Art: JohnPaul Gutierrez Photo: Joshua Arellano

Stephen Madrid, November 30, 2004

It’s all about music and people at The Light Club. The Light Club provides a clean, safe, positive, drug and alcohol-free environment for partygoers of all ages.

Lorraine Davis, also known as DJ Lorraine, promotes youth-oriented events, including a monthly club event the third Saturday of every month. These events are held at The Light Club. A long list of local and national DJs have performed at the club. This list includes local DJs Donovan, Rev. Mitton, John S., Justin Ro, Eddie O, Kiddo, Bowra, Flobug, Sebastian, Transmystic, and many others. Legendary house DJ, Roy Davis, Jr. has blessed the Light Club with his unique variety of soulful music. Faith Massive, Frankie Vibe, DJ Life and Omni have also visited Albuquerque to make an appearance at the club.

The Light Club is always searching for talent in all areas of music. Demos can be sent to:   DJ Lorraine 9200 Bluewood NE Albuquerque, NM 87122

David Maestas, also known as Vid, provides compelling visuals during the club nights. He tailors the visuals according to tempos, rhythms, and sounds. “It’s really crucial for the environment that the lights, the visuals and the music all go together,” he said. These visuals consist of psychedelic vertigos and loops of Japanimation films blended together to create ambiance.

Synergy provides a multi-colored laser to show. “I contacted DJ Lorraine to see if she might need our services or help getting the club going,” said Dominick Maez, owner of Synergy. “She agreed to have us there for the Grand Opening of The Light Club. Ever since then, we have had a great relationship and have continued working together. We, here at Synergy, are always ready and eager to help out a friend and we will continue to help DJ Lorraine build The Light Club. Mad props to Lorraine, The Light Club, the scene and anybody else trying to make a positive environment.”

The building is packed with different forms of entertainment, including a fully loaded game room. The game room consists of an air hockey table, a Ping-Pong table, 2 X-Boxes, 2 Sony Playstations, and a Game Cube all set up arcade-style. When I tried to find the slot to insert my quarters, I found out all the games were free of charge.

Music:   House, Progressive, DNB, and Downtempo Food & Drink:   Water, Red Bull, Coffee, Frito Pie, Hot Dogs, and Taquitos Upcoming Talent:   Chrystalline, Lorraine, Jenn, Jen Elizabeth, Morningstar, Vent, IllKid with MC Drop, Kraft, Kairo and more Vibe:   Positive, Drug/Alcohol Free

The club nights have a rotating theme. These themes include House, Techno, Drum n’ Bass/Jungle, Progressive, and on any given night you’re sure to hear some Breaks. Each night starts out with a Downtempo set selected and mixed by Vid and Jesse.

“Community to me means stepping out of your comfort zone, out of your bubble of life to reach out and help someone that needs it,” Lorraine said. “I’m hoping that the club nights ... will become the buzz of the community to both young adults and parents alike, that there is a place for youth to go that they can be who they are and have fun without the pressures of alcohol or drugs being passed around.”

Photo: Dominick Maez

In a scene that can sometimes stray away from the importance of the music, The Light Club provides a consistent emphasis on quality music and talented artists. That’s the idea that keeps people coming back. “I’m all about the people and the music, and TLC has great examples of both,” said Marc George, a frequent attendee of The Light Club. “The people who I’ve met at TLC are all down to earth, and I really appreciate what they’ve given me. The staff are all very easygoing and I can tell that they love what they’re doing. This helps me enjoy myself as well, because I know they are putting a lot of love into the club.”