Stock up on antiperspirant. In a city known for dancing at funerals, things can get a little hot and sweaty when the dance floor isn’t in front of a coffin.
But we’re not talking about your grandmother’s second line. Follow our lead and try to keep up.
Jock Se Bloque
Saturn Bar, 3067 St. Claude Ave.
Monthly, Saturdays at 10 p.m.; February 23, March 22
Saturn Bar is home to a certain dance floor where a hot and sweaty dance party may be more literal – as in Next’s “Too Close,” where something else fills up that room normally reserved for the Holy Spirit.
“Who doesn’t like dancing to a song talking about dancing with an erection?” DJ Musa Alves asked.
But don’t get your flannel-wrapped waist caught in a bunch. Alves plays some serious ’90s jams and piles on the cheese at the Jock Se Bloque dance night, where the only admission requirement is “no pretentiousness.”
Though a ’90s-themed dance night may have a “so bad it’s good” appeal, Alves aims to eliminate what she calls the “level of snobbery” from the dance crowd.
“Some of the music from the ’90s was pretty terrible,” she said. “People say ‘you shouldn’t play music just to be ironic,’ but I really like it.”
Alves got the idea for the ’90s theme after bringing playlists of her favorites to 6 a.m. shifts. Those playlists now work their way into her set, including songs like RuPaul’s “Supermodel” and Marky Mark’s “Good Vibrations” through what Alves calls “laptopping.”
“If you can dance to this, it shows you can have a good time,” she said.
ActionActionReaction
Circle Bar, 1032 St. Charles Ave.
Monthly, Fridays at 10 p.m.
Stuffed into the Circle Bar, the infamous dive on the edge of Lee Circle, DJ Travis Shuler keeps shoulder-to-shoulder crowds moving into the early hours.
“Everything goes up to 2,000 percent,” Shuler said.
Shuler, who also plays guitar for New Orleans rock band The Public, said he has been “pretty hardcore” setting up the event.
After seeing his friends DJ in New York City, Shuler wanted to give New Orleans its own night for new music.
“I didn’t want to infringe on the popularity of other dance nights,” Shuler said. “But nobody was doing new music.”
Though off to a rocky start in the summer of 2007, ActionActionReaction is now a first Friday of the month staple and the official dance party for Defend New Orleans.
Shuler sticks with newer indie rock but plays everything from The Replacements and Gang of Four to Hot Chip and The Faint. Shuler also includes his favorite mashups with Joy Division and Missy Elliot, and Bloc Party and Iggy Pop.
“I’m not completely confined to one particular thing,” Shuler said. “I’ll play the newest, best stuff I can get my hands on and stuff you won’t hear anywhere else.”
ActionActionReaction also hosts guest DJs from local bands, including Silent Cinema and The City Life.
“It definitely has its own character and aural identity,” Shuler said.
Rewind
The Hangar, 1511 S. Rendon Ave.
Opens Friday, Feb. 22
Al Friede said if you plan to copy his routine, you’re going to have to outdo him.
One of the original ’80s Night DJs, Friede plans to reclaim the crown to impress crowds with his signature Rewind night at The Hangar.
Once Friede brought his proposal to The Hangar, an impressed management called the next day and were “blown away,” according to Friede.
“People don’t know The Hangar used to be the place to be,” he said. “We plan to bring back the old into the new – make it the Friday night place to be again.”
Friede’s extensive collection of more than 800 ’80s vinyl records means crowds won’t hear the same thing every night, and that he won’t perform as a human jukebox with a click of a mouse.
Friede also spent two months putting together DVDs with more than 100 videos for “tons of eye candy.”
Crowds can also play original Atari video games inside, and Loyola’s own Crescent City Radio will broadcast a live show from The Hangar from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
But for Friede, the final package is all about getting the party to the people.
“I’ve never looked at anyone as competition,” he said. “I do everything to the Nth degree. Once people are exposed, they’ll see there’s one more extra thing to do – that there’s something else going on.”
Mod Night
Saturn Bar, 3067 St. Claude Ave.
Monthly, Saturdays at 10 p.m.
Mod Night is vinyl heaven. The hisses, scratches and pops blaring through the speakers are simple reminders that the record-player romance lives on -inside the swampy, toe-to-toe Saturn Bar.
Founded more than seven years ago at the Circle Bar, Mod Night is now a refuge for scooter enthusiasts, skinny ties and horn-rimmed glasses. DJ Kristen Zoller’s love for the music translates to lugging crates of 45s and LPs and sharing her collection with the crowd.
“It’s like being in someone’s living room,” she said. “We want everyone to have fun.”
Growing up with the music of her father, a radio DJ in the ’60s, Zoller carries the tradition of mod music – spinning early soul, R&B, and rock and roll records – without an iPod clickwheel in sight.
Zoller became a regular DJ at Mod Night’s former home at the Circle Bar.
“The Circle Bar was more intimate,” she said. “It became like a second home.”
With a bit more room at the Saturn Bar – just enough to keep a full, wall-to-wall house to accompany the wall of sound – Zoller plays the hits and hopes to introduce people into the era with more obscure favorites like “Truth Shall Set You Free” by R&B legend Mighty Hannibal.
“Now it’s a regular tune,” she said. “I see people singing along when five years ago nobody had heard of it.
“It’s really important these nights are here,” she said. “We’re not trying to compete. We all do something different.”
’80s Night
One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St.
Thursday nights, 10 p.m.
A packed floor is too busy dancing to notice Phoebe Cates’ poolside scene from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” on an oversized projector.
But a crew of scantily clad dancers assembled on either side of the stage gets plenty of attention.
This is just another Thursday for ’80s Night.
DJ Todd Taylor provides the soundtrack for the downtown Thursday night exclusive to One Eyed Jacks.
“I’ve always been interested in DJing,” Taylor said. “I started collecting records before I had turn tables.”
Taylor started his collection sifting through thrift store bins and started spinning soon after.
“Some people don’t respect the art of DJing,” Taylor said. “They might know about some music and this and that, but they don’t understand the technique and aesthetic of DJing.”
With an impressive setup in an upstairs booth, Taylor’s sets are pure vinyl, using CDs for those extra-rare – and expensive – tracks.
“People get pretty excited when they come up there and it’s not a bunch of ’80s mix CDs,” he said.
“I use about 90 percent vinyl. That’s my roots”
Crowds can expect favorites like The Human League and New Order, but Taylor keeps his setlists “on-the-fly.”
“It feels like it’s my night,” Taylor said. “It definitely feels at home. I’m not afraid to experiment. I make sure everyone has the best time ever.”
Alex Woodward can be reached at [email protected].
(Rosamar Torres)
(Rosamar Torres)
(Rosamar Torres)
(Rosamar Torres)
(Rosamar Torres)
