Tag Archives: dj

Detroit’s DJ Carl Craig at J&B’s Start a Party

Detroit's DJ Carl Craig at J&B's Start a Party
I'll get to Carl Craig in a second, but first, don't you love that HUGE mirror ball? You can't see in this photo, but there were green lasers bouncing from its shiny surface all the time - it was totally awesome!

Carl started his set after Culoe de Song ended off in spectacular style. Even though I'm not a regular listener of electronica/techno music, I immediately picked up that Carl's style was different. I've just read a little about him and have found out, in fact, that the thing that makes his style different from other Detroid-based artists is that he often remixes worldbeat and jazz music into his techno. Interesting, hey?

Having been in the business for about 22 years, it's clear that Carl's a far more seasoned muso. What was cool about his performance was that he interacted with the crowd on the dance floor far more than his peers - he clearly got into the party vibe; see the second photo below.

Carl Craig was the last of the DJs that we saw performing at J&B's Start a Party. Even though he was great and interacted with the crowd well, in terms of musical performance Monique Pascall, Culoe de Song, and Carl Craig were pretty much on par - or this is at least what my untrained ear tells me. :)

Monique Pascall – the real party-starter

Monique Pascall - the real party-starter

We arrived at the castle for J&B's Start a Party at around 9pm which is just about the right time to start getting a party going, wouldn't you say?

As we walked into the venue, we were greeted by the electronic sounds of the lovely Monique Pascall - which her bio refers to as being "Minimal and Techno with tough, dirty, progressive, rolling bass lines". Now, I'm not a huge techno/electronica geek, but on reflection and after critically listening to her tracks on sShadoworkss I'd say that the description is pretty accurate, and well deserved.

The most difficult time for a DJ to perform is at the start of a party, when everyone's still a little tense from the day and has had just a little too little alcohol to relax the inhibitions. Up for the challenge, Monique picked up the beat and got the party started, enticing the first few party-starters onto the dance floor. By the time she handed over the reigns to Culoe de Song, the party was pretty much tripping.

In case you're wondering who the guy in the photo below is, that's Ivan Turanjanin, a DJ who's pretty much synonymous with Fiction nightclub's Killer Robot.