Tamara Sky & Light Year
8/22/12
La Cave
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*Mark Farina & Colette – Focus' 9 Year Anniversary – 6/26/12
*Five Things You're Not Allowed to Miss at Electric Daisy Carnival
Last night La Cave, the sultry restaurant in Costa Mesa, hosted it's weekly La Cave Wednesdays party now promoted by the Modern Disco Ambassadors with Tamara Sky and Light Year as their headliners alongside resident DJ Kedd Cook. The cool venue resembles a speak easy and has been open for 50 years now. For seven years Wednesdays were meet by Jazz aficionados until Brendan Thomas and his hipster crew took over four years ago. Giving it a New York underground vibe, they have been bringing dance music to Orange County week after week with a slew of covert DJs and artists who share the same passion for electronic music.
After parting ways with the Sun Group, who focuses on bringing indie live music to Orange County, Brendan and his crew decided to form the Modern Disco Ambassadors, not meant to be taken literally, to promote dance music as a whole and create a real dance scene in OC. In a time when everything is ticket sales driven, big “headliner” DJs are the main attraction and all clubs care about is selling out and booking bottle service tables La Cave Wednesdays is a refreshing breath of fresh air still bringing world renowned talent like Aeroplane from Belgium and Bag Raiders from Australia while sticking to a $5 cover charge and underground scene.
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Resident DJ Kedd Cook, who also played this years Wide Awake Cart at EDC among other major clubs in OC and surrounding cities, hit the decks with some pulsating house music pleasing weekly regulars which range from a young cool hipster crowd to older generations who just want to get their dance on. “We don't like the coined word EDM because it feels a little too contrived,” says Thomas. Steering away from the popular top 40 EDM bangers, Kedd Cook got the crowd in the back room dancing and getting lost in his deep house sound. With no fancy lasers, confetti and other gimmicks La Cave Wednesdays relies on raw talent and a great vibe to keep fans coming.
The restaurant-turned-lounge and music haven was completely packed as most people like to hang out upstairs in the smoking patio or second room where the the large bar is. Lil Death host (an LA underground party we highly suggest you check out) and Gotta Dance Dirty music blog contributor Tamara Sky graced us with her eclectic electronic sound around 11pm. Dance music aficionados and guys who came to droll over the former Playboy centerfold came in full force to the crowded dance floor to groove to her techno beats. Besides her Darude remix we can delightfully say we couldn't name one track she played, but isn't that how dance music was meant to be experienced anyway? “We are bringing the avant garde artist that bring the fabric of the dance music community to Orange County,” explains Brendan.
By the time Light Year, the Australian born DJ sensation, came on we had enough drinks and interesting “conversations” to forget we were being graced by a techno legend. “We would rather book new talent, educate our crowd and keep the scene alive,” shares Brendan when we ask him about his DJ selectors. They are now gearing towards booking more big name underground acts a la Focus Tuesdays in Newport Beach, some of which have played the biggest parties in Ibiza this summer. “You go to shows to be surprised,” he says and surprised we were with the slew of amazing indie dance, nu disco, house, tech house and electro which resonated from the speakers all night long.
Critics Bias: Even though it was crowded, hot and sweaty I loved sharing the dance floor with other real dance music lovers who are supporting a local scene.
Overheard in the Crowd: “They tried to charge me $5 at the door, wtf?”
Random Notebook Dump: If Detroit Bar is the indie king of live music in OC then La Cave Wednesdays is the same to dance music. Kudos for keeping it underground and sticking to the same format for four years.
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