Concert Review: Paul Van Dyk at Lizard Lounge (June 25)

by Teresa Gubbins

Electronic dance music may not wield the cultural influence it did in the '90s, but you wouldn't have known it at the Lizard Lounge on Thursday when DJ-producer Paul van Dyk commandeered a sweat-soaked dance party that drew nearly 1,000 people.

Van Dyk, a semi-regular in Dallas who most recently visited about a year ago, is one of a handful of acts who've survived the genre's gradual fade-out. His latest release, Volume, a two-disc compilation issued on June 9 on Ultra Records, is a greatest-hits package, but he's still creating original material such as the theme music for "Grand Slam Tennis" for the Nintendo Wii, out June 15.

After sets by two openers, Kean and Johnny Funk, the crowd began chanting "Paul van Dyk Paul van Dyk" as he emerged and took his place behind his laptop on the stage. It felt festive, like New Year's Eve.

Wearing a minimalist black T-shirt and a serious expression on his face, he peered into the laptop's screen. A stream of beats hung in the air, and then it was as if a curtain dropped, with an outpouring of beautiful notes that let the crowd know he had arrived.

Having broached that oh-so difficult first round of keyboard strokes, he started moving subtly to the music, then blew the air out of his mouth, puffing out his cheeks as if he were exerted.

From there, it was a series of slow-building ascents and invigorating climaxes, capably engineered by van Dyk. One of the thrills of electronic music, more so than other genres, is that the way it allows for abdication of self to an outside force, i.e. the DJ, with the ensuing removal of barriers between you and your fellow fans.

Van Dyk is beloved because his music can be emotionally moving and even transcendent. Songs such as "For An Angel" combined driving, metric beats with soaring symphonic notes; the contrast between those two forces created a feeling of ecstacy.

The crowd rode along, cheering when the music peaked, taking photos, the flashes creating their own kinetic strobe. Before "Castles in the Sky," van Dyk sipped from a Starbucks cup, then brandished a fist, like the fist James Hetfield brandishes in the Metallica video for "One," and smiled a pleased smile. That's the other thing that makes van Dyk so good is that he does show pleasure, enthusiasm, and humanity, even if it's a subdued, Teutonic version (he was born in Berlin). If anything, that makes it all the more potent, that victory of expression over restraint.

As for the couple standing near me, they had no trouble with expression, remaining in an intense lip-lock for almost the entire 90-minute set. On the other side, two tall women, both dressed in white, danced ceaselessly. Some in the crowd wore neon necklaces, op-art pins, blinking sunglasses, and similar adorable rave gear. People were friendly. Other attendees wove their way through the tightly knit crowd, squeezing through narrow passageways lined with people sprouting beads of sweat.

After a while, the accumulation of collective moisture and sweat made the room feel less like a club and more like a gymnasium or steam room -- like taking a warm bath with 1,000 of your very closest friends.

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