They say that a good DJ knows how to read a room. He knows what the crowd wants to hear before they know it themselves. A top-notch selector does more than simply match beats while stringing together a series of current hits and throwback jams. A truly great DJ blazes a path through the night, drawing a glorious, ascendant line—connecting the dots of the culture, playing with the most resonant hooks and turns of phrase, and never dwelling too long upon one song or another.
By the time Diplo unleashed the squawking synth horns of Mac Dre’s “Feelin’ Myself,” he’d already proven himself a master of party-rocking. When the Mad Decent founder and Major Lazer maestro finally took the stage at The Ritz last night, the capacity room was more than primed. The gathered throng went wild as he walked out on stage in a ball cap and long-sleeved T-shirt. It was a heartening sight.
Diplo and his dancehall group Major Lazer had drawn half a polo field worth of screaming fans to a mid-afternoon set during this summer’s Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate Park. And here he was—playing to a 537-person capacity room in San Jose. This is the type of show that our city has sorely missed over the past decade and a half.
Booking Diplo was certainly a coup for The Ritz for at least two reasons. First, it demonstrated that the SoFA club has the ability to bring top-teir pop talent to an intimate room; historically, San Jose has only been able to draw a performing artist of Diplo’s caliber and cultural currency to the SAP Center. But more importantly, The Ritz drew the crowd to support the show.
At least one young woman, a San Jose resident waiting in line for the bathroom, told me she’d never been to the venue before. And from the looks of it, there were plenty of newcomers to The Ritz last night. If downtown San Jose hopes to build a thriving music scene, it will need to host more shows like this—concerts that entice not just the regulars, but the average Joes and Janes who maybe only take in one or two concerts a year.
Didn’t make it out last night? No worries. Metro photographer Greg Ramar was there to capture the action. Check out his photos below and the full photo gallery here.
.PHOTOS: Diplo Packs The Ritz
