The New York techno scene is not as impressive as it should be for the city’s size, but occasionally there are surprises. One came on Friday night, when John Tejada played at Williamsburg’s Public Assembly for the monthly Bunker party. Fresh from his new Fabric 44 mix, Tejada kept a packed dance floor in Brooklyn moving until the early hours of the morning.
It wasn’t his first time to play at the party in Williamsburg, but the crowd that never stopped filtering in (and forking over a hefty $20 for entrance) would have you believing it was a monumental occasion. Tejada didn’t get behind the decks until around 2:00am, and he didn’t waste any time getting comfortable. In fact, the DJ didn’t budge from his one-foot-forward and head-bopping stance for the entire set.
Tejada could have packed a club in Manhattan just as easily. But the Brooklyn crowd made up for it. Respect for the techno veteran was on display throughout the wall-to-wall crowd, with the occasional “TE-JA-DA” chant and non-stop dancing in all corners of the room.
The last time I saw John Tejada he was spinning only vinyl in Tokyo’s incredible Club Yellow. On Friday, his rudimentary set up—a laptop and large mixing board between two speaker towers—matched the industrial, no-frills atmosphere at Public Assembly. The space is far from the opulent clubs with monster sound systems where he usually plays around the world, and Tejada could have packed a club in Manhattan just as easily. But the Brooklyn crowd made up for it. Respect for the techno veteran was on display throughout the wall-to-wall crowd, with the occasional “TE-JA-DA” chant and non-stop dancing in all corners of the room.
John Tejada’s techno is known for its melodic sensibility, but the show on Friday was full of body-moving, bass-pounding dance music. Highlights from his set included some tracks from the Fabric mix, including bangers “Wax1001” from the Wax label and “Cristal” by Nekes. If Tejada comes to Brooklyn again, he knows where to find a good crowd.
Words and images: Patrick Burns
