Sleep for a recording artist ranges from erratic to almost nonexistent, and with the 58th Grammy Awards around the corner, the habit of rolling late nights into early mornings only increases. Such was the case as partygoers swarmed the David Hockney-tiled poolside at The Hollywood Roosevelt for The dFM’s second annual pre-award fete featuring DJ sets by Haim and Miguel.
“Welcome to my bar mitzvah,” the trio’s guitarist Danielle yelled while setting up a MacBook. At 11 p.m., the sisters began showcasing their Millennial musical taste by pressing “play” to a variety of hip-hop and R&B hits from the Nineties and early Aughts.
Midway through their set, the youngest Haim, Alana, grabbed the microphone to energize the crowd. “All right guys, it’s Saturday night,” she noted. “Why are you acting like it’s a Tuesday? The only thing you have to do tomorrow is go to brunch, have Galentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day. It’s your time to look like an idiot. So why not do it?” As the beginning of TLC’s “No Scrubs” met cheers from the audience, she concluded, “This is the song to get lit to.”
Thirty minutes later and three minutes shy of midnight, Miguel took the stage. Although the crooner has two nominations for Best R&B Song and Best Urban Contemporary Album, he confessed doubts about his role for the night. “I’m no DJ,” he said with a humble smile. “But we’re going to have some fun regardless. I brought some songs I thought were appropriate.”
In between the list of crowd-pleasing tunes by Q-Tip, 2 Chainz and Tame Impala, he also gave a live performance of “Waves,” which continued the crowd’s already roaring state.
Just before heading for a guarded VIP section — the best place to kiss and dance with his fiancée Nazanin Mandi — he playfully closed his set by rhyming, “My name is Miguel. You have just witnessed an epic fail. Shout out to all of the DJs who really do this. Can we get a real DJ?”
But the crowd had no complaints. “I loved it,” Alana Haim said of his set. “It was beautiful. I love Miguel. I would die for him.”
As 1 a.m. drew near, the party showed no signs of slowing. Rashida Jones, who had just arrived, shared a dance with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. Nearby, Alana Haim told a fan how taken she was that he danced throughout their entire playlist, saying, “And you, you kept me going. You were amazing.”