About this Event
JG Wilkes continues to fly the Optimo (Espacio) flag through a tumultuous year marked by the loss of his longtime DJ partner and co-founder, JD Twitch.
After 30 years, he remains one of the best in the game - a DJ who still surprises with his choices and, in an age of technological fragmentation, a reminder of the enduring power of great music.
Thanks for coming back to SF and we hope to make it a great show!
Bio from the past
Optimo are the duo JD Twitch and JG Wilkes. Over 25 years and across the globethese DJs have consistently delivered the kinds of unforgettable clubbing experiencesthat mythologies are made of. Optimo’s many audiences have tumbled sweaty andelated from every kind of party and event imaginable. From Lithuania to Brazil, Japan toGermany, Optimo have played pretty much everywhere. Just as much at home on themain stage at Dekmantal as a tiny basement sweat box in Glasgow, they are DJswhose exceptional skills can elevate any party to another level, can transport anyaudience and deliver unforgettable clubbing experiences.
Their partnership is a unique one - producing a kind of creative synergy that cannot beduplicated. An instinctive musical communication, an unmistakable bond, forged acrossa thousand extraordinary DJ sets and performances. Twitch and Wilkes just know whatthe other is thinking musically during their set, and the ecstatic energy generated bytheir performances is exhilarating.
The duo formed Optimo in Glasgow in 1997. Out of the legendary Sub Club venueOptimo launched their sound internationally, supported by a series of mind-bending andscene defining DJ mixes and compilations culminating in their contribution to the Fabricmix series of which RA described as “a towering achievement. In their hands, DJing isnot a mere technique: It is an art form.
”Optimo have a hugely popular monthly NTS residency show and also broadcast forMovement Radio in Athens. Optimo Music, the label curated and managed by JDTwitch, continues to platform music by many new, established and under appreciated /overlooked artists. Politically, Optimo continue to follow their own communitarianactivism, continue to raise money for local food banks and anti-racist organisations andpolitically through endeavours such as their self explanatory Against Fascism Trax sub-label.
Their wild and ruleless, freestyle sound, insatiable passion for music and dedication tomaking people DANCE remains connected and rooted in the grassroots scene. Late2021 saw Optimo embark once again on a Glasgow DJ Residency - breaking from theirinternational touring schedule and playing Bi-Monthly at Berkeley Suite on Saturdays.Their approaching Optimo 25 party on Sat 30th April in Glasgow’s Glasgow QueensPark is programmed with only local talent and performers. The event launches a seriesof international shows across the year celebrating their remarkable quarter centurymilestone, and will be accompanied by a new Optimo 25 compilation release. A newfestival venture in collaboration with music platform Ransom Note, is the intimate‘Watching Trees’, launching in September 2022 and seeing Optimo applying it'sdistinctive DIY spirit in order to bring music to the fields and backwoods of The Forest of Dean.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Great Northern, 119 Utah St, San Francisco, United States
USD 11.28 to USD 37.33
