City of Brotherly Love (originally posted - 10.21.05)

On its own, Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities. But add the fact that I was going down to play at the same party as Carl Cox…and hang out with my good friend (and perennial great guy) Manolo, and you had the makings of a great weekend.

We arrived on Friday Night around 11 and headed straight to Manny’s new place onefourteen (114 Market Street) The club is absolutely gorgeous and was full of some of the best looking people Philly has to offer. The basement was dark and gritty, with some old school hip hop. The middle floor is a more chilled out lounge…and the top floor is where the real action takes place. Nice mix of mainstream house and good looking people. The drinks were flowing and it was a great place to kick off the weekend.

I ended up leaving around 1 to head to Emerald City to play an impromptu set. Their resident wasn't’t feeling well, so they asked me to fill in and play for a bit. I stepped up and in spite of a pretty meager crowd, had the room moving after a few records. Everyone from the light man to the owner Joe to the other DJs and regular customers were great to work with. They were extremely accommodating to us and we had a really good time hanging out there.

Saturday we ended up taking a walk in the rain down South Street. Did some record shopping at my man Nigel Richard’s shop (611 Records) and had some lunch at a really good raw bar. At night we went with Manny to a restaurant owned by his Brother-in-Law Sal, called Trattoria Lucca (1915 E Passyunk Ave) The meal was fantastic, from the appetizers, to the main course, and the desert. Very comfortable atmosphere and top notch Italian food. It felt more like my grandmother’s house than a restaurant, and that is the biggest compliment I can give to Sal and his staff.

We went back to 114 for a bit and then off to Emerald City to play with Carl Cox. When we got to EC, that place was PACKED. Not a little crowded, but literally bordering on overcrowded. It took us 20 minutes to walk 500 feet. Carl was rocking the stage area, which is essentially a big garage, complete with garage door that they opened from time to time when it was getting too hot. The sound was decent and the lights were functional, but it is honestly not a space worthy of a talent like Cox. He played an adequate set, but really didn't’t impress me as he usually does. He seemed to be going through the motions. Mind you, his mixing was on point and his tracks were funky and powerful…but he did very little to really work the crowd or the tracks and it was generally a very average set.

In the other room, DJ Manolo got on and played a very energetic trance set…and had the crowd going for most of his set. Really nice job mixing and programming. I got on at 4:45, and had the place moving for the first half of my set…but by 5:30, people started leaving and my set was over shortly after that. Kind of a let down, but it was a long day (for the dancers and me and my friends), so getting to bed a few minute earlier than I planned was fine. Thanks to Mike Myers for the booking and great to see so many people out in support. Nice to meet Guido (from Razor and Guido), Tommyboy, DJ Donato and Nigel Richards (thanks for the support bro.)

Special thanks to Manny for a great weekend and all of your hospitality. Hope to be back in Philly in the near future.