Ithaca Underground Fundraiser @ CSMA (Ithaca, NY)

February 24, 2024 | Work: 2024-02

Flyer for the event

Background

Ithaca Underground is a local non-profit that helps run and faciliate local music events, spanning all genres. They are superficially most visible as “the group that throws punk shows”, but they are also affiliated with local dance events, noise, and other performances as well. It’s a fantastic organization who really makes up the fabric of the local music scene.

Every year they have a fundraiser event. I played at the one last year too. The organizer asked me if I would play again: of course, yes!

Initially I was planning on an hour set, but later found out we were each allotted 2 hours to work with, which freed up some creative decisions. I knew I was opening, so like with the show the previous night, I had a little more content latitude since I anticipated most people wouldn’t be there for the beginning.

Ultimately I planned on three 40-minute segments:

  1. drum & bass (a reprise of the night previous, abbreviated)
  2. progresive trance
  3. 90s house

The DJ following me, aparece, often plays 80s and 90s house-type stuff, so I chose the last set to create a less jarring vibe change when she took over.

I had several iterations during practice, and in the day-of practice, made several substitutions. There were only two audibles called during the live set (one record skipped entirely and one played later).

This set was not technically paid, so I’m not sure if I will count it or not. It was for a fundraiser so I don’t think anyone was being paid.

This was the recording of the set that was made on the day of. It begins 2/3 of the way through the first segment.

Recording of set

Setlist

This should be accurate.

I: D&B

  1. Wink - Young Again
  2. Ani - Tic Toc
  3. Kosheen - Yes Men (Decoder Remix)
  4. Future Forces, Inc. - Strongium Jazz (Dilinja Remix)
  5. John B - Up All Night
  6. XRS + Marky - Striptease
  7. Matrix + Danny J - Telepathy
  8. KG - Lucky 17
  9. Hive - Ultrasonic Sound (Dilinja Remix)
  10. Greg Packer - Lost & Confused
  11. ShyFX ft. Diane - Shake Your Body
  12. Kabuki ft. Jenna G - Touch & Go (One of a kind)
  13. High Contrast - Amen Sister
  14. Teebee - Forever Lost

II: Progressive Trance

  1. Humate - 3.2 (Bedrock Remix)
  2. Delerium - Innocente (Deep Dish Gladiator Mix)
  3. Libra presents Taylor - Calling Your Name (Original mix)
  4. Kosheen - All In My Head
  5. Timo Maas - Eclipse
  6. Schiller - Das Glockenspiel (Tiesto Remix)
  7. Libra presents Taylor - Calling Your Name (Granny’s Epicure mix)
  8. Virtualmismo - Last Train to Universe (Granny’s Cheese on Toast mix)
  9. Josh Wink - Higher State of Consciousness (Original)

III: House

  1. Chantal - The Realm (Hardfloor Mix)
  2. Andrea Brown - It’s Love (Trippin’) (A-side)
  3. Quivver - Believe In Me (SPS Whooped Club Mix)
  4. Slacker - Feel Space
  5. U.S.U.R.A. - Open Your Mind (De Denotis Mix)
  6. AMEN! - Passion (Paul van Dyk Mix)
  7. Moby - Hymn (I Believe)
  8. Sia - Drink to get drunk (Different Gear Mix)
  9. Heliotropic - Walk With Me (mix no 1)
  10. Paul van Dyk - Vega (Starecase remix)

Reflection

This first segment was probably the best-executed one, partly because I had played it the night before and the timings and cuepoints were all fresh in my mind still. Testament to the benefits of practicing! The recording begins halfway through track 11 (Shake Your Body), though I am considering re-creating the first 10 tracks and pre-pending it to the recording to complete it. The final mix from High Contrast to Teebee could have been better; it was an inversion of how I played them the previous night, because I knew I wanted to end on Forever Lost.

I practiced segment II many times but the execution still felt off slightly. The “Calling your name” into “All in my head” was a rough mix, and probably should have been done differently. Originally the “Vega (Starecase mix)” was supposed to sit in between, but they compete with each other too much. In hindsight, this segment should have been made longer or replaced with something that fits better with a 40 minute limitation (like techno or acid or something). The mastering on the record for “Higher State of Consciousnes” has a lot of resonance in the 303 basslines during the peak, and that’s a little hard on the ears.

Segment III was one that I had practiced twice – once as a proof-of-concept a few days prior, and then a second time the day-of. In hindsight, I should not have ended my set on one that had been practiced so little, because that’s when the most people were present in the room. It would have been better to invert my set entirely, or to ensure that I had practiced the closing portion more thoroughly, or that I was playing with tracks that were more familiar to me. That said, the first 4 tracks on this segment were executed great. After that it kinda fell apart. I ended up running out of material by track 9 (Walk with Me) and had to pull from my “oh shit record” section of my crate to fill in the last one. It ended up being a nice fit, but I should have planned better.

Overall the set was just OK. I was still tired from the day before and my back was killing me. It’s really tough to plan for a 2 hour set. I held things together alright, I just wished I had planned my blocks and clusters a bit better, and not improvised sequencing so impulsively. Not to say the full set needs to be planned out in advance, but I like to know that a song will mix and not do it hopefully, especially with more complicated music like trance.