Laidback Luke at Terminal 5: 5 tracks you need to know
Regardless of where he spins, be it a small radio station, a posh nightclub, or a huge venue, Laidback Luke continues to be one of my favorite DJs to see live. It’s rare to find a DJ as energetic and charismatic as Luke (Stefan and Olle of Dada Life, and Tommy Trash fit this category as well.) His sets are a direct reflection of that energy – pulsating and bouncing around the room in waves of dutch bleeps, big room chords, and high energy electro.
His set this past Friday at Terminal 5 was, in typical LBL fashion, a dream for those of us with attention deficit disorders – no song stayed on the decks for more than a couple of minutes as he effortlessly mixed his classics in with some new tracks (“Timebomb” with “Greyhound” made our jaws drop.)
That’s the thing about Luke’s sets, they are predictably unpredictable; you know you’ll always hear “Timebomb” and “Dirty Talk” but he will always present them differently and keep things interesting with live juggling and scratching or some unimaginable mashup. Mimicking parts of his Ultra set Luke spun an un-ID’d (but most likely his) remix of FM’s “Pay Attention to the Drums” followed by a mash up of “Babylon” and “Kick Out The Epic.”
FM – Pay Attention to the Drums (ID Remix)
At one point Martin Solveig joined Luke on stage to debut their new collaboration with Chuckie “1,2,3,4” a blistering dutch house track with some of that Martin Solveig melody.
Laidback Luke, Chuckie & Martin Solveig – 1,2,3,4 (Original Mix) [Ripped from his UMF 2012 set]
The highlight of the night came immediately after Luke mixed Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind” into Bingo Players’ “Rattle.” He launched into back to back to back classics – Beastie Boys “Fight for Your Right,” Daft Punk “Aerodynamic” and DMX “Party Up (Up In Here)” followed immediately by “Dirty Talk” and, what we believe to be his own remix of Sato Goldschlag feat. Wynter Gordon “Hey Mr. Mister” – an incredible track that we also heard during his set at UMF.
Luke’s barrage continued as he played to the crowds energy, spinning tracks from a variety of artists on the MixMash imprint.
Laidback Luke, Arno Cost, Norma Doray – Trilogy (Orginal Mix)
As the New York City scene becomes flooded with shows, it is easy to grow tired of seeing the same old DJ sets – thankfully there are still performers like Luke. He creates something new every time he steps behind the decks — and for that, we salute him.
Categories: Music