It was barely 30 minutes after midnight and Pacha Barcelona was already in “big night” mode. Good Friday had been a festive day full of musical events all over the city, from festivals like elrow to more intimate parties on rooftops. Barcelona‘s clubbers had hours of dancing behind them, but they were aware that that evening, along with Xceed and Sight, was a date they couldn’t miss.
Luigi Madonna is the greatest standard of Neapolitan techno sound today. He has published music in big labels such as Plus 8, Drumcode or Second State. The latter label, owned by Pan-Pot, was the one that released Luigi Madonna’s big hit, “Midfield”, as well as the recently launched “Enfant Terrible”.
Luigi Madonna has performed in many of the best festivals in the world, as well as in the best clubs. But they are short performances, hardly more than 2 hours. The man from Naples began in the world of DJing influenced by the house sound of people like Frankie Knuckles or the great DJ Sneak, but that’s something you can only show properly in extended sets. In other words, in an All Night Long performance.
That’s exactly what Xceed and Sight offered at Pacha Barcelona on April 19th. It was the ideal date. Pacha was crowded from the beginning. People came to the club with a festival attitude. The dancefloor was handed over to Luigi Madonna from the very first hour. The DJ had told us that he loves this kind of nights because they allow him to trace an upward progression of the forcefulness of his set. However, the Neapolitan understood the circumstances and chose to reverse the order and give us a closing hour focused on the freshest sounds of his selection. Here, you will find 5 moments that summarize the 6 hours of dancing with Luigi Madonna in Pacha Barcelona.
Luigi Madonna started with some techno
That’s how Pacha was sounding like around 3 am. Luigi Madonna saw that the people came extending a great day of celebration. It was not a day for progressive warm-ups.
“Midfield” was the big highlight of the night
It’s his biggest hit, the track that, in 2017, placed Luigi Madonna at the epicentre of the big-room techno genre. It couldn’t be missed. It sounded in extended version around 4 am to provoke the maddest moment of the night.
90s sounds also joined the party
This was possibly the most interesting track of the session. An option close to the 90s electronica, with a powerful snare every two beats that reminded the best leftfield house bands of the end of the century.
Melodies started to grow
As the night progressed, the melodies closest to the sound of the keyboard were prominent, although the big-room and techno groovy bases continued to sound to keep the audience hot.
“Good Life” was the best closing
Carl Craig showed his most festive side on his day with “Good Life.” That was Luigi Madonna’s choice to close a night in which techno was a clear protagonist, but in which, on the other hand, many would go to sleep with the American house sound still sounding in their heads.
(Cover Image: © Phlame)
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