Juan Atkins at Bodyheat! Part One.

If someone had told me in 1996 that Juan Atkins (aka Model 500, Infinti, Cybotron, Audiotech, Triple XXX etc. etc.) was playing at Elbo Room in San Francisco I would have been flummoxed and flabbergasted, as well as being baffled, browbeaten and bamboozled. But tonight he is indeed going to rotate some platters at that there venue there. This is all thanks to a party called Bodyheat and a young man named Logan Grosenick. Bodyheat has given us some choice entertainment in the last few months, including dj and live sets from the likes of Boom Bip, Woolfy, DJ Rahaan, Morgan Geist, Dam Funk, Quiet Village and Broker/ Dealer.

The boy is not funking about when it comes to quality entertainments for your listening, and gyrating pleasures. Long may he continue to make SF night life a little brighter as it labors under a deluge of top 40 feculent, maddening mash ups, boring bangers, tedious techno and ho hum house. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on your music or your scene, good luck to all of you, but I just don’t want to hear one style of music all night, variety is the spice of life in every facet of life.

I think Logan knows that mixing up the styles, and the old with the new is the way forward. It worked for Ron Hardy, Afrika Bambaataa, Tony Humphries, Grandmaster Flash and a host of other influential deck techs, so it should still work now. And yes Juan Atkins is a techno producer and dj — he invented the genre — but in the past I’ve heard him drop disco, U.S. garage, Italo, electro and WBMX gear. You can always count on the mid-western djs to bring some eclectic flavor. Tonight should be a good ‘un, so if you’re in SF and you like dancing to driving, synthetic music, Bodyheat should be a top bet. Local live jackmaster, Steve Summers and resident dj Niklas supply supporting music. 

Orr