Kervorkian. Other house venues soon began showcasing major talent all around the city. Grammy winning producer Frankie Knuckles spun with Levan at Continental Baths, Warehouse, Sound Factory and went on to open his own venue, Power Plant. Junior Vasquez progressed from his initial residency at Bassline to found Sound Factory and have popular residencies at Tunnel, Palladium, Exit, Roxy, Twilo and Spirit. He still plays regular sets at at Cielo. Dozens of other artists developed house over the past two decades, including Todd Terry, Danny Tenaglia, DJ Lithium, Mateo & Mateos, Little Louie Vega, Kenny Dope Gonzales and Blue Six.

Although many devoted house fans maintain that house has faded from New York nightlife, there are still several venues supporting house and its artists every week. Venues like Club Love, Sullivan Room, Cielo, Pacha, Sin Sin, Marquee still bring people together on the dance floor. In addition, many mainstream artists have adopted the aesthetics of house and electronic music. Acts as diverse as Kanye West, Usher, Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas utilize the energy and technology that was once the province of house producers. While hip hop may have eclipsed house as the dominant music form in New York nightlife, the influence of the music still generates a strong following and crowds of dancers are waiting for you to join them tonight.

Have fun.
G

Your 4th of July Parties, Zagat’s Nightlife Decade and the Daniel Squadron Watch

The Nightlife Report for July 1, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

…we hunt down the nightlife news so you don’t have to…

4th of July Events
New York is going to have hundreds of events to kick off the summer and celebrate the long weekend, many of them centered on the West Side to put you in view of the fireworks. Here’s a sample of some of the more popular events…

The Collective is having its first 4th of July in the Meatpacking District.

There will be an open bar yacht on the Hudson to view the Fireworks


Westside rooftop bars like Highbar will have a good view of the festivities

and the Circle Line and World Yacht are throwing a party on Pier 81


A little further away from the fireworks, venues like Pacha, Webster Hall and Governors Island are throwing big dance parties


And Santos is throwing its annual White Heat Party downtown

Most of these events require advance ticket sales, so order now to avoid the embarrassing rejection at the door.

Media
Zagat Nightlife 2011
(Zagat)
When the first Zagat nightlife guide came out in 2000, there were no cocktail lounges and only transvestite hookers and butchers willingly went to the Meatpacking District. Ten years later, the latest Zagat guide is highlighting rooftop bars, up and coming Brooklyn neighborhoods and the rebirth of the Meatpacking District. You can pick up the latest copy of this guide today if you want to know where to go.

Nightlife Patron Survey
(Reuters)
The new Zagat guide also shows a decline in patronage across the nightlife scene. Compared to 2000, we are going out less, drinking less and spending less now. Most of this is attributed to Wall Street’s collapse, but higher prices per drink, fallout from 9/11 and NIMBY infringement on the total number of venues probably also played a part. I’m going out as much as I can, but I can’t do it by myself. Come join me.

Squadron Watch
(Eater)
State Senator Daniel Squadron is once again pushing through legislation designed to kill nightlife in New York City. His latest bill would allow the SLA to revoke a liquor license for any venue that has six or more complaints against it in a 60 day period. Since NIMBY’s have been known to coordinate with each other on message boards to systematically target venues they do not like, it is easy to see how many popular spots could get six or more complaints against it in a week. This won’t mean much to you, until you show up at your favorite spot and it isn’t there anymore.

Have fun
Gamal