Justin Jay and Ardalan – Mesa – June 30, 2013

Justin Jay and Ardalan
Mesa
June 30, 2013
Dance music continues to take over our favorite night clubs, lounges and even bars. Yet instead of sticking to the big room progressive house format which dominates everywhere, the Modern Disco Ambassadors have taken a liking to bringing more of the underground sounds of house music right here in OC. With their third installment of Brunch Sundays at the chic Mesa Lounge located at the Camp in Costa Mesa, MDA brought a Dirtybird Records showcase with LA's own Justin Jay and San Francisco based Ardalan. MDA's Kedd Cook and our local favorites Minaya & Vikus also got on the decks for an afternoon of groovy beats, champagne showers and plenty of booty clapping (yes, at brunch!)

Our OC Weekly “Best Club DJs” of 2012 Minaya & Vikus started the day proper at Mesa with some deep house grooves at an early 1pm. Daniel Minaya was celebrating his birthday (for the entire month actually) and there was plenty of bottomless Mimosa's and cake to be had. Because you know “betches love cake!” The boys had a busy June with gigs at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, Luna Supper Club in Pomona, opening for the legendary Paul van Dyk at Heat Ultra Lounge in Anaheim and making their San Diego debut on the Stingaree rooftop the night prior. But no matter how many times we see them it's always a treat to hear a different side of Minaya & Vikus as they could get funky with their song selections and surprise us with their deep house favorites.

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When the Modern Disco Ambassador Mr. Kedd Cook himself came on the overcast started to burn off and the sun was shinning into the open roof of the lounge. Packed for a Sunday brunch spot the crowd which was at first eating and sipping on cocktails was now letting the booze flow endlessly as they turned on the misters and made room for a dance floor. Kedd Cook, a.k.a Ian Alexander, kept the bass bumping with some proper deep house and disco vibes with underground tracks like Hannah Wants & Chris Lorenzo's “Dappy.” His OC family was definitely representing as the good looking crowd clapped and cheered along through the hour long set.

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Despite not even being able to legally drink, the Dirtybird Records youngest and newest taste maker Justin Jay sure knows how get people dancing. By the time he hopped on the decks around 4p.m., the crowd was getting turnt (read: horny, drunk, and/ or fucked up) and the girls were starting to invade the dance floor.

He kept the vibes going splicing in his own original tracks like “Femme Fatale” with some of our favorite Crosstown Rebel tracks like Maceo Plex's “Can't Leave You.” It was refreshing to hear the younger generation of new producers and DJs actually digging deep and discovering music that's usually for a more mature dance music palette. As he played a remix of Laryn Hill's “Doo Woop” we couldn't help but wonder if he was even born when the song itself came out.

Fellow Dirtybird Ardalan joined Justin Jay and they kept crowd rowdy with Justin Martin's remix of UZ's “Trap Shit” as the OC crowd sprayed champagne onto the dance floor. The guys kept incorporating funky vocals such as Anabel Englund on Hot Natured's “Reverse Skydiving” as the sun was beating down on the patio. Table tennis was going on in the back the entire time and by the time we left past 6:30p.m. the bass was still bumping loud as Justin Jay and Ardalan were still on the decks back to back. Similar to the Standard Rooftop parties and events like the Do-Over we hope MDA continues to bring the underground house sound to OC so we don't have to drive to LA to get our fix.

Personal Bias: Being a big Dirtybird Records fan, this show instantly drew me in. Please bring more artist on their roster to OC!

Crowd: Good looking crowd with a good mix of hipsters, house heads and OC locals just looking for a good Sunday brunch party.

Overheard in the Crowd: “The only thing missing here is a pool” – says a guy dripping in sweat because he's been dancing under the hot sun for hours.

Random Notebook Dump: Did spot a group of bros (that looked like tourist to be honest) trying to shuffle and do the limbo in the back wtf?

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