Afrojack 1.7.11 @Pacha NYC: Review
Last weekend, NYC once again played host to some of the foremost names in dance music. Normally we are content, even appreciative, with one big name per week – but something much greater was in the cards…a weekend of back-to-back Afrojack and Laidback Luke.
Roxy Cottontail warmed things up at a bustling Pacha NYC, holding the fort until a delayed Afrojack got on at 2. From then on, though, the roof of the club might as well have blown clean off, with the amount of sheer excitement and movement (for some, shoving) visible from the DJ booth. Afrojack kicked things off early on in the set with “Warp 7.7,” “Funk with Me,” and “Polkadots.” It was clear that Afrojack was all business. He delved straight into the distinctive drops that have made a name for himself as a pioneering producer.
Afrojack – Funk with Me (Original Mix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Afrojack – Polkadots (Original Mix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Next came Afrojack’s remix of “Riverside,” an irresistible re-working of the original, and his edit of “Like a G6.” A clever mixer, he paired the buildup of some songs with the drops of others. Nowhere was this more apparent in the beginning of the set when his remix of Larry Tee’s “Let’s Make Nasty” (for those who were there but didn’t recognize it, this was the “bounce little kitty” song) erupted into a vicious “Bangduck”, setting a roaring crowd on fire.
Sidney Samson – Riverside (Afrojack Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Larry Tee feat. Roxy Cottontail – Let’s Make Nasty (Afrojack Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Afrojack – Bangduck
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
As if this wasn’t enough, Barbra Streisand made an appearance. And no, not the saggy one. After about an hour of pure serotonin spikers, we heard some tasteful techno numbers that marked the set’s second half, and this is when Afrojack kicked things into overdrive.
Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand (Afrojack Meaty Mix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Only good things can happen when DJs play Daft Punk. In Afrojack’s case, he wasn’t merely content to play their songs back, but he successfully mashed up both Aerodynamic and some of his own originals. This YouTube video is a great example. Before the crowd knew it, they were singing along to an a cappella of David Guetta’s “When Love Takes Over.” We wouldn’t be surprised if Afrojack were singing along too, with his beaming smile.
Swedish House Mafia’s “Leave the World Behind” transitioned into another David Guetta track, “Memories.” A vocal loop of “All the crazy shit I did” kept building and building until finally finding itself in an “Amanda” mashup. “Replica” topped things off in an amazing way.
Afrojack – Replica
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The weird thing about Afrojack: it’s likely that his skill as a producer will always outshine his finesse as a DJ. But, as hard a task as it was, with his playing so many unreleased tracks (the amount of which will keep us from resting on our laurels for the considerable future), we seemed to succeed in simultaneously accepting Afrojack as both prominent producer and dexterous DJ. Some more tracks:
Black Eyed Peas – The Time (Dirty Bit) [Afrojack Remix]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
David Guetta & Afrojack feat. Niles Mason – Louder Than Words (Original Mix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The end of the set was marked not by one, or even two, but three encores. In the first: Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” (Afrojack Remix), whose a cappella was stopped right before the drop, resulting in incredible tension. In the second: a reprise of “Louder than Words” mashed up with “Let’s Make Nasty.”
Imogean Heap – Hide and Seek (Afrojack Remix)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
And in the third, something that can perhaps never be replicated: an on-the fly Afrojack vocal sample of him saying “I Love New York” backed up by “Bangduck” and “Take Over Control.” Check out the YouTube video of this here.
Of note was the premier of his remix of Tinie Tempah’s “Pass Out” – video here. Also notable was the fitting “Pacha on Acid”, video here – and my nomination for craziest drop that night – Wolfgang Gartner’s “Space Junk” – video here.
For some, this set came as a second helping of what they saw at Electric Zoo back in September of last year. Others were just glad they didn’t have to endure SHM’s “One” again. Either way, Afrojack’s set clocks in as one of the best in a long time, rivaling for this reviewer Avicii’s Pacha debut in October. As he himself put it: “This isn’t dirty Dutch music. This is Afrojack music.” We won’t complain: let the Afrojack music play on.
