Monsters of Dance — the Energy 92.7 3rd Anniversary Blast

So Saturday my wife and I went out dancing for the first time in a couple years. The local dance radio station has an annual party. Remember the 1988 Monsters of Rock tour? Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, and others all on one ticket? Well, this was like that, but for dance music.

(Bandwidth warning: lots of pics below, click to embiggen where possible. Excuse the phonecam pics; my phone’s camera sux. Safe for work.)

The venue was cool — the Regency in San Francisco. Let’s just say the interior is carved to death. 19th-century architecture and 21st-century bass beats are a good combo. The Grand Ballroom (at right; click to see the astonishing ceiling) was small enough to be intimate without being cramped. Imagine the room at right but without the tables, with the lights out and filled with what I’m sure was more than the posted legal capacity of 1000 humans. We spent most of the night not twenty feet from the stage, aside from the occasional side trips to bathrooms and the no-host bars, which were conveniently close by. There were huge screens mounted above the crowd displaying text messages (see one behind the dancer at left); you could send a txt and see it up above you shortly thereafter — very kewl!
The radio station caters to the LGBT crowd, which was fine with us. Let’s just say the wife and I both enjoy watching same-sex couples as much as the other kind.

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And did I mention the eye candy? Dancers from Gold’s Gym were on platforms.

Most wore thongs and not much else. One guy had a loincloth and leggings made from what looked like rabbit or squirrel furs. Sixpacks and packages, breasts and booty galore. Something for everyone! And the music — there were top-notch DJs spinning all night, including Kaskade, who was awesome. And the live acts were even better. Jupiter Rising (right) put on a good set, and the female singer is a hot little number.

Taylor Dayne (left) still has a stunning voice and is pretty damn sexy in person. My wife didn’t know she was appearing so she was totally surprised.

My wife’s been wanting to go to a Taylor Dayne concert for decades now. After her act we waited in line to buy a CD and she personally inscribed it to my wife, who was on cloud nine.
An unexpected highlight for me was Chris Willis, the lead singer for David Guetta — this guy has an incredible set of pipes, and the studio recordings don’t do them justice — he’s better live. Not only did he perform this song, but this one and this one too.

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We were both looking forward to September (Petra Marklund, at right), and she didn’t disappoint. Energy’s had both her hits Satellites and the album version of Cry for You in heavy rotation this year.

(We both noted that Ms. Marklund, who is not merely gorgeous but also has a healthy rack, wore a thin clingy top with no bra despite a very active stage routine. Just delightful to watch.)

Bottom Line: If you like dance music and you’re going to be near San Francisco next December, you can’t go wrong with this gig. My wife and I will definitely be back.

In the meantime, you can listen to Energy 92.7 live at their website. Or you can buy CDs featuring their most-played songs here and here.