Instead of our normal Friday night dinner plus a movie, my friends and I decided to get tickets to the DJ Spooky show at Chop Suey. It had been a while since I’ve actually been to either a show or a club, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend a Friday night. Turns out, it was a blast.
Before the show, we went to Nijo, a very ritzy and “new-wave” Japanese restaurant. We originally wanted to get sushi during its happy hour, but we missed it. The dinner was very good though, if a bit on the spendy side (it is sushi, after all). It felt a bit slow in there, considering its trendy look and style, but it didn’t bother me much. The six of us got a table immediately, and our food was served quickly, even for a Japanese restaurant. One very nice touch to the restaurant was the kung-fu movie playing in the bar area. Quirky and odd, but interesting.
After dinner we drove up to Chop Suey up in Capitol Hill. This was the first time I’ve actually been to a club since I was in Eugene, so it was all too exciting for me. Chop Suey is a pretty small venue – a few tables along one wall and in the back, a back lounge area near the coat check, and a small stage area with plenty of space in front for the audience. The decor was extremely kitschy Chinese restaurant-esque, complete with red lights lining the floor and bar and lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Posters of Bruce Lee hung on one wall. And the bar had buddha statues and other stereotypical East Asian items littered about. It’s not your typical smokey club decor, but it was definitely unique and fun.
The opening acts for DJ Spooky were questionable for me. The first group, a bunch of hip-hop/punk guys, had bits of Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine in their act, but the rappers definitely needed some work. The DJ and the guitarist/keyboardist were actually great musicians. I think they should’ve done the opening act themselves and ditched the two goofballs with the mics. The second group was painful – a cross between death metal and pure, utterly un-palatteable electronic noise. They weren’t very original nor very good for that matter. But I do give them points for enthusiasm.
DJ Spooky’s set was simply amazing, made more so by the opening acts. He mixed in hip-hop, rock, trance, house, disco, and all sorts of sonic goodies to make one hell of a DJ set. There was even a long audio clip of Chris Rock poking fun at Michael Jackson, which got great laughs from the crowd. Serving as a visual backdrop to the music was the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence DVD playing on his 15″ Powerbook.
DJ Spooky made the whole show look effortless. He didn’t bounce around much or get spastic one bit. He was completely laid back and cool throughout the set. Every once in a while, he would let the music play and take a sip of whatever drink he had up there. His mastery of the turntables was evident as he effortless scratched and mixed everything from Jimmi Hendrix to Run D.M.C. to whoever is the latest and greatest hip-hop star today (I honestly can’t keep all their names straight). Good music to bounce your head and shake your ass to.
Naturally, I had my trusty digital camera with me (gotta love how it just fits in my pocket). Although it was pretty dark in there, the red lanterns provided enough light for a few fun but blurry pics. You can check them out over at my Flickr photostream.
We didn’t stay until the end though. It was getting close to 1:30 AM when we left, and all of us had already gone through a whole day of work. Maybe dinner took its toll on us. Maybe we’re just getting old. Regardless, it was a great night and certainly a wonderful way to kick off this weekend of relaxation.
| chop suey | dj spooky | nijo | seattle
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