Sound Palette
Andrew called me in the middle of the week to make me aware that UNEAQ had been invited to play at Sno-Drift on Saturday with JT Donaldson, MJ Gamez, Sharon Buck, Roger Moorehouse, and Ladyhouse. There was no way I was going to miss this party.
After hearing from my friends that all of them had other plans, I hit the road and drove up to San Francisco in time to be the sixth person through the doors (although I got there after 11). I was on the guest list and wander in to await the return of the musicians from some taquería on the Mission.
MJ Gamez dropped a clean, funky set to an mostly empty house. Sharon Buck followed, playing a really enticing set of tribal and tech tracks that made it a tragedy that very few people were on the dancefloor. After her, JT Donaldson played a couple of tracks and gave over to some guy I didn’t recognize. About then, a couple of party buses showed up and the club was full — mostly with women. I hung out with my South Bay people and ripped up the dancefloor, at least until some of the members of the bachelorette party started to smother me a little bit.
UNEAQ came on right at two in the morning and played a magnificent set, including a couple of tracks I haven’t heard them play live before. Jessica and Andrew celebrated their birthdays in rare style, tearing up the speakers with their sophisticated deep house sound. The crowd waned a little bit as the gaggle of girls from the bus took off to some other venue, but the party kept on. Jessica’s vocals never fail to inspire, but with the sound system in Sno-Drift and the tight, intimate room, the sound was completely different than I’ve heard it before. What a great set!
Ladyhouse closed us out with a mix of house tracks that can only be described as “damn”. She kept the groove going until the club emptied out just before 4 in the morning. After watching the mad beatboxers and freestylers in the back room, I helped the band load up their equipment, said my goodbyes, and zipped back down the 101 for home.
Happy birthday, Andrew and Jessica. It was great to hang out with you all again. Let’s do it again really soon.
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