At the Rock and Roll Hotel, your evening is always bound to start in the upstairs bar. With the winged guitars hanging from the ceiling, the themed lounges, a DJ spinning in the corner and the steady flow of drinks, the party never stops at this DC hangout. Add the place to The Dance Party’s CD release show on Friday, October 1 and it might almost be too much party to handle. Almost.
Celebrating the release of their major label debut Touch, The Dance Party’s return to the nation’s capitol was destined to be an epic adventure. The crowd had to wait until 12:15am for the band to hit the stage and by then everyone had plenty to drink and the excitement was practically oozing out the front door.
The sold-out crowd started the chants for fan-favorite “Sasha Don’t Sleep” early in the set but The Dance Party knows the benefits of keeping an eager crowd waiting. They teased fans with the energetic “Pretty Girl” and sexy “Body Language” as the sweat poured off every body in the room. There wasn’t a single person in the venue that was not dancing-in fact, at the back of the room a “dance circle” formed in lieu of a “circle pit.” That’s just how The Dance Party shows work; everyone, girl and guy alike, is dancing, not moshing.
Towards the end of their set the band declared they were performing a song they just wrote “last night” and was greeted with the expected roar of the far from exhausted crowd. If possible the roar got louder when The Dance Party then broke out in “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson. Frontman Mick Coogan’s signature falsetto fit the classic hit well as the majority of the crowd sang every word back at him.
The end of the set finally rewarded the patient crowd with “Sasha Don’t Sleep.” Fans found new energy after 1:00am as The Dance Party ended the night on everyone’s favorite note. The band left the stage promising hang time and of course more partying to come. DC is bound to miss The Dance Party as they head out to play some shows in New York and New Jersey later this month. The band will return to the area when they play Ottobar in Baltimore on November 2.
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