In anticipation for next week’s annual Red Party, held at the recently opened club Amnesia (formerly Sol, formerly Ruby Falls), here is the recording of the set Junior Vasquez played at Pachita on Saturday January 16, 2010.
This is a classic, high energy Junior mix, blending seamlessly new stuff (his mix of Lady Gaga’s Bar Romance, Whitney Houston’s Million Dollar Bill), Twilo classics and fantastic old school throwbacks. The party, held in the intimate upstairs lounge of Pacha, drew a fabulous crowd of nightlife denizens, pumped-up party boys, and faithful junior heads.
Here is the full recording of Junior’s set, in 5 parts, for your listening pleasure.
Download part 1 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 2 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 3 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 4 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 5 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Thank you Junior and Darren for providing us with this exclusive recording. Here are a couple videos from Junior’s party at Pachita, for your enjoyment.
Tags: junior vasquez
From Butt Magazine:
” ’96 was a funny time to arrive in New York. The nighttime was kind of really hideous then.
It was hard house, Junior Vasquez had a superbig night at Twilo, The Tunnel was happening.
And Junior was playing 25-minute percussive house remixes of Whitney Houston songs?
Right. It was starting to get all pots and pans. Tsh-tsh-tsh-tsh. All the build-ups were a constant drum roll. I never felt at home.
And all those venues looked so ugly, but not in a good way.
It’s true. It was drab.
The whole gay thing just looked like one big Chelsea.
Face-less muscle boys? Totally.
Everyone’s fucked on drugs but not in a friendly way.
For sure. Once I went to a Junior Vasquez after-hours thing. I went with a dude that I thought was cute and we were out of our heads. I can’t remember what I was doing, probably K, because I was totally K, K, K, K when I got to New York. K really freaked me out. I remember being on a dance floor and the music was so aggressive, the dudes all looked like road warriors, they all had their shirts off. I did a bump of K and I felt, like, ‘Actually, this is disgusting. This has a gnarly, ugly vibe.’ It was aggressive and sexual but terrible. I played at Panorama bar in Berlin a couple of weeks ago and that was this huge, superindustrial space with banging techno. The vibe was so sexual but at the same time there was this whole respect thing going on. It felt human.
Unlike the old New York vibe.
Right. Those New York clubs had no humanity. There was sex happening in the corner in Berlin but it was way more relaxed and cool. In New York at that time it was gross and uptight. But then I met Derrick Carter when I was 19 and we started hanging out. I actually started dating him.”
And low and behold a 4:38 minute Youtube segment from the 25 minute tribal meth-house version of Whitney—Ya, that’s real ground breaking.
Thanks for the sets!!! I miss clubbin at Junior’s partys so much…I can’t wait to listen to them. Work sux. g’nite.
Hey Circuit queens A,L.
You were hanging with the wrong crew at Twilo. you should have hung out with the club kid drag queen music producer crew. that was great. a really fun group of people with diverse talents. I always loved Twilo and had a great time. No attitude just fun.
LOL
I arrived in NYC fulltime in the fall of 1996. Junior had just started playing at Arena (Palladium) full time. Those were some of the best nights of my life. I have many friends who would disagree with you.
Are you kiddin me? 1996 was Arena and it was some of the most amazing times and vibes I have ever experienced in my life. You were definately doin too much K cause you need to get the times right. as far as Juniorverse @ Twilo…. It wasn’t what you make it out to be,but after ArenA Twilo never could compare.
Who the fuck cares.Junior is stuck in 1999,he hasnt changed his sets and style since twilo.Peter Rauhofer evolves and changes with time,thats why hes still on top.And as far as his WORK! parties go,they are the best mother fucking parties in the city period!!! Thats why he brings it around the world.Gay nightlife in new york has really been lacking.It would be better if Peter’s WORK! parties were back to being a NYC gay club night,instead of just a random event.Junior is a legend for sure,but as of now,he hasnt been living up to that standard.So instead of bashing Rauhofer,you should criticize Junior for not staying on top of his game.And I aint getting into a childish debate over it.Im making an obvious observation.Take it or leave it.
Dear traumatized CircuitQueenAreLame: beauty and ugliness are in the eye of the beholder…if you saw so much ugliness back then, perhaps it was you who was looking through the ugly prism. And remember what Grandma said: if you have nothing nice to say, just ssssssssh, be quiet!
