Green Velvet Transforms Whisper into La La Land.

House-Heads were treated to a full night of superb music on Thursday night at Whisper.

The event, presented by ROC and Element Events (with a nice assist from Decibel Records and Promotions) featured sets from locals Adrock and Robbie Tronco. In addition, there was a live performance by Miami’s Afrobeta, and a headlining set from house music legend Green Velvet.

This night was truly about the music. The opening sets were the perfect appetizer to the main course.

By the time Afrobeta took to the stage (actually the elevated VIP area behind the DJ booth) the place was already bumping. Let us simply say that Afrobeta killed it. In fact they killed it, brought it back to life, and killed it again. There is nothing quite like a well executed live performance.

Smurphio and his salt-and-pepper Afro laid down some sweet basslines intertwined with his funky synthesizer melodies. Not to be outdone, Cuci Amador (who made her entrance waiving a flag on the main floor) moved from the stage area, to the tops of speakers down below, and back again. The entire time pumping out her sharp tongued lyrics.

Speaking to Cuci after Afrobeta’s performance, she was thrilled to have had the chance to play the show and loved the energy of the crowd.

Just after midnight it was time for Green Velvet. Rocking his signature neon green mo-hawk and a pair of welder’s sunglasses, the maestro took fans on a journey to house heaven with key stops at some of his biggest hits including Shake & Pop, La La Land, and Flash.

The cameras flashed, the dancers shook and popped, and the next few hours were pure ecstasy. EDM shows are a dime a dozen these days and it really takes a special event to stand out from the rest. This is a night that we, and the rest of Philadelphia, won’t soon forget.

Check out the expanded photo gallery and some video of the event below:

Mann Taken on Wild Ride by Death Cab For Cutie

Friday was one wild day (and night) at the Mann Music Center. Shortly after noon time, the vending company (owned by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck) at the popular concert venue was held up at gun point. The two robbers escaped with around $120,000.

Less than a hour later, the staff of the venue was back on track and preparing for a sold-out show (presented by AEG Live) with alt-rockers Death Cab for Cutie. You can’t keep a good Mann down.

With so many fans flocking to the Mann, traffic was snarled on I-76 in both directions (nearing the Montgomery Drive exit) as the after-work crowd rushed to make it in time to see opening band “Frightened Rabbits” who went on at 7:30pm.

Once inside the gates, fans were in for a treat. With all of the horrible weather this summer, Friday night served as an oasis in the middle of a heat spell. The night was comfortable with a nice breeze and low humidity. It was the perfect night to vege out on the lawn of the Mann with a blanket, a beer, good company, and some great tunes.

DCFC fans packed the lawn as well as both levels of the covered seating area and let out loud cheers as the headliners took the stage just before 9pm.

Lead singer Ben Gibbard was impressed with the size of the crowd, noting that the last time the band played in Philadelphia, there weren’t nearly as many people.

Death Cab For Cutie opened their set (of twenty songs) with “I Will Possess Your Heart”, “Crooked Teeth”, and “We Laugh Indoors”.

They interchanged upbeat numbers that had fans on their feet dancing with slower songs to mellow out the crowd. At one point, Gibbard actually asked fans to take a seat for about four minutes and played his acoustic guitar alone on stage.

He later apologized to the crowd for taking a moment to remove his shoes for the remainder of the show (playing barefoot) because they were new and his feet hurt.

While many bands who have just released a new album would focus mainly on playing their newest tracks in concert, DCFC, who released “Codes and Keys” just over two months ago, played a full range of songs encompassing all seven of their albums.

Their main set ended with “Cath…”, “We Looked Like Giants”, and “Marching Bands of Manhattan”.

After the already lengthy performance, the band returned to play a four song encore that opened with “Portable Television” and closed with “Transatlanticism”.

It was a wonderful ending to a really special show. It goes to show that great music can really make your day. Just to be safe, we decided to drive and not risk any rides home in a taxi like Cutie.

You can view a full photo slide show and set-list below:

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Set List:

I Will Possess Your Heart

Crooked Teeth

We Laugh Indoors

Movie Script Ending

Doors Unlocked And Opened

Long Division

Grapevine Fires

Codes and Keys

Summer Skin

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

You Are A Tourist

The New Year

405

Underneath The Sycamore

Title and Registration

Soul Meets Body

Stay Young, Go Dancing

Cath…

We Looked Like Giants

Marching Bands of Manhattan

Encore:

Portable Television

Expo ’86

Sound of Settling

Transatlanticism

21,000 Beats Under The Sea Takes Partying to New Depths

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On Friday night at club Voyeur in center city Philadelphia, Disorient and Space Pirates held a pirate, sea creature, monsters of the deep themed party called “21,000 Beats Under The Sea” (the follow up to last year’s “20,000 Beats Under the Sea”). Voyeur was transformed into an under water, glow-in-the-dark playground, where party people, dressed in all sorts of elaborate costumes, danced the night away.

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The top floor of the venue featured a VIP area, chair massage section, and DJ lounge covered in bright orange glowing seaweed draped with neon green flowers (all of which really popped in the black lighting). It was quite a spectacle. There was also art work that decorated the walls from various artists who had contributed to the event.

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The main floor was decorated with under water cages & hanging fish and featured the largest dance floor in the venue. This area, like all the rest, became packed late in the evening.

In the basement, we found gigantic orange fish and pirate garb decorating the space. This was also the best spot to escape the extreme heat inside of Voyeur. From the basement up, the temperature rose drastically from floor to floor. Thankfully we know that heat rises, so we weren’t too alarmed. The basement also featured a small dance floor and separate DJ. At any given time you could move from floor to floor and take in all different genres of electronic music madness.

As hundreds of people partied the night away inside, the best place to escape the heat was to occasionally pop outside for some fresh air. Voyeur is one of the few venues in the city that still permits smoking indoors and that can get a little intense.

At 2:45am, there was still a line of people outside waiting to get in. When Voyeur closed at 3:30am, the after party crowd moved to Fishtown to keep the night going. What better way to spend the day of the impending Rapture?

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Overall, this was a great event. The folks at Disorient and Space Pirates did a great job with the decor, picking DJ’s, and creating a vibe where people could come and have fun and be themselves. Why are pirate themed parties the best? We’re not sure, but they certainly ARRRRRRRRRRRR.

To view the full 50 photos in our gallery CLICK HERE.