- Tonight, Futuresoundfriday’s stamped their authority over Chicago’s dance music scene with a big fat exclamation mark, courtesy of an electrifying performance from Satoshi Tomiie! The conglomeration of Chicago based promotional group Pure Future and Sound-Bar, proved once again that Friday’s at Sound-Bar is the place to be if you’re looking to shake your booty to cutting edge electronic music.
In recent months, Chicago dance lovers have witnessed what one could only refer to as “Renaissance-Mania”. Hernan Cattaneo, Nic Fanciulli, James Zabiela, and now Satoshi Tomiie have all stopped by to plug in their headphones, lay out their CDs, and groove the night away until the early hours. If not before, Chicago now understands that the boys from Renaissance definitely know what to throw down – wowing crowds with the latest “hot off the press” music ranging from the deep stuff, through to breaks, tech, and of course progressive.
The latest man from the Renaissance stable, Mr. Satoshi Tomiie, definitely proved why he was selected by the formidable UK label for the first ever 3xCD installment. The Japanese born, New York City resident and Def Mix member quite literally blew the socks off Sound-Bar. I’m not sure if it was simply the records he was playing, or if Steve Dash had popped in to make some adjustments to the sound system, but Satoshi had the place rocking on its foundations. He began his set bumping around between prog and prog breaks, keeping time signatures elevated and throwing down solid deep grooves. All of the tracks were filled with much depth and bass - an ideal ingredient in keeping the dance floor grounded and focused.
As the night progressed Tomiie flattened out to 4/4 prog. His selections were bigger sounding, and he relied less on breaks elements. Many progressive DJs often fall into the trap of playing monotonous sets because they play “four to the floor” throughout, with no variety or change in beat count or tempo. Satoshi perfectly balanced his set, relying more on progressive breaks elements early on, and building slowly with more progressive and less breaks towards the end. He built the night perfectly, and Sound-Bar evolved from people standing around (dancing a little), to a cauldron of sweaty beats with a maximum capacity crowd responding to everything Satoshi laid down.
Once again, futuresoundfriday’s at Sound-Bar proved that it is one of Chicago’s premiere clubbing nights, and Satoshi Tomiie created the perfect soundscape for the final installment of “Renaissance-Mania”. He left many clubbers, including myself, with “please play one more hour” looks on their faces.
Great job Satoshi, I think I might go and buy those three CDs!