CHICAGO NIGHTLIFE: 3 August 2024 - DNBID @ Epiphany Center for the Arts & xlx BIG @ DIY space

This weekend I did my first ever party doubleheader. On my itinerary was the DNBID party put on by Renan & Stunna and xlx BIG put on by xlx. 

Stunna & Renan invited a special guest Magnetic Soul for a genre night of jungle & drum and bass. The space, Epiphany Center for the Arts, is quite an eclectic space. Formerly a church, its renovations include several event spaces for simultaneous parties, often including weddings. It really is a huge complex and only some events will give you the sense of its volume. Upstairs was the DNBID party in a relatively spacious and dimly-lighted, secluded area with one entrance/exit. There are highboy tables placed at the sides of the party area, a screen for visuals, and integrated sound. The bar is unfortunately located in the narrow hallway which constitutes the entrance to the space. At this particular event, a significant few did not mind the space they were occupying: gesticulating wildly and turning their backs to people traversing the narrow space. Somewhat unfriendly and quite a deterrent for me personally.

A significant portion of the crowd there knew each other and there were quite a number of oldheads. To be frank, I was among the youngest in the room among heads of grey hair wearing graphic t-shirts and shorts. A lot of them knew each other and that's great to see, but it feels difficult to dance in a space when you are visibly different. I love going to parties by myself so I really don't mind if people don't talk to me, but the lack of attentiveness to sharing a space with others cannot do anything but make others feel unwelcome. Not my kind of party, but the people there loved it. I might give it another chance myself if it were in another location. 

The soundsystem itself sufficed but is one knock I would put against it being appropriately labeled as a jungle night. There was no emcee, so, for me, a second knock. And last, it was mostly just drum and bass recordings to my ear. No inclusion of modern remixes that I could detect. I enjoyed the selection of drum and bass tunes and I'm a huge fan of anything with soul like liquid funk. Overall, it was the patron behaviour and limited space that caused me to leave early. I don't think DNBID is necessarly responsible for its patrons' behaviour, but that is out of generosity. I have only attended once and only for an hour. I've been to enough parties to get the sense I didn't really belong and didn't feel welcome. Jungle especially is about connecting with others and is an express purpose of an MC, which, again, the party lacked during the time I spent there dancing.

After DNBID, I headed over to xlx BIG in a DIY space. This was my first time at an xlx party or in this particular DIY space. I knew it was a queer & femme run event and was looking for something new for the night, hence my first time attendance at these events. xlx BIG was quite a contrast, selling tickets on ResidentAdvisor and mailing out venue rules & etiquette, as well as how to get to the space. They included their no tolerance policy for hatred and harassment and how to contact the organisers for emergencies. Before even going out for the night, I felt quite a bit more welcomed to the xlx party. DNBID sure could have used directions for getting to the space, but I'm confused by even the venue not telling people in advance where to go. On a previous indication, it was indicated, so I think that part is on the venue. xlx did this on the venue's behalf as the ticket seller via RA.

I wasn't sure what to expect when getting to the venue but it was extremely spacious and there was ample signage for finding bathrooms & smoking area & staff assistance. Staff wore orange glowsticks so they were always easy to spot -- something I'd like to see everywhere. This space is somewhere that people live so there were reminders posted to respect the space accordingly. There was free water and even couches near the dance area which are also both essential. I will admit the limitations of this space soured my perspective of the event as well, but I am grateful to have been so welcomed to such a space even before reaching the door. There was only one bathroom and someone had tagged the toilet seat just before I went to use it. My ass goes on the toilet seat and I can't feel my clothing if it touches the bottom of the lid which would paint it red, so I found this rude and an exclusively cisgender male piss-only behaviour. The rest of the bathroom is tagged, so I couldn't care less about the act in the abstract. But I'm not getting red paint on my skin or clothes for some cheap thrill of drawing the least impressive "evil" face on the inside of a toilet lid. Patron behaviour at both venues was quite different and unwelcoming to different levels. Among a crowd of very stylish people of all gender, some even dressed in costume, I felt very comfortable. It was far easier for me to relax in the space and I spent more of my night here than at DNBID. 

In total, I heard some material from 3 of the DJs for the night. I made it in time for some of the opener's set which I didn't really enjoy and hardly remember. The second DJ played an hour of jersey pattern club edits ranging from things like Sophie to Linkin Park and Korn to Kahn & Neek and JME & Giggs. I didn't particularly enjoy any of it because I found it repetitive nature, baiting nostalgia, and formulaic. It felt like an industrialisation of art, a mere set of DJ Toolz within a predictable format -- something I would liken to Andy Warhol. Very productive and lacking imagination. There were plenty people dancing that weren't me. I found the artist descriptions on the roster unlikely & pretentious, including jungle when no jungle was played, and "deconstructed club" when it was just jersey club. There was an MC briefly but mostly inaudible and the performers seemed to have trouble even using the microphone at all, something for which I would take responsibility as technician and/or engineer. So not only was there lack of jungle in playback, but also in spirit. 

The soundsystem at xlx looked to be two subs with a woofer mounted on each -- roughly the same as DNBID aside from DNBID's extra set of speakers flying higher above the main system. It was adequate for the space. It was certainly not a jungle soundsystem. 

I often hammer on this point because I believe it is essential for the music. We have recordings of jungle when jungle was something only experienced live so it becomes easy to hold this idea that jungle is something we can simply play back and rewind. The experience of massive soundsystems and emcee connecting to the audience and guiding the session with the deejay isn't something achievable by playing back the recordings of it; it is only achievable as it is literally listed. It requires a massive soundsystem, a deejay and emcee, an audience actively engaging, and the possibility of new music getting its first play in what becomes a special time and place forever in history. 

"You just had to be there." The recordings give you a special spine tingle as you recall the aroma, the feeling in your muscles, the pressure on your ears, in your sinuses, vibrations traveling through your body from your neck to your knees. For those who experienced jungle as it happened, these important recordings invoke the same sensations. Jungle is something possible every night and yet not always achieved by those with the ambition due to lack of artists in their roles, exclusive music, an engaging and appreciative audience, or the existence and availability of powerful soundsystems.

Jungle should not be a footnote in someone's genre list for a night when they don't play any. No genre belongs in the "might play" list. Being really about what you play is not only attractive to listeners who appreciate these sounds, who appreciate other appreciators, but draws them to what you're trying to build. If a Jersey Club DJ plays jungle, that's awesome. If a Jersey Club "and" jungle DJ doesn't play any jungle, it's just nonsense. There are few genres for which this happens as frequently. Forget the lack of emcee or adequate soundsystem or exclusive new music. Not even a recording.

Overall, I went looking for something new and I got it. I learned about the spaces & the people and I didn't have a critically awful time like being harassed at Podlasie Club before they renovated. None of the music at either event really struck me and I'll probably pass on their next installments. I believe artists do want to hold great events and I believe in their ability to rise to the occasion and make every night in Chicago something special.