Event Review: JACKED at Pacha NYC with Afrojack, R3hab, & Quintino 6/28/12

For many EDM fans all across America, Afrojack’s Jacked tour has been one of the highlights for the first half of this year. However, we know all good things must come to an end. This end, happened to be a great one though, as the Jacked crew, Afrojack, R3hab and Quintino, took over Pacha NYC on Thursday, June 28^th, 2012 to finish off their nationwide tour.

To start the night off early, Quintino took on the tables, opening up for Afrojack at 11PM. Quintino is known for dropping filthy beats throughout his sets, and that’s exactly what he did. If anyone has ever doubted him for his raw talent, they were proven wrong within the first 20 minutes of his presence. As the show went on, he played many unknown tracks, but still kept the crowd on their toes, dancing and raging to one amazing beat after the other. Closing his set, he played his major hit, “Epic” sending the crowd wild and even crazier when he followed it by a preview to his very own remix of it.

As 1 AM approached rather quickly, the entire building was preparing for the next DJ to start. It sounded like all of New York City was chanting “Afrojack! Afrojack! Afrojack!” as the headliner of the tour began to walk up to the booth in his usual v-neck and hoodie covering his face. When you looked at the crowd, all you could see were arms raised with flashes from phones and cameras facing the one man we were all waiting for. Once he removed the hood, everyone began to jump and scream to the sounds of his upcoming new release, “Rock the House.” The song has Afrojack written all over it, filled with pure “bleepy” madness. Nick has been dropping this highly anticipated tune from state to state throughout his tour, and every single time it’s played, the crowd never fails to go absolutely insane.

During his set, Afrojack played many tracks that seem to be huge hits for 2012. The fans seem to agree with his choice of songs considering the energy they gave off when he dropped Nari & Milani’s “Atom” and Tommy Trash’s remix of Steve Aoki’s “Ladi Dadi.” Based on the amount of people, along with the feeling of the atmosphere, you would not have thought it was a Thursday night upon entering Pacha. Nick also played a few of his own common tracks, yet still crowd pleasers such as “Take over Control” featuring Eva Simmons and “Can’t Stop Me” featuring Shermanology. Overall, his set was a combination of many ID’s that we cannot wait to be released, alongside some more familiar tracks that we still love. It was without a doubt another great performance by one of the hottest EDM DJs right now.

Last but not least, we were left with R3hab to “shut down Pacha,” as he stated on Twitter earlier that evening. Although it was 3 AM, there were no signs that Jacked was even close to an end. With the crowd still high off of Afrojack, R3hab had some big (and tall) shoes to fill; but there was no doubt in site that he would disappoint. R3hab is known for his “chainsaw madness,” as he and his fans refer to it; which is what he dropped all night. While playing many of his own remixes and tracks, he switched his style up just enough so his set wouldn’t feel repetitive in any way. Even though the crowd already knows that he is going to play a few of his usual tracks, they still go wild when they are dropped. His mix of Kaskade’s “Eyes” featuring Mindy Hill will always drive everyone to rage to the chainsaw beats and sing along with the amazing vocals. He knows his fans well and especially knows how to balance enough new and old tracks to keep them entertained for hours.

Making New York City the last city of their nationwide tour was no mistake. The entire Jacked team knew what they were doing and what they were getting into when they chose Pacha as their last stop. The packed out crowd did not hesitate for one second as they spent every moment getting “jacked” on an entirely new level. We wish them the best of luck on their new Europe based tour and cannot wait for them to rock OUR house, again. Until then, we will see you on August 3^rd, 2012 when R3hab returns to Pacha for another memorable night.

Article by: Natalie Aflak

Photo By: Michael Elezovic