Historic Chicago club brand The Warehouse returns tonight with Juan Atkins, Shaun J. Wright
- PublishedSat, Nov 11, 2023, 09:00
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- Run with the help of original founder Robert "Robbie" Williams, the event will take place at Chop Shop.
- The spirit of iconic Chicago club The Warehouse is being revived tonight, November 11th, with a new event series. Run in collaboration with original founder and house pioneer Robert "Robbie" Williams—who is in his 70s—the party at Chop Shop will feature Shaun J. Wright, KC Wray, CtrlZora and techno originator Juan Atkins. Speaking to Resident Advisor, Williams said the project is a creative response to the gentrification of both Chicago and its music. "It's become commercialised, lost its unity," he said. "The focus should be on the dance floor, but egos have taken centre stage instead. Real DJs to me are educators and musicians–you can't be a good musician and take the audience on a journey without [broadly] understanding musical history and the entire music of the diaspora." Casey Dittmer, AKA KC Wray, is at the helm of the project with Williams. He told RA that reviving the spirit of The Warehouse is conducive to "injecting authenticity back into the Chicago scene." The plan is to host bi-monthly events that platform artists from marginalised communities at various spots across the city. They will also take the show on the road, stopping in New York, Miami, Washington, Detroit and Europe. "We felt the current state of the industry has commodified house music in such a way that its core progressive values have been completely sanitised," Dittmer said. This, he added, is the antithesis of the genre's activist roots. "House music is protest music. It began as a Black, queer, liberation movement in a post-disco era." According to Dittmer, the mass appeal of electronic music today has led commercial acts like Beyoncé and Drake to win "Grammys for their own brand of house music-inspired albums–yet the originators of house hold next to no equity within dance music. This to me was a massive injustice. That's why I reached out to Robert Williams and partnered with him to bring back The Warehouse." Tonight's party starts at 8 PM.
- Sat, Nov 11, 2023
Warehouse pres. Juan Atkins, Shaun J. Wright, KC Wray & CtrlZora
Juan Atkins, Shaun J. Wright, KC Wray, CtrlZora