Club Worship hosts a seven-hour music extravaganza Saturday, Jan. 22, at House of Blues at Showboat.
Eddie Thoneick
A few decades ago, dance clubs and the music DJs played in them seemed to fall into maybe a couple of collective styles, and in terms of popularity the artists on the record labels stood head and shoulders above the turntablists spinning the discs.
Since then, and in a trend related to the capacity for anyone to carry around advanced computer technology in their back pockets, electronic dance music (EDM) blazed into all the nightclubs, and genres and sub-genres like house, techno, trance, break-beat and other names started springing into the vocabularies of the recently hip.
With that also emerged names of DJs with the creative ability to mix, scratch and blend beats and lyrics into signature sounds that gave them superstar status in their own rights, many commanding tens of thousands of dollars for single-night performances at certain clubs.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, Club Worship at Showboat’s House of Blues will feature two rising EDM stars in a seven-hour music extravaganza starting at 11pm. Headlining the event will be chart-topping DJ/producer/remixer Eddie Thoneick, a preeminent figure on the European EDM scene who will be performing in Atlantic City for the first time. Also appearing will be DJ/producer/remixer Rob Mirage.
“We’re marketing, booking, selling and presenting entertainment, and we have different formulas and different ways to figure out who that should be and who’s going to set the audience on fire,” says Todd Rodeghiero of Art of Electronica (AOE), which is presenting the event in association with Decibel and Cruzan Rum. “We like to think Eddie’s one of those guys.
“‘Live Your Life’ is his most explosive track and the one that really put him where he is right now, and was pretty much the anthem of the electronic dance music scene this past summer,” he adds. “His explosive success is traced to that song, and at this stage in his career we feel he’s just getting off the ground, really.”
“This event on the 22nd has already been generating tremendous buzz around the region, and even in certain pockets of North Jersey and New York,” says Joe Friedman, business development manager for House of Blues in Atlantic City. “We think it’s going to be a success and the start of a long-term relationship between Art of Electronica and Caesars Entertainment/House of Blues.
“I was impressed with an event series Todd and Mark [Marek] produced last summer called Nervous Beach Party at the Hilton [Beach Bar, sponsored by Playboy Energy Drink],” adds Friedman. “That’s how they got on my radar, and we’ve been talking pretty much ever since. A lot of times with certain event producers there’s a lot of talk and not a lot of follow-through, but what really impressed me about Todd’s operation is that they are a fully integrated operation — not just from the standpoint of artist booking, but they have a whole promotional component behind them and they have the ability to solidify corporate sponsorships. They share our sentiment of bringing artists in here to perform some really substantial events for many years.”
AOE was behind bringing Thoneick to Atlantic City, as he has largely honed his craft in Europe thus far. Mirage, born and raised in New York City, is already a 15-year EDM veteran at just 27 years of age.
“We’re also very excited to be working with Rob for the first time,” says Rodeghiero. “Luckily for us, he just put out an unbelievable, acclaimed compilation album on the label that he just started, Nirvana Recordings, that’s getting a lot of attention, so we’re catching him on the cusp of an interesting time in his career as well.”
Saturday’s opening act will be Luvitt & JNH of Dance.Philly, followed by the dueling DJ tandem of Palz & Garcia from midnight to 2am. Thoneick will perform during the headline slot of 2-4am, and Mirage will close out the show’s final time slot from 4-6am.
“It’s going to be a great show,” says Rodeghiero. “Atlantic City’s a great place because you can do so many different events, give sponsors so many different looks and feels and ways to interact with the audiences.”
"It’s a great time for us, and a great time for me. I’ve never really saw myself as just a DJ, I saw myself as a performer and being technically involved. I’m in my element right now.”
" I’m the baseball that kind of like crashed through the window on the side of the house and fell into the living room."
“What we’re seeing right now [in A.C.] is Revel and Borgata going head-to-head with these big-name house DJs. They have become celebrities who get anywhere from $20,000 upwards of $200,000 per night for a couple of hours, and most of the time they’ll sell out these arenas or nightclubs. ... They’re the new celebrities.”
Headlining the countdown to midnight is famed electro house artist and DJ, Steve Aoki, who will be joined by Tommy Trash, Adventure Club, and David Solano.
For the past two years, the ACWeekly.com Nightlife Awards and Resorts’ retro nightclub Boogie Nights have clicked well as a combo, recognizing exceptional contributions to the area’s after-dark social scene in a fun, nostalgic atmosphere.
The truth is, our region has been a live-music mecca since the early 1900s, when cats like Eubie Blake and Eddie Cantor hung out for summers and performed at local clubs. Decades later the Atlantic City jazz scene was as hot as they come, with internationally heralded performers from Billy Eckstine and Louis Armstrong playing residencies at some of the hottest clubs on the East Coast, namely the venues on Atlantic City’s fabled Kentucky Avenue — all of them are gone now — including the Club Harlem.
In 1988, EPMD released its first album, 'Strictly Business.' Two decades later the pair from Long Island are still doing what they do best — making feel-good music.
It sounds like Miami's South Beach will hit Atlantic City Aug. 11-14 when the 2008 International DJ Expo returns to the Boardwalk. The 20th annual DJ Expo moves from the Atlantic City Convention Cen...
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