A ten-week ordering of desirable sleep deprivation came to a wide-eyed close as Darius Syrossian, Santé and Sidney Charles bid a beastly hello to Monday’s sunrise and an equally beastly goodbye to their Vista Club residency. The trio grabbed 2015 as the season to crash into San Rafael with their Do Not Sleep fiesta and hand it to the house heavy.
Season closing party head counts are usually reflective of the quality of meat that’s been filling the weeks in since the opening. So going on this alone, it’s been a good cut for the grill because Privilege’s glass-encased side club was packed from front to back with a dominant filling of Brits.
The guys have mentioned before that the crowd is who bring the party and that being as close to them as possible is how they really get off. It’s a two way stream this one, if the DJ is seen temple deep in his weapons of choice then you become nothing but egged on to sink yourself at an even deeper level and so it goes, back and forth; an infinity loop of pleasure. Aside from a big LED screen hovering over the booth with the occasional flash of big balled owl eyes, visual production is left aside for music, and only music, to take the reins of your attention. Surging house lauded with upbeat bass was the prescription to fight fatigue and infectious energy became the symptom.
For me personally, the quality was there, but at times it became a wee bit monotonous with the kind of 4 X 4’s that don’t invite much more than a sidestep. That’s just me; I saw plenty of folks heaving in with more than a foot spread. That note aside, aw man did they heave in some absolute belters. Tuning in with their own cuts in the form of Sidney Charles’ Cave Rave and Phonograph, they spliced these with some nailed-in classics to the fresh and those in between. The first of these which grabbed the ear drums was Laurent Garnier’s Crispy Bacon, soon followed by Alan Fitzpatrick’s remix of Trus’ Me’s I Want You. Two beasts which paved the path for more of the best that house techno and tech-house have to offer in Hoodlum’s Traumer, Roman Flügel's More & More & More and Royal House’s Can You Party. The title of the last track is a question that was indisputably answered in the green and Santé couldn’t resist transporting his well-kept moustache into the crowd pit to mix with the rest and get in there for the selfie action. Healthy selfies everywhere, me included because why not eh? Sidney quickly bounced down for a slice of the action too and with the orange orb threatening to break it was the perfect time to drop in soothing soul filler, Pachanga Boys’ Time.
A roar followed as another closing bittersweetly came to a final note. I don’t think many DJs have escaped the end of a set without being hit with “ONE MORE TUNE,” and if they have, it’s probably not a good thing. It’s like gliding past a building site in a skirt without a wolf whistle; bad times. But for the sum of happy campers that broke through to sunrise they were repaid with an old school monster with the title of the track nutshelling their Do Not Sleep intentions, Devotion by Nomad. Enough said.
**Update - YOU CAN'T GO TO BED YET! The Do Not Sleep crew is throwing a one-off encore performance at Space on the 24th of September. Details coming soon.
WORDS | Aimee Lawrence PHOTOGRAPHY | Do Not Sleep
