For many, an open-to-close DJ set is the best way to see your favorite DJ. With so much time behind the decks, the best of the best are able to create a soundtrack for an entire night, creating different energies based on how the night plays out. It’s impossible to plan that much music in advance – at some point, you’re going on instinct. It’s almost like several different nights – the warm up, the headline…and the weird and crazy part.
Last Friday saw two different DJs, each incredible in their own rights, go open to close at Output in Brooklyn, NY. The always incredible Seth Troxler, one of America’s greatest DJs, took over the main room, while England’s Eats Everything performed in The Panther Room, Output’s club within a club. To put this awesomeness in perspective, Eats Everything has headlined Output’s main room in the past to a great crowd.
Both DJs have their hardcore fans – Eats Everything put out a slew of releases on Claude Von Stroke’s Dirtybird label which has given him a dedicated following in the States, and Troxler is world renown through extensive touring and releases on his own labels, Visionquest and Tuskegee. Through these fan bases, both rooms were packed with eager dancers throughout the entire night. The passageway from one room to the next was constantly filled with people trying to get a taste of the opposite sound.
It was almost like a festival vibe – with two different rooms with different styles, after a few hours, you were hit with the thought, “I wonder what’s going on in the other room” – and then you’d get there and think “what have I been missing?!” – then a little later you repeat the process. It’s a pretty unique experience.
I can’t remember the last time two such celebrated DJs both performed open to close sets within the same venue, hopefully it happens again soon!