DJ Spinna @ Glass: Review...

[philippio]

It's not everyday you get to go out and see a dj who has never played in Miami outside of conference. Realizing this at around 9:45pm, I decided to make the best of my night and head out to Glass, a beautiful, intimate venue that I have been frequenting a lot lately. Aside from opening its arms to loads of beautiful women every week, on Saturdays Glass has the honor of being called “home” by Aquabooty, one of this metropolis’ most humble, dedicated, and deeply rooted party outfits. On this special night, “la piece de resistance” would be dj Spinna!!!

Arriving after midnight, I paid my cover and as on every other occasion, there was absolutely zero drama at the door. Parking in that area of the beach is easy and free (unless you’re looking to valet your Bentley, Porsche or Ferrari right in front of the lounge/restaurant). Walking in, the front room was about 70% full while the chandelier room, where Will Renuart does his funky business, was almost void of human life.

Omar was standing guard behind the ones and twos (and threes and fours if you like CDJs, I suppose), priming his audience with a mix of afro-tribal while digging deeper into the crates periodically to drop a more obscure, synth-laden stomper or two. It was business as usual with the DHM guys (I think Edwin spun as well). One of them dropped A Hundred Birds - 'Black Water' on Wave which sounded so crisp on that system ( ). In the past, I’ve been showing up early because I love to hear DHM warm up the room. There’s nobody in this town that can welcome and tease the crowd like they do. I particularly like when they steer clear of the afro-tribal and play the less obvious, deeper chuggers with snippets of vocals here and there: tracks like Manoo & Francois A.’s ‘Traffic’, the 20:20 Remix of Blaze’s ‘Lovelee Dae’, Matty Heilbronn’s instant classic ‘Arriba, Abajo’ and so many other fine slices of house. I missed any such selections last night, showing up as late as I did.

One o’clock rolled in and nearly 15 minutes later, Spinna took over. The room was now at around 95% capacity and the ladies easily outnumbered us. The alcohol was flowing and my drop dead gorgeous bartender, Nikki ( ) was taking great care of me ( ). Knowing very little about Spinna, I turned to b-side who gave me a brief synopsis of what this night would have in store for us. Having heard his take, I was a bit surprised that DHM left the booth in such high gear. But as Spinna pulled out his CD cases (gay as that sounds), I realized he was picking up exactly where DHM left off. A quick announcement by Mr. Budious marked Spinna’s first track of the night.

My overall impression of Spinna’s set was that he was really great at reading the crowd and picking the appropriate track at the right time. So I give him an 8.5 (out of 10) in that department. For instance, he peaked the energy early on and then came back down by dropping Men from the Nile’s ‘Watch Them Come.’ Although instantly recognizable, it achieved the desired effect and I was running back to Nikki for another drink.

His mixing was a whole different story (and a sad one, at that). I’m sorry but if you’re using CDJs, your beat-matching should be dead on and your transitions should approach perfection (the operative word here is should). I think I heard Ame’s –‘Rej’ immediately followed by Lil’ Louis’ ‘French Kiss’ instrumental and that was one of the few on-point mixes last night. One thing that may have been a factor is that both doors leading to the chandelier room were left open for quite some time and there was very noticeable interference. In my opinion, these doors should always be kept shut (especially the one just to the right of the venue’s main entrance). For mixing and programming last night, I give him a 3.5. To offset this poor achievement, it should be noted that he had a very good audience and he worked them up; and for that, I give him an 8.0.

Spinna’s unweighted average comes out to 6.67 but since he did so well keeping the crowd on their toes with a very noteworthy track selection, I would certainly give him another chance! Lastly, I commend Aquabooty for having the balls to book talent that others wouldn’t even dream of and for keeping the room full!

[jeffy1]

boring..

[philippio]

boring..

'Cause you've been brainwashed to think that anything Aquabooty is "deep house", right?

[raincry]

It's not everyday you get to go out and see a dj

aquabooty parties keep going strong

[Bling]

[philippio]

Stop grinning. There's a piece of fish stuck between your two front teeth.

[vaughanz]

gefilte fish

[philippio]

gefilte fish

:rofl:

[mdamon7278]

It's not everyday you get to go out and see a dj who has never played in Miami outside of conference. Realizing this at around 9:45pm, I decided to make the best of my night and head out to Glass, a beautiful, intimate venue that I have been frequenting a lot lately. Aside from opening its arms to loads of beautiful women every week, on Saturdays Glass has the honor of being called “home†by Aquabooty, one of this metropolis’ most humble, dedicated, and deeply rooted party outfits. On this special night, “la piece de resistance†would be dj Spinna!!!

