Download the full set here or here
On a bitterly cold January 29th evening in New York City — Cielo, hands down and by far the best dance music venue in all of New York — was on fire! Southwest England’s Nick Warren graced the quaint and chic meat packing district club and brilliantly performed one of his trademark DJ sets, filled with the dipping and diving progressive house sound that he has built his reputation upon. The frigid winter conditions could not keep the house music aficionados and dance-lovin’ peoples from partaking in a brilliant night of music.
Nick Warren started his DJ career in the early 90′s when England’s house music scene began to boom. By the mid 90′s he was a high-demand DJ at many of the country’s biggest clubs. By the late 90′s he was an international star, performing all over Europe, releasing mix albums for the famous Global Underground series, and teaming up with Jody Wisternoff to produce under the name Way Out West. It is indeed his work as a member of Way Out West for which he might be most highly regarded.
Way Out West - Ultraviolet.mp3
Way Out West – Ultraviolet [MP3]
To date, as a solo artist, Warren has released eight mix albums for the Global Underground Series, and as a member of Way Out West, has released four studio albums. His most recent is last year’s We Love Machine. Warren has always found time in his busy touring schedule to make the trip across the pond and spin for the quickly growing American dance music community.
Cielo is somewhat of an anomaly as a club in New York because there is nothing wrong with it. The sound is impeccable, the atmosphere is divine, the dance floor is for dancing, the crowd is mature, the bar is easily accessible, one can see the DJ from anywhere in the club, and it provides for an intimate setting as it only holds about 300 people. Most importantly, and especially when it teams with Made Event, it routinely showcases the best DJs in the world.
After an exciting and energetic opening set by Bennett, Nick Warren took to the DJ booth around 12:30 a.m. As is usually the case with the crowd at Cielo, it knew exactly who the night’s main man was and exactly why he is so relevant. The energy in the club was fantastic; just a few hundred people all wanting to dance and listen to some great house music. It truly was a case where the DJ fed off of the crowd’s uplifting energy and where the crowd responded to the bright progressive house sounds that he was putting out. Warren even took the time to sign autographs for a number of club goers during the set. This is a testament to how intimate the feel at Cielo is.
As fun as a night as it was, as much as Nick Warren should be respected, and as great as the tracks that he laid down were, it needs to be stated how disappointing it was to see him perform his entire set using only a laptop without the use of headphones. For a DJ who comes from an era where one had to know a thing or two about mixing, it is not impressive or professional to rely one-hundred-percent on a laptop. We’ll give Nick a pass this time only because we know how technically sound he truly is.
Nick Warren will be back in the U.S. for the Winter Music Conference in Miami later this month. You can catch him performing live with Way Out West at the Shelbourne Hotel on March 24 and performing a DJ set at Shine on March 26.
