Clef Notes: MIXMAG X LIFEWTR PRESENT WOLF + LAMB and JAY HILL

A while back I was searching through YouTube to find some background music to grove along to. I came across a few live performances that were all sponsored by MIXMAG, sometimes they partnered with other companies for these events. Quickly MIXMAG became one of my go-tos for finding good house music sets.  A lot of times the DJs that are playing don’t travel to the States frequently or they’re up and coming, so checking in on MIXMAG has also helped expand my music library pretty substantially. Then I start to notice that in the videos… the stages aren’t like festival stages, the crowds aren’t huge, either.  Seems like they’re private parties, maybe you had to be invited or know someone? I even go into my Facebook page to see if someone I know had gone to one of these shows. I start searching for upcoming events but can’t seem to find a link to purchase tickets or even a clear event schedule.

Finally, I see an event pop up on my Facebook feed, MIXMAG is coming to Philly! I open up the event and read the details; entry is free (!!!!) with your RSVP, BUT, RSVPing didn’t guarantee that you’d get a ticket. So I entered my information and hoped for the best. Days later I receive an email that I’d been confirmed with a +1 for the show. I was SO excited! Only downfall being that the show was on a Wednesday evening, but I thought for sure that one of my house music loving friends would sacrifice one tired Thursday to go to a show like this.

I wound up traveling solo, which made this the first show or event I had gone to by myself (really fun experience!). The show was held at a place called Front and Palmer in Philly, the Kensington section of the city. There are some spots of that part of the city that are pretty sketchy but I couldn’t let that get in the way of me going to this show, even if I was by myself! Front and Palmer is a special event venue.  According to the website they’re known for their weddings and smaller events. So it was the perfect amount of space for the intimate setting MIXMAG was going for.  It was a large, open room that had high ceilings, which I feel like sacrificed the quality of the sound a little bit. If you were standing in the middle of the dance floor you were OK, but anywhere outside of that area there was some echoing.  Instead of having a cash bar, they sold tickets that were used to purchase alcoholic drinks, which there was some confusion in the beginning how much one ticket was worth (4 tickets was $12, which got me 2 glasses of wine). This event was also sponsored by LIFEWTR so there were coolers throughout the venue filled with chilled bottles of LIFEWTR that were free to the crowd.

Jay Hill opened for WOLF + LAMB.  I wasn’t familiar with either of them before this show. I couldn’t find Jay Hill on YouTube or even on Google. Wolf + Lamb was a little easier to find. There are a few sets up from past MIXMAG performances. Jay did a nice job of playing good house with a casual build up so Wolf + Lamb could close out the night a little heavier. Wolf + Lamb definitely showed up for the occasion and had the whole crowd grooving! There was also some art featured by Daniel Cloke, who’s one of the art designers for LIFEWTR. I unfortunately did not take any photos of the art, womp womp.

It wasn’t over crowded, which if you watch any of the YouTube videos, you’ll notice there is a lot of space. The main dance floor was pretty crowded but surrounding that there were tables and people chatting, some just casually standing back and watching. Since I was alone I moved around the room a lot to check out the décor and see where I would have enough space to dance (because I need A LOT of space to dance lol) and sacrifice as little sound quality as possible. I pretty much kept to myself, but I could tell a lot of the crowd was there for the love of the music and not much else really mattered.

So, if you’re a lover of house music, definitely go to one of these shows if you have the opportunity! It was fun, chill, good music and it felt like an exclusive experience that I was lucky enough to attend!