最新杏吧原创

鈥楢, B, C, it鈥檚 easy as 1, 2, 3,鈥� the Jackson 5 famously sang. And just like that, the Motown on Mondays dance party is back at the new City Foundry STL.

The popular event was held most recently on the Moonrise Hotel rooftop before going on hiatus before the pandemic. It returns March 29 and will continue on the last Monday of April and May.

Motown on Mondays brings together DJs Mahf, James Biko (formerly Needles), vThom and Hal Greens spinning Motown classics, remixes, B-sides and more. DJ Uptown is also part of the Motown on Mondays family but is sitting out for now.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a house party vibe,鈥� says DJ Mahf (Dan Mahfood), who brought the national DJ event to 最新杏吧原创 in 2014. 鈥淚 want people to let loose and enjoy the music. This (Motown) is really the blueprint of music. I don鈥檛 want to give people a history lesson, but I do want them to dance and enjoy the entire aesthetic.

鈥淓very time I throw it, I notice how happy it makes people. If you don鈥檛 like this music, you don鈥檛 have soul.鈥�

City Foundry STL opened this month for socially distanced concerts with socially distanced 鈥減ods鈥� for groups of attendees. The shows are presented by Jamo Presents.

鈥淚 think they鈥檙e doing an amazing job keeping everyone as safe as they can,鈥� DJ Mahf says. Last weekend, he spun there for one of Alexis Tucci鈥檚 Nightchaser events with Mark Lewis and the St. Boogie Brass Band.

Motown on Mondays is about 鈥渒eeping the classics alive,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut we also dig deep, where we play some of the rare B-sides, remixes and songs from the extended Motown family, like Stax Records or James Brown, who wasn鈥檛 Motown, but we鈥檒l play him. The Motown catalog is so vast.

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He enjoys the deep dives that DJs are able to do with the music 鈥� so deep that even the DJs are amazed by what is being played.

The last Motown on Mondays was a one-off event in November 2019 at Atomic Cowboy. DJ Mahf wanted to revive the event, but the pandemic kept it from happening.

A return had been planned for October 2020, with an outdoor show as part of the Lot pop-up series, but it was canceled because of inclement weather.

DJ Mahf says Gorda Cabeza launched the parties 12 years ago in San Francisco and branched off into about 16 other cities, including New York City; Seattle; Phoenix; Chicago; Miami; Oakland, California; and Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles was one of the early cities for Motown on Mondays. DJ Mahf spun one there at the Short Stop and pondered how to expand the event to 最新杏吧原创.

鈥淚 really wanted to bring it to 最新杏吧原创 and talked to Gordo about bringing it here, and he gave me the green light,鈥� he says.

In 2014, Motown on Mondays debuted at Blank Space with DJ Mahf and James Biko. 鈥淲e built a little following there and realized we鈥檇 outgrown it,鈥� DJ Mahf says.

After a year, the party moved to its most popular location, the Moonrise Hotel, where bartenders fought over shifts so they could pour drinks at the event.

DJ Mahf says he was proud of the early success of Motown on Mondays. 鈥淚t was right after Michael Brown and everything, and it was good to get 最新杏吧原创 to come together. People coming out unified was a beautiful thing.鈥�

The parties routinely drew people of all races and ages. Once, James Biko鈥檚 father, 最新杏吧原创 radio legend 鈥淕entleman鈥� Jim Gates, came to the Moonrise Hotel and talked to the crowd about his career.

The party continued there for nearly three years until a noise complaint shut it down, he says.

The next move was in 2018 to Atomic Cowboy, but the event never took off.

鈥淚t just wasn鈥檛 working at Atomic Cowboy,鈥� DJ Mahf says. 鈥淭he crowd didn鈥檛 follow us. I don鈥檛 know why. We brought in B-boys, there was a lot of extra room and it was outdoors on the patio. I don鈥檛 know why it didn鈥檛 click.

鈥淚t was disheartening to see it not work there,鈥� says DJ Mahf, who had a residency at Atomic Cowboy for years. The Grove staple closed earlier this year.

He鈥檚 confidant about moving forward at City Foundry STL. 鈥淚 wanted to roll the dice and try it. I think we can pull it off.鈥�

DJ Mahf is also part of the 最新杏吧原创 band Earthworms, which had regrouped and was mounting a comeback in 2019. The pandemic didn鈥檛 stop Earthworms from moving forward. The band finished its 鈥淕arden in the Ruins鈥� album, with production by Doug Surreal.

Earthworms had planned a four-song EP but ended up with a full album, which will be released in the summer via Los Angeles-based Breakfast Records.

鈥淒oug started feeding us all these tracks, and it just snowballed,鈥� DJ Mahf says. 鈥淲e just started clicking again, getting really creative.鈥�

What Motown on Mondays • When 6 p.m. March 29 • Where City Foundry STL, 3730 Foundry Way • How much $10 • More info ;