This past weekend in sunny Southern California was quite a scorcher, with temperatures rising above 100 degrees in most cities. That did not stop us or Dirtybird from throwing the first ever Los Angeles edition of their famed Dirtybird BBQ parties. Not only was I excited for LA finally getting its own BBQ, but to see the premiere of the latest collaboration between Reggie Watts and John Tejada, entitled WAJATTA (pronounced wa-ha-ta).
We arrived at the Coliseum to find that the area the stage was set up in had plenty of shade and was in the grass, which already is a huge plus. They also had fans blowing cold air placed strategically around the venue so that attendees strolling by or dancing can get a nice blast of air to balance out the heat. The day started off with Dateless and Lucati going b2b dropping that funky tech, followed by Christian Martin dropping a lot of trippy ass techno.
Justin Jay played at a prime time to where the sold-out event was just reaching its capacity, prompting for plenty of feels trips and the occasional sing-along. There was a remix in particular of his song Time that took the song and flipped it into a dance floor destroyer. It ended up getting dropped 2 more times throughout the night by Justin Martin and Claude Vonstroke, so it definitely caught my attention.
The set I was most excited to see, WAJATTA, was surely a spectacle in itself. You were totally able to see how John and Reggie performed together, with John ruling over the decks while Reggie sang (really well might I add) on top of some really funky house beats. It almost felt like we were at a discotheque listening to old school jams. It was a truly unique set to experience and I hope that they play more shows together, as it is something I think would change your perspective of Reggie Watts.
Justin Martin took it one level deeper and played plenty of vibey, chill tunes for the audience, it made for a pretty good evening set. But out of nowhere, in a total 0-100 move, he started playing his remix of Stay by Henry Krinkle, and after the beat broke down it got ramped up to a bumping DnB remix which absolutely slew the unsuspecting house heads.
Claude Vonstroke stepped up at the end to give respects and a moment of silence for the late Chris Wilson, better known as Grill$on who unfortunately passed away earlier this year. He was at every single BBQ event for the last 15 years, and it surely was not the same without his presence there. After lighting the torch on top of the Coliseum, Claude took the crowd on a journey until the end of the night.
Overall, the very first Dirtybird BBQ in Los Angeles was a huge success. So many fans and friends coming together to dance and have a grand old time in the summer sun was a truly beautiful thing. We are excited for what's coming for this year's West Coast Campout in October!
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Photos by Get Tiny Photography