live sets

Agape's Halloween party is an annual tradition of familiar faces and all-night grooving. I was honored to warm up the dance floor this year, opening for my friends @jamesfish, @popstack, @asblackstock, and @lukasb. As my first live set, it's slightly rough around the edges, but the crowd was friendly and the dance floor was moving.

This set spans a few genres; It starts off mellow, builds up with some tribal beats, shifts into higher-energy house and future garage tracks (with a Bieber-flavored surprise in the middle), and closes out with some deep house. Hope you enjoy it.

Track List:

(00:00) Maceo Plex - Gravy Train (Nicolas Jaar Remix)
(03:34) Nu - Geno (Bedouin Remix)
(10:15) Max Graef - No 5 (Original Mix)
(15:30) Mary J. Blige - Right Now (Shadow Child Remix)
(19:45) John Talabot - So Will Be Now… feat. Pional (Original Mix)
(24:18) Disclosure - Boiling (Medlar Remix)
(29:02) RÜFÜS / RÜFÜS DU SOL - Desert Night (Motez Remix)
(33:17) Justin Bieber - Sorry (Wide Awake Tropical Remix)
(36:40) Flume - Never Be Like You feat. Kai (Disclosure Remix)
(41:38) Damian Lazarus - Sacred Dance of the Demon (Gorgon City Remix)
(47:55) Bob Moses - Like It Or Not (Joris Voorn Remix)
(53:50) Moderat - Rusty Nails (Booka Shade Remix)
(58:53) Florian Kruse, Hendrik Burkhard - The Ground (Original Mix)
(1:03:42) Roman Fluegel, Simian Mobile Disco - Hachinoko (Original Mix) (1:10:32) Moderat - Eating Hooks (Siriusmo Remix - Solomun Edit)
(1:15:08) Nicolas Jaar - Mi Mujer (Original Mix)

Matt Pakes - Live at Agape Halloween 2016 [Oct 2016]

Each New Year’s Eve, about 100 of our closest friends gather for a dusk-to-dawn celebration of life and the coming new year. This year the theme was "The Age of Wonder", and I had the pleasure of playing a 75 minute set, opening for @popstack, @jamesfish, @gleitz, and @marina-cher.

The set begins and ends in familiar dance-y Deep / Tech House territory, with a short Chicago House interlude in the middle to get the heart pumping and the dance floor really moving. 

Thanks to all who came out, danced, and shared in the revelry -- I can't imagine a better way to kick off 2017.

Tracklist (timestamps coming soon): 

Blond:ish - It Starts Now (Original Mix) [Kompakt, 2015]
Shigeto - Pulse (Original Mix) [Ghostly International, 2015]
A.A.L. (Against All Logic) - TROUBLE Rooney [Other People, 2014]
Kiasmos - Held (Dauwd Remix) [Erased Tapes, 2015]
HVOB - Azrael (Original Mix) [Still Vor Talent, 2014]
Guy Mantzur, Roy Rosenfeld - Epika (Original Mix) [Kompakt, 2015]
Rachel Row - Follow The Step (KiNK Beat Mix) [Defected, 2013]
Ebo Taylor & Pat Thomas - Ene Nyame 'A' Mensuro (Henrik Schwarz Blend) [Strut, 2015]
Jax Jones, Mike Dunn, MNEK - House Work (Extended Mix) [Polydor, 2016]
Green Velvet - Bigger Than Prince (Hot Since 82 Remix) [Circus Recordings, 2013]
Moonbootica, Ante Perry - Look Out (Original Mix) [Great Stuff Recordings, 2015]
Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad (Enrico Sangiuliano Remix) [Drumcode, 2016]
Brian Cid - Hidden (Nico Stojan Remix) [Manjumasi, 2016]
RÜFÜS DU SOL - Innerbloom (Andhim Remix) [Sweat It Out!, 2016]
Jamie Jones, Luca C - Tonight In Tokyo feat. Luca C (Original Mix) [Crosstown Rebels, 2012]
Stimming - Alpe Lusia (Acid Pauli & NU Remix) [Diynamic, 2016]

Live at The Age of Wonder: NYE 2017

Matt Pakes - Live at Age of Wonder: NYE 2017

Mission: Dance is a new event series for focused on sharing great dance music in an intimate space with people who want to get down on a weekday but still make it to work fresh the next morning.

I had the pleasure of playing a 2 hour live set at the inaugural event, opening for my good friend Tim Wood (@popstack). We had a great crowd with a lot of energy and good vibes. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

An opening slot at an early event gives a lot of opportunity for creative freedom in track selection. Most of this set hovers in the melodic deep house / tech house space, with a brief dip toward the techno end of the spectrum. As I build some experience with live sets, it's fun to explore how track selection and mixing moves the crowd and guides the energy on the dance floor.

Matt Pakes - Live at Mission: Dance [Feb 2017]

New city, new live set. Enjoy the Sunset Beats mini-mix, live from the Splice boat party on the East River in New York City. Deep melodies and bouncy beats for the open water and gentle waves, from our vessel to yours.

August 14, 2018.

Matt Pakes - Sunset Beats (Live at Splice Boat Party)

Quaranbeats/002 — Matt Pakes live from the Broome Broome Room, Sunday 4/12 at 2:00PM ET.

Matt Pakes - Quaranbeats/002 Live [April 2020]

Carefully curated melodic house and minimal techno beats. NYC / SF.

Upcoming Dates:
- TBA

Past:
- 2023.08 Dingleman's Renaissance / Olivebridge, NY
- 2022.10.31 57 Sins / NYC
- 2022.08 - Burning Man / Black Rock City, NV
- 2022.07.04 Treetops Independence Day / NYC
- 2021.05 Treetops Escape / Olivebridge, NY
- 2020.xx Livestreams / Metaverse
- 2019.08 Burning Man / Black Rock City, NV
- 2019.04 24 Hours of Music [16:00–17:00] / NYC
- 2018.08 Downtempo Mimosa Situation - Burning Man / Black Rock City, NV
- 2018.08.14 Splice Boat Party / NYC
- 2018.07.24 Camp Navarro / Mendocino, CA
- 2018.04 Agapolis - Welcome to Earth / SF
- 2017.11.04 24 Hours of Music [09:00–10:00] / SF
- 2017.10.28 Agape Halloween: Six Underground / SF
- 2017.09.01 Downtempo Set at the Tree of Ténéré / Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV
- 2017.08.29 The Downtempo Mimosa Situation with House of Maslow / Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV
- 2017.08.28 The Phage Presents: Catharsis / Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV
- 2017.06 Tupperware / Upper Lake, CA
- 2017.04 Mamasaurus Camp Out / Mendocino, CA
- 2017.03.04 Solid Gold / SF
- 2017.02.22 Mission: Dance / SF 
- 2017.01.04 Retrograde / SF
- 2016.12.31 Age of Wonder: NYE 2017 / Wonder Valley, CA
- 2016.10.27 Agape Halloween 2016 / SF
- 2016.04.07 24 Hours of Music [12:00–13:00] / SF