Label was recently opened in Charlotte, NC at the Music Factory and has been blowing up every time they open their doors. While the Denny Hamlin project 'Butter' and long running 'Halo Nightclub' (where Oakenfold, Chuckie and Nervo put on one fantastically fun show a few years back) may have passed away into oblivion over the winter months, with so many other bars in the immediate area already such as the Saloon, Osso Lounge, VBGB Beer Garden, Wet Willies, Small Bar, Bask, The Comedy Zone, and future guaranteed to be hot clubs 'Bamboo Sky' and 'X Nightclub' opening this summer (both by Charlotte/Las Vegas promoter Derek Braun), the Music Factory is poising itself for a showdown in amount of options on offer that is now almost rivaling the Epicenter and Downtown area.
Label, owned by Lisa Bennett and Robert Ortiz, is a state of the art South Beach styled club in North Carolina's quaint Queen City. The club's designer, Francois Fossard, has come highly recommended. You may have heard of a few of his many other projects: Mansion, LIV, SET, Arkadia. And now....Label. It certainly will rival all his other projects in vision and sound, but one notable exception, beers do not cost $10 and as of yet.
It will take no close inspection to see Label clearly is a different beast to the clubs dotted in and around the greater Charlotte area, and while other clubs seem to be closing or rebranding, this one has just kept expanding since day one. Certainly a first for a venue in it's area is the enormous 24 foot led video wall towering over the main VIP stage. The multimillion dollar complex was built from day one with a spare-no-expense attitude, having spent well over $500,000 just on the sound and lighting systems.
After several times experiencing the monster at full kilt, 'In Bass We Trust' can truly say it was well worth every penny invested. The venue is amazing from the top down; from the gorgeous white decor in the ivory lounge, to the vip area seating, to the Mansion sized DJ booth fitted in mirror, to the (at least currently) hottest v.i.p. waitresses and dancers in town, to the multiple rooms of sound, multiple floors and outdoor areas, as of 2013 dance music in NC has found a place to rival any of the venues in the 'A' level markets.
The club lists notable talents such as Wiggz N Wonz and Rob Reeves on the roster of talented resident DJ's and is open Wed to Sat nights; especially good for their Wed. college nights and any given Saturday. Label is clearly aiming to make their money on big name DJ's though and have already brought in capacity crowds of punters for both David Guetta and Calvin Harris in 2013.
On to Morillo (sponsored by Hennessy on this night).
The crowd would have been even bigger, had another local venue not hired on Sander Van Doorn the same night, but certainly no one can complain when a small town like Charlotte offers up huge options on a Thursday like that. With tickets at just $25 and a pre-sale two-for one special on tickets, this show was a no brainer, as it was so far from the$100 norm for an Erick Morrillo show. Truly anyone who enjoys the house genre and stayed home on this one missed out on so many levels.
Resident DJ's were already warming a very receptive and quickly building crowd by 10 p.m. when 'In Bass We Trust' arrived to check out the party. 'DJ JD' and the venue's Managing Partner/Operations Director and longtime Charlotte DJ 'Nick Spain' opened the night with brand new tech-house tracks like DJ Dan & Gary Caos's 'Minibus', Mark Dedoka's 'Piano Circus', Format:B & Pleasurekraft's 'Coltrane' and Sweet Freex's 'Masala Tech', before stepping up the pressure in the room with the big room bomb which David Guetta debuted at this years Ultra Music Festival, Chuckie v. Dzeko's 'Down To This' and the room was about ready. By midnight they were venturing into the world of 'Black Room Boy' by Above and Beyond and it was about time for the headliner.
Let's ignore Erick's undeserved slip out of the DJ Mag Top 100 this past year and his episodes in Miami during WMC, canceling on his sell out crowd at his Club Space gig and his spot at Ultra, because if the man has an ongoing problem, it certainly was not on display 4/25/13 at Label. Erick played like a top tier DJ having something left to prove the entire night with more than typical energy for a Thursday and his trademark poses and flair on full display.
With Columbian flags waving and champagne bottles popping in the vip areas throughout the now packed crowd, a wonderful piano roll introduced the man to the decks. Things soon kicked in when Morillo dropped the new Salto/Chuckie bomb Toys Are Nuts 2013, mixing the track into Dr. Dre's 'Next Episode' for a venue sing-song before bringing back Toys a few more minutes. Confetti cannons were exploding and Erick dropped one of his new tunes from his own label (at Label, hehe) Subliminal Records, 'Flamenco', co-authored with Harry Romero and Alex Kenji. While the show was amazing throughout [he really didn't need to drop the Mafia for this corwd], some of the highlights included Jay Lumen's 'Get Ready', T. Tommy & Victor Perez's remix of Paralox's cover of 'Creep', Wink's Higher State of Conciousness (Dirty South & TV Rock mix), 'Tombo' by Danic, 'Work' from Denise/Masters at Work and the closing number 'Dear Prudence' remixed by David Berrie. Erick picked up the mic to thank the crowd and promised to be back in NC soon. After the show Erick was kind enough to stop on his way out and chat with the crowd a few minutes and pose for pictures. Certainly a great night at Label was certainly had by all.
Morillo Tracks:
Canto Ostinato
Toys are Nuts 2013 (Gregor Salto & Chuckie)-->Dr. Dre - Next Episode--> Toys
Flamenco - Harry Choo-Choo Romero, Alex Kenji & Erick Morillo feat Mati
Get Ready - Jay Lumen
Save the World - Swedish House Mafia
Evil Lurks - Wolfgang Gartner & Tom Staar
Creep - Paralox (T. Tommy & Victor Perez Mix)
Love You Feel 2013 - Soul Avengerz (Frater & Stent Mix)
No Diggity - Blackstreet (Fare Soldi Mix)
Swept Away - ATB
Bonha - DJ Smash & Fast Food (DJ Antoine v. Yoko Mix)
Live Your Life - Erick Morillo & Eddie Thoneick feat Taylor
Higher State of Consciousness - Wink (Dirty South & TV Rock Mix)
Still the Same Man - Nicky Romero feat John Christian & Nilson
Yeahh - The Whiteliner (Konstantin Mix)
Tombo - Danic
Work - Denise & Masters At Work feat Puppah Nas-T
Rainy Dayz - Oleg Poliakov
Bad Habit - ATFC
Reload - Sebastian Ingrosso, Tommy Trash & John Martin
Dear Prudence - Beatles (David Berrie Mix)
