When I went to Pacha NYC to see Alesso in December, all I remember asking that night was “who the hell is Paige?” My friend Chuck and I had showed up really early that night to avoid the huge crowd that I was sure was coming. That night, the opening DJ blew me away with his flawless transition from Tech House to Progressive, in perfect preparation for Alesso. That DJ was Paige. Since that cold December night, Paige has rapidly, and deservedly so, skyrocketed in popularity to the epitome of a New York superstar DJ—a Pacha NYC headliner.
On Friday August 19th, for the first time ever, Paige headlined at my home away from home, Pacha NYC. This was a very special night. The DJ booth was about six-feet behind the only spot I’ve seen it in for the last six years, to create a stage. The stage was set up for a very special live performance by the legendary Deborah Cox. Also performing were two lesser known sirens, Alexis Biesiada and Michelle Millano.
The opening DJs, Sted-E and Hybrid Heights had their Pacha Debut and came out strong, with original tracks such as “Futuristic Sound”, “Old Skool New”, “Trifecta” and “See U Move” all from their new album released last month ‘See U Move’. They also played their remix of “Exposure” from The House Rejects feat STAB and “Concrete Jungle” from Anton Bass & Brian CID. Overall it was a good debut for the guys who were really excited to play at Pacha NYC on such a night. Around 12:30am, I looked down on the main floor, and saw swarms of people flocking to the main floor from every direction in preparation for Paige. At 1 o’clock sharp, Lou B, a titan of nightlife industry and Paige’s manager, said a few words to the young DJ, and sent him to the booth. Paige inserted his thumb drives into the CDJs as the openers packed up their laptop.
An MC came out to the front of the stage and announced Paige. He got a huge ovation, and proceeded to bring the heat. It was a set of mainly electro and progressive bangers that had the crowd going nuts for two straight hours. The tracklist will be posted along with a “get to know Paige” interview later in the week. Some big highlights were the live performances throughout the night. First up was Alexis Biesiada performing her and Paige’s track “Leave It All Behind”. Most of the crowd had never heard this song before, and they were eating it up. You can find it through Paige’s website, www.djpaige.com. Next was Michelle Millano performing her own song “Freakin’”. Take a guess what that one’s about? The third and final performance was by the great Deborah Cox. Cox is known for such hits as “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here”, “Absolutely Not”, and another track with three Swedish guys you might know called “Leave The World Behind”. Cox came out to a huge round of applause and sang “Higher”. A new monster track by Paige and herself. Right after that, she performed “Leave The World Behind”. It was outstanding. Paige literally shut it down.
The Italian duo, known as Nari & Milani, were up next. Nari & Milani have been around for a while, but are best known for their monster track “Atom”. If you’ve left your house at all since early December, you’ve heard it. N & M opened with it. I thought to myself “hmm… interesting move. They must have a great set planned”. They did have a great set planned. It was great when Sebastian Ingrosso was going around the country, playing virtually the same set six months ago. It just wasn’t so great anymore. To stay relevant and interesting, a DJ needs to grow, expand, morph, and stay fresh. N & M dropped “Atom” THREE times. I think that was ridiculous. I love that track, and most of the tracks N & M dropped, but I would have loved to hear some new tracks instead.
All in all it was another great night at Pacha NYC. It was really great to see all the love and support for a hometown EDM hero, Paige. There were friends, friends of friends, and parents in attendance on Friday night. On top of the music, Pacha’s own Joey Vera put on a light show of epic proportions, as always, which really added so much to the Pacha experience. Paige is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in my life, and anyone who has ever met him will tell you the same. He has a huge future in EDM, and this is only the beginning.
Stay tuned to EDMNYC.COM for the tracklist and an interview with Paige in the next couple of days.
-Adam Levine for EDMNYC
*PHOTOS: Courtesy of Pacha NYC by Michael Elezovic*
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