Review: Verboten Pres. Maya Jane Coles, Maceo Plex, Audiofly + More Beekman Beach Club & SRB Brooklyn

Verboten did it once again delivering a powerhouse Day/Night event to kick off an incredible MDW weekend! We started off the evening of Friday May 25th under the sunny (and partial cloudy) sky of the South Street Seaport’s newest hotspot The Beekman Beach Club. Beekman is going to be the go-to summer spot this season presenting to its visitors a bay front view on a simulated sandy “beach” front, plus an impeccable dance-floor, hot bartenders, and a mind-blowing sound system! I couldn’t think of a better set up for an outdoor venue. They even have ping-pong tables, Foosball, and arm-wrestling areas! The incomparable tech-house sounds presented by Maya Jane Coles, Maceo Plex, Daniel Maher, George Faya and Brian Bejarano blasting through the speaker system was obviously the greatest part!

The evening opened up with light, intimate tech-house sets from some of our local favorites, George Faya followed by Brian Bejarano. They definitely set the mood off right as the crowd poured in, got their little umbrella drinks to enjoy along the New York/Queens skyline while patiently awaiting the incomparable beats of Maceo Plex, Maya Jane Coles and Maher Daniel. The tone of Beekman Beach Club certainly changed around 10 p.m. when Maceo Plex exploded on the decks with nonstop, empowering tech-house bangers from start to finish. An exploding surge of excitement came over me when I caught some of my favorite tracks like “Under the Sheets”, Metro Area’s “Miura”, Jichael Mackson’s “GTI (Zimbabwe Mix)”, the dynamo tune “Bombay Duck”, and of course the newest chart topper “Ain’t That Love” .The crowd was loving every tech-tonal synth, build and drop Maceo Plex delivered this past Friday night and he kept the party going later that night at SRB Brooklyn with some of the most aggressive-electric tech-house I have ever heard! I was definitely blown away with both of his performances and I am so excited that I can cross off my bucket list ‘having Maceo Plex blow me away with his sounds OUTDOORS’ – I cannot wait until I am graced with his synthesized, multi-level bursts of audio-perfection once again. And please, if anyone knows the name of that inter-tonal-twining ‘Robot’ track from SRB Brooklyn that Maceo Plex dropped – ‘Let Me Know’!!

Maya Jane Coles hit the decks around 12 a.m. and we knew her soft-spoken, deep, dub-house tunes were approaching our ears without even having to look up. Maya Jane Coles brought to us some favorites like “Nobody Else” and “Humming Bird”. Maya kept her set very light and full of dub symphonies, a little less lively than her New York visit in late January, but still enterprising and soulful – that is why we love her, her sound is in incomparable to any other. I was surprised to see she cut her set at Beekman Beach Club short, but of course she had to rush over to SRB Brooklyn to sweep the stage with a set a bit more energized, infused with a hint of light contralto tech-house (in English: she brought more DEEP-BASS). The lineup for SRB changed a bit so when we strolled in around 2:30 a.m. Maya was already on deck having switched time-slots with Maceo Plex. Maceo Plex followed Maya Jane Coles with a thunderous roar of quirky, mind-altering techno. We didn’t know what tone he would drop amidst the next loopy build-up, but we loved and embraced every second of it. The man is a minimal/deep/bold/techno God.

Backtracking a bit, let’s talk about Maher Daniel’s empowering deep, tweaky techno-perfect closing set at Beekman Beach Club. What could we expect from the name Maher Daniel; “Maher” in his native language forming from the word excellence – which perfectly defines him. I psyched myself up for Maher Daniel all week listening to all of his SoundCloud tunes and blowing my income on Beatport purchases – but his tech-tonic sound was worth every penny. My friends and I kept saying we should leave Beekman early to beat the crowd to SRB but Mr. Maher Daniel just wouldn’t let us, sanctioning our ears to stay on the dance floor with tracks like “Dropping the Gramaphone” and “Gigsaw” he had our feet moving to every augmented-interval and his range of pitch and scale-degrees was just – WOW. I was deeply impressed with his deliverance of upbeat techno and I think he is a prominent artist whose sound is artfully and impressively crafted. We obviously went haywire when “Rumblefish” was brought to our ears right before we had left. I absolutely look forward to seeing him again and the vibe he created outdoors at Beekman Beach Club was so rich and paramount – I know all the smiling faces embodied every tune.

So finally around 2:30 a.m. we motivated our rallying over to SRB Brooklyn, a venue that is new to me but apparently a staple in the Brooklyn Music Community. It was large, spacious, ambiance was on fire and the sound-system was very pleasing to our ears. We unfortunately missed the opening sets by Michael Christopher and Niki McNally, two top New York City DJ’s who have made a high-ranking name for themselves over the years. I don’t doubt that they both got the crowd fired up with some powerfully progressive techno and house music to set way for Maya Jane Coles, Maceo Plex and Audiofly to take the decks. I walked in to catch Maya Jane Coles on deck and like I mentioned earlier – she definitely delivered a more robust set than she did at Beekman. She hit us with some unfamiliar, but animated tech tunes at SRB that definitely had the crowd moving. I was surprised having not heard her newest masterpiece “She’s On Fire”, but I became quite high-spirited when I heard “Not Listening (DJ-Kicks Edit)” come through the speakers – I have this on iPod repeat!! Maya finished her short, intimate set with some deep-dubby house before Maceo Plex hit the sound-system around 3:45 with quite a BANG! I praised him earlier and I still praise him half a week later for the impressionable music ensemble he delivered last Friday May 25th, 2012.

Last, but certainly NOT least was the powerhouse duo Audiofly to close off the night at SRB Brooklyn. I have listened to a lot of their music for quite some time now and Luca Saporito and Anthony Middelton create deep, experimentally resonant sounds that just make your body and soul feel good. They reach deep into your core to drive good vibrations through your body with minimal-tempos mixed with dark-drumcode that meets electric-house. I thought Audiofly was going to calm our senses a bit after Maceo Plex’s mind-altering techno but they brought electrifying musical strains of tech-house, interchanging between deep undertones to elevated amalgamated sounds. They were definitely the perfect pick to close out such an intensely enticing, unforgettable Friday Night/Saturday morning. My group had to remove ourselves around 5:30 a.m. but I am sure the promising sounds of Audiofly played well into the morning hours. Verboten parties are on their own level always bringing some of the most vehement, incomparable musical talent to New York City. I was impressed with how perfect both events panned out and I know that they left everyone soulfully satisfied and patiently awaiting more! There is never a dull Verboten moment and Friday May 25th was one for the records. Until next time!