When Warehouse 135 initiated its campaign to change the world…I mean elevate the clubbing scene by resurrecting the Underground, boy were they downright serious! Hosting events that deviated from the mainstream such as Diskoteca Deluxe Friday Night Live, Rewired, CTA's Peak of the Underground and rolling the DJ's booth's red carpet to our local DJs and Electronic artists who new damn well the true essence of the Underground – that probably was the music scene's breakthrough initiative of the year. Not only did it broaden the "music appreciation" of the Metro's hardcore clubbers but it made everyone aware that there's so much more in dance music than your usual "well-known, what-the-heck-as-long-as-it-makes-you-dance club hits".
And when DRIVEN & WAREHOUSE 135 brought in Superstar DJ and Producer STEVE PORTER last June 16, 2007, that entrenched equator-deep the groundwork for the sky-high flagpole that marked the ultimate rebirth of the Underground – pointing clearly to the direction of where the scene is heading!
Too bad I can't say much about STEVE PORTER but that - he's the bomb! Take the best Electro set you've ever heard in your life, increase the intensity a hundred notches higher, that's PORTERHOUSE for you, my dear. Funkin' dirty angst! His Big Room Electro, Techno and Progressive set with Break Beats for build-up was just plain electrifying! No wonder his tracks find their way into the record boxes of the likes of Sasha, Lee Burridge, Derrick Carter, Carl Cox, Sander Kleinenberg, Mark Farina and Paul Van Dyk. Porter's suave DJing style with an attitude created a magnetizing connection between him and the crowd. No wonder those crazy ones who were in the dancefloor never left their post, evidently drowning themselves in Porter's pure Underground sound! Well, that's what happens when you're dished out with prime grade porterhouse served bloody rare (wink, wink).
That wasn't all that highlighted the night. DAVID JACOB of NBK and KEE CLUB (Hong Kong) did an excellent job warming up the crowd with his wicked Electro Dub Tech beats. I could not think of a better DJ to open for Steve Porter! DRIVEN'S very own ALI NEPOMUCENO picked up flawlessly where Porter left and kept the party up and running with his Breakbeat, Progressive and Techno set. These world-class DJs most definitely received "the nod" from everyone in the venue.
To cut it short, ALL SYSTEMS GO: PORTERHOUSE was out-of-this-world crazy.
Muchos gracias to DOMINI PRIMERO and the brilliant team behind Driven Manila and Warehouse 135 for a very successful, cutting edge event. Kudos as well to the event's major sponsors WINSTON, CHIVAS and SMART GOLD. Till the next one.
Copy by Karen Cornejo for DRIVEN, 06.17.07 ;)