Event Review: Eric Prydz in NYC from Beekman Beach to Pacha – 7/28/12
How shall I sum up in an EDM nutshell the MADNESS that ensued this past Saturday, July 28th, 2012, when Eric Prydz attempted to bring his ‘EPIC (Eric Prydz In Concert)’ Tour to Beekman Beach Club in NYC, post his appearance at Identity Festival in Jones Beach, Long Island. By ‘attempt’ I mean Eric Prydz hit the decks at Beekman Beach Club after two dynamic openers, but was unfortunately asked to stop playing due to ‘noise disturbance’; nonetheless Prydz was relocated and ended up rocking the house at Pacha NYC instead. Opening sets were provided by New York’s own rising star DJ’s Brad Miller and John Paige who began playing at Beekman Beach Club at 10 p.m. sharp as planned, but when legendary artist Eric Prydz hit the decks around 12:45 a.m., EDM catastrophe struck. Luckily, there was no need to fret as Pacha NYC staff members handled Saturday’s dilemma quickly, efficiently, and without (much) trouble.
The music at Beekman Beach Club was first shut down around 1:00 a.m., just 15 short minutes after Eric Prydz began playing his set, allegedly due to noise complaints and rumor of a female being pushed by a very un-PLUR male. After 5 minutes of silence the tunes began pouring through the speakers again, loud and proud as they should.. until, BOOM, the music was silenced for a second time at 1:15 a.m. and an announcement came through the Beekman sound-system notifying party-goers that “The PARTY WAS BEING MOVED TO PACHA NYC” and so everyone ran amok for the exit. Luckily I was right by the front so I so fortunately missed the chaos that was to follow this announcement. (BlackBook Mag reported of stampedes & fights, but the EDM Insider staff was not around to officially, and that post has since been removed from their site.)
Preceding this “OMG I can’t believe this is really happening” moment, I was lucky enough to catch some of DJ Brad Miller’s set before the wild, near capacity crowd fully flourished Beekman Beach Club. Brad Miller set the Saturday mood just right with a subtle, refreshing set of progressive house and tech-house tracks creating a deep ambiance so fitting for an early outdoor evening awaiting an anticipated artist such as Eric Prydz. Brad got our adrenaline pumping with a solid hour of fiery tunes including Oliver Huntemann “The End”, and Tommy Four Seven’s “Track 5″. It is always a pleasure to see Brad Miller perform live because every set he plays is diverse and one-of-a-kind as he effervescently and masterfully delivers everything and anything from trance and house to deep, dark tech and progressive, elegantly presenting every set with that DJ Brad Miller touch we all know and love.
Proceeding Brad Miller’s buoyant progressive-house set was John Paige, one of the newest EDM names to land on all of our iPod’s and Beatport accounts thanks to a very successful 2011 and promising 2012 year. With the likes and support of the Swedish House Mafia, Robbie Rivera, Avicii, and Tony Coluccio; John Paige has made himself a household EDM name and with great reason. Paige certainly set flame to the fire this past Saturday at Beekman Beach Club with a blazing set full of powerhouse tunes such as his own take on “Fired Up vs Temples (Paige Edit)” which had the crowd bolstering for more, in addition to newest production from John Paige featuring Deborah Cox – “Higher”. If that doesn’t give you idea enough of the thunderous beats that Paige delivered to the Beekman speakers this past Saturday, I also ID’ed “Question Mark (Adam Port Remix)” and the electrifying mix to Axwell’s “Watch the Sunrise (Dirty Secretz Bootleg)”. I couldn’t have picked two better young hearts to open up for legendary Eric Prydz as Brad Miller and John Paige gracefully set the stage for the 20 minutes of Eric Prydz that were to follow at Beekman Beach Club.
From the rudely interrupted spurts of music delivered by Eric Prydz at Beekman Beach Club, I caught an opening set equipped with a lot of progressive-house fire. I didn’t ID too many tracks at Beekman because I was standing behind the DJ booth close enough to the exit to make a run for it, as my spidey-senses were telling me that after the first ‘Sound System Pause’ we would be forced to shut down and/or relocate; and to no surprise the relocation announcement came around 1:20 a.m. Myself, along with some of my fellow EDM Insider’s feverishly rushed to Pacha NYC, lucky enough to catch the closing hour of 17 year old French sensation, Madeon, who was playing full-fledged electro-house with symphonic fury. Current Pacha party-goers had NO IDEA what the rest of their evening had in store for them as Beekman Beach party-people started to pour themselves into Pacha NYC during the wee hours of morning adding depth and capacity to that 30,000 square-foot venue. Madeon was coming full force with electro-house mixes to fan favorites including Red Hot Chilli Peppers - “Otherside”, and Justice vs Simian – “We Are Your Friends”. Although bold, animated, and lively, Madeon was kindly removed from the Pioneer thrown around 2:45 a.m., playing longer than originally expected, so that the veteran could take over.
The voice of Eric Prydz came over the sound system at a quarter to three, introducing himself to the night’s original Pacha crowd who merely signed up to see Madeon, but unexpectedly became some of the luckiest tykes in New York City to freely catch legendary Eric Prydz post Madeon’s set. Prydz struck the German-imported Dynacord alpha sound-system abruptly with full force bringing to our eardrums opening tunes including “Glimma” and “Javlar” which were toppled off with some old-school tech-house favorites. Our ears and limbs were saturated with two and a half hours of gold as we caught some NEW Pryda productions including “Lesson One” and “Genesis”, as well Cirez D “On/Off” in the midst of this dance music haven. In the closing hour at Pacha NYC, Eric Prydz, to no surprise played one of my (and your) favorite top-of-the-chart Pryda productions “SW4″, followed by“Allein”, and “Mirage“. Prydz certainly retaliated our musical expectations from the earlier havoc that ensued at Beekman Beach Club, performing to full capacity at Pacha NYC, a set so endearing and fulfilling that we left that morning without question as to why Eric Prydz is considered an EDM legend.
He kicked his fear of flying so be sure to stay tuned for more Eric Prydz/Pryda – US/Canada Tour dates in 2012 and 2013!
facebook.com/EricPrydzOfficial
Purchase NEW PRYDA Album on Beatport
Article by: Ilenia Cangelosi
About the Author
Ilenia Cangelosi Ilenia Cangelosi is a native New Yorker with a passionate "MBA" in Electronic Dance Music. A long time connoisseur of dance music having been exposed to New York City nightlife at a young age, Ilenia loves everything EDM from Trance, Minimal, Techno, House, Drum&Bass and all things world festivals. Follow Ilenia (@miSziLenia) on Twitter & Instagram to stay up to date on the latest & greatest in all things EDM!
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