L’Affaire
A highlight of the night was seeing Harrison Patrick Smith, aka The Dare, rock the room. The majority of his set was solid and the crowd was grooving, but it wasn’t till he played the last song of his set, that the room really came to life. He played his hit single “Girls” and the crowd erupted into a frenzy as partygoers jumped up and down and belted the lyrics to the popular new jam. Harrison playing with Braxe felt like a strong passing of the baton to the new guard, from Braxe to Smith. As Harrison stepped up to the new guard, Braxe cemented his position amongst the DJ elites.
Speaking of the new guard, Orson, another Frenchman, seems to be making major waves — it was very fitting to see him play alongside The Dare, as he, like Smith, is carving out his own sphere of influence within the downtown music scene today. Since moving from Paris to NYC 9 years ago, Orson has been DJing at clubs throughout the city, gravitating around indie, disco and house. His influences as of late include Running Back, with their Italo sound, and Cocada Music, a Brazilian disco label. Orson reminisced about how DJing with Braxe brought back many memories — his first job in nightlife, back when he still lived in France, was when he was 18, working as an artist host in the legendary Parisian nightclub, Social Club.
The second night he ever worked there they were having a party with Alan Braxe’s label, Vulture. Orson said looking back that “It was such a big moment for me and it really made me fall in love with nightclub energy. That French Touch sound was so instrumental in taking the French kids who had been all going to rock shows throughout their teenage years and bringing them into nightclubs where they were still displaying the same energy. I remember crowd-surfing, a lot of fluo clothes and so much sample chopping. So feeling that energy again at Le Bain for our L’affaire party was definitely very special.”
It was certainly a special night.