Las Vegas Weekly

March 13, 2009 · 6:14 PM

Christopher Lawrence loves our locals

By Deanna Rilling

DJ Christopher Lawrence spins at Body English on March 11, 2009.

Photo: Deanna Rilling

“It’s one of my favorite clubs in Vegas,” said DJ Christopher Lawrence of Body English. Headlining on Wednesday for Godskitchen, Lawrence was back in Vegas to spin for a packed house. “The way the dance floor’s set up you can definitely connect with the audience,” he said before taking the stage. “It’s a club for clubbers… someone put a lot of thought into the design and interior decorating.” (The sound system isn’t too shabby, either.)

As the current “America’s Best DJ” title holder from DJ Times magazine, March 11 was Lawrence’s second stop in Las Vegas thus far this year (the first being at Rain for Perfecto). The local electronic dance music community was out in full-force for the mid-week event and to catch the trance DJ’s set. “The locals always find [parties] they go to and that way they can escape the tourists,” said Lawrence.

But in a city that caters to tourism, Vegas mega-clubs generally have to play music for the masses, often resulting in the same sound nightly. “Vegas has always had a conflict: There’s the core people that live in Vegas that truly love cool, underground music, but then there’s the transient people that basically like commercial,” Lawrence said. “The best place to play is where the locals are.” He added, “The clubs that play to the locals are always more successful.”

The dance floor was already packed only an hour after Body English opened. Local DJ Jordan Stevens kicked off the evening, receiving accolades from Lawrence on his opening set. “I think he’s a brilliant DJ,” Lawrence said of Stevens. “I’ve known him for several years and he’s worked really hard in the Las Vegas scene—which is not an easy scene to come up in. Not only is he one of the best DJs in Las Vegas, but in my experience, one of the best DJs worldwide.”

After cordially signing autographs for fans, Lawrence stepped behind the decks around 1 a.m. With a genuine smile – one of the traits he’s known for – he launched into his set and the club went wild. And as for the gold-plated Pioneer DJM-800 mixer Lawrence won for being “America’s Best DJ”? It was nowhere to be seen. “I just got it a few weeks ago and put it in my studio,” he said. “My daughter likes looking at it because she can see her face in the reflection.”

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