Cocktails are pouring and the crowd is roaring.  Prodigal guests step out of Bentleys and Hummer limousines while anticipatory hopefuls without bottle service shiver in line outside in the freezing rain attempting to sweet-talk daunting bouncers in black leather jackets.  A red-headed clubber wearing a pink fairy costume sashays through the tiled foyer inside onto the dance floor.  Rainbow prisms of light flash throughout the massive, two-story space, the scene begins to take form at one o’clock in the morning, and it’s all just a typical Saturday night at CroBar Chicago. 

Festive stars and snowflakes glitter and dangle from the ceiling inside.  CroBar’s resident DJ, Mixin Marc, has the crowd up and dancing while sassy bartenders mechanically pour drink after drink for guests eager to shed their inhibitions like the shirtless guy dancing on a go-go block a few feet away.   

A steady hum of energy progressively grows throughout the crowd of clubbers who await the honored guest of the night. 

Techno Lovers Dance Under Festive Stars at CroBar Chicago to Picotto's Ever-Evolving Electro Beats

Enter Mauro Picotto, Italian DJ extraordinaire.  With two packs of Marlborough Lights in hand and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he descends upon his followers like a royal heir to his DJ throne.  Looking down onto the expansive first floor full of dancers, he has the front-row seat—he is the eye in the sky.  He lingers confidently in the DJ booth, chatting with the manager while assessing the scene and his equipment.   

Although it is Picotto’s first time at CroBar Chicago, he certainly has a small cult following here.  Past hits like “I Feel Love” and “Bakerloo Symphony” have graced Top 10 and 20 charts all throughout Europe and his highly acclaimed trance style has flawlessly metamorphosed into a techno form all his fans have welcomed and grown with.  His globetrotting schedule is hectic to say the least, having just come from New York and on his way to Russia.  While spinning live at venues like CroBar all over the world would seem to monopolize his time, he is also in the studio constantly creating new music like his latest album “Now and Then.”  With an agenda like this, one begins to wonder if this music legend ever sleeps.  

Minutes later, as Mixin Marc takes his leave and Picotto approaches the turntables, his name starts to flicker across two TV screens suspended from the walls.  Crowds begin to swarm the DJ booth, throwing up their hands, chanting his name, and flashing their digital cameras continuously as if in the presence of true divinity.  Picotto remains cool and calm as the ballistic masses gather to sneak a peak of the star at work.  

Certainly Picotto has seen larger, wilder groups as a veteran of the electronic dance music scene since the 1980s.  His residency as part of Meganite in Ibiza, considered by many to be the techno club capital of the world, has drawn crowds of thousands at club Privilege on a weekly basis every summer since 2004.  He has sold out parties everywhere from Miami to Amsterdam as well as tours throughout South America.  Yet, even with a stellar portfolio like this, Picotto still claims he is no superstar—just a DJ.      

The humble artist starts the beats out simple and hard.  The entire venue rattles with the bass booming and the crowds cheering.  Not only has Mauro begun to incite the crowd with musical optimism and readiness, his mere presence has transformed the energy of the masses.  Everyone on both floors of the club dances with a fury.  The professional go-gos return to their boxes inspired by the tempo of the techno.  At the most opportune and welcome times, Picotto relishes in giving us some sort of orgasmic wave of beauty in sound, a peaceful confirmation of the love he feels for music and wears painted across his t-shirt. 

Picotto is seemingly perfunctory in manner.  His facial expression remains aloof to the crowd, but somehow still omnipresent, omniscient.  He has said in the past that time with his daughter is what ignites him the most.  One wonders if at 2 a.m., thousands of miles away from home in the company of fifteen-hundred club-goers, he is missing her when he exudes that calm, peaceful presence—that stoic composure that is nothing short of completely captivating.  But music obviously drives him, and the crowd feels the energy he emanates through sound waves from the second floor. 

Some Chicagoans think CroBar is “tired.”  Indeed, the nightclub has weathered fifteen years of evolving music, changing fashions, and fickle club hoppers.  Through it all, however, they still book top international DJs, have undergone a complete makeover in their own remodeling effort, and have an event list more than worthy of Chicagoans’ loyalties.  Sometimes it really isn’t about the newest club opening or the red carpet champagne parties.  CroBar is a familiar favorite, a quality venue, a place to return to.

For more information on Mauro Picotto, visit www.mauropicotto.net