the Alpha John: Review: DJ AtomX Live at Palma

As mentioned Friday, DJ AtomX played a set at the new Club Palma in Baltimore.

How was it? Let's ask the DJ:

My DJ Event At Palma Club In Baltimore:Music,Fights,Cops,And Corruption.+Pics.

So i DJ'ed at the new Palma nightclub here in baltimore this past saturday.The event was being put on by a friend of mine.The party was an asian party(although anyone was allowed to come)and i am to dj from 9 to 11pm.No problem.I arrive at 7:30 to check soundlevels and to see if their is any problems with the equipment or learn how to work the mixer if need be.

I arrive and they are just starting to work on the speakers,wiring then in and such.Why they didnt do this days ago is beyond me but whatever.Shoudnt take long these guys are pros right? 7:30 turns into 8:30.Then 9.Now were open.People are starting to come in.Then 9:30.Uh oh.Finally at 9:40 they figure it all out and i go on.

Now,i have been promised a 2 hour set no matter what.So i figure im playing from 9:40 to 11:40.Well one of the other promoters wants the hip hop dj to go on at 11.My friend steve tells me this and although im not happy about it,i can always leave here and go see Blank and Jones in D.C.The friends i brought all want to do this so im like screw it lets go.I tell steve if im not spinning im leaving. Were getting ready to leave....

Just one problem.The other DJ is a friend of steve and mine that steve brought in to play.He hasnt really done a show like this,hes completely nervous and he doesnt even think hes brought enough music for the event.Now I knew this would happen ahead of time(dont ask me how i just knew)so i took the liberty to bring more then enough hip hop music to give steve to give to him if this happened.I also brought him a set of headphones(once again dont ask!).

Now i really dont want to leave any of my music or equipment behind but i dont exactly want to stay either.My friends are ready to go.Am I comin? Whats the holdup?Decisions,Decisions.Well before i can make up my mind about it my friend turns to me and says:"Dude you GOTTA stay man!!I dont know what im doing just yet,and i dont think i have enough music.""You gotta stay and help me!!"

*SIGH*.I mean, i cant exactly leave after a speech like that now can i?So i tell my other friends im staying and some leave and some stay.I tell my main friend and roomie im gonna stay and help the other dj out,so lets just get drunk on the free bar tab i have till we can barely stand!So now,ive become hip hop dj AtomX.WORD.

Not that i dont like hip hop ive Dj'ed it in the past at partys as a favor to some people but i play dance music.But the crowd is getting really strong and theres 3 half naked go go girls dancing on the dj booth speakers so might as well have some fun with this!

Now Heres where staying starts to become worth it(if your in to chaotic scenes like i am)A guy steve and i know is so drunk he can barely stand.They try to get him to leave and hes not going.Security from upstairs shows up and they want to try to throw him out the old fashioned way.With brute force.

What these guys dont realize is that their only making it worse.Let asian friends throw out asian friends(and me the token white guy since i know him).Only if a brawl breaks out if when we would need these guys.Plus they are far outnumbered by about 200 asian guys who will stomp them into the ground if they touch this guy.I try to explain that well take care of it and their giving me an attitude about it,but all the while were getting him out of the club.At this point im now AtomX the bouncer.GRR.

We get him out in to the street and he starts bumping into everybody outside and almost falls into traffic.Well obviously the police are outside and they show up and call for backup.The cop is like"GET HIM OUTA HERE OR HES GOING TO JAIL"I told the officer do what they had to do because at this point he was starting to get out of control.

Just as i figure hes going to jail a car pulls up and the back door opens.We toss him in head first and slam the door and the car roars off.Problem solved.Still not a bad night.Only one little skirmish.Its now 2am.Im told to get on the mike and tell people were open till 3.Keep partyng!

All of the sudden at 230am the bouncers come downstairs and say to me "SHUT IT DOWN NOW!"SHUT IT DOWN WERE CLOSED!" And start ushering everyone out.My friend steve doesnt know whats doing on,i dont know whats going on,No one knows.We were told 3am.What gives???

Well What gave is that some retired punk from the liquor board showed up drunk and expected to get his drinks comped.When he was refused and asked to leave he demanded to see The security's staff paperwork along with other paperwork the club is supposed to have.When they refused he called the police.Apparently he was well connected with the corrupt politicians in baltimore(which is pretty much all of them) and about 10 cops showed up.This guy says"I WANT YOU OFFICERS TO GET EVRYONES NAME AND LICENSES IN THIS CLUB RIGHT NOW".Unbelievably the cops started doing it.He was in complete control.(Of course i gave them nothing.I simply walked past them and out the front door.NO INFO FOR YOU!

The guys who run this club are from D.C.And while im sure theres a whole different kind of bribing that goes on there,its nothing like the corruption levels that baltimore has.Trust me.If you dont give someone what they want here they will shut you down.And you have no say in it.

WELL! All in all it was a fun night and Palma actually is really nice inside.But i dont know how long this club will last unless they get more people to come out.They need to start promoting more in dc and the surrounding locations for sure.But they do have a nice line up of famous dj's coming so lets hope that on top of getting more patrons they grease enough palms and bribe enough losers down here to stay open!Thanks for reading.