noizemagazine - Index

noizemagazine - Spring 2008 Issue # 55 - Index

younger audience. It’s not the typical
"thump-thump-thump" you'd
find at the megaclubs of old. "We're
trying to do something that's different
for an audience that clearly
doesn't want that,” Bailey says.
“They just want to have fun, like
they're at a really fun, funky house
party."
Saturday is more traditional—the
über-gay, hands-in-the-air, anthemstomping,
big homo party where
you’ll want to take your shirt off.
Upstairs you'll find David Knapp
and Randy Bettis, who rotate regularly
as Town's resident DJs, as
well as some other big names like
Manny Lehman, Junior, and Abel.
Downstairs, Wess spins a more
alternative mix.
For Bailey, Town represents the next
generation of clubbing. “This is not
Nation again or, for that matter, any
other club,” he says. “This is a new
day. It was time to say, we're gonna
do this in a different way. Not so
different as to shock everybody, but
different enough to take it away
from the deep, dark, hard house
thing that was going on. It's about
having a fun, happy experience. The
club is not dark and cavernous; it's
happy and bright and colorful and
has a character and a feeling and a
soul.”
—Jeffery Taylor
32
Photo courtesy of Moodypics.com
RANDY BETTiS:
Big-City Beatmaster
New York-based DJ Randy Bettis finds
Town “amazing. They really planned
it right,” he says. “The megaclubs are
struggling, especially gay ones. This
is a more intimate environment that
still feels large but not uncomfortable.”
Bettis would know. His DJ gigs straddle
intimate Fire Island house parties
and super-gigs like New York’s Pier
Dance and Black Party. He especially
enjoys being on the roster at Town
because of its wide-ranging crowd,
in terms of age, sexual identity and
gender. He compares it to the old,
much-lamented Tracks for its “eclectic”
dance floor.
“Every time I’m here, I see people
with buttoned-up shirts, Latinos,
blacks and lots of girls,” he says. “It
makes for a fun party.”
Musically, he leans toward an Old
School, happy-happy playlist with
lots and lots of vocals. As the night
progresses, he moves into a more
progressive groove, maybe even
sampling a little hip-hop—but no
pots-and-pans, what he calls “demon
music.”
—Steve Weinstein