Based out of San Francisco, Claude Von Stroke has been putting out banging house music through his own Dirtybird Records for the past several years. What started as a group of friends throwing giant barbecues in Golden Gate Park, has become one of the premiere labels for deep and progressive house music, not just from Von Stroke, but an army of up and coming producers like Justin Martin and Eats Everything. The boys produce a unique blend of deep bass and catchy hooks with a classic vibe, and it shows when you see one of Dirtybird’s players spin.
While Wednesdays sees Marquee taken over by mainstream EDM acts like David Guetta and Chuckie, Friday nights are the time to get down and dirty. After an opening set by Sleepy and Boo which set the vibe for the rest of the night, Mr. Dirtybird himself took the decks to a great reaction, instantly bringing that signature style and sound to the big room. I think what sets the Dirtybird style apart from the other modern pure house music, is those deep bass lines. They vibrate and shake the room, they are lower and heavier than what’s found in your average house music. It sometimes feels like something out of a minimalist dubstep track. In fact, Von Stroke released an album entitled ‘Dirtybird Bass’ back in 2011, highlighting this newer style, and it really has worked fantastically in modernizing the Dirtybird Style while still maintaing that classic house vibe.
As always, Marquee is leading the pack in the New York City dance music scene. It’s got that LIV Miami vibe, where the ravers and dance fans can have the downstairs to party, but the decor and production value is still bottle-service club quality. It really makes for a great place to dance until the early hours of the morning. And that’s exactly what it seemed like was going on Friday night – people stayed and danced until the lights turned on. Just how it should be.