Reviewed: Dirtybird Players New York

Ain’t no party like a Dirtybird party and ain’t no fam like the Dirtybird flock. The Dirtybird record label needs no introduction. Since its inception, Dirtybird head-honcho Claude vonStroke has A&R-ed some of the most influential house music producers in the world including Justin Martin, Catz ‘n Dogz, Julio Bashmore, Riva Starr, Breach, Shiba San, Eats Everything, J Phlip, Style of Eye, Kill Frenzy, plus many more. This past weekend, VonStroke debuted the iconic Dirtybird Players event in New York and it was all around feel-good fun.

The music, the energy, the visuals, and the loyal Dirtybird clan made for a proper Brooklyn dance party this past Friday. Though we didn’t catch opening act Fisher, a few dirtybirdies confirmed that the Aussie brought heat to the opening ceremony for Friday’s festivities at Depot 52. Early party-goers were greeted with a high-energy set which included Fisher’s signature track ‘Ya Kidding,’ setting the tone for a bumpin’ night ahead.

We rolled in shortly after midnight to catch Walker & Royce graciously make their way through some fan-favourites off the duo’s latest album, ‘Self Help.’ Quirky party tracks like ‘Love & Marriage’, ‘Role Models,’ and ‘Take Me to Your Leader’ flourished alongside Prok & Fitch’s ‘La La Land’ remix as party-people decked in head-to-toe Dirtybird gear flooded the industrial space.

Insert bass heavy mayhem as Shiba San hit the decks around 1 am. Expressing his recently retired hip-hop roots, the French producer came correct with a solid blend of bass-heavy house and strategically placed hip-hop samples. Sited impressions of Snoop Dogg’s ‘Nothin but a G Thang‘ flowed supremely alongside flashy visuals of female booty-shakers. This was a first live Shiba San experience and his precision in blending funky, booty-shaking house music with key hip-hop elements certainly impressed. Without question, the crowd lost their marbles as the Green Velvet collabo, ‘Fearless’ poured through the speakers. The kids came for bouncy, bass-heavy tech-house and Shiba San delivered. His raw style played perfectly with Claude vonStroke’s “no holds barred” approach to Friday night’s tag-team action. The two threw down a tasty feast of tech-to-progressive progressive good. Ticking hi-hats, flared synth tones, and vocal snippets dressed this back-to-back showdown for a proper New York dance party.

For the first time in a long time in a long-time felt, the crowd found their placemats on the dancefloor and simply: danced. The incessant movement of sloppy drunkards on a journey to nowhere was minimal and the good vibrations were fleeting from one group of friends to another. The Dirtybird posse came to hear fresh, funky, booty-shaking music and that is what Shiba San and vonStroke delivered. Every-single-body was dancing and having a good time, except for the meditation circle situated near a fresh drink puddle on the floor, but we’re convinced they were vibing too. It takes a special breed of beats to keep a Brooklyn warehouse crowd dancing at attention for four+ hours straight, but this back-to-back powerhouse did it with ease. Elements of tech-house, progressive, and ranchy bass-music played well with tripped out B-Boy motion graphics to bring some sauciness back to NYC.

Though a tough act to follow, Tiga hit the decks with deep techno fury. We bumped around to some new Bassnectar treats and Tiga’s ‘Mind Dimension 2’ before calling it a night. Heartbreakingly, did not make it through for J.Phlip, but we know our girl is a rockstar and tore the place to pieces come early morning. If we could put one suggestion in the suggestion box it would be to add more speaker boxes if you’re going to go to ancient-looking speaker box route. The sound was not reverberating to the best of its ability for such a large space and the birdies in the back deserved a bit more bump. Otherwise, a sound party delivered by Teksupport and the Dirtybird crew!