Minnesota @ Velvet Jones
Posted by lemonjelly on:
A friend gave me the heads up a few months ago that this new DJ guy called Minnesota was the business and not to be missed. As it turned out, he had this gig this past weekend at Velvet Jones that a few peeps and I caught.
The night opened with local DJs 9FtofSmoke, XSeed, and Clark Kent spinning sets. I arrived fashionably late, so walked into a room of super dark and dirty mystery dubstep. Too dark for me! But everyone else seemed to love it, I saw some dudes chestbumping against a wall.
I gotta give props to Velvet Jones for creating a venue that all ages can attend. But man, it was *weird* dancing behind a wall of under 21s gyrating like humping puppies against the legs of their dates or random passing by women (sometimes me). But such is the sacrifice we Santa Barbarans make to get a little dubstep in our lives.
When Minnesota hit the stage, it was all worth it. The guy's only 24 years old or something, but his music and manipulation of the decks were so sweet, it did get me back down into the masses of pumping sweaty bodies and bounce around with folks. His style embraces a little Yin, a little luvstep, making it quite approachable for dancing and maybe even a date. And in case you were wondering, his real name is Christian Bauhofer and he's from Santa Cruz.
Ultimately, I found the best place to hang out was the balcony area for "under 21s" because the under 21s were down in front dancing, and the barely over 21s shunned that area like the plague, my peeps and I could perch up there and watch the scene below. My friend Elo got the photo, which I love, because it shows two young girls on the stage, and they danced awkwardly to everyone's amusement, until one tripped and fell and was quietly escorted from the stage. Comedy gold!
But really, Minnesota was awesome. I wish this event had been promoted more, it seemed to be advertised mainly to UCSB people. Older folk like dubstep too.
