ACTUALLY IT SHOULD JUST BE "BOY NOIZE"

I never thought I'd be happy to see an email with the subject line "Fuck Booka Shade," but that was the case last week. I got a heads up from my friend Jon, and instead of going to see Booka Shade at Studio B last week, we hit up Cheeky Bastard at Hiro Ballroom for an Institubes party. Performing were Boys Noize, Para One, Curses! (a.k.a. Drop The Lime), the late-announced Freeform Five, and some others. I figured our odds for fun were a lot higher with that many performers - plus a trip out to Brooklyn wasn't the ideal concept for a night out, considering the weather in Manhattan.

Overall the night was fun, but a bit disappointing. I'm used to going out in Minneapolis, where everything (except for Too Much Love of course) closes at 2 a.m. Knowing bar close was at 4 in New York, I figured headliner Boys Noize wouldn't go on until pretty late. However, when we arrived a little after midnight, after a few minutes I realized Boys Noize had started at 12. The bummer was that we missed Freeform Five, whom I was curious and excited to see since I like his remixes and some of his original work, and we missed Curses! who I was unsure of but at least wanted to see for a bit.

That said, we were there for Boys Noize, Para One, and Lauren Flax. Boys Noize has always been a bit secretive about his identity. I can see why. He was the ultimate incarnation of what I imagine the German techno nerd to be: tall and thin, unibrow, and wearing a t-shirt that moved to the beat of the music. He played a great set full of his own work and remixes, everything tweaked and smashed together in pretty incredible ways. It was as close to a live set that a DJ set could be, I think. I just wish he had hit more of a groove. It seemed that every minute or two he was dropping out the bass and building it back up, so often that it was hard to really get into what he was playing. Still, an impressive set.

I dig the less-extreme of Para One's work, so I was looking forward to seeing his live show. He went on at 2, and it ended up being the electro equivalent of a death-metal show. It was just too intense to really enjoy. We probably needed different drugs or something, I don't know how people could really get into it.

The surprise of the night was Lauren Flax spinning a great set at 3 to close out the night. I hadn't heard of her before this event since she's mostly an NYC fixture, but even if the crowd had thinned out by then she definitely knew what she was doing. To me, it almost sounded like one long SebastiAn remix, in a good way.

Kind of a bummer: she was robbed and had her laptop stolen the next night. Ok, not kind of a bummer, a really big bummer. I think I'm going to send her at least a buck or two on paypal - that just really sucks.

Overall I don't regret going to the show. Boys Noize is another act I can cross off from the list of artists I wanted to see at this year's Coachella, and I was a little bummed about missing Para One in Chicago this Thursday until this came up. But I do wonder how Booka Shade was, since I hear they can be marvelous live, and I wonder if I'll ever have a chance to see them again. Hopefully.

Oh, and does anyone know what the deal is with Daft Punk and Lollapalooza? Are they just waiting to announce that or is not happening? Because if not I need to figure out which show I'm going to instead.