Four Tet played Brooklyn Storehouse (Night 1)

Four Tet's two-day New York takeover began on Thursday night with an elaborate and lengthy set at Brooklyn Storehouse.

As I was leaving Grouper's Wednesday night show at Town Hall, I noticed that Kieran Hebdan had been sitting a few rows behind me and as we all made our way out of the theatre, I mustered up the courage to say something to him as we descended the stairs together. "Really looking forward to your set tomorrow night, by the way" I uttered. He looked back and said "oh awesome!" I replied back, "different vibe than tonight, huh?" He chuckled back and said "haha yeah." It was a different vibe indeed. Walking in to the massive and sprawling warehouse, flood lights lit up the back half of the space and before the doors even opened, Four Tet was behind the boards spinning beats. Walking in, to a pretty minimal set up, just a giant warehouse with a little smoke and a huge dance floor, hinted that this was going to turn into something special and Kieran did not disappoint. Just around ten, the flood lights were killed and darkness filled the room as the crowd let out cries of joy as we knew things were about to turn up. Minimal house beats started to go a bit harder and the drops became more intense. A single strip of lights that extended from the stage all the way to the back of the crowd slowly started to light up, making their way from each side until they eventually met in the middle. From there, a pendulum effect was introduced as they started to sway from side to side over the crowd, creating bending waves of light that were enhanced by the fog that continued to pour into the room. Classic house energized the crowd and after being spellbound by the lights the energy was brimming and the slow build-up finally led to an all out rave. At what felt like the height of the night, Four Tet dropped his new remix off Turnstile's NEVER ENOUGH: VERSIONS and I, personally, felt more euphoric than ever, the transcendent grooves mashing with Brandon Yate's vocals was a real moment and when he followed it with "Only Human" and eventually "Looking at Your Pager," I felt an overwhelming sense of joy and elation. As the light strip turned to rows of rainbow ribbons they were dispersed by beams of light that seemed to be pointing off of the walls and ceiling, giving a cage-like structure of pillars that began to strobe with stunning power once again making the rave come alive. It was a non-stop party from the moment it began and Four Tet curated the set with masterful detail and surgical precision, making the flows and drops truly spectacular. As he wound things down, I thought I caught a tease of "Slow Jam" but that quickly morphed into "Teenage Birdsong," a slower, more meditative song with piping flutes that really serenaded the crowd as exhaustion began to set in and made for a perfect end to a night that felt epic and world class.