[The Audiofiles] We’ve Found Dancing

Live music moves more than just the needle and your feet – strangers dance into your life and leave as friends, a melody transfixes your body while it moves you to blissful tears, and the confidence in being your true self elevates your authentic spirit to shine.

Between moving to a new state, and the way social life dissolved during COVID-19, slowly but surely I realized I’ve been missing out on something that was so integral to my evolution back in Los Angeles – the impact of live music and the beauty of rediscovering yourself the dancefloor.

Photo Credit: Theo Basserman

Watching the Coachella livestream on Sunday night hit me right in all the right feels, where the crowd vibe was palpable from miles away and brought memories of the prancing in the desert years ago front and center in my mind. Having listened to and loved each artist individually, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one anxiously waiting to see the type of magic that Four Tet, Fred Again.., and Skrillex would create together on the mainstage. Coming from uniquely different musical backgrounds, styles and generations, hopes were unrealistically high and oh my damn goodness, they did not disappoint!

Hyped up as OMG TBA, the PHM – otherwise known as the Pangbourne House Mafia – the three maestros turned their DJ set into masterclass for the books, putting dance music on the map for one hell of a closing party in the desert. Delving into multiple subgenres, like dubstep, trance, drum and bass, g-house, mainstream pop and more, all three showcased their unique and expert level skills in both production and mixing, not to mention as auditory tastemakers. I might’ve been part of this year’s Couch-ella, but these dancing feet were resurrected and having a time. Not to mention, the incredible work from the media team at Coachella the live stream was 11/10 fantastic, and the camera within the DJ booth created an intimate, Boiler Room like experience that needs to turn into a staple for DJs at these event for years to come.

I will be (im)patiently waiting for their full set to pop up on Coachella’s YouTube channel, so until then I’ll leave you with just a taste of the future of dance music from their set from Times Square earlier this year.