Deniz Koyu Gets Bongbastic At Pacha NYC (Event Review)

Deniz Koyu has quickly risen through the ranks as one of the most prolific and commanding new DJs out there, enchanting crowds across the country with his outstanding, upbeat tracks since his entrance to the scene. 2012 and 2013 have been huge for Koyu, collaborating with the likes of Dirty South on ‘Halo’, headlining the Rise Digital Music Festival, and releasing plenty of original mixes. If you haven’t heard Koyu’s ‘Rage’ yet, you’re doing something wrong.

New York has seen a lot of Deniz Koyu lately (no arguments here), opening for Dada Life in Brooklyn on New Year’s Eve, playing with Danny Avila, dBerrie, and Mikael Weermets on their Generation Wild Tour back in February, and at two consecutive shows this past Thursday and Friday at Finale and Pacha NYC.

With authoritative builds, silky-smooth transitions and a magical ability to read a crowd, Deniz Koyu gave Pacha a run for its money on Friday night. Starting off with ‘Bong’ at 1:00 AM sharp, Koyu kept things going for two hours straight. This was definitely one of the happiest crowds I’ve ever seen, thanks to Koyu’s awesome intuition, opting to play a mix of both new and nostalgic tracks. Not only was I able to belt out my lyrical knowledge to Zedd’s ‘Clarity’ and Dada Life‘s remix of ‘Llove’ by Kaskade, but also to Linkin Park’s ‘Numb’. I was instantly reminded of the first half of my 7th grade year, when I dressed up as LP’s lead vocalist Chester Bennington for Halloween and wore my LP Underground t-shirt to school every day.

I was pleased to hear other tracks by Tiesto, Sander van Doorn, Showtek and Knife Party. I couldn’t believe how eclectic the set was – each track was better than the next, and the crowd loved every minute of it. I’ve never shared so many smiles and happy moments with strangers, especially at Pacha, which tends to be a hit-or-miss in terms of a reasonable crowd.

Deniz finished off with the newly released vocal mix of ‘Reload’ by Ingrosso and Tommy Trash, ‘Follow You’ featuring Wynter Gordon, and a personal favorite, the beautiful ‘If I Lose Myself’ by Alesso vs. OneRepublic, no one was ready for the night to end. The majority of the crowd stayed dancing for the lovely DJ Gina Turner, as she provided a bubbly tech-house set which reminded of why I need to listen to more dirtybird.

Overall I believe that Deniz Koyu both surprised and impressed the New York City crowd this past weekend – two nights in a row. His set was filled with expertly selected tracks and carefully crafted mashups – reminiscent of his ever growing radio show. I can probably speak on behalf of the clubbers that attended Pacha that night when I say: I enjoyed getting bongbastic, and I’m looking forward to next time.

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