There’s something about LIV that is just infectious. Having been my first time there in a few months, I briefly forgot, but when I re-entered on Thursday night it all came back to me like riding a bicycle. The atmosphere, the people, the scenery, it really is a one of a kind venue and more than deserving of it’s high praise. The night’s act was Sander van Doorn, a Dutch producer who has been gracing stages with his presence for over 10 years. Sander is a one of a kind seasoned artist and it’s always a pleasure to be in attendance when he spins. Having seen him this same time last year at fellow Miami Beach nightclub, Story, I was more than excited to hear what he had in store for LIV. He absolutely had Story shaking and I expected no less this time around – and let me tell you: my expectations were on par!
The night began with resident DJ Mednas setting the scene; now I’ve been to a lot of venues, and heard a lot of residents… he’s in a league of his own. While most residents make your ears bleed with lazy boring dutch house beats, Mednas doesn’t joke around. Opens with a relaxed vibe, but as the clock ticks toward Sander’s set you can feel the energy increasing track by track. While I have you, go check out this interview Mednas did in anticipation of the Winter Music Conference. Interesting to see how Mednas takes into account the crowd in his song selection. His job is to pump up the crowd, and he more than succeeded in doing so.
Then came Sander… and moments later, the house came down with him – as the Dutchman wasted no time in taking LIV by storm. He opened with the vocal of “Right Here Right Now,” behind a big room beat that had the place rockin’. Sander showed his love for one of my favorite duos, Dubvision, by dropping their remix of Icona Pop’s, “Just Another Night,” followed by their single, “Rifler.” He worked in a great variety of tunes such as “Sound of the Underground,” a club jam that ignited the place on fire, and then transitioned into “Hey Brother,” followed by his unique piercing single, “Joyenergizer.” I happened to dig the variety of sounds Sander brought to the table, since it kept the crowd on its toes with a little bit of everything.
At that point Sander could have thrown down an average set and I would have left satisfied – but instead he brought it to the next level. Once again variety throwing down a big room “Tsunami,” followed by a more mainstream “Just One Last Time,” to let the crowd sing-a-long, followed by what I felt to be maybe the highlight of the night… “Find You” by Zedd (see video below). There’s something about that track that just brought the entire club together in pure euphoria, it might be Zedd’s best track to date, and it brought LIV off the ground. Overall, Sander far exceeded expectations in his best live performance I’ve witnessed to date. He did so by instead of sticking to one main genre, flipping around and keeping the crowd on edge. That’s how you spin!
I want to thank Jona Araujo and Biz Martinez for making this night possible, our gratitude never goes without saying. They do more than a great job putting these events on night after night. Can’t wait to be back again!
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