Shake Your Soul For $100 At Siberia Tonight

Ever go to Mod Dance Party at the Saturn Bar and think to yourself, “Man, I’m the best dancer in this joint. Someone oughta give me some money, I’m so bad!” If so, cool—here’s your chance to live up to those narcissistic dreams.

Soul Clap Dance Party at Siberia Tonight.

The Dance-Off. Photo by Jackie Roman.

Tonight DJ Jonathan Toubin is bringing his infamous “Soul Clap” party from New York for its first show in New Orleans. The sounds of Soul Clap, which seems to be consistently written up as one of the best dance parties in NYC, should be familiar to regular Mod Dance Party patrons. It features the same stylings of ’60s soul, garage rock, and raw funk, with hard drums, chicken-picking guitars, and, of course, hand claps. And it’s all played from 45s.

The show tonight is at Siberia (2227 St. Claude Avenue), and starts around 10 p.m. with a $5 cover. The highlight of the night though is the standard Soul Clap dance contest, a regular feature of the parties. $100 in cold, hard cash is being given to the best dancer, but you’ll have to work hard to impress the panel of celebrity judges: Quintron, Miss Pussycat, MC Trachiotomy, Katey Red, Rusty Lazer, DJ Kristin (the Mod Dance Queen herself), and Sheila Santamaria of Jean-Eric fame.

If you’ve got a computer, speakers, and a full-length mirror in your bedroom you can start practicing now. Here’s a mixtape by Soul Clap DJ Jonathan Toubin that’s a sampler of what you might hear: