Mark Knight Toolroom Knights playing live at club glow washington dc nightclubsThe Toolroom Knight himself, Mark Knight was in DC for a romping good time Saturday night at Fur Nightclub. He entered the booth with pep in his step, head bouncing and an ear to ear grin, all which indicated his intent to seriously throw down. Carefully sifting through his arsenal, Mark selected a few CDs and promptly stuffed them in his back pocket as if music, not what’s in your wallet, had become the accepted currency of Club Glow. He was preparing to make it rain.
It’s no wonder that Mark’s famed “Toolroom Knights” parties have risen to such popularity in recent years. He mobilized the room, diagnosing the palpations of the crowd and adjusting accordingly. One might say he put partygoers on a shock cart, cranked up the voltage and blasted them to life.
In recent interviews Knight has done his best to steer clear of questions asking him to define “the Toolroom sound,” as he doesn’t want his label or artists to be pigeonholed into one style. Fair enough, but there’s no denying that on Saturday night, Glow DC bore witness to Mark’s sui generis brand of music. Not your traditional house, a little tribal, somewhat techy, it could be described as underground made for the big room. It was fabulous.
As smoked saturated Fur’s main floor the only thing you could make out were shapes and shadow. Dark, unhinged, sweaty grooves elicited wildly enthusiastic cavorting on the floor all night long. Lights darting to and fro, spotting on Mark and flashing on the crowd allowed the urge to give in to one’s most primal instincts rise from the pits of our stomachs.
According to Knight, “Djing is 80% reading the crowd. I want to push them down one road and pull them down another. I have records I want to play but it’s about getting there in a way that’s palatable to your ears. A DJ could put his head down and do it, but then…” and all he could do was shake his head. Mark Knight, an artist whose goal is to tap into the souls of his audience and will them to truly live achieved just that Saturday night at Club Glow.
So much could be said about the sound, the feel, the vibe, the party, but words will eternally fail to describe the Toolroom experience. It’s truly some of the most intelligent and instinctively satiating house in existence.
Glow is held every Saturday Night at Fur Nightclub and every Thursday at Lima, and is one of the best DC nightclubs, bringing the best in house, trance, progressive, electro and more to the DC clubs scene
Mark Knight Toolroom Knights club glow washington dc dance floor