9

FRIDAY

Most people outside club culture just don’t understand the cult of the DJ. DJs just play records, right? Well, maybe that’s all the one at your last wedding did, but the best DJs play the crowd. Paul Oakenfold is one of the very best. After returning from a trip to Ibiza in the late ’80s, Oakenfold introduced the Balearic sound to London dance culture, pioneering the scene that became acid, then progressive house. While continuing to DJ, he has remixed records for everyone from New Order to Snoop Dogg to the Rolling Stones to U2, for whom he opened on the Zoo TV tour. The Guinness Book of Records even created a new category just for Oakenfold: Most Successful DJ in the World. Not bad for a guy who just plays other people’s records. With Dave Ralph, Scott Henry, DJ SS, Kenny Ken, Matrix, MC Warren G, LoveGrove, and Brock Philips at 10 p.m. at Nation, 1015 Half St. SE. $15. (202) 828-1984. (Mark W. Sullivan)