The evening started out on a positive note as a group of us met up at Hop Haus for a little pre-DJ gig meetup. The food was decent and the drinks were good. Before too long, though, we were ready to head to Spy Bar, which truly was right around the corner. Perfect. Spy Bar is a typical club in that it is dark, long with the bar on the side highlighted by some neon lights here and there. The club isn’t very big and the DJ booth was at one end, up high to look over the crowd. The dance floor had a decent amount of space. At the height of the night, it was crowded but not overly so. In fact, I would guess that it didn’t sell out. The DJ booth was roped off and security guards controlled who went in and out of that area along with the side entrance, which is where Roger came and went from. The security guards weren’t super friendly and stopped a number of fans who definitely inched their way to the front to get a good view of Roger when he arrived and/or to take the perfect picture when he went by.
By the time we arrived, there was a small crowd and the music was pumping. Of course, Roger didn’t come on until like 12:30 or so and mixed the tunes until about 3:30. The DJs before him did a good job, we thought, and got the crowd moving. They definitely paid attention to the crowd and would try to get people involved. Yet, by midnight, people were definitely anxious for Roger to appear! When he finally did show up, he only stood briefly on the side before venturing up to the booth. It was clear that there were some people he knew in the crowd but didn’t say much to them, either.
Roger’s DJ set was very different than when Rhonda and I saw him DJ in Atlantic City in 2008. In 2008, he played a lot of mash-ups by combining two or more songs recognizable songs. There was very little of that this time. Instead, there were more straight up remixes or just house/club music. He did mix in more Duran than he did last time. In 2008, we heard Notorious mixed with Justin Timberlake’s Sexy Back. This time, we heard remixes of All You Need Is Now, Girls on Film, Hungry like the Wolf and Wild Boys. For the record, Rhonda’s reaction to HLTW was as expected. I’m not going to lie. I heard some swearing, some “colorful” gestures thrown towards that DJ booth. My reaction was so predictable, which was to laugh my head off at my partner-in-crime. It is so easy to get her goat this way!! Out of the Duran stuff, I definitely enjoyed Wild Boys the most and it was just like it is during their shows–at the end. I’m sure it is to leave people wanting more and all that. During Roger’s set, we danced and moved around some. It seemed like other people did the same. I won’t lie in saying that I, generally, like his set better in 2008. I am not a huge fan of some of those house/club songs he was spinning. I also didn’t really like how the booth was SO inaccessible to the crowd. I get that the DJ booth should be in a location to see the crowd but this one was so removed with both the height and the security presence. I thought the security was a little over-the-top, in fact. No one could get anywhere near Roger, but, maybe that is how Roger wanted it?
Roger definitely didn’t do a lot of interacting, in any way, shape or form. He didn’t look out into the crowd much and seemed to have the set pretty well nailed down before he arrived. Thus, I don’t know if he would have/did change what he was playing depending on how the crowd reacted and there were clear times when the crowd was more enthusiastic than others. I was also a little surprised by the lack of birthday anything. At one point, a cake shaped in high heels arrived with sparklers. It was brought up to the booth. Roger saw it and then it was removed. Perhaps, it was going to be enjoyed afterwards. Yet, there was no singing of Happy Birthday. Later, confetti fell to the floor. Again, there was no connection to the birthday celebration. Heck, no one said anything, not even Roger. If I had just shown up to Spy Bar that night, I wouldn’t have even known that anything special was going on. I was a little disappointed that the crowd didn’t, couldn’t wish Roger a happy birthday.
Speaking of disappointment, at the end of the night, with much encouragement from my friends, I approached a big, tall security guard and asked him if he wouldn’t mind handing Roger a Daily Duranie wristband. The security guard passed it on to the other DJ who then handed it to Roger. He, in turn, glanced at it and put it to the side. Did he pick it up later? We don’t know. What we do know is that John Taylor, when he was presented with a wristband, looked at and, in fact, put it on. Now, we are well aware that it might not have been the best setting. We are also aware that he might have reacted differently if he knew that it came from a fan. Nonetheless, it is disappointing.
So, all in all, despite whatever minor disappointments we had, it was a fun night! We danced and laughed a LOT. It was great to see friends and enjoy a good time together! Of course, our weekend has just begun with more clubbing tonight and a Duranie get together tomorrow night!
-A
Thanks for posting that awesome review! Very honest…not all Duran-related events are entirely satifying, but that's just what (at least for me) makes me come back for the next one. It's all about striving for the *perfect* Duran evening.