Kitsuné Club Tour
With The Twelves and Oliver
Grand Central, Miami
Friday, November 9. 2012
Celebrating ten years of next-level hipster productions, French electro-indie fusion label Kitsuné launched the Club Tour, throwing happy birthday parties for itself all over the country.
On Friday night, we here at Crossfade got the chance to shake our grooves thangs at Grand Central with The Twelves and Oliver, two of the dankest names in the nu-disco game.
A lot of party people might have made the trek northward to take part in EDC Orlando, but everyone who knows what's really good stayed behind in Downtown Miami.
While thousands of party monster rave bros got freaky in neon tanks on Orlando's grassy fields, we of the tight jeans and funny haircuts got down on a dance floor with enough room for our best tectonic routine. It might sound fun to roll with clown-girls and jesters on stilts, but a chance to see The Twelves, Brazil's elusive funky duo, is something only a mainstreaming fool would miss.
We got there early enough to hear Andrew Ward warm up the decks with some in-theme disco alternative. Heads slowly trickled in as Ward did his best to tempt the partiers away from the safety of the bar and let loose on the floor.
As the minutes slipped past and booze bills increased, clubbers found the courage to jerk it closer to the stage. By 12:30, Ward had handed over the controls to L.A.'s fearsome twosome, Oliver. And they gave it to us real dark and sexy.
Their set was funky yet haunting, moving into the more energetic end of the spectrum as it progressed. They dropped all kinds of jams, like Roisin Murphy's "Simulation" and a sick remix of Moby's "Honey." Of course, a definite highlight was original track, "Dirty Talk."
By the end of the set, Oliver had worked the place into the highest frenzy possible. Everyone was crowded near the stage. The place felt nice and cozy. And it was finally time for the Brazilian duo to make their entrance.
By 1:45, The Twelves were captains of the party. And they kicked right into it, laying down fat beats and manipulating the tracks, adding their own special flavor to everything they played. One does not become enamored with the Twelves simply for their divine track selection. It's more about the unique spin they put on everything they drop, including their own beloved remixes.
Immediately, the screen behind the decks came to life, flashing the group's logo in red and blue. They played a less energetic set than their 2009 Essential Mix, which we still can't get over. But obviously, a lot has changed in the past three years.
That doesn't mean they didn't drop all our favorite Twelves remixes, like Fever Ray's "Seven," Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work," and Pheonix's "Lisztomania." They also dropped some hot reworks of "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" and "Der Kommissar."
The people were definitely feeling it. One girl totally took her shirt off and danced around like a big dance-floor slut, in the best way possible. Yet by the 3 a.m., the crowd had dwindled to only a handful of dancers in it to win it, and the guys called it quits around that time.
One of The Twelves came down and greeted some die-hard fans before heading out while Pirate Stereo took over controls to close out the night. Right away, he took the hype down a notch and played some chiller grooves as the people paid their booze bills and drifted out to the parking lots.
It was a fine night for disco and hipster dance moves. And a happy fucking birthday for Kitsuné, indeed.
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