Happy Monday friends! November is almost upon us, and with it comes the holiday season. Pretty soon we can count on a flood of invites to the customary variety of seasonal get-togethers such as happy hours, holiday dinners, shopping dates, family gatherings, and cocktails with friends. But before all that begins, lets talk about our Halloween experience. This past weekend, we had a special opportunity to attend the City of Gods party, set between two separate venues, The Paper Factory Hotel, and Grand Prospect Hall. The long-awaited event was planned between some of the most seasoned New York nightlife professionals, and highly appreciated camps of Burning Man: House of YES, Disco Knights, ZERO, DISTRIKT, MikiMau, Mirage Garage Community, Tierra Bomba, and Bubbles & Bass.
SPOILER ALERT: They hit the nail in the head.
Even before the line up was revealed, the hype for City of Gods was evident when they’re tickets quickly sold out, so we were thrilled to get a chance to visit the Paper Factory Hotel to embark on this mysterious journey. The moment we stepped into the party, we immediately knew that things were different there. We walked into a black hole of creativity in its various manifestations, like paintings, costumes, music, dance, and visual arts. It was a place like no other, a world of its own, even beyond our wildest imagination. Immediately after entering, we were greeted by Peter Clough, a performance artist, demonstrating his work, “happy faggot”, and throughout the hotel, there were showcases of innovative artists compiled from the community, and from around the world.
Early on, it was Satori that got things really heated for us in the outside area, which was covered by a tent in case the weather decided not to cooperate. His distinctive set had us dancing for over an hour as he dropped incredible tunes that we can describe as peculiar in the most positive sense. Right before his set ended, we decided to take a quick walk around the venue to check out the other rooms. There were food, and beverage stands located at the heart of the halls, and they actually did not have obscenely long lines.
The hotel’s layout was confusing, in the best way possible, that made the party even more exciting, and fun. We discovered new rooms as we navigated our way up and down the stairs, and each room had its own vibe. Shortly after, we ended up in the basement to catch the tail end of Viken Arman’s extraordinary live set, and immediately noticed the decor to be unalike in this area of the hotel. An elaborate, and intriguing laser system danced around the underground room, with black lighting, bright neon colors, and all kinds of humans in intricate costumes decorated with LED lights. Shortly after, we made our way back up to the outdoor terrace area to meet up with friends. We saw Sainte Vie, who did not disappoint, and also got a chance to discover an artist we had not yet seen or heard of. His name is SORÄ, he played his set with extreme passion, and the crowd responded by going nuts with every single track he dropped. His style was nomadic, with a lot of Middle Eastern influence, with deep Persian, Turkish, and Arabic vocals. He took us on a mystical journey that opened up something inside our hearts, and spirit as it transgressed through a world of childhood memories, moods, and feelings.
City of Gods was the epitome of incredible flair, remarkable art, and a bolstering place for individualism. All throughout the event, there were a rotating cast of DJs, like Oona Dahl, who was dressed up as Sailor Moon, Mira, Birds of Mind, Tasha Blank, Wild Dark and many more. We caught Christian Voldstad alongside Seth Hosko mesmerizing the crowd by dropping beats, with a side of sexy violin in one of the various rooms throughout the hotel.
After a long night and well into the morning, we are still only able to say that we came back seeing only half of what was there, and even that may be a stretch. We also got to eat two bowls of yummy Vietnamese noodle soup, which may have been the reason we even made it through Sunday morning. The amount of things to see, to hear, and feel was unfathomable, and overall, it was an event that one needs to experience first-hand to really understand. It was so much more than just a Halloween party; it was a magical voyage that we can’t wait to onboard next year!
Ciao,
T&P
Techno & Pizza 