The Last Words on DJ Shadow Getting Kicked Off The Decks at Mansion

When the news of DJ Shadow getting kicked off the decks at Mansion first broke it was all over social media, blogs, whatever. People were f*cking pissed, how can you kick DJ Shadow out for playing futuristic music!?!? What bothered me was how it was less fans of DJ Shadow coming to his aide and more of the mob getting pissed off at Mansion for doing such an “unheard of act”.

We like to get pissed off and talk about things like we’re experts. Everyone was a political expert during the election, we all have the answer to curb gun violence and now we just want to talk about the things we’re going to do in 2013. People are fickle. On the internet it’s multiplied times one million.

Let’s look at it from both sides.

DJ Shadow.

He’s not the pop-house dj involved in the Eric Prydz defined “dj circle-jerk” that plays the same tracks over and over again. There are some songs at festivals that you’ll hear 10x times. Shadow won’t be playing any of them. To maintain “dj purity” without succumbing to recycling the same sets over and over is respectable. Even if that route isn’t as lucrative compared to the latter right now.

So props to Shadow for playing futuristic trap, glitch, trill shit in South Beach. But it simply did not work at Mansion.

Mansion.

I have never run a nightclub. But to me it’s not far fetched to assume that Miami is one of the most competitive markets in the US. With the new opening of Story, Mansion has to do everything that they can to compete. As we’ve seen with the new club Hakkasan opening in Las Vegas, one bad experience can ruin you.

Every night at Mansion they’re making new first impressions, they have to be at their best every single time.

When you have people paying thousands of dollars for an experience and they’re not getting it, the DJ is going to get tossed.  Calvin Harris got kicked off the decks at Tryst for refusing to play ‘Call Me Maybe’. There was no public apology from Tryst. It’s a business decision, not a personal one. It happens.

The Last Words.

Could it all have been handled better by both parties? Probably, but there’s no need for the PR wheels to keep spinning and not letting the story die.

Mansion made a decision that’s best for their business and DJ Shadow defended his integrity as an artist. That’s it.

So for future reference whenever you go to Mansion in South Beach, you know that you’re going to get a premiere club experience. When you go catch a DJ Shadow set, he is going to play his music without compromise. Both are very different but still very cool.

Here’s the now infamous South Beach set.

image via MiamiNewsTimes

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