Danny Howells Returns For Another Marathon Set

    @ Vinyl, New York
    Saturday, October 13, 2001
    Rating: 8
    Oops! he did it again...

Oops! he did it again. Danny Howells was back for another marathon set. By definition a marathon (n. 'mar-&-"thän) is an endurance contest, something as an event, activity, or session characterized by great length or concentrated effort. This was performed by DJ and clubbers alike. It was a contest in which everybody was a winner even if you didn¹t make it until the very end because every moment was its own reward.

It¹s a rare opportunity to experience any one DJ for ten hours, let alone one as energized and talented as Mr. Danny Howells. The space to create, engage and enliven an evening with a record box and one¹s programming and mixing skills must be a dream for any DJ. At least, any DJ that could handle the arduous task of spinning for ten hours and sustaining the energy levels of the crowd throughout the night. Nowadays, parties can be characterized as before and after Sept. 11th as the mood and hearts of New Yorkers are still tinged with grief and anxiety. The DJ's task to ignite the crowd is not as easy as it had once been and since Danny hasn't played New York post September 11th, we were eager to see if he could still strike sparks with vinyl and steel.

For ten hours, we dreamed. We dreamed of a city void of anthrax warnings and free of bomb scares, without security checkpoints and clear of uniformed national guardsmen roaming the streets, all of which reminds us everyday of our forever changed world. The U.S. is on high alert, but we forgot all this for the night. Just ten blocks from Ground Zero, we gathered with friends past, present and future to cope in our own way. I was recently told that "as pressure rises, the spirit soars" and surely, this was a night for high spirits.

Danny may have sensed the mood in New York and he channeled that into an uncharacteristic set. He is a DJ that defies genres because of his deft ability to mix blends of tech-house-tribal-breaks, but tonight¹s set was minimal on the tech-side and maximized on the trance-side. His set was unusually streaked by bits of progressive trance rarely heard in his NYC sets. It worked wonders for me as I found myself dancing to his very last beat with renewed energy. A new remix of Depeche Mode¹s "Freelove" (Powder Productions/Deep Dish) with the distinct sound of David Gahan¹s moody vocals marked a memorable moment on the dancefloor. When Danny dropped Prince¹s "When Doves Cry" you could hear the crowd in unison belting along this classic tune, "This is what it sounds like - When doves crys". Another classic that captured the rapt attention of the party people was Aztec Mystic¹s (AKA DJ Rolando) ³Night of the Jaguar² with its uplifting strings and synths, a classic that never seems to go out of style.

With the precision of a master, Danny encored and finished his set exactly at 9:00am. It didn¹t seem like the crowd had their fill; they begged and cheered for one more. As the club was closing and security was moved in, Danny gave a shrug of the shoulders as he stood helpless unable to fulfill the demand. All good things must come to an end, but lasting impressions of a long night and intense dancing mark another memorable moment. We are the Danny Howells faithful and we eagerly await his return.


Related Links

Danny Howells
Made Records
Spaced.UK