2016: Epic warehouse parties ruled New York nightlife

We're looking back at the trends that defined dance music in 2016. Next up, NYC's fantastic warehouse scene

It’s a dark night in New York City. The ground is shaking, sparse illuminations dance from wall to wall and bodies bustle back and forth. The air is thick with a tangible heat that reaches up from the floor and engulfs the concrete structures and metallic framework inside this unassuming and remote location. People's eyes are full of bewilderment and they wear mile-wide smiles on their faces, spirits lifted into transcendence by powerful techno played by the world's best DJs on top-of-the-range soundsystems. This is no casual soiree or makeshift get together: this is one of NYC's full blown warehouse parties, packing as much punch as a weekend-long festival into one night of dancing.

While warehouse parties aren't anything new to the city, in 2016 they've played a prominent role in powering its scene. They're the pinnacle of a thriving underground and their popularity has exploded thanks to next-level promoters and ravers hungry to experience something off the beaten path. And with New York being, well, New York, crowds desire bigger rooms, louder sounds and more extraordinary line-ups.

Add to that the fact that mainstream tastes are turning on to more seasoned music with every passing weekend in the US. We see preferences changing from Diplo and Calvin Harris to Richie Hawtin and Carl Cox; those who once preferred clubs packed like sardines and massive wobbly bass drops realize there is much more to be discovered. After stuffing their heads into the innards of Funktion Ones and swooping across liquor-laminated dancefloors, these same characteristically insatiable music lovers find yet another layer: the warehouse.

Now you have the tremendous starry-eyed crowd of young warehouse seekers and the older, well-read crowd of underground music lovers coming together to form one mammoth group looking for the same thing: deep, shaking, blasting, deafening, rock-you-to-the-bone parties. It’s easy to see the growth of this faction, and with that, there is a plethora of spaces willing to supply the scene’s demand.

This is where local promoters such as Blkmarket, Resolute, Unter and Sublimate up the ante, more mainstream acts take note of the immense capacity warehouse opportunities on offer and European brands bring their top players from overseas. It's no exaggeration that the line-ups heading these events are jaw-dropping and something notably absent from 2015’s swell of club nights.

Just this year the headmasters of Blkmarket, Taimur and Fahad, brought Len Faki, The Black Madonna, Ame, Maceo Plex, Apollonia and Nina Kraviz to the stage with bigger crowds than ever before. While Unter continued to display raw and unadulterated techno titans like Robert Hood, Benjamin Damage, DVS1 and Rødhåd among others.

Then there are the big names, like Claude VonStroke and Green Velvet’s superduo Get Real, or dance music mainstays like Boys Noize, Justice and Gesaffelstein selling out Brooklyn’s 100,000 square foot spaces like clockwork to the excitement of ravenous fans.

But if there's one true testament to New York City’s relentless demand for these parties, it’s the Europeans. Yes, European promoters have traveled far to answer these needs and take our word, they’re not playing games.

Take the Berlin-based HYTE, who know a thing or two about throwing absurdly enormous warehouse events. Over 2016’s Independence Day weekend, the team joined forces with RPM to host HYTE NYC, and presented Ben Klock, Chris Liebing, Danny Tenaglia, Dubfire, Kyle Hall, Loco Dice, Pan-Pot, Mike Servito and more over two days and three stages in the depths of a secretive Sunset Park storehouse. The production and lighting was something straight from Dante’s Inferno, with hellish visuals and a dancefloor so vast, from the DJ booth it seemed to span toward the horizon infinitely.

And there isn’t discussion of the rise of New York’s warehouse scene without mention of Teksupport. The promoter famously brought Germany’s Time Warp to Brooklyn back in 2014, then seemingly disappeared for the next year and a half. Truth be told, they must have been doing push-ups on the sidelines because their 2016 return was absolutely staggering.

Within the last three months of the season, Teksupport brought the biggest warehouse events of the year. Ibiza’s infamous Circoloco collaborated with the brand for Halloween, offering Black Coffee, Cassy, Konstantin, DeWalta, Davide Squillace and The Martinez Brothers for a fully sold-out show. Then, Luciano and Kölsch headlined a one-off celebration in mid-November to another packed house. Lastly, the company announced a 10 Years Of Diynamic party with label masters Solomun, Adriatique, Stimming, Karmon, Magdelena, Kollektiv and Turmstrasse.

But despite the size, the volume, the sheer overblown magnificence of these events, there is an unmistaken reservation for the spirit of the warehouse. And this is what calls for real celebration. We asked for bigger rooms, louder sounds and more extraordinary line-ups, but held on tight to the sanctity of the underground.

These parties scream, “New York City! Fuck the rules, we’re here to party!” Some people are naked, some adorned in leather harnesses, others in chic all-black and a new fur coat or maybe just a white tee and jeans. But here’s the real treasure: they’re all losing their minds, going absolutely bat shit for the same music, the same atmosphere, the same feeling. It’s the evolution of a community of music lovers; the kingdom of the NYC warehouse.

Sydney Jow is Mixmag's Digital Content Editor. Find her by the front left speaker