WMC 09 – March 25

Opening day of Winter Music Conference and I decided to hit up several spots, including the Armani lounge at the Raleigh Hotel (always a solid networking party with some good vibes – more on this later), and the Ultra Records party atop the Gansevoort South (for the first hour of this event imagine the White Room or Vagabond had the roof ripped off and all their regulars were hanging poolside, grooving in their neon 80s fashions.)

Then I passed by the Shelborne Pool Party, which we captured in all its glory in a previous blog post. But it was the Café Bustelo store at the Gansevoort South later that night that provided the best find! There, spinning for just over a dozen people, was DJ Ben Watt, noted for his Deep House chill grooves and for being one-half of the duo Everything But The Girl. (Remember the song Missing from 1995 – that’s him!)

As he played from 8 – 11 p.m., just a handful of fans gathered and had some coffee or water and just sat back and relaxed and enjoyed the vibe. Now I have to admit I didn’t know too much about Ben Watt, and CoolGirl had to pull him up on Facebook to verify that it was really him, but as Roberto told me, “Imagine if in 10 years Tiesto was playing here. That’s how big this guy is, and how amazing that he is playing right here!”

As he played, people streamed by on their way to the hotel rooftop or the nightclub Louis. They would look in and see a DJ playing, surprised a coffee shop would get into the WMC act. But no one stopped, and probably didn’t have an idea of the talent that was spinning.

Watt, from London, said he arrived in Miami today, and wanted something to do when he got off the plane. (He’s booked to play at the Shore Club on Thursday night.) So he agreed to do the gig at the coffee store. When he finished his set (right at 11 pm sharp) he got a standing ovation from the 13 or so people, chatted with some, took some photos, and then walked off to his hotel. No bodyguards. No public relations people. Just one guy and his laptop.

Only in Miami (during WMC).

-- FRED GONZALEZ