Mark Farina displayed a stunning performance for an intimate audience ranging in ages from the veteran club goer to the early 20’s shuffle bro and bro-ette. Everyone- and I mean everyone- was feeling the vibe Saturday December 13, 2014. The native born San-Fran DJ brought his trademark “Mushroom Jazz” style to life. Farina filled the dance floor, mixing Chicago house with soul, R&B, 70’s funk, classic disco, early jazz, and even sprinkling a helping of old school gangsta rap! Mark is recognized as one of the early pioneer house DJ’s that paved the way for the current crop popping up everywhere. House music fans and club goers congregated to see the legendary DJ, as he started out the night with familiar mixes of disco from vocal divas such as Donna Summer to funk legends Sly and Family Stone. Farina really captured the audience’s attention when he threw in a funky remix of “Ice Ice Baby,” causing everybody in the house to chant along to the iconic 90’s single.
Personally, my favorite moment was when he went straight for 80’s gangster rap, mixing it up with NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton,” then jumping a decade forward in time to Cypress Hill’s “Sawed Off Shotgun,” all the while maintaining a house-like sound! He finished off at a down-tempo pace, leaving us with an unheard-of remix of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” We chanted for an encore, but after this 3 hour musical journey, it was time to call it quits for the night. Farina, being the humble and busy guy that he is, did a brief meet-and-greet for the few fans left. I was lucky enough to snag a selfie with the maestro before he headed back to his hotel.
My only real beef with the night had absolutely nothing to do with Farina himself or the venue, but with the lackluster turnout. I wish more people had been able to see what a great performance this was, but all in all, I had an amazing time and got to witness a legendary performance in full effect!
Peace,
Weezar
DJ, Nerd, Gamer, music Fan for life!
