A Different Energy
Through hazy vision and dim lights the stage appears as one giant schmooze fest. Louie’s stage manager is not attentive. People dart to rub elbows with the “Hollywood of House.” Do you even know who Louie Vega is?- people dance on stage. Pearly whites, handshakes and bear hugs overpower the music. The Hollywood couple must have messaged all of their mangs and dames to hobnob onstage. Their bleached blond bangs and soulfro frocks are completely strange, never having graced a prior Tambor.
When Anane puts down her bedazzled gold phones she grabs a Fambor faithful for a dance. One by one, more and more lovelies join the awesome twosome. Onstage rumps shake in the air. “Cerca Di Mi” never sounded so sexual.
An unusual amount of sex straddles the air. And the potent seduction only increases with ritual mating calls. When Africa’s Busiswa references queens and her royal highness on the DJ Zihle acclaimed “My Name Is,” actual freaks run to the dance floor. Wet bodies frottage. Hips gyrate. Groins gravitate. Arousal is felt. The people are molested on the dance floor…by the music.
The energy is not all defined by sex. The smoke free zone becomes a hotbed for cancer sticks to spew venom. Toppling off table tops, aluminum cans piss carbs and cals onto the once covered baby powdered floor. The room reeks of sweat. The walls perspire. The cement floor gives way to slippery puddles.
A voice yells over Femi Kuta’s “Truth Don Die.” “There is a different energy in here.”
Of course, this is a Moon Ritual party.
“Just what is a Moon Ritual?”
A phenomenon not easily defined but worthy of experience.
Back on the platform, myths become future folklore. Local legendary DJs, transplants via NYC, perform an impromptu “I’ll House You,” another adlibs, “I Get Deep, I Get Deep, I Get Deep.”
Somewhere in the ritual’s final minutes, Louie shines his spotlight back on the real stars of the night, the dozens of people still gathered on the floor, by playing Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star.” He teases the crowd. “Is It All Over My Face?” Fifty voices chant. “Hell Yeah.” Loose Joints has the hanger-ons love dancing. Louie loves “Days Like This.” He smiles. Then he tells the people to “Stand On The Word.” That’s funny. Sunday morning church service is only hours away.
All the while, Louie never utters one word into the microphone. His voice is amplified through the music he plays, a projection that allows him to stand taller than his stature and outshine the brightest of his contemporaries. This is the power of the Vegas, to make anyone and everyone feel like a star for the night. From old friends to new friends. From dancers to wallflowers. From music makers to music breakers. From Beverly’s hills to Georgia’s red clay. Louie’s world is all about stars.
Visuals and Words by AJ Dance
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Tags: Anane Vega, Atlanta Georgia, deep house music, DJ BE, DJ Stan Zeff, house music, Louie Vega, Tambor