On New Year’s Eve.. there was a wide assortment of events to go to in New York City. From EDM events to big warehouse parties to the dropping of the 2013 New Year’s Ball in Times Square, there was something for everyone. For many, that something was to head over across the East River to Brooklyn for the Dada Compound. Swedish headlining duo Dada Life were joined by big names like Pierce Fulton, Deniz Koyu & Bassjackers for one massive party to close out 2012.
Plugging in 15 Rewe Street into the GPS took me on a short 15 minute journey over from Union Square and soon enough found myself in a dark empty neighborhood. Arriving at 6:40, we were still a little bit early as doors were listed as opening precisely at 7:00PM. With an overall low of almost 25 degrees that cold New Year’s Eve, the idea of returning back to sit in my warm car passed my mind but I decided that 20 minutes was bearable. When politely speaking to the bouncer on the edge of the street about how it was almost 8:00 now… he scornfully replied saying he had been here since 8pm YESTERDAY and that I had no reason to complain.. Extremely rude. The vicinity of the Dada Compound was dark, mysterious and quite shady, nothing that seemed like it was about to host a massive New Year’s Party.
Being first in line after freezing for an hour and a half, we were the first ones to enter the venue where Liquid Todd started off the night while people slowly made their way through ticket check, security, and coat check. Check out the before & after pictures of the venue.. It was empty.. but not for long.
Gracing the Dada Land Compound with sets by Pierce Fulton and the popular Deniz Koyu, fans heard many progressive house favorites such as Hard Rock Sofa & Swanky Tune’s “Here We Go“, a huge mashup by Hardwell and Dannic of “Bong Into Darkness“, and the ever-so popular Deniz Koyu remix of Zedd’s “Spectrum“. Deniz Koyu closing with the Beatport Chart Topper “Reload” by Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash and the Dirty South Remix of “Embrace Me“, we soon found ourselves in the last minutes of 2012.
GOODBYE 2012… HELLO 2013.. Time to get UGLY!
Filled with lots of steel beam support towers in the venue, LED displays sat on top of them counting down the precious seconds to 2013. At 12:00, the countdowns interchangeably displayed “Happy New Year!” and “2013” repeatedly and the entire venue went ballistic with excitement and happiness. Warning us that this was our last chance to leave if we weren’t ready to get ugly.. the ceilings suddenly filled with a thick, dense fog, Dada Life came on shortly raising all hell with colorful confetti raining down after a long period of technical difficulties at 12:02.
As usual, blown up bananas and bottles of champagne were amongst the crowd bouncing along with the bass-driving beats of Dada Life. As Dada Life played in their set, the whole night could be described pretty well by the saying “This shi*t is Bananas” in the mashup between Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” & the infamous “Calling” by Alesso & Ingrosso. It wouldn’t be a set by the duo Dada Life if they hadn’t played their holy grail of tracks like “Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker“, “Out of My Mind” and “Happy Violence“. Bringing out the energy, Dada Life could be seen from afar prancing around on stage and standing atop the speakers, interacting with the crowd to bring fan’s a truly memorable New Year’s Day experience. Throwing out pillows into the crowd made for one helluva pillow fight, a little different then those when we were younger. A night of “Epic Motherf*cking” proportions for sure, they closed their set with one final song.. “Feed the Dada“, a release as part of their SO MUCH DADA artist album.
Although we could not stay any longer at the Dada Land Compound, I have heard nothing but good things regarding Bassjacker’s closing out the night. You can relive the night be listening & downloading the sets below:
Many thanks to Neil Patel Photography for joining me, taking excellent photos, and celebrating New Year’s Eve with you guys! Be sure to like his Facebook page as well!
& Also Big Thanks to Anthony Castro for fixing up with the EDMtunes watermark!
Happy New Year everyone!