“Hey Spike, how you doing tonight?” Sir, if you see me in this club, you know i’m doing fantastic.
We got a raw and direct one to tell you about. Sometimes these take a while to come out. A few weeks back, Hugel threw down a 2½ hour set for some serious partiers at downtown’s Invy Nightclub. I’ve been processing it for a while. I’m also a procrastinating son-of-a-bitch, but once I open WordPress, start putting it down, the words flow like the fine spirits that flowed that night of absolutely savagery. I’ve been so jaded, and the music, glitter, and 1942 freed my soul, as the vibe of my friends, patrons of the club, the talent, the staff, everything that was dressed to the 9’s, came together in perfect harmony. We had direct support from Gettoblaster & Uriah G on the decks. Both these house music king-pins kept things on brand for one of the most memorable night of dance tunes I’ve had at Invy.
I’m going to talk talent, but let me talk production and high roller shit for a minute. Once again, Aliens On Mushrooms gave an exclusive club experience, using large props, videos, an extensive arsenal of lasors, lighting, and sounds to deliver an absolute rush to the senses. Oh, the giant dancing robot was also rolled out. I hadn’t seen him since the Uriah’s Aliens On Mushrooms Record Release party Feburary of 2023.
To those who got the bills to drop on V.I.P. tables service, the club experience gets put over the top. Invy carrying only the highest quality, top-shelf booze, you will get an entire production when the bottle gets brought to the table.
“IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.”
Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined sitting at this place of privilege, witnessing such a spectacular scene. I was lucky enough is have a spot at the table next to the dj booth through most of Hugel’s set. I usually don’t drink, but I could not say no to the tequila shots being passed around freely on a tray reminiscent of what holds the communion wine when being passed around in church. It was pretty festive. At an absolute peak frenzy of the crowd, when Hugel was working these patrons like his bitch… A guest who had secured a spot next to me looked over, “Wow dude, I’m not used to this type of thing. This is a first.” It doesn’t get any better than this, my man., I said, without missing a beat. “At least for me.”
Let’s rewind for a second though. Within my first 5 minutes of arriving at the club, I noticed a man in a gimp mask with an old timey-camera. I can only assume that is the source for each of the 3 montage videos posted below. 1 for each DJ present. Uriah G was the first DJ to play for the night. I had Bunnie with me assisting before she had to rush off unexpectedly. However, not before she witnessed the G-Man put down some slick beats. She was able to write some things down.
DRIVING 4-ON-THE-FLOOR, little bit of tribal flare w/some classics-made-new remixes (fine night tonight) that you can sing along to (sexy back). Nice warm up bpm that raised energy with reverberating lows and solid mids. Definitely fine-tuned his set to vibe with Hugel’s international stylings, showing what a versatile DJ he is. -The Rabbit
Don’t get me wrong, G played some bangers, but I was impressed to see Uriah make an adjustment and setting a tone with his opening set. This was nice to see from a man that always goes hard. Rightfully so, I don’t hate on that. I like surprises though? Always a fan and spinner of Latin flavored house, Uriah threw down some tribal beats, that put out a sence of chill, and lower-key vibes. It showed yet another level of growth, to go along with all the skill that he has developed over the years. Uriah played the perfect cards for his audience.
“HEY PAUL, YOU’RE MY FAVORITE DJ!”
Gettoblaster produced a neon drip of funk, bass, nasty bangers, and even tunes into the themes of the evening playing some of his own tribal and Latin beats.
One nasty banger and crowd pleaser was a new rendition of “Blood Rave” mixed into “Put Those Fucking Hands Up” to which the crowd happily obliged. Paul put down several routines of precise and sharp needle scratches. Gettoblaster always knows how to get the party hype and give the people what they want. His sprinkling in of tribal was a surprise as well, playing into the story arch of the night. Paul’s selection, in the song I couldn’t get an ID on, had some of the best sounding drums I have ever heard.
“You’re the dime dropper of the neighborhood
And every time I see you, you’re up to no good”
It’s Graveyard Radio, so you know I’m going to bring up some breakbeats when I hear them. Even though Gettoblaster had dropped just a teense of it into his set, it brought that old-school warehouse moment, one that was memorable for me. Also, absolutely hilarious as I and my buddy watched a room full of young clubbers stop moving their bodies for a moment in complete confusion when those breaks hit momentarily. Get a clue kids. Once again, Gettoblaster stands and delivers on a perfect mixture of new & old-school licks that satisfies both generations of heads a-like.
“HUGEL IS BIGGER THAN JOHN SUMMIT, NOT ONLY THAT, HUGEL IS EVERYTHING JOHN SUMMIT WISHES HE COULD BE.”
The entourage, the special security, the bottles, the cinematographer in the spiked gimp mask… above all was his genuine talent as a party rocker, master producer, an ear to blend classic party stompers with flavors of latin & world music. He’s been throwing down vinyl records since age of 16. He’s racked up over 24,000,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, alone.(Twice the amount John Summit has.) He’s totaled well-over 1 billion streams across all platforms and has gained gold and platinum recording achievements. From the extensively diverse port-city of Marseille, in south France, Hugel from a young age was raised on Disco, Funk, and Soul records. Hugel’s mother instilled all these genres into him before he turned to raves and discovered records from the likes of artists, such as Carl Cox and Daft Punk.
From his performance standpoint in the booth, he permeated with a stage presence and charisma that could prove dance music is in his blood, a part of his DNA. The crowd had swelled to full capacity by the time he took to the decks. Hugel had Invy’s patrons entirely entranced as he played all his hits in between sprints of amazing and hypnotic tribal drum sounds. He put down and mixed tracks flawlessly as his fans cheered for each one that was brought in. The audience erupted in singing when he through down his chart topping hit, “I Adore You”, which created a magic moment I’ll probably never forget. “Morenita” was another huge pleaser. We also got treated to “Andalucia” to much fanfare. The energy in the room continued to be absolutely insane. Anyone who paid the price of admission was sure glad they were there. There was not a bad vibe in the room. This was the most fun I had in the club in a hot minute. We were not done however, as the crowd was in full rage mode, an unknown-to-myself remix of “Santana Maria” was dropped that turned the place absolutely upside down. This was the top of the mountain for me. The moment I live for, to vibe with strangers and friends a-like, getting lost in the moment together with music.
Uriah G & Gettoblaster both played short encore set to cap the night, sealing the deal for a night that will be remembered for a very long time. Be sure to check invynightclub.com for upcoming shows from Uriah G Presents & Aliens On Mushrooms. I can’t wait to see how they plan to top this one.