I've been to Lipgloss many times before but I've never blogged about it and I haven't been there on a night where they had a special guest DJ. Every time I'd go there I was always treated to a major dance party - a good mix of both music and people to create the perfect party atmosphere. Friday night, that's exactly what I found, a party that continued to grow in energy and intensity and an ever-so-packed dance floor all the way up to closing time. For a fan of dance, that is the recipe for perfection.

option4

As the night began, resident DJs boyhollow and option4 rotated sets on the decks. Each DJ played about a half hour long 'shift' leading up to the guest DJ spot, which meant each DJ played about three sets each. It was a rotation format I don't often see, but it was a very good concept that allowed both resident DJs to build up the crowd energy throughout the night rather than each DJ just being one-and-done. Also, it helped keep a good mix of music throughout the night.

boyhollow

The Lipgloss DJs boyhollow and option4 had different musical personalities; boyhollow tended to prefer mixing hard electro, dubstep, and rock while option4 tended to prefer smoother house and disco. Their contrasting styles did well to keep people continuously on the dance floor, as the constant variety meant the music never got redundant or tiresome. It also meant nobody missed out on a particular style of music, meaning fans of a particular style could get multiple doses of it throughout the night. It truly was the best way to run the DJ booth, and by the time the guest DJ was behind the decks, the floor was packed full of dancers ready to get down.

Le Castle Vania

Le Castle Vania was the special guest DJ Friday night, a DJ and producer from Atlanta. Using two turntables and a mixer, Le Castle Vania played out a set of his original songs and remixes. Le Castle Vania is all about bass heavy and distorted-synth electro - the kind of uptempo dance fare that gets crowds into a sweaty rage, which is exactly what ensued on the Lipgloss dance floor. All throughout his set people on the dance floor had their feet shuffling, arms swinging, and heads banging in controlled chaos to the beat of Le Castle Vania's music.

Le Castle Vania

For some of his set, Le Castle Vania dropped his hard and heavy original tunes, but for this night, Le Castle Vania's remix work was king. He added the extra hard electro kick to a number of songs across many genres, somehow getting them all to flow together in a melt-your-face-off flowing dance set. He played standout remixes of songs like Daft Punk's "Robot Rock", Muse's "Knights of Cydonia", Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You", The Prodigy's "Invaders Must Die", La Roux's "In For The Kill", and Kaskade's "Turn It Down". Even Smashing Pumpkins got a little love with Le Castle Vania's "Zero Machine". Fans of hard electro should check out Le Castle Vania's style - he spins electro like a rock star.

boyhollow

After Le Castle Vania's set, boyhollow went back to the DJ booth to do his closing duties. For the last set of the night, boyhollow dropped his hardest bangers but also mixed in rock favorites. Once the crowd had nearly danced themselves out, boyhollow started mix in songs like Nirvana's "Lithium", The Cure's "Lovesong", Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" and The Ramone's "Beat On The Brat", getting the crowd to wear out their vocal chords as much as they'd been wearing out their legs. It was the sort of party you wouldn't want to end, and boyhollow took it all the way up to closing time. An any given Friday night, you can expect a wild dance party at Lipgloss. The resident DJs know how to hold it down, and if there is a special guest DJ, watch out - the party will go to a whole new level.

See more pictures from this show in the Facebook photo album. Like the Concerted Effort page to stay up to date.