Twenty years into a career that has taken him from a small village in southern Italy to the biggest stages around the world, Massimiliano Pagliara still plays like someone with something to prove. For Making Time x SAT, the Italian-born DJ and producer was handed three hours in the Satosphere, and made good use of every instant.
A three-hour booking was the right call. It gave the experienced selector room to build slowly, to space out his tracks and take the dome on a long-form musical trip, the kind of marathon set he’s grown accustomed to with residencies at Berlin’s Panorama Bar and New York’s Basement, two of the most respected rooms in dance music. Pagliara describes his sound as an eclectic blend of house, techno, electro and disco, and the length of the set let all of those influences speak for themselves.
The kick drums hit hard and kept the dancefloor on its feet, while the softer side he’s known for came through by way of soulful strings and voices layered over the rhythm. The beats were punchy and rich in groove. He held the room captivated, rattling the walls and never letting the pace drop.
The set paired beautifully with the live A/V on the 360 display, a psychedelic VJ show that wrapped the room, bathing the crowd in hues of deep blue and magenta. In my personal experience, a lot of the crowd in the Satosphere is there for the visuals, and whoever is playing is an afterthought. Not this time. At times I felt like the only person with my nose to the sky, because everyone else was totally immersed in the music.
And they really danced. Not the habitual two-step, but real, free-flowing dancing. Some of that came down to space, but some of it felt like Pagliara’s doing, thanks to his background as a contemporary dancer. With barely any barriers between the crowd and DJ, the layout of the room did a lot for the atmosphere. It had the intimacy of an afters or house party and the energy of a buzzing second stage at a festival. It was hot in the dome, and the vibes were highest up near the DJ.
I had to cut my night short to catch other artists, but Pagliara kept pulling me back up three flights of stairs, several times over, just to squeeze out a little more of his set. Each time I went back up, the energy was exactly where I’d left it: good vibes, friendly faces and a dancefloor still going strong, all under the VJ’s shifting visuals.
Even in the pieces I caught, it was a great set, and I only wish I’d been able to stay for all three hours.
Photo by Nina Gibelin Souchon
