Scene and Heard

Bjork, Dave Longstreth, Tyondai Braxton

Photos by Nate Dorr » The Rites of Spring Haiti Benefit was as hot as being surrounded by 500 party kids with flashing cameras of all flavors trying to get shitty pics of their favorite stand-in celebrity DJ sounds. This, in the unventilated Above the Auto Parts Store space which, if it hasn't already won the reputation, most definitely deserves a crown for sweatiest venue in Brooklyn.

Text by Clickbeatle
Posted on May 04, 2010

Bjork, DJ

Tyondai Braxton

Tyondai Braxton and Dave Longstreth

Alex Ross kicked off the night with everything from Meredith Monk to Missy Elliot, sprinkled with cinematic transitions. Once Bjork stepped up to the decks (or more specifically, the dual iPods), the camera phones strobed the dance floor for the next hour or so of bangers that included Major Lazer & Crookers' "Jump Up", and Rihanna’s "Rude Boy". If seeing Bjork dipping low to Beyonce in Bushwick wasn’t surreal enough, add the Michel Gondry cameo and see where that gets you.

Tyondai Braxton kicked off his set with a bass heavy Bmore track “Shots” by LMFAO & Lil Jon and followed up with some old school/new school party jams (Salt & Pepa, "What a Man", Lil Wayne, "Milli") with a bit of hypnotic gypsy house thrown in the middle. By the end of the set I had sweated out my last ounces of body fluid when Tyondai threw on Daft Punk’s "Robot Rock" and the place blew up… I found myself dancing with Bjork and the rest of the ad hoc Rites of Spring crew.

As I was leaving, it was unclear whether the crowds of people outside were escaping the heat for some fresh air or if they were still trying to get in… Regardless, this one was a hot party, indeed.