Danny Howells @ Stereo - September 21, 2007

Everyone was talking about this guy, and when I say everyone it was really tout le monde. Undecided between staying home or going out, and if going out if it should be on a Friday night or Saturday night, I felt for the peer pressure and decided for the famous god Danny Howells.

No way I was staying in line for a long time, and this is why I wanted to arrived at Stereo right at the beginning, my body decided otherwise and by the time I woke up and got ready, it was already 4:00am when I walked by the coat check. Surprisingly the place was not as packed as I expected and the music was kind of mellow. Being an all night long with the same DJ, it is understandable the music would start slowly in the first 3 hours and peaking after that to unknown territories, at least for myself because this was the first time under the disco ball listening to the tunes of Howells.

First thing I noticed looking toward the decks was the advertisement for “La Vie en Rose” - Stereo I think that banner has to come down now, then looked at this guy, and I have to say he is very charismatic with nice energy. The crowd was kind of different, but again remember, I usually go to Stereo on a Saturday night. There were lots of Danny’s followers, and they didn’t stop screaming because he was there - sometimes I didn’t think a scream was necessary and sometimes it felt maybe forced? but hey, who am I to decide when the crowd can scream or not eh?

As usual the crowd got “Stereolized” with time, and while the music was mellow I took advantage to socialize with some friends and ask about what they thought of the DJ. Some told me the DJ was incredible and I should get ready for the ride of my life, others told me they were there because they heard so much about this guy - like me - and others were too spaced out to give me any opinion.

The reality is that during the whole night, I felt as if there were 3 different DJs and that impressed me. The first DJ was mellow with some funky music that felt as if he was playing in a lounge bar with no Martinis - kind of housy mellow music, by the way this DJ played until 5:00am.

The second DJ was a much more into a Progressive House style, and I went nuts with the strong techy influences of his music during the second part of his set. Unfortunately, I had this feeling that Danny was only peaking at the top of each hour. Music would go strong and then go down again - I was actually feeling frustrated with so much ups and downs, it is okay to tease me but please make me fly once the count down has finished.

The third DJ started his set at around 8:00am, and what a change - that was a treat to my ears and to my legs. Finally music that made me drop some liquid out of my body. Then he moved on to some oldies and classics and loved the fact the felt comfortable enough to drop the Turtles song “So Happy Together”, or maybe he does this all the time. I have to say I was happy to be together with all my friends jumping up and down while this song was playing, and it does sound fantastic in the monster Stereo system.

I was impressed by the fact this guy played an amazing range of house music in one night, I was not impressed by the fact everyone talked so much about this DJ, and I left the building feeling as if he hadn’t delivered what I was promised.

Music wise the night was okay, fun wise the night was just off the hook. I had so much fun all night long. Left the building at around 10:00am and the place was still full of people. There was enough space to dance all night long, and there were tons of gorgeous guys and gals, only if those straight boys were to take their t-shirts off. Never mind, would I see Danny Howells again? Not sure, but if I was in the right mood I guess the answer would be yes, now if I want to go out in order to feel the music and let me body follow, then the answer would be no - unless it was his set I heard after 8:00am.