David Guetta took to the stage for the first time in 2016 at Pacha last night. Performing the first of a mammoth 19 F*** Me I'm Famous shows planned for this season, he undoubtedly set the bar high for the rest of summer. I've always been a big Guetta fan, but before last night I'd never seen him play before, and I'd never been to Pacha either; so I was getting a double whammy of debut goodness to get my teeth stuck into, all squeezed into to a few twilight hours - lucky me. As it turned out, from start to finish I was blown away by every second.
I jumped on the disco bus from San An and made it to the club by 12:40 AM. On entry a glamorous hostess was handing out freebies - little black and silver F**K Me I'm Famous make-up bags, and I'm not gonna lie, that instantly made my night. By 1.30 AM the club was almost filled to capacity so finding space to walk was virtually impossible, but no one minded too much because every raver there was on top form and Danny Wade and Glowinthedark had ramped up the energy to get us all ready for Guetta's appearance.
With every room in the club open, I took some time to explore, on my way admiring the dancers on podiums all throughout the club. They were dressed in black laced bodysuits and suspenders with huge black sombrero style hats - achingly cool and stunningly beautiful, they were mesmerising to watch. Staring ceased, I was lucky enough to find a small space near the DJ booth where I was just about able dance with one hand up, but no more.
Pacha resident, Danny Wade, was the first act. He eased us in nicely with crowd-pleasing songs like ‘Children' by Keanu Silva, ‘Heads Will Roll' by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and ‘Rock The Party (Original Mix)' by Jauz x Ephwurd. The next to stake their mark before Guetta's arrival was Glowinthedark, a double act who had the crowd involved right from the very first beat. They played a number of mix-ups including their own track, ‘Say Whoo!' and ‘This Is What You Came For (Pink Panda Remix)' by Calvin Harris. They spoke to the crowd at the start and end of every song, really doing an impressive job of getting everyone to chant and sing - after this performance, I would love to go see them again.
At just gone 3 AM, the party-goers' countdown was finally over and the legend that is David Guetta took to the decks. He played a lot of his own top tunes, much to the delight of ravers, blasting out ‘Bad', his own collaboration with Showtek, ‘Ain't A Party (Extended)' and ‘She Wolf (Falling To Pieces; Extended)'. The crowd went wild, merrymakers sang and jumped and danced, and by 5 AM, I had to call it a night. My first David Guetta and Pacha experience was an unrivalled success and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the F**K Me I'm Famous nights have in store - something tells me I might be seeing more of this famous Frenchman in future.
WORDS | Caoimhe Harkin
