Steve Aoki is back at Pacha every Monday night with his party concept Aoki's Playhouse. Due to a major throat surgery he had to cancel his first two gigs, which meant that last night was the unofficial opening of the big time debaucher and electro-house mastermind Steve Aoki.
The world renowned Spanish style house-turned-club looked as decadent as ever with colourful laser lights luring us in and with a spectacular projection of Aoki's face greeting us at the entrance, we knew that the night would be all about the EDM hero. Walking into the club Ummet Ozcan was playing hard bass, dirty synth electro bangers, hyping the energy with his MC skills, getting everyone to clap a long and join him on his musical quest through old and new pop hits such as Daft Punk, Tove Lo, Ellie Goulding and many more mixed with EDM and trap beats.
As 4am hits Steve Aoki is set to come on stage. The music ominously stops and a technobot voice announces Steve Aoki's arrival, counting down from 10 and chanting Aoki's name over and over the crowd can't help but follow. The phone's come out as everyone tries to catch a glimpse and the energy rises as Aoki waits for his moment to jump up on stage, grab the mic and shout “Hello Ibiza! Welcome to Aoki's Playhouse!”.
Entering Pacha on a night like this is like seeing it on steroids, friendly mosh pits all over the dance floor, girls throwing their bodies into their dance moves as if there was no tomorrow and the rest of the crowd have their eyes closed, arms around each other and just sway in pure bliss as the sound of Aoki takes over them. Aoki's playing style is fast. Taking us on a rollercoaster ride through high's and low's, fast and slow, mixing sing-a-long songs with US favoured commercial trance and EDM hits.
During the middle of his set, the familiar technobot voice comes back and announces 3 Are Legend as Aoki disappears from the stage. A countdown ensues and as the confetti showers over the crowd Like Mike, Dimitri Vegas and Steve Aoki jump up from behind the booth and add an extra layer of energy to the mix. Their high paced mixing continues and laser lights, sexy dancers, and seductive vocals create a night for the international but predominantly American and Asian crowd to go home with something to tell their future kids about - go home covered in cream that is - the customary cake throw got pretty wild this time around.
WORDS | Maya Dupont PHOTOGRAPHY | Julian Farina + Tatiana Chausovsky
