Walk up in the club like whaddup — wait, I’m at Memorial Hall.
Tonight the stage of Memorial Hall has been transformed into a dance party environment for Carolina Performing Arts’ first ever “Club Night” from 9 to 11 p.m.
Local DJs, percussionists and student music groups like No. 9 to 5 will perform alongside nationally recognized Afro-Colombian hip-hop group ChocQuibTown.
CPA’s marketing and communications manager Joe Florence said Club Night will act as precursor for ChocQuibTown’s performance on Friday night.
ChocQuibTown will not be performing its whole set on Thursday, rather, disc jockey Apple Juice Kid will be headlining Club Night.
A sold-out crowd of 300 will be on the stage interacting with the groups in this free-flowing, party atmosphere, Florence said.
“The fact that things can change at any moment tonight is exciting to us,” he said.
Florence said he hopes the night will be a success based on wherever the groove takes the people on stage.
“The idea for Club Night came out of a few departments in our organization as a way to engage students and local music community — it’s a perfect environment to try this type of party.”
DJ Gray Area, a local emerging artist who has performed with the Red Bull Sound Selection Tour, will kick off the night, followed by the Apple Juice Kid.
Stephen Levitin DJs with the name Apple Juice Kid, but Levitin said when he performs with a lot of other performers he calls it Big Beat Dance.
Levitin, co-founder of the Beat-Making Lab on campus, has produced singles for artists including Mos Def, Azealia Banks, Camp Lo and Wale.
“I’m originally a drummer but I started DJing a few years ago,” Levitin said.
Levitin said he wants students who attend Club Night to be able to dance to really fun, intelligible music.
“I also hope they are inspired by a collaboration of this electronic and organic fusion of world music,” he said.
Florence said this night will be young, fun, hip, catchy and he hopes Club Night will get new people into Memorial Hall for events beyond this one.
“The type of music ChocQuibTown performs combined with the other local performers will make the hall accessible figuratively and literally,” Florence said.
“I hope students will take a chance on other performers they may not have heard of otherwise.”
arts@dailytarheel.com
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