I’ve been DJing for a very long time, but had never played a gig outside of Southern California until last weekend. I headed out to Phoenix with Klub Nocturno last weekend to play their Rockero Night at Crescent Ballroom. It was so much fun and I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to play for such a wonderful crowd and meet some of the people who came out to the party on Saturday night. Thanks so much to Klub Nocturno and to everyone in Phoenix for making the experience so awesome.
There is definitely a challenge that come with playing in a different city, but it’s a fun one. I’ve been going to L.A. clubs since I was 18 and DJing at them almost as long, so I have a really good understanding of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to my hometown. But, playing a city that I’ve only visited once previously, and where I’ve never been to a dance club, means that I’m trying to figure all that out as I’m playing. So, I was paying attention to all these small cues in the crowd, like what band t-shirts people were wearing (Depeche Mode, The Faint), while I was scrolling through my collection. Anyhow, here’s what I played.
Martin Gore “Compulsion”
Love and Rockets “So Alive”
Holy Ghost! “I Wanted to Tell Her”
Talking Heads “Girlfriend Is Better”
Book of Love “Boy”
Camouflage “The Great Commandment”
New Order “Sub-Culture”
The Horrors “Something to Remember Me By”
Golden Boy, Miss Kittin “Rippin Kittin”
Depeche Mode “World in My Eyes”
Boy Harsher “Give Me a Reason”
Front 242 “Don’t Crash”
Alexander Robotnick “Problemes D’Amour”
Pet Shop Boys “West End Girls”
ABC “The Look of Love”
Kraftwerk “Das Model”
Interpol “Obstacle 1”
The Church “Reptile”
Psychedelic Furs “Love My Way” (request)
Killing Joke “Love Like Blood”
The Human League “Seconds”
Sisters of Mercy “Lucretia”
Real Life “Send Me an Angel”
Marc Almond “Tears Run Rings”
Depeche Mode “But Not Tonight”
Adult. “Hand to Phone”
Lebanon Hanover “Sadness Is Rebellion”
Actors “Face Meets Glass”
OMD “Tesla Girls”
The Cure “Close to Me” (request)
The Smiths “Panic” (request)
Jesus and Mary Chain “Head On”
Joy Division “She’s Lost Control”
Siouxsie and the Banshees “Christine”
Duran Duran “Planet Earth”
New Order “Blue Monday”
Trans X “Living on Video”
Vitalic “La Rock 01”
Crystal Castles, Robert Smith “Not In Love”
Twin Tribes “Monolith”
Bloc Party “Banquet”
Martin Dupont “Inside Out”
The Faint “Your Retro Career Has Melted”
Mareux “Gopnik” (request)
Nine Inch Nails “Closer”
Raf “Self Control”
Visage “Fade to Grey”
Gang of Four “I Love a Man in a Uniform”
Depeche Mode “Everything Counts”
New Order “Bizarre Love Triangle”
Yaz “Situation”
Hercules & Love Affair “Blind”
Crystal Castles “Vanished”
TR/ST “Chrissy E”
Boy Harsher “Machina”
Magazine 60 “Don Quichotte”
Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams”
Q Lazzarus “Goodbye Horses”
Interpol “PDA”
The Smiths “Bigmouth Strikes Again”
The Cure “Just Like Heaven”
Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Ramones “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker”
B-52s “Rock Lobster”
Molchat Doma “sudno (Boris Ryzhy)”
Twin Tribes “Sangre de Oro”
Peaches “Fuck the Pain Away” (request)
X-Ray Spex “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Date with the Night”
Misfits “20 Eyes”
Crass “Bata Motel”
The Normal “Warm Leatherette”
Tom Tom Club “Genius of Love”
Men Without Hats “Safety Dance”
Blondie “The Tide Is High”
Soft Cell “Tainted Love”
Fisherspooner “Emerge”
The Clash “Should I Stay Or Should I Go”
Pixies “Where Is My Mind”
Erasure “Oh L’amour”
When in Rome “The Promise”
Pet Shop Boys “What Have I Done to Deserve This”
My Mine “Hypnotic Tango”
Mr. Flagio “Take a Chance”
Clio “Faces”
Next up for me is Disco Matinee: Freestyle and hi-NRG edition at Grand Star Jazz Club on Sunday, March 3, from 3-7 p.m.
For my pals in New York, Klub Nocturno is bringing Rockero Night to Brooklyn Made on March 2, so check them out.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs.
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