Firstly, it was not me quoted above, but Andy Butler from “Hercules and Love Affair”, and an interviewer from Butt Magazine…I posted it as it highlights some of the problems with circuit music/fags. .Junior, Peter Rauhofer, and whatever other horrendous circuit dj’s are being promoted by the plague of chelsea gays really do not get any respect or consideration globally amongst true dance music aficionados, musicians, djs, writers, artists, or serious dancers. Moreover, the tired gay scene with it’s penchant for girly-pop tribal meth-house, along with it’s tired mall drag top 40 lifestyle has to go. This scene and it’s followers, promoters, and dj’s are not creating a community. There is no story being told with the sets—no journey. Music, and dancing is not the point for these people anyway, it is merely a background wallpaper of white noise to go along with the “look at me, I have my shirt off, and my teeth are more bleached than yours” circuit hierarchy. These people will never scratch below the surface of their one dimensional lifestyles, to find what wonders lay below.
@ circuit queens are lame
The only one who is cracked out on meth is YOU!!!
First off if you had a clue,you’d know that the gays are moving on from chelsea,in fact chelsea isnt even a gay neighborhood anymore.Many manhattan gays are spread out all over this island.I live in midtown east near central park (THATS NO WHERE NEAR CHELSEA) secondly Peter Rauhofer is NOT a circuit DJ,hes been playing for both gay/str8 crowds and has a surprising number of str8 followers.Same could be said about Boris who has played the str8 scene and is a resident at Pacha and former resident of the (no longer) Crobar.Boris has a good number of gay followers.Peter Bailey & Richie Santana (the Mind Control duo) are another 2 with gay followers.You evidently dont know the difference between a progressive/tribal DJ vs a circuit DJ.If you wanna bash “circuit DJs” you should talk about tony moran or brett henrichsen. It seems to me either you are a delusional self-loathing fag,who has way too much time on his hands and trolls around on this site.Or you are some demented heterosexual male who still has way too much time on his hands,but is finding ways to bash gay people.You need to get your life together and work on that attitude.At the end of the day,is you who is delusional and trippin on meth.You are too clueless for a discussion like this.And frankly there arent enough hours in the day for me to deal with idiots like you.In other words,I dont have the time.My agenda is full,I am booked.Good day,and good riddance.And if you keep trolling on this site,I “WILL” come back and report you to the site moderator.You are nothing more than a nuisance
@ circuit queens are lame
To your posted quote above:
I don’t remember Junior’s dance floor’s to be anything like the circuit events. That is why I loved his music and the crowd he brought in… gay, str8t, bi, tranny, white, black, yellow, green… blue… Junior had a wide range of people that, together, were”LIVING” on his dance floor … no other DJ compare’s, Junior did it first. Some people get it, some don’t.. guess you missed out on what was one of the highlights (and history) of NYC nightlife. And as different as Twilo was from Arena… Twilo was just as amazing.
Did you ever hear Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” or, at peak hour Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” at a circuit party????? … LOL You better werk Junior! That’s why we love him. “Aint No Other Man”…….
I am so sorry that hateful people are still trying the same old shit regarding Junior/Peter/Victor/Mickey Fukkin Mouse. What-the-fuck-ever. Those of us that were there (SF, Arena, Twilo) and followed Junior did so because the LAST THING he was – was circuit. Thank God he has the tenacity to keep on keepin’ on for those of us who still truly go for the music.
In addition to the Marilyn Manson and Pink Floyd comment — don’t forget Gn’R “Sweet Child O’ Mine” at Black Party last year. Talk about Gaggable Moments! That party (BP) should stand as testament to Junior’s following and what they are or aren’t. It wasn’t a typical circuit party – from start to finish – which is why I actually went. I won’t be attending this year, for sure.
Thanks to Junior and Darren sharing all the music they have over the years. Keep it up boys! We love you.
@Anonymous says:
February 10, 2010 at 12:25 pm
• Of course we know that the Chelsea gays have been on the move for a quite a while now. ( All the cheesy gay bars for Abercrombie fags in Hells Kitchen are a testament to that). The term “Chelsea Queen”, can be seen as a metaphorical term, not merely a locational reference per se. This is pretty obvious to most.
• You listed some more bad tribal/”progressive”/circuit DJ’s. One may sound more “progressive” or tribal than the next, but they are all NAFF!! Again, you will not find any serious dancers, or true dance music aficionados, that give this any worth. They will not be appearing on DJ History.com for example.
Those who are saying that Junior is stuck in late 90’s, need to have their ears examined. In fact Junior’s live sets from 90s have tech and electro notes before anyone else even thought of it. So Junior was 15 years ahead of everyone else on that one. As far as Twilo is concerned, the place was decorated differently every single Saturday. There were live performances that blew the roof off and Junior’s sound was pristine. Twilo was a club where you either belonged or didn’t so anyone with bad memories of Twilo must have been projecting their own negative energy onto it. Twilo was a safe heaven. Yeah Victor Calderone and Peter Rauhofer have evolved alright, right into unlistenable territory. Thank God for Junior, who can still make the whole room climax as if it’s a one giant orgy.