For those of you who don't live in the racing capitol of the world, Indianapolis is severely lacking in dance halls and clubs. Aside from some downtown hip hop clubs about the only true "club" you will find is The Vogue. Every weekend they have dance nights where local djs play a mix of hip hop and electronica on CDs and normally they don't even bother to mix them. I mean how well does Nelly's "Air Force One" mix into Darude's "Sandstorm"? They also have live concerts during the week with everyone from The Roots to Hank Williams III. Last night they played host to The Crystal Method.

For Indianapolis this was a big deal for electronica fans. The place was packed on a Monday night and the crowd loved it. Everyone from die hard club kids to the cement-haired frat boys were dancing and going nuts. It took me a while to understand because the music was not particularly good. I blame it on the fact that I am spoiled. After going to warehouse parties for 8 years and seeing big names like Sven Vath, Surgeon, Ritchie Hawten, and Squarpusher in Chicago, this seemed a little watered down. The BPM rarely passed a steady 120 and the set was more samples and loops than actual live PA work. DJ Hyper who opened played a very danceable trance set that would have been really quite good if he did not introduce every other song.

Maybe I require a little more out of my electronica. The steady big beat fare of CM, Fat Boy Slim, and the Chemical Brothers just are not enough for me anymore. I need something a little faster, a little darker, and with a lot more edge. Why then was everyone else having such a great time? The answer in a word is Indianapolis. Being a straight laced conservative town people have to seek out the harder, darker, underground grooves. Some people at the show were experienced in the ways of electronica, but most thought that this was what it was all about. I blame movies. With the death of the warehouse scene Indianapolis has lost a lot of electronica outlets it once had. In Chicago they all moved to the clubs and still bring good DJs and artists. Maybe one day Indy will have that too. Yesterday was not that day.

Byron Schaller resides at In The Congo dot com.