I wouldn’t normally attempt Pacha mid August, as every night it is packed to the brim. But Detroit house and techno legend Moodymann rarely frequents the island and I had yet to catch the outspoken and highly influential DJ live.
Walking through the doors of beautiful Pacha, the hard thumping sounds coming from the main room contrasted with the clientele, as the majority seemed to be there for the club rather than the line-up. Admittedly I am just going on dress sense here, and maybe I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I couldn’t imagine the high heels trottering around with champagne glasses as being secret Detroit techno geeks. Still, what’s important is the atmosphere and there was plenty of smiling and dancing as I entered the Global Room where Mirko Loco was warming up. He set the tone perfectly with lots of melodic techno and housey vocals, getting a few hands in the air with Osunlade’s ‘Envision’.
Moodymann kicked off with a Motown feel and an awestruck group of guys stood starring into the booth. Wearing a cap, with his afro sticking out either side, he kept his head down and looked pretty, er… moody. He was very calm, not moving much or dancing around, giving off an elusive presence. When he first took to the mic the crowd broke into cheers and screams but I was a little disappointed he didn’t use it much for the rest of the night. Initially starting his set with some quite bass driven tracks, he then moved onto a real funky groove with lots of jazz influences. Looking around me it was crazy that the room was not that busy for such a massive name. It’s a shame that the Global Room often gets ignored in favour of the Main Room, and while the intimacy is great from a clubber’s point of view, I wonder how satisfying it is playing there for the DJ. As the set progressed the music became more chilled and laid back, the highlight moment being Lil Louis' French Kiss bringing the tempo right down into the famous female moan before it built it all the way back up, exploding the dancefloor.
After checking out the terrace for some air, we headed to a VIP table in the Main Room. Up above the dancefloor you could see the club in all its glory. Without a doubt Pacha does the best production, putting so much effort into the lighting, scenery, dancers’ costumes. At 6am the room was rammed for Cadenza superstar Luciano. He has definitely started to adapt his style to fit the Pacha crowd finishing his set with lots of cheesy tracks (at least by Cadenza standards), although I had to admit I was dancing away to a remix of Jamie Woon’s ‘Lady Luck’. I just really hope in a few years time Luciano, and Cadenza as a night, hasn’t become another Guetta or Swedish House Mafia.
