Reuben Wu (of Ladytron) @ Segredo, Madison

On Saturday Night, Segredo booked 2 (somewhat) major acts at once for their club. They have negotiated a monthly (?) residency with Chicago local Dani Deahl, and they were able to get Reuben Wu from one of my favorite bands, Ladytron. Rather than rescheduling, they just decided to role with it and have them both perform.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dyreschlock/dyreschlock.github.photos/master/photo/120121_reubenwu/IMG_9268.webp

Opening up for them were locals DJ Nick Nice and Mike Carlson. Mike Carlson played a rather ridiculous set. I think he fit almost every popular electronic dance genre into his set. House, Techno, Electro, Electro House, Dubstep, Trance, and a little Acid House. I (my phone) caught a couple of the tracks.

Steve Angello - Knas
Freestylers - Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix)
Wolfgang - Illmerica
Knife Party - Internet Friends
Deadmau5 - Some Chords (i think?)

I though everything actually worked out quite well.  Despite spanning all these genres, the whole set was pretty cohesive, and made sense. It was rather interesting.

Dani Deahl

Dani Deahl took over a little bit before midnight. She seems to have a lot of fans around the Midwest, and doesn't mind traveling up to Wisconsin to plays shows in Madison, or Milwaukee. I've seen her before, opening up for JFK at The Mid. That opening set was ok. It didn't really seem like she was having much fun. She was holding back. She had to hold back, being a warm-up DJ.

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Last night, she was able to completely let loose, and her set was fun for the most part. She threw in several popular songs, but had an array of a few deeper tracks that really ripped up the crowd. Here's some tracks I caught:

Calvin Harris - Awooga
that Steve Aoki song
iPhone marimba tone
Swedish House Mafia - One

About halfway through her set, when she played that Steve Aoki song, I think things started deteriorating for me. And then she started throwing in more dubstep, and some ridiculous songs choices, like that track with an iPhone marimba tone drop? What's the purpose of that song? There's no musical reason for it what so ever. Is the crowd supposed to laugh and say, "hurrr, it's that sound my phone makes"? I hate dubstep (brostep).

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dyreschlock/dyreschlock.github.photos/master/photo/120121_reubenwu/IMG_9317.webp

Reuben Wu

Reuben Wu started around 1, and begin putting Dani's set to shame. I feel like he started off a little dry, but after a few quick songs he tore into the crowd with a much harder edge. I recorded the first half hour of his set. I think it starts getting pretty damn good at the 14 minute mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQ40B0rG_o

I'm not really sure what genre this would be. It's kinda of a mix of Electro House and Techno, I think. I'm glad I recorded it because as the night (and drinking) progressed, my memory becomes less effective.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dyreschlock/dyreschlock.github.photos/master/photo/120121_reubenwu/IMG_9330.webp

It always interesting to see members of the band spin shit on their own. I wonder imagine they play music they enjoy and draw some inspiration from. I don't think Reuben threw in popular tracks to get people to like him. I think he was a building a set he enjoyed and made sense.

Also, there was a decent crowd for Dani Deahl as she was throwing down tracks, but after Reuben took the stage, people started to slowly exit the club. By the end, I think Segredo went from 400+ people down to 100. :(

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Mira Aroyo @ The Rave last year

Apparently, all the members of Ladytron met in clubs in London while DJing back in the day, so I was always interested to hear what that might have sounded like. Last year in Milwaukee, Mira Aroyo, one of the lead singers, was in Wisconsin as well.

It was a very odd night. The Rave shacked her up in one of the side rooms, rather than either main room. Only 50-70 people showed up throughout the night. Most of those people were probably friends with the opening DJs. (and) Beers were stupid expensive because it's The Rave, and that place is garbage.

Mira's mixing wasn't all that great, and her track selection wasn't very inspired. She'd play a couple tracks, and then pick a remix of a Ladytron song. Play a few more tracks, then Ladytron remix again. And the other tracks she played were either Electro, or Electro House, or Dubstep. Mostly popular stuff. It wasn't very cohesive, and she failed to build any kind of vibe. The 70ish people there never really danced, so it was just a bunch of people standing around.

It was pretty awkward to begin with, but the most awkward moment was when she ended her set. The crowd applauded, but then DEAD silence. Mira gave a "Thank you", people clapped again, and dead silence again. It was the saddest DJ event I've ever been to.

I like Mira quite a bit though. I think she's my favorite member of Ladytron. But after last night, I think Reuben is now my (secret) favorite. Mira's set was pretty shallow. And Reuben definitely proved he knows how to take command of the decks. I'd be real interested to hear Helen and Daniel spin a set, but I doubt I'll ever have a chance to see that.