Happy Juan

Photo from myspace.com/thejuanmaclean

Friday night I headed into New York to see The Juan Maclean play a live show. Beforehand was a happy hour I was running, the highlight of which was Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, which is the best American whiskey I've ever had, something that's hard for me to say given my love of Maker's Mark. Another excellent discovery was Vermont Gold Vodka, which is distilled from maple sap, and retains a bit of its maple sweetness and flavor, going down very smooth. So, I was in a good mood on the train down. My friend Nate and I arrived a little early, so we stopped in for some food at New York Hot Dog and Coffee Company, one of the stranger restaurants I've ever been to. It's a hot dog and coffee shop, but it's Korean, and also serves Belgian waffles. Craziness. So we sampled the bulgogi kimchi hot dog, which turned out to be amazing. Chalk that up as another taste combination I never imagined working, but does.

Alright, alright, so we finally went into Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker St. where the show was. I hadn't been before, but it's a nice venue, with a very open dancefloor, sort of like a smaller version of Studio B over in Brooklyn. When we arrived, Holy Ghost! were rocking through their DJ set, spinning lots of good disco to get the crowd slowly moving, including dropping their edit of Michael Jackson's 'Get on the Floor.' Next up was the live opener, a newer DFA act called Black Meteoric Star, the live alias of Gavin Russom. I was less than impressed. Coming onstage in a black, Druid-priest style robe, with his long hair surrounding his face, Russom looked a little clownish, but I was willing to give him a shot. However, his set wound up being completely uninspiring. He rode his pre-programmed grooves and backbeats for far too long, not doing nearly enough live work on the synths, with the result being that the set often felt more like a trance concert than the usual DFA-style disco.

But all that disappointment was dispelled when The Juan Maclean came onstage. Amazingly, John (a.k.a. Juan) and Nancy Whang, the lead singer, were doing their own setup for the show, along with other members of the band. How often do you see that? The show was incredible. The group amped up their studio sound, playing around with new riffs and extending many songs. One of the best parts for me was when John started playing the theremin live onstage. I hadn't even notice that it was part of his setup until the distinctive eerie sounds started washing out over the crowd. 'Give Me Every Little Thing' was rocking, as they brought up Nick from Holy Ghost! to sing along. The undisputable pinnacle of the night, though, was 'Happy House.' The sound was fattened up, even more dancey, and the crowd was going nuts. One of the best single songs I've seen in a live performance ever. So good. A great night overall, which wasn't even diminished by the early morning train ride back to New Haven. If you ever get to see The Juan Maclean live, even if you're not that into electronic music, do it. It's worth your while.

The Juan Maclean - Happy House (Lee Douglas remix) [divshare] Buy here!
MGMT - Of Birds, Moons, and Monsters (Holy Ghost! remix) [divshare] Buy here!