Review: Arty Parties with Playhouse Hollywood 3.18.12

After two hours from resident opener DJ Sco the crowd became restless. Then, the bright-eyed boy with tired sunken eyes and the face of freeze-dried child took to the decks. Arty stepped up to the decks at twelve thirty on a Sunday evening. This set was post-Beyond Wonderland, where Arty had performed before thousands for Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance 550. Opening with his personal edit of Mozart (his collaboration with Mat Zo), the dire-hard fans dove straight into the mix and the emblematic havoc-wreckers who relish chaos divided the crowd into two. Mozart was the same opener from Beyond Wonderland but it gave the same consistent notion of – let’s do this! The low ends were heavy, the highs were chirping through and the mids squeezed in for some ample room. Arty isn’t one to have extremely diverse sets. He keeps an arsenal of trance tracks separate from his house-infused bangers. Sometimes there is an infusion of the two. However, Arty spins like a seasoned veteran – always playing to the crowd’s reactions. He dropped Axwell’s mix of In My Mind, which hypnotized the fans into a tribal-esque chant. Shortly following, the Swedish House Mafia remix of Coldplay’s Every Tear Drop Is A Waterfall only increased the chaos.

As the set progressed, Arty became heavily involved in stylistic eking for something Arty calls a party. He was playing house in the Playhouse. No one could ask for anything better. It’s what the crowd was hungry for and they ate every last morsel of bass growls and chainsaw drops. Who doesn’t get hungry for some Space Junk? There are several DJs that can work a crowd rather well. However, it’s somewhat of a mystery as to why Arty does so. He has an aura about him and he carries himself well. It’s his ability to allow the audience to breathe, listen and open the eye of the mind that has transformed him into a top DJ. Arty moved forward with his hands outward to the crowd as he mixed in his hit collaboration with Matisse and Sadko called Trio. It’s a release on Axwell’s Axtone and it’s a track that has certainty propelled his career into a commercial spotlight. Arty’s been spreading followers across continents and over seaboards strongly for the past couple of years. It’s hard to believe he’s only been in the scene since 2009. All his focus seemed pinpointed on everything immediate. Playhouse blasted off into a mental state just as there was a knocking on the door. Arty greeted and welcomed Internet Friends by Knife Party into his temporary humble Hollywood home.

Arty unquestionably plays upon the house nation takeover that’s currently channeling throughout the EDM scene. His track Around the World has been invading dance floors for almost a year. It’s a massive tune that always manages to provide the same metamorphosis – turning people into animals. From that moment on, there is no really going backwards in terms of heightened energy. Arty hit it hard because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. The people who were there specifically for Arty showed their fan-dedication through their devout dancing. Those that were there for a party certainly got more than they bargained for. When Koko Prutataaaa (the First State Bashup) came into the mix, it wasn’t the only thing that enhanced the performance. A costumed Cookie Monster came dancing out onto the bar in the front of the stage. The insanity was without a doubt provided. Apparently even Cookie Monster knows Arty throws the best parties.

The tunes propelled to a new height as Arty began mixing and mashing electro, hard house and dubstep into a cluster frenzy of synth-sex proportions. Confetti, a muppet and bass-oriented beats were running wild. The energy didn’t seem to have a limiter and Knife Party vs. Swedish House Mafia’s Antidote proved to be just the remedy for the post-Beyond Wonderland blues. The set propelled into a manic state of absolute insanity when Arty dropped Rebound (another collaboration with Mat Zo). It’s another staple tune in his sets and is one that too played a role in quick rise to fame.

The Island needed no introduction as it soaked itself into the mix. The chaos of the night began to blur. Arty hit all the right spots for those of the crowd who know house music. He even played his Rock n’ Rolla remix of Ferry Corsten’s classic Punk. The tune would rush like a drug, like the heat of alcohol, a spreading fever, a sickness, arousal, an urgent tingling that electrifies the limbs and moves throughout the body. It’s tracks like Punk that have made Arty into a rock star. Just before the end of his he dropped his piano-infused Kate for the lovely lady herself, in the stage’s wing. Ending with the Seven Lions remix of You Got To Go, it was certainly an ironic statement. There was no one who wanted to leave the dance floor that the incredible evening.

Article & Photography by: Mark Luzzi