Arriving after midnight, I paid my cover and as on every other occasion, there was absolutely zero drama at the door. Parking in that area of the beach is easy and free (unless you’re looking to valet your Bentley, Porsche or Ferrari right in front of the lounge/restaurant). Walking in, the front room was about 70% full while the chandelier room, where Will Renuart does his funky business, was almost void of human life.

Omar was standing guard behind the ones and twos (and threes and fours if you like CDJs, I suppose), priming his audience with a mix of afro-tribal while digging deeper into the crates periodically to drop a more obscure, synth-laden stomper or two. It was business as usual with the DHM guys (I think Edwin spun as well). One of them dropped A Hundred Birds - 'Black Water' on Wave which sounded so crisp on that system ( ). In the past, I’ve been showing up early because I love to hear DHM warm up the room. There’s nobody in this town that can welcome and tease the crowd like they do. I particularly like when they steer clear of the afro-tribal and play the less obvious, deeper chuggers with snippets of vocals here and there: tracks like Manoo & Francois A.’s ‘Traffic’, the 20:20 Remix of Blaze’s ‘Lovelee Dae’, Matty Heilbronn’s instant classic ‘Arriba, Abajo’ and so many other fine slices of house. I missed any such selections last night, showing up as late as I did.

One o’clock rolled in and nearly 15 minutes later, Spinna took over. The room was now at around 95% capacity and the ladies easily outnumbered us. The alcohol was flowing and my drop dead gorgeous bartender, Nikki ( ) was taking great care of me ( ). Knowing very little about Spinna, I turned to b-side who gave me a brief synopsis of what this night would have in store for us. Having heard his take, I was a bit surprised that DHM left the booth in such high gear. But as Spinna pulled out his CD cases (gay as that sounds), I realized he was picking up exactly where DHM left off. A quick announcement by Mr. Budious marked Spinna’s first track of the night.

My overall impression of Spinna’s set was that he was really great at reading the crowd and picking the appropriate track at the right time. So I give him an 8.5 (out of 10) in that department. For instance, he peaked the energy early on and then came back down by dropping Men from the Nile’s ‘Watch Them Come.’ Although instantly recognizable, it achieved the desired effect and I was running back to Nikki for another drink.

His mixing was a whole different story (and a sad one, at that). I’m sorry but if you’re using CDJs, your beat-matching should be dead on and your transitions should approach perfection (the operative word here is should). I think I heard Ame’s –‘Rej’ immediately followed by Lil’ Louis’ ‘French Kiss’ instrumental and that was one of the few on-point mixes last night. One thing that may have been a factor is that both doors leading to the chandelier room were left open for quite some time and there was very noticeable interference. In my opinion, these doors should always be kept shut (especially the one just to the right of the venue’s main entrance). For mixing and programming last night, I give him a 3.5. To offset this poor achievement, it should be noted that he had a very good audience and he worked them up; and for that, I give him an 8.0.

Spinna’s unweighted average comes out to 6.67 but since he did so well keeping the crowd on their toes with a very noteworthy track selection, I would certainly give him another chance! Lastly, I commend Aquabooty for having the balls to book talent that others wouldn’t even dream of and for keeping the room full!

:rofl:

[sebastianc]

I think I heard Ame’s –‘Rej’

are you sure you weren't on the Space patio?

[rcrespo]

sounds good phillipio .. i heard he played some 'smashing techno' as well? care to ellaborate on that.

seb,

the house guys have been playing 'rej' for ages as well.

[sebastianc]

sounds good phillipio .. i heard he played some 'smashing techno' as well? care to ellaborate on that.

seb,

the house guys have been playing 'rej' for ages as well.

no seriously though, I think he was actually on the Space Patio

[raincry]

[djfrosty]

no seriously though, I think he was actually on the Space Patio

That dude ever smile or is it always the "zoolander" look?

[philippio]

sounds good phillipio .. i heard he played some 'smashing techno' as well? care to ellaborate on that.

He did. But I didn't know any of the tracks. The energy was certainly there.

[b-side]

actually the system in the next room def throws one off esp when the doors are open (i mean half the night they were wide open) the few other time i have heard spinna it was a different setting and a wider range of music... all in all his set was not terrible just not up to what one would expect from such a well known & versatile DJ... but the place was still packed none the less and the ladies outnumbered the guys 3-1 (i brought my three to help improve the odds, LOL)

[digitalphoenix]

In other words, Glass should think of geting a self closing glass door that will allow others to see the action, but will close after each patron going through, therefore minimizing the sound interaction within each room.....

...but what do I know?

[philippio]

...but what do I know?

You know nothing!