Yesterday was clear, warm, and the perfect day to visit to P.S. 1's weekly summer dance party Warm Up, which offers DJ's and dancing in the old public school courtyard – and installation art indoors. Warm Up, now in its 10th year, has established itself as the go-to spot for the non-Hamptons set, with a warm, sunny vibe similar to other outdoor weeklies like Montreal's Piknic Electronik (without the Calder.)
Kicking off things yesterday was an hour-long set by Todd P stalwarts Growing: a three-piece that lives in drone-land, courtesy of guitars, keyboards, and live electronics. With only a handful of early arrivals in the courtyard, their sound approached MBV volume, if lacking the elder band's texture and complexity. (They headlined a second show last night at LPR.)
It was a surprisingly seamless transition to House of Stank's DJ set, which got the crowd up and moving with bass-heavy house and techno. Late in the set, the crowd went nuts for a mash-up of Beethoven's 5th, full of pounding bass and soaring crescendos that made the disco classic "A Fifth of Beethoven" sound like weak tea. I don't spend much time at DJ things these days, but makes you wonder what else the kids are grooving to these days. (More pics below.)