One of my dumb friends told me that show reviews are all well and good, but he wants to know about upcoming events.

“If you flip to the page before my column, you could read the SFR picks,” I told him.

“Yeah…but that’s only a couple things,” he said.

“Well, if you flip to the page after the column, there’s the events calendar,” I said.

But it was still not good enough for him. This led me to search for a worthy event to champion…and I found one.

I ran into my old homie Nic Ortiz y Pino on the street recently, and he told me he had been promoting shows in Albuquerque for some time, and his first event in Santa Fe was happening soon. I knew my chance to shut my friend up had just presented itself, so I forced some hang time out of Ortiz y Pino and learned about what he does in the world of music.

Ortiz-y, as I call him, goes by the name Apesh!t for his promotion duties and is collaborating with Santa Fe’s DJ Feathericci to organize incredible Saturday nights of electronic music at Corazón, beginning May 9.

The ongoing party is called Body Language and will feature Albuquerque DJs Reverend Mitton and Justin O’Brien, as well as Santa Fe’s John Sherdon.

“If you went to a rave between 1997 and 2005, you know these DJs,” Ortiz-y says. “They were the forerunners for defining house music for an entire generation of Santa Fe music lovers. These guys spin funky house music.”

Ortiz-y started doing shows after a bad breakup. “I was sitting in my house for weeks, and a friend told me that I needed a project or something. I wound up in a bar in Albuquerque one night that had these super tall, vaulted ceilings, and I knew it would be a great place to throw parties. The events started blowing up. More and more people learned about the music and came out to dance.”

Sure, there’s a serious stigma surrounding the word “rave.” Even I must admit that when I imagine a rave, it’s all dust masks and glow sticks and idiots who do any drugs they can get their hands on. According to Ortiz-y, there is a certain amount of that, but there are far more people who are getting into these parties for the music rather than the drugs. “We’re trying to steer away from the traditional image of ravers. There are so many people who love the music, and would rather dance and enjoy it without getting fucked up.”

Unifying the Albuquerque and Santa Fe scenes should be important to any musician or promoter regardless of their chosen genre. There are so many bands, DJs and performers in both cities it seems a waste not to work together. Hopefully Body Language will be an ongoing event and maybe it’ll start going all-ages at some point. Whatever happens, you’ll want to make sure that you’re there for the inaugural night.

Body Language
Featuring DJs John Sherdon, Reverend Mitton and Justin O’Brien
9 pm Saturday, May 9
$5

Corazón
401 S. Guadalupe St.
505-983-4459