On the first Friday night of August in New York City, R3hab and Swanky Tunes decided to give us a little bit of relief from the heat at Pacha NYC… or so we thought! The thermometer was already reading a scorching 95 degrees, but that wasn’t going to stop Jacked fans and Russian house lovers alike to enjoy a little chainsaw madness and pure filth. He will always have a place in all New Yorkers hearts since his massacre in the Meadowlands at EDCNY in that godly JACKED tent. Or what about that epic night in late June when he closed for my favorite, the legendary Afrojack? Whatever the case may be, several thousand of my closest friends and I were ready for more. R3hab wasn’t going to hold anything back on this evening, and that was clear from the very beginning. He personally says his favorite place to play in the world is right here, in this place we call home, New York City.
“WHO IS READY TO JUMP?” REALLY? This is what he opened with? If you’re asking yourself that question right now, think again. The hot, steamy, dark, sensual, and packed, I mean PACKED, Pacha bomb exploded into R3hab logos flowing in lights all over the club. Just before Chuckie’s ever famous quote was about to drop, the Jacked DJ yanked that famous Pacha air horn vigorously five or six times to get the crowd hyped. The tightly squeezed dance floor turned into a sea of colors and hands moving in perfect harmony. The famous DJ’s entourage was raging hard, giving the crowd gifts of sunglasses and glow sticks labeled “I NEED R3HAB”. This added to the already spectacular array of lights that were dancing and bouncing just as hard as the crowd. It was early Saturday morning at about 1am when the party officially kicked into full blast.
No matter what type of house music you like, Pacha was without a doubt THE place to be that night. R3hab’s unorthodox style always has you wondering what surprises the Dutch mastermind has in store. He played dozens of new releases that the crowd was yearning to hear. Even though Afrojack wasn’t there, he was sure there in spirit as his best friend dropped close to half a dozen of his tracks. He dropped some oldies and new hits that forced the crowd into frenzy such as “Pon de Floor”, “Pass Out”, “Prutataa”, “Rock the House”, and “Can’t Stop Me”.
R3hab has turned into a remix genius, paralyzing the crowd with his very own version of Nicky Romero’s new banger, “I Don’t Like You”. The pinnacle of the night came when he dropped “Top of the World” by ANSOL, sending confetti and nitrous relief throughout the first floor. The sweaty, dark, congested crowd turned into a confetti wonderland drowning everything in its path. If there was a Richter scale for Pacha it definitely would’ve read INSANE. It was an indescribable feeling, leaving me with nothing but goose bumps trying to reminisce and put it into words.
Everyone who came to Pacha that night without a doubt got what they paid for. There was a great mix of dubstep, progressive, house and electro which makes R3hab stand out from every other DJ. Who else do you know that can play an Usher and Ne-Yo song, (“Scream” and “Give Me Everything”), along with “Sleaze” by Knife Party within the same half hour? Only DJ R3hab, a proud member of Jacked family and true leader of this movement we call EDM.
Even with what felt like 100 degree temperature in the club, the crowd was not ready to go home. As I went outside and took a little intermission between the two global DJs, I realized how hot it really was. The fresh air was definitely a relief, but it was so amusing to see dozens of house heads pouring ice cold water bottles on their sweaty bodies rather than in their mouth. There was a time when I actually thought Pacha had a pool party going on inside. Shirts were no longer articles of clothing, but rather being used as rags and towels to dry their soaked body. R3hab without a doubt turned up the heat, making Swanky Tunes job that much harder.
As the crowd outside re-entered the still packed club, it was still evident that both the huge crowd and scorching heat would find no relief whatsoever. Russia has been pumping out DJ’s faster than they produce vodka. Sebastian Ingrosso has been quoted saying, “There must be something in the vodka over there in Russia”, and he is one hundred percent right. Swanky Tunes was a perfect match to help close out Pacha for R3hab.
Around 3AM Swanky Tunes got on the decks and took Pacha by its throat. Their track list was absolutely insane, keeping the flame going that R3hab had started. They dropped their new track “Here We Go”, which is collaborated with another Russian powerhouse, Hard Rock Sofa. This woke the dormant club up from a little relaxation forcing even the sea horses to get back into it. You could tell at first that they were trying to please the young crowd that was left swarming around the famous dance floor, playing tracks like “Molly” by Cedric Gervais and “We Are Young” by Janelle Monae.
They absolutely killed it once they got into the flow of things. The crowd was yearning for more and they got what they wanted when they dropped the infamous “Quasar Coming Home” mashup, bringing the “I NEED R3HAB” glow sticks back out. Raging right up front of the DJ booth I was getting pushed around like a rag doll, getting even more hot and sweaty but loving every single moment of it. Mike Snow’s “Devil’s Work” drove us absolutely insane, pumping out nitrous and confetti once again at 4:45 in the morning.
At 5AM I decided to call it a night, a sick one in fact. The sun was coming up across the city quickly, but all I could think about was finding some air conditioning. This night will go down in history at Pacha NYC, starting August off with a HUGE BANG!! One of these DJs alone would’ve been an amazing time, but both together were absolutely perfect. I will never forget the night it was 100 degrees both inside and outside Pacha, and R3hab and Swanky Tunes delivered us hours of great music and turned up the heat.
-Justin Marchese for EDMNYC
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