Redeye December 04 2003

I have seen the past, the present ...: On Friday, Nov. 28, The Mark offered up a taste of the past as the present, hosting a respectable crowd for the debut of Dimitri From Paris. Warming up slowly, Dimitri hit his stride around 2 a.m., dropping plenty of horn-swept Latin swing and nouveau disco bordering on the commercial house that makes for popular ring-tones. Closer to 3 a.m., Dimitri dropped deeper into vintage disco, but was unafraid to interject bouncy Beck remixes and Quincy Jones-era Michael Jackson.

Another “current” event capitalizing on the past took place the following night, as the DJs behind the Friday night KISS events at Lenny’s brought their retro-futurist pogo “punk” to the Crescent Room for midtownREVOLT!. Thankfully, nothing was particularly revolting about it. It was actually refreshing to see a small crowd come out for semi-atypical music (for Midtown), even if it was hipster-by-numbers. And while it’s comforting to know indie-rockers and “punks” are finding ways to temporarily relieve the burden of being the shit and just boogie, it’s gonna take more than the most obvious tracks by the Rapture, Electric Six, New Order and Michael Jackson to inspire a revolt on the dancefloor. Wait, dancing to Michael Jackson — that sounds oddly familiar. Check for future notes from the underground.

... And the future: No, truly, I have seen the future — stuck (as the future often is) to my car’s windshield. Anybody who has ever gone clubbing has undoubtedly experienced a proper fliering: You stagger back to your car only to be forced to peel glossy, dew-plastered rectangles from underneath your windshield wipers. It’s a rite of passage.

But other than advertising some upcoming gig, what does fliering have to do with the future? Well, on a recent Saturday morning, I found my car fliered ... in front of my own house. And I live nowhere near any major entertainment district.

I am, however, near several DIY spaces prone to parties. And this got me thinking: No matter what resolutions are drafted to quell nightlife, Atlanta’s scene will survive, reforming and refining to accommodate spaces citywide. Entrepreneurial types are realizing that if you can’t bring people to clubs, bring clubs to the people, throwing more intimate, surreptitiously promoted parties. The only thing increased restrictions can encourage is increasingly deregulated entertainment.

So fret not for Atlanta nightlife. The serpentine beast is merely shedding its skin once again. In the future, you may have to keep your ear closer to the ground to detect the vibrations from the bassbins, but the parties will still be there. Just learn where to park it.

Keep one RedEye open, and send all comments, questions, observations and invitations to redeye@creativeloafing.com.