Output. A place where you see your favorite DJ play the set they were always meant to play. It’s intimate, dark atmosphere, and strict no photo policy take a page out of Berlin’s Panorama Bar. This makes what is heard and seen at a night in Output an exclusive memory for those who were there. Performing at Output is thus a privilege for a DJ to offer their fans a rare experience. At least that’s what I expected when I heard Boys Noize (Alex Ridha) was playing a four hour set there last Thursday.
So of course it upset me to arrive a half hour late, but a camera-less Nicky Digital (crazy right?) assured me the downtempo beats I was hearing was all Boys Noize had been playing so far.
“This is just a tease, don’t worry he waited for you.”
With a false sense of importance and my FOMO anxiety now absent I began to enjoy myself. From the dance floor, to the stairs, to the second floor bar the sounds of steady techno, acid, and jackin’ house could be discerned perfectly on Output's million-dollar Funktion-One sound system. Considered the Ferrari of sound systems, it’s expected to be handled like one. It takes a skilled jockey to control such power, and Ridha, the acclaimed DJ that he is accepted this privilege modestly. He used his ample time frame to measure his progression of the sonic mood from downtempo and groovy to upbeat and hard. With the sound system his stallions and the dance floor our chariot, Ridha successfully took us on a ride to remember. Seriously though, we took our friends 45 year old mom out with us and we had to physically drag her out she couldn't get enough.
As expected, all the elements made for a unique Boys Noize experience that could have only ever existed within the space it occurred.
UPDATE:
Due to a long cigarette break I missed Spank Rock's surprise performance with Boys Noize mid-set. F*ck me.