Ameer Brooks & Themba
22:00-23:30
Twenty dollars to park? Suck it up. The lot is spacious. Monitored. And clean. As the outdoor temperature plunges, security pats down the body, checking for the prohibited. Flash your ID, and a scintillating smile. Enter the long corridor, the black-velvet rope queue, is empty of souls waiting to pay the door fee. Two blondes, mid-conversation, scanning your electronic ticket, point you upstairs where a man, dressed in all black, stands. His hand waves you left. Gaze at a minibar bedecked by urban lounge décor. To its left, behold 16,000 square feet of rich porous and fibrous elegance-wood floor tiles, wood columns holding up level two vicinal wood walls, the elongated wood bar, the wood concert stage elevating the wood DJ station all highlighted with green palm trees-that appears to stretch into forever. As your feet traverse down wooden stairs. Already you feel like a VIP.
And this is only the main space. There are additional hubs for filming, hosting, and photo shoots. Nothing about this experience screams lame. As an online disclaimer explains, “The venue is not for the faint at heart, expect big sound and dramatic intelligent lighting on a customized entertainment system that will catapult you into the future of live indoor music shows.” Literally, do not utter the term “night club.” You will be rebuked; your verbiage corrected into stating this is a state-of-the-art production facility.
When Jazzanova featuring Charlotte OC’s “Everything I Wanted” (Yoruba Soul Mix) welcomes you into the space, the night blazes off to a most magnificent start. The floor is warmed. A sizeable crowd is gathered. Spotted is an Ankara print dress, dashiki, and an oversized fro. A few eyes stare flat at the stage, as others wave their limbs with acrobatic thrusts. Either way the event’s opening musical selector enjoys his moment. He raises his left arm. He pumps his fist. He bobs and weaves. Jersey’s Ameer Brooks is all smiles.
The eighteen years young, recent high school grad is the dose that soulful house music needs. His self-taught style of mix-in-and-mix-out and playing two songs at once ignites feet to stomp. Mixing Tank’s “When We,” (Blaze) Kevin Hedge’s “My Beat (Space Out Beat) (David Harness Remix)” into Carl Bean’s “I Was Born That Way” into Eurhythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” will prove to be the most musically diverse set played of the night.
23:00-01:00
At the moment, there is ample space to move freely without stepping on sneakers or brushing against shoulders. Slowly and surely, open dance floor real estate gives way to overcrowding gentrification. One person chooses space to stand and swipe his IG feed of muscle cars. Here they come: the fist-pumping bruh and his entourage of seven into VIP adjacent the dance floor. They would be wise to keep their debauchery in the land of L shape leather sofas, marble tables, overpriced bottles and strapless black dresses. But nope. The bruh doing the most reaches for a woman whom nearly kisses the floor. She tries to regain her footing wearing heels. He holds her thin frame. On the dance floor, they perform a rudimentary ritual of drunken sloppy gyrations amongst onlookers. Yet again, she practically decorates the wooden floor with her fair face as she stumbles into innocent bystanders who are witnessing a conceivable future case of sexual assault. To the point people grab their belongings and make ghost towards the front entrance of the room looking for dance floor vacancy.
To avail, little space is hacked to “go down” and “come up,” Denise Belfon commands on the soca “Work” by Masters At Work. Additional bodies fill the 2” by 2” squares left to maneuver within. Somehow, new arrivals feel late to the party as the main room swells close to its 750 occupant maximum capacity.
Onstage, South Africa’s Themba Nkosi entertains sporting a white tee. The rising global ambassador of South Africa house music delivers a big room narrative. There is Cubicolor’s “No Dancers” (Adam Port Remix), Hanna Hais featuring Diama N’Diaye’s “Waloy” (Chanell Collen Remix), Fabio Aurea featuring Toshi’s “Yini”(Frederick Stone Remix) and BlaQRhythm’s “Imvula.” His beats go hard-a fusion of African elementals encompassing deep house, tech, to EDM delights the youth in attendance. For the soulful heads enjoy his closing number the best: a stirring vocal of pure emotion that uplifts as Themba’s big brother, mentor and long-time friend appears beside him.
The time reads 1 am, November 2.
words: aj dance
Share this:
Tags: afro house music, Atlanta, Atlanta Georgia, Black Coffee, dance, dance music, DJ Ameer Brooks, house music, Ravine, South Africa, South Africa house music, Themba