Nick Warren & Jody Wisternoff at Le Poisson Rouge

Saturday night, March 31st, saw graying new wavers cue up outside of Le Poisson Rouge to take in a Depeche Mode tribute in one room while the main room belonged to progressive house titans Way Out West. Le Poisson Rouge, or “the red fish” is a dynamic multimedia space in Greenwich Village balancing live music performances and art installations. While the venue is searching for an identity, it’s bustling with creative energy.

From early gems like “The Gift” on to the dizzying “Apollo” and up through 2009’s anthemic “Future Perfect,” Way Out West’s Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff have consistently displayed a mastery of marrying warm, seismic basslines with euphoric, sunkissed melodies.

At about 12:30am, Jody took the baton from warm-up DJ Bajaj Sahib and immediately made his presence known. While Jody and Nick maintain separate, demanding touring schedules, their synergy at the controls seemed effortless and even playful. Their complementary sonic palettes dovetailed beautifully throughout the night as Jody favored sunny, major-keyed flavors while Nick leaned toward more melancholic, emotive moods.

Highlights included Jody- along with vocalist Jonathan Mendelsohn- leading the crowd through a punishing, driving performance of “Surrender” while Nick delivered possibly the defining moment of the night as he seamlessly mixed into the achingly beautiful “Time” by the Pachanga Boys.

There are whispers that a new Way Out West album is quickly taking shape drawing inspiration from Apparat’s poignant Devil’s Walk album. As exhilarating as this DJ set was, it was merely an appetizer for the full Way Out West live experience soon to come.

The Way Out West DJ set was presented by Basic and Sleepy & Boo.