Working the street, part I: Lotus Lounge


Tuesday night I decided to go and try my luck for a new gig after dinner. I told Nathalie I would try Lotus and be back. I am out the door in seconds as I got all my gear in the Berlin edition of the JBoss backpack.

One place that is close to home and wanted to play at is "Lotus Lounge". It is an interesting place, very well decorated (see insert). Most of the art there is done by a local artist and welder. Her name is Corinna Mensoff, she does great work and we have some of her art at home. The formula of Lotus is simple: charge "membership" for fabricated exclusivity.

Having grown up in the acid-house era with it ultra-democratic partying ethos, the idea of fabricated exclusivity is kinda of foreign to me. I just don't get it. I haven't blogged about our experience with "Mansion" in Miami on New Year's eve, and how much it sucked?. Did you know I partied two tables down from Lindsay Lohan and Kevin Federline? Me neither! I discovered that in the papers the next day.

Anyway, the formula is geared towards women. Nathalie LOVES the concept. I tried explaining to her that this is no "Piedmond Driving Club", no matter. She really likes the idea and she really likes the spot.

Women just dig it. I have noticed that women when they entered the place tend to slow down. Like this posh food store called "eatzis" (defunct) that used to suck but they played classical music, which caused weeemen to slow down and act all flustered for some reason I never understood.

Lotus has gone pear shaped as well it seems. It is a shame and a waste. As I said the place is wonderfully decorated, and could really be something. It has a great dance floor and follows the spanish formula of "Bar + restaurant+ club" which is very succesful in Spain because 1/ people show up to have dinner 2/ they show up to drink 3/they show up to dance 4/ they are not snooty about it. The snootiness feels very fake, just doesn't work and falls flat.

So I figured that being so close to home, it would be a great place for me to spin and all. I decide to drop un-invited and try my luck. When I get there there is all of 2 people. I ask the bartender if the manager is in and he points to this young lady in a corner.

So I go to her and explain my situation. That basically I am looking for a gig, and that since there is no one in the booth I would like to DJ. I got all my stuff with me, in my backpack and I am all ready to go. She looks at me for a second and says "we don't want to pay".

I had figured that much since they seem to be down to the bare necessities, a valet, a bartender and herself. I say that is not a problem. I say that I play house, techno, trance and 80's. I don't know why I say "Trance", I never really liked Trance. That doesn't seem to bother her. She interrupts me and says "no house, no trance, no techno"... which is funny because the 2 times I have been there it was full-on wallpaper house, I say nothing.

She says "we only play top 40's here" like others would say "talk to the hand". I am in trouble, I am about as far from top 40 as humanly possible. I smile and say "i'll try". She says "ok", so I hook up in seconds. The sound start coming out and she said "how did you do that?"

I am on, at least I think I am. I do a killer mix of "New Order" with the famous line "I see a ship in the harbor, I can and shall obey" with some record I can't even remember. I drop "from there came a music" which is a recent french track that is more vocals than beat very ethereal techno. I really like that track, I like their style. That melodic techno was always my thing.

It's a track about chicago where this french chick talks in both french and english. It is very hip, very "sexy". Argh, no one is there to appreciate the moment. The couple had finished their drinks and left. The bartender looks very bored, he is not even listening.

It is a eery feeling when a large place is COMPLETELY empty. They have this disco ball hanging from the ceiling, it is moving. The disco ball illuminates the place with these lights sweeping the floor. Disco balls leave me cold, this one freaks me out. Disco balls lighting on a empty dance floor downright suck. It is ... surrealist...

It was to be expected, the place closes early (10PM) and the bartender comes to tell me that they are packing. Too bad, I pack. I really enjoy spinning.

I go up the stairs to see the manager up in her little office on the second floor and asks her what gives. She tells me that my sound is not for Lotus, she reminds me that they play STRICTLY top 40. She explains to me that "what people want to dance to is top 40, beyonce, that kind of stuff".

I had this flashback to the early days of JBoss and my days at SUN, when middle-aged, clue-less, mid-managers would explain to me what CIO's really wanted: "they want solutions, not products". Replace solutions by top 40, products by music and CIO by your average club poser from ATL and the sentence reads: the average club poser from ATL doesn't want music they want top 40.

Well, having this lady lecture me when I had just played in front of an empty room had this disconnected quality to it, I felt a sense of detachment at that point. A "deja-vu" that amuses just me.

I want to grab the girl by her collar and yell at her: "LADY YOUR F**KING ROOM IS EMPTY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT PEOPLE WANT? ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO LECTURE ME ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WANT? YOUR F**KING ROOM IS F**KING EMPTY!!!! WTF".

Instead, I focus on my zen point and like the kid in that karate kid movie, I remembered the wise words of my trainer, formerly known as DJ Reggie Reg. "Do you know how, young DJ, how a good club dies?", "No" I say as the fuzzy picture of the master comes back to me in suspended time. I am actually working a leg extension in the gym when Reggie Reg is telling me this. I remember it as if it was yesterday.

"Well, it is when they have this formula, the formula works for a little while, they stick to it, and then one night bam! nobody shows up, you see? nobody shows up for 2 or 3 nights! panic sets in, they have bills to pay! what do they do? they throw their formula out the window, and they let ANYONE in the door"

"They go top 40, and before you know it they have a 103.9 night" I ask what a 103.9 night is, he explains it is when they do ads on cheeze FM radios or with cheeze promoters to get people in. He explains that this happened to one club after another in Buckhead and this is why now Buckhead is the land of the living dead clubs".

Thank you Reggie Reg. You taught me wisely. My karma is unflustered and instead of setting the girl straight there and then all I said was "well, are you sure? I mean you have a dance problem here". She seemed geniunely taken aback. She pauses and looks at me. She says "look, I really like your sound, but this is not the place. I personally dance to that kind of music at Halo, you should try Halo".

She tells me that the owner will be there tonight, a guy called "mike katz". She says I should try my luck there. She gives me a little note with directions and writes "mike katz, Halo, 6th and peachtree". I have been there before.

To be continued.....

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