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CULTURE: U Street Music Hall Owner Will Eastman Announces Upcoming BLISS Party Will Be His Last

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Will Eastman, the owner of U Street Music Hall as well as the driving force behind BLISS, one of Washington, D.C.’s nightlife institutions for the last 15 years, has announced that this month’s upcoming BLISS party will be the last. Deciding to end the party on a milestone, the party’s 15th anniversary, Eastman wants to move on to other ventures including a pending single releases in the next few months.

BLISS, which started out at various venues throughout D.C. including the Black Cat’s backstage, has featured many notable DJs over the years including Moby, MSTRKRFT, The Juan Maclean, Dusky in addition to marathon sets by Eastman himself (oftentimes as a means to raise money for various charities).

The last BLISS party will be on September 26, 2015 at U Street Music Hall. You can find the full press release below.

Saturday September 26, 2015 will mark the 15th anniversary of Will Eastman’s party, Bliss, and will be his last time hosting the event. The occasion will be celebrated with a 6 hour set from Eastman at U Street Music Hall.

The party is one of the longest standing dance parties in DC and has become an institution in the local dance music scene. Since its inception at the now-defunct Metro Cafe in September 2000, it travelled to the Black Cat Backstage for eight years, with occasional events at the 9:30 Club, and finally settled as a monthly party at U Street Music Hall in March 2010.

Aside from showcasing local talent, Eastman shared the decks with a number of globetrotting guests such as Moby, Maya Jane Coles, MSTRKRFT, Classixx, Holy Ghost!, Maceo Plex, and The Magician.

“It’s been an incredible privilege and honor to DJ this party almost 180 times since 2000. Bliss has been the genesis of many good things in my life, not to mention years of immeasurable fun. Thank you for supporting an open-format party like Bliss with the motto ‘no attitude, just fun and insane dancing’. It’s never been a better time to be a dance music lover in DC than it is in 2015.”

With 15 years under his belt, not to mention co-owner of U Street Music Hall, producing under the monikers Volta Bureau, PENTAMON and releases under his own name, Eastman has decided focus on music production and to take some time to “look for fresh inspiration, new challenges, and new opportunities.” He will continue to DJ at 9:30 Club, U Street Music Hall and other DC venues. “I’m looking forward to DJing other cities, hearing my friends play, and more time to dream up new ventures.” Nurvous Records will release the first of Eastman’s new tracks, “Sugar”, on September 14. A preview is available at https://soundcloud.com/willeastman.

Upon reflecting on the last decade and a half of Bliss, Eastman remarks “To all the dance music lovers, guest DJs, clubs, writers, promoters, family and friends thank you with all my heart. I named the party Blissbecause it was the only word I could think of that comes close to capturing my relationship with music, and now it will always be a word I associate with you. You’ve made this DJ very happy. Now let’s cook up something new. See you on the dance floor!”