Sundance Diaries: Daisy O'Dell
Every year, thousands of people from around the globe descend on Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent cinema festival in the world. Yet, aside from the dozens of features and short films screened, the nightlife scene at Sundance has become its own story, with surprise performances and DJ sets happening every night and celebrity sightings occurring almost nonstop.
This year, we decided to ask some of our favorite DJs in attendance to throw various parties to document their experiences for a feature we're calling "Sundance Diaries." In addition to providing their own recaps of their days, we also asked them to help tell their stories by using the Instagram app on their phones, so check out the photo gallery below the recap to see what some of our favorite nightlife party-starters saw during their time at Sundance this weekend.
In yet another edition of our series, today we bring you the "Sundance Diary" of Daisy O'Dell (above, first from left), the DJ, singer, and producer who made her name performing with everyone from Lou Reed, The Psychedelic Furs, The Happy Mondays, Lady Gaga, LCD Soundsystem, and Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Splitting her time between New York and Los Angeles, DJing at Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and London, galas at LACMA and MOCA, and touring with the likes of Yelle and Cut Copy, O'Dell is definitely one of the most hard-working and impressive female DJs around today.
Friday, January 20 - I spent Friday afternoon adjusting to the Park City altitude while wandering Main Street; stopping by the TR Suites, Stella Artois' Happy Hour, the Wire Image Lounge, and running into some familiar faces in town for the festival. Park City is full of DJs. In addition to the film community, Sundance attracts a multitude of performers and event staff that work with sponsors to produce all of the film premieres, gifting suites, agency events, club nights, and lounges that surround the film festival. It’s always nice to catch up with the other touring DJs, some of whom I almost never get to see. I went to an inspiring dinner for io/LA (check them out) then the Bing House for the Simon Killer afterparty. DJ Kelly Cole had us all dancing and a commentator at Huffington Post wrote this up as one of the best parties at Sundance 2012. I concur. After that it’s a bit of a blur: Tao, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, Aziz Ansari getting accosted by a barrage of fans as we party-hopped, Chris Holmes & Devin Lucian holding it down on the decks -- and Paris Hilton?
Saturday, January 21 - There was a massive blizzard Saturday. Getting around was a challenge but it was fun to live inside of a snow globe for the day. I went to the T-Mobile Lift for lunch at their pop-up café then to support my girl Julie Mond who was shooting a commercial for Bono’s One with Alma Harel. They were set up at the Sundance Channel headquarters and so a steady stream of film casts came through to do their requisite interviews. Lizzy Olson had on the cutest sweater – “Marni, on sale” she said. Love her! The next stop was BMF’s gifting suite Miami Oasis. My friend Nicky Digital was shooting and my L.A. neighbor Adam 12 was DJing. Ludacris was gifting headphones and I scored a coveted pair from his DJ series. Saturday night was all about Aziz and Drake at the Bing House. The door was a massive crush but thankfully I didn't have trouble. The club was jam packed. Drake was late because of the blizzard and the crowd got restless. I watched Aziz from the safety of VIP with my friends Julie and Aaron and we all thought it was dope when Cuba Gooding, Jr. got on stage to help Aziz do crowd-control.
Sunday, January 22 - Sunday I DJed at the TR Suites. DJ Silver Medallion curates the DJ series there and I was thrilled to be included with such respected talent. I had some personal trauma when my trousers ripped but as luck would have it they were giving out jeans! After that I went to the In Style lounge where there was Topshop! J’adore! Sunday night was all about partying, hip-hop, and the birthdays of Julie Mond & Chris Masterson.
Monday, January 23 - On Monday I went snowboarding followed by two movies: Nobody Walks & Compliance. I’ll leave writing film reviews to the professionals but I will say that the hypnotic score by Fall On Your Sword in Nobody Walks was superb.
Tuesday, January 24 - Tuesday I watched the films Gypsy Davey & Kid-Thing (another sensational score by The Octopus Project). That night was the party for "Shut Up And Play The Hits," the LCD Soundsystem concert film. James, Nancy and Jay DJed the Bing House and it was incredible. The dance floor was epic and the perfect way the cap off Sundance 2012.
Photos via Daisy O'Dell
