My Dreams of Populist Clubbing in Manhattan Died on Flash Factory's Dance Floor

My hopes for Flash Factory were shattered when I saw the fifth person bug Tiga on stage this past Friday. It was opening night at Manhattan's newest club spot, and some 60 people were gathered around a cluster of VIP tables behind the DJ booth, rubbing shoulders with the performers and pestering them to take selfies. The previous week, I'd read an article in the New York Times billing Flash Factory as a venue looking to take a populist approach to Manhattan clubbing. I'd imagined it to be a sort of club for the people—a venue where the focus was on dancing rather than being seen—so the sight of VIP tables right behind the DJ booth and in full view of the crowd just didn't sit right with me.

Flash Factory was supposed to open a weekend earlier, but Winter Storm Jonas had forced the venue to cancel its first party, featuring Bronx duo The Martinez Brothers as headliners. The club's owner, Michael Satsky, isn't new to the New York club scene, having run the highly exclusive, celebrity-driven, Provocateur club at the Gansevoort Hotel for years. At a time when clubs on the island are struggling to compete with warehouse parties in the outer boroughs, he told the Times he spent over $7 million on Flash Factory, hoping to convince the ballooning techno crowds flocking to Brooklyn to take a chance on Manhattan.

I arrived at 1AM to see three separate lines outside of the club: one for bottle service, one for ticket holders, and one for the guest list. While the bookings for Michael Satsky's community driven, festival-inspired club might make it look more in line with the clubs across the East River (Tiga headlined the first night, and Jamie Jones, Cirez D and Dennis Ferrer are all slated to play future dates), its in-your-face VIP section and opulent interiors made it feel more Cielo than Output—and kind of like an unhappy marriage of a bougie Meatpacking bar and an European techno behemoth. I tried to go out for a cigarette to soothe my disappointment, only to find there wasn't a smoking area, which led to people lightening up wherever they pleased.

Read the rest on Thump.