Breaking Beekman: Pacha NYC’s big night with Eric Prydz doesn’t go according to planDSC 0603 E1343797113576

Breaking Beekman: Pacha NYC’s big night with Eric Prydz doesn’t go according to plan

Though it took until the week of to sell out, expectations ran alarmingly high for Eric Prydz’ return to New York City. On the day of the show, nearly every dance music enthusiast without tickets was clamoring for a last minute chance to see the one and only Pryda.

While there was no shortage of hype for the show, there was a shortage of space at the venue, Beekman Beach Club, which filled up quickly and felt at or near-capacity by midnight. If you did your homework, this wouldn’t have been a surprise; Beekman has had its fair share of misfortunes this summer. Unfortunately for excited Pryda fans in New York City, the night did not exactly go according to plan.

Earlier in the year, Pacha had plans to throw a series of summertime events at a new space called the Brooklyn Terminal Project. When plans fell through, a quick scramble landed them at Beekman Beach Club. The venue is situated right along the East River in Lower Manhattan with spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge. Though it has hosted a handful of dance events, since Knife Party turned the South Street Seaport into Rage Valley the site has seen its fair share of issues. Police have shut down three parties there at or around 1AM, citing “noise complaints” from residents nearby.

Breaking Beekman: Pacha NYC’s big night with Eric Prydz doesn’t go according to planDSC 0696 E1343797319210

In late June Pacha NYC announced Eric Prydz would play there on July 28th. While you’ve inevitably read Tweets and Facebook statuses slamming organizers and the event, Pacha did take many precautions to ensure it would run smoothly. A new speaker system was installed to keep the sound more centralized. The side of the tent was enclosed to keep noise from traveling. Air conditioning trucks were brought in to help keep the heat manageable. Unfortunately closing the tent also meant even less space for people — a serious problem for an already crowded event.

Despite these actions and noise levels being not too loud, police showed up like clockwork, cutting the music completely by 1AM. It was brought back for a few minutes at a lower level before Prydz declared he had had enough and the party came to a brief standstill. Pacha quickly decided to put Plan B into action: The show was moved to the midtown location and all tickets would be honored there as well.

Breaking Beekman: Pacha NYC’s big night with Eric Prydz doesn’t go according to planDSC 0543 E1343797191539

It sounds great in theory — save for the small fact that Madeon was already playing to a packed club. It quickly became apparent that the incoming crowd would be sent to the secluded upper floors of Pacha, unable to get their money’s worth and see a DJ set from a guy who doesn’t come to America that often. We can assume that Madeon was already booked by the time Prydz’ management saw it fit to do an afterparty for Identity Festival, but those two together would’ve been a very interesting combination indeed. We aren’t sure why Pacha put Prydz at Beekman in the first place, but it’s clear that the venue simply does not work for these kinds of events.

Despite excitement and anticipation for Eric’s set, it simply was not what we had hoped for. Prydz was just getting into a groove at Beekman when the plug was pulled, and perhaps he felt like he was letting fans down by having to start over. It was his second set of the day, and we hear he was great at ID. The unexpected venue change at 1AM certainly could have thrown a wrench in his vibe.

Breaking Beekman: Pacha NYC’s big night with Eric Prydz doesn’t go according to planDSC 0702 E1343797402677

Pacha took a lot of risks with this event, but they are now taking the necessary steps to make things right with upset fans and owning up to the unfortunate circumstances. Clubtickets has been authorized to grand flat out refunds no questions asked, and Pacha is offering two tickets for upcoming Pacha events if you email them to complain. We’ve also noticed more proactive outreach from the club to vocal fans on social networks in an effort to offer more hands-on assistance. It cannot be denied that things went wrong with this show, but Pacha deserves to be commended for trying to satisfy fans instead of leaving them out in the cold.

By now it should be obvious that we didn’t exactly get what we were hoping for with Eric Prydz’ first real New York City show in far too long, but we are hopeful that he will return again soon. It cannot be denied that he has unfinished business to attend to — maybe next time he will take a more EP/IC route instead.

Photos: Gabi Musayev

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