Bingo Players – Yost Theater – 5/22/12

Last night the Yost Theater in the downtown Santa Ana Art District teamed up with EDM promoters Giant and LED to bring Dutch House duo Bingo Players to Orange County for what was one of the wildest parties we've seen at the Yost in a while. By 10pm the line of Bingo fans was out of control to this sold-out show, with hundreds of people unable to purchase tickets. This special event kicked off what has become “Memorial Day Week” in OC with the plethora of dance music gigs going on from now until Monday evening. For those lucky to attend the festivities this was the perfect way to kick off a week of prime, pulsating electronic dance music.

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Giant resident DJs Minaya & Vikus blew us away with their unexpected blend of house and tech house tracks. They took the stage with a newfound confidence after winning the Size Matters contest that shined through with their carefully articulated blend of hits and non-mainstream dance gems. When the melodies of the progressive house track “Damaged” by Antillas smoothly resonated over the speakers, crowds on the dance floor, VIP tables and upstairs balcony were singing along and dancing to a perfect mid-opener warm up. It was definitely a pretty tough act to follow.

The lasers and projections on the ridiculously huge LED wall behind the DJ booth intensified as Paul Bäumer and Maarten Hoogstraten, otherwise known as Bingo Players, took the stage. The crowd, armed with fluorescent glow sticks, seethed with excitement as the Dutch duo controlled the dance floor during their 90-minute set stuffed with nightclub anthems. With songs like “When I Dip” and “Mode” it's hard not to want to channel your inner go-go dancer or shuffling pro on the dance floor.

Though they played a lot of the same recycled tracks any EDM DJ would play, Bingo spliced their own seamlessly-blended style. Lil Jon's “Put Your F*cking Hands Up” and Alesso & Sebastian Ingrosso's “Calling” wove itself into Denis Koyu's “Tung” and the Bingo Players' “Rattle.”

As the body heat rose and bottles of Grey Goose were polished off, girls started piling on shirtless guys' shoulders like it was spring break on MTV. The second half was all about the epic mash-ups and remixes. Everything from Bingo Players “L'Amour,” Benny Benassi's “Satisfaction,” Sandro Silva & Quntino's “Epic” to Zombie Nation's “Kernkraft 400” made the crowd go wild and rage harder. The fact that a party like this exploded on a Tuesday makes us all the more anxious to see what the Yost and it's new partner LED Presents have up their sleeves for future weekly EDM shows in OC.

Personal Bias: When they dropped the Swedish House Mafia & Laidback Luke vs. Afrojack & Steve Aoki “Beef The World Behind” mash-up I almost got “Girls Gone Wild” on top of a table to dance my booty off, so epic.

The Crowd: A good mix of club rats, ravers, lots of Asian EDM fans and industry people.

Overheard in the Crowd: “It feels like a goddamn sauna in here!”

Random Notebook Dump: We still have the “Whoah oh oh oh oh, oh. Whoah oh oh oh oh oh oh oh” ringing in our ears.

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