D.I.M. & Trent Cantrelle @ Wavehouse: Recap + Commentary

When you receive a text message in the middle of Sunday Funday that you’ve been given a ticket to see one of the bigger DJ names in techno music waiting for you… There’s really only one appropriate response… FUCK. YES.

A DAY OUT WITH COLOUR VISION

The immediate follow-up response should have been… “where?”

After the grueling fight for parking at Mission Beach I meandered through the diverse crowd of boardwalkers toward my inevitable destination for the day, WAVEHOUSE for an exclusive DJ set by Berlin-based Techno DJ D.I.M. Already walking into the venue with the understanding that this was not my typical (ie. Hipster-esque) crowd of music lovers, I came dressed ready to be out-casted in tight white pants, retro haband polo and ever-stylish CRAP eyewear. Much to my surprise (NOT) I had to fight my way through a crowd of shirtless, tribal tattooed-drunkards toward the stage, where the opening DJ’s (who will remain nameless) greeted me with an array of über cheesy electro-house with sporadic over the top MCing, one of the more notable phrases (which I may have heard over 15 times after I lost count) was “howww you feeeeelllin’ san diegggooooo?!?”

At this point I made my way to the backstage area, courtesy of the wonderful Erika, who also happens to be the official Mixster model, and the always courteous, Johnny Shockey, and began heavily drinking, tuning the MCs out, and appreciating the wonderful day, all the while trying to contain my growing excitement for D.I.M. ‘s set.

Thankfully the next DJ took over shortly after I arrived and stayed clear of the cheese, and the mic. So after many beers, and smiles from friends ,who appeared seemingly out of nowhere, the first “headlining DJ” took the stage; and pretty much blew me away.

A modest gentleman by the name of Trent Cantrelle stood triumphantly in the booth for nearly 2 hours unleashing tech house deliciousness and fresh beats that literally had every bleach blonde girl and spike-gelled boy attempting to “dance.” I’m serious when I say as well that I am NOT A TECH HOUSE FAN… It may have been the sun beaming, the alcohol flowing, or the alignment of the heavens.. But I’m pretty positive that TC is just damn good at what he does. Upon investigation, I learned that he played the previous night at Voyeur, and is a LA-based DJ that has been getting huge support from Techies around the world; who’ve also been putting his productions into heavy rotation in their sets. Be sure to check him out!

“Typical (Trent Cantrelle Remix)” – Mute Math

As the sun set on the techno beach party, I went to say hi to D.I.M. while the opportunity was still available.. and I have to say; that out of the many international DJ’s that I’ve had the honor of meeting and playing with, he is by far one of the nicest guys around. After we both kindly declined the molly that some random guy was handing out like tic tacs to everyone, D.I.M took the stage and proceeded to blast the bewildered audience with the fine German techno that has make him such a desired headliner. Although the beginning of the set was slightly more mellow than I’d expected, and half of the tracks were borderline overplayed, I was continually blown away by the unreleased material he was dropping seamlessly — and my eyes and ears were glued to his computer to see what wonderment was coming next. I really go out of my way to not bother artists while  they’re DJing and looking like an über fan boy, but it was damn hard not to with my digital camera in hand and and fist pumping like a cast member of Jersey Shore… Thank goodness there were a few SUPER FAN BOYS that somehow got back stage and were crooning over the tech-god on stage. “Lyposuct”, “Is You”, “Level”, all went over rather well with the crowd, however it was clear that they were more excited to hear “Warp 1.9″; which had already been played three times prior… (grinning while typing.)

“Is You” – D.I.M.

All in all, at the end of the night, I was completely satisfied with the party and was thrilled to be apart of the mayhem at Wavehouse that day. Although its not my cup of tea (only crowd-wise) it’s hard to complain about the big name talent that L.E.D. is bringing in, and the stunning location of this venue, directly on the beach.

My suggestions:

1.) Bring some friends.

2.) Drink a lot of booze.

3.) Have some humility

4.) Get some CRAP on your face & and Enjoy

Check out the upcoming party July 11th with my favorite locals; Bubblegum Sci-Fi (Groundfloor On Speed), Eric Diaz (Resident Electro God), & Andrew Decade (Afro’ed Wonder-boy Extraordinaire) and also a few (THREE!) headliners that are sure to get your legs quivering

<3 COLOUR VISION

Photo+Video Credit: Charles Parker