A few months ago, we got a semi-frantic DM from a friend that Cirque Noir was bringing Maceo Plex. Obviously, we were excited since we couldn’t manage to see him every other time we tried (sold out too fast, and got lost while looking for Richie Hawtin first). Not our finest moments in planning, so we figured that we better hop on it. When tickets went on sale, we got them as quickly as we could, and still managed to miss the first tier sale.
Armed with our pricey resale tickets, we discussed our spacey outfits for weeks in advance, planned a crew meet up ahead of time, speculated the venue for weeks, and then rejoiced when it was finally announced. Soon enough, it was event day, and Team DOD set out into the night in search of the experience we’ve been chasing for the last several years.
When we arrived and the delightfully unmarked venue, and hugged our friends in the family reunion in line, there was the realization that we were the only ones in costume. 30 minutes in line with anticipation and even a tinge of anxiety, as our first Cirque Noir party was a shade on the lackluster side (or maybe it was because it was so cold, it took us 3 hours to finish a single, chilly beverage because it was outdoors in the Houston winter).
Thankfully, as soon as we got indoors, we passed a small herd of astronauts as we entered, and our initial anxiety was put to rest. Also, as we rounded the corner to the main dance floor, we were treated to just what we’d hopped to see: a solid, well executed theme. There were floating spaceships and planets, reminiscent of old space studio movie sets, soaring industrial ceilings, 2 booths for acrobatics (which were later chrome robot spandex aerialists), live painting, and a full story tall of projections coating the wall on either side of the stage. The crowd was a sea of well dressed black clothing, peppered with more adventurous patrons in space costume. We even caught a live painter making a huge mural throughout the night.
All of this was just a shadow of the importance of the music that we experienced. Maceo was on top of his game, armed with a huge grin throughout the night, as well as some simply fire tracks. He genre bended, blended with pinpoint accuracy, and brought on a solid ride throughout the night, as we danced our way through his captive crowd.
Kudos to Cirque Noir for bringing such care into this event.
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
