There’s a first time for everything, and Michael Woods’s debut show at Pacha NYC was an event we refused to miss. The anticipation of his return to Manhattan began the second after his mind-blowing set at Electric Zoo ended, just a couple of months ago. Daylight Savings Time was in full effect, leaving more time for Woods to showcase his grandiose skills on the turntables. As usual, Pacha was filled to capacity with heated electronic music lovers desperately waiting for monstrous beats to begin banging through the massive speakers.

Opener Matt Goldman warmed up the crowd with Deniz Koyu’s “Hydra,” followed by another progressive classic by Mark Knight & Wolfgang Gartner, “Conscindo.” As soon as Michael Woods stepped forward into the spotlight, the roar of the crowd noticeably leveled up, and the night got underway. Read more for some tracks you have to know.

Woods swiftly got on the mic and shouted out to the crowd “New York City how are you feeling right now?!” Powerful shouts of excitement were followed by Woods’s edit of “How R U Feeling Right Now.” The build up of addictive drum combinations and looped vocals of “how?” dropped into pure waves of energy, with smoke blasting and engulfing the overly-heated crowd. Michael Woods had now taken off and there was no stopping his beastly mixing and personal connection with the crowd.

1. NO_ID – How R U Feeling Right Now (Michael Woods Re-Edit)

The key inside a DJs head usually lays in his/her track list. As soon as Hardwell’s distinguished build up of synths began seeping through Michael Woods’s mix we witnessed the love and respect Woods has for Hardwell’s massive track. However, Woods wasn’t the only one who went ballistic to “Cobra,”- it’s not named the Official Energy Anthem 2012 for nothing. The heavy bass lines literally shook Pacha and every soul on its dance floor. “Cobra” will undoubtably continue to grow into a monstrous club, festival, and big room destroyer.

2. Hardwell – Cobra (Official Energy Anthem 2012)

After playing a stream of unreleased tracks with unimaginable beats, which the crowd was incredibly appreciative of, Woods pulled his top-gun out – “Bullet“. For those of you who have never heard “Bullet” live, either get yourself to a Michael Woods show asap, or lock yourself in a room with a ridiculously loud sound system. The song is so uplifting and power driven that once the bass kick dropped thousands of hands went in the air and fans were jumping so hard in the hopes of making eye contact with Woods. The massacre of mind-blowing mixes continued, and the hour had just been pushed back from 2 AM – 1 AM, leaving the crowd ecstatic with how much more time they had with the progressive genius.

3. Michael Woods – Bullet (Original Mix)

Just when it seemed like Woods had played everything possible with a quarter of his set left, he gave the crowd the cherry on top. Although “First Aid” is a legendary track on its own, Wood’s played the mash-up, which included the heavenly vocals from Kaskade & Deadmau5’s “Move For Me.” The dance floor transformed into a euphoric body of ravers swaying back and forth together, until the drop aggressively revived the crowd right back into complete rage mode.

4. Kaskade & Deadmau5 vs. Michael Woods – Move For First Aid (Kaskade Mash-Up)

At around 2:45 Michael brought his set to a silence and everyone assumed it had ended. However smiling down at the crowd, Woods whipped out “No Access” reminding anyone who had stupidly forgotten how massive “No Access” really is. Incorporated in almost every iconic DJ’s set, “No Access” contains that unique and contagious sound that catches everyone at surprise from the moment the fat juicy bass lines pierce through the speakers.

5. Michael Woods – No Access (Original Mix)

Closing for Woods was the king of Miami – Cedric Gervais. We couldn’t imagine a closer that would be able to keep the party going as strong as Woods had. We were mistakingly wrong. From the moment he began his set, Gervais pumped out quality tracks. A couple that caught our attention were Afrojack & R3hab’s Prutataaa, and Deadmau5’s “Some Chords” – a top-notch track which is rarely played by other artists especially at Pacha.

Michael Woods at Pacha was yet another legendary set we were fortunate enough to experience. The energy level was tremendous and remained elevated throughout his entire set. Seeing so many fans truly appreciate underground progressive tunes accurately exemplifies how fast EDM is taking over. One thing is for sure, Michael Woods got completely screwed over for not being a part of DJ Mag’s Top 100 list, and he will continue to demonstrate how deserving he truly is with his supreme progressive productions and dextrous DJ’ing skills.

Photos: Hallie Geller

Categories: Music