Before Afrojack played to a packed house of thousands of fans at Roseland Ballroom this past Sunday, a select few were lucky enough to catch him in the small confines of one of New York’s most legendary dance clubs, Cielo. The club, known for its booming sound system and pure dance music vibe, housed the superstar DJ and a handful of adoring fans for an extremely special set.
More so than most other clubs, Cielo seems to be about the music. It’s the perfect blend of the bottle service style VIP clubs and the rave scene, where you get the unpretentiousness vibe and love of the music of the rave, without the neon and glow sticks. Everyone’s there to dance, and you feel that vibe almost instantly. It also helps that, as I mentioned before, the sound system is out of this world.
Throughout the night, Afrojack weaved teases of some of his biggest hits throughout a winding alcove of beats. The freedom of the small club allowed the DJ to play a different type of set, keeping everyone dancing without going through a list of greatest hits. The brief teases were enough to remind you who you’re watching, get a roar from the crowd, and then return to keeping the party bumping.
It’s always a treat to see such a superstar up close. Cielo’s DJ booth is raises slightly above the audience, but its still so close you could touch it. It’s a wide change from the mega venues DJs are playing nowadays, where you may as well be watching a movie. At one point, Afrojack even jumped into the crowd to dance, which pretty much sums up the intimacy of the entire night.
Check out our photos from Afrojack @ Cielo on September 19th.