Highland Coffees brewed up a truly unique experience with Cafe Freq, serving up a hybrid blend of dancing and drinks to the community.
Highland Coffees, in conjunction with the DJ music group Frequency, hosted Cafe Freq on Sunday, Oct. 26 from 5 to 10 p.m. and featured six DJs with unique styles of music. The event, held on the coffee shop’s outside courtyard, sought to bring two very distinct crowds together.
“Dance and music really bring people together, and Highland is a great space to do that in,” said Isabella Cordoba, recent LSU alumna and employee at Highland Coffees.
Highland Coffees has been a pillar in the LSU and greater Baton Rouge community since 1989, with many students and workers visiting the local coffee shop to study or finish up work over a nice cup of coffee.
Founder and owner of Highland Coffees Clarke Cadzow explained that he opened his shop 36 years ago as a gathering space for the community, and he holds that bringing joy to those who visit has always been the mission of his business.
“The events we hold at our shop are an extension of what we do everyday,” Cadzow said, “which is to try to add a little joy to people’s lives with excellent products served in a friendly and welcoming space.”
Highland Coffees has welcomed musical guests and hosted other such events since its opening — Cadzow estimates that the first events were probably held in the 90s — but Cafe Freq was a bit of an “experiment,” as Cadzow put it. The ambient, techno music was a stark tone shift from the shop’s usual jazz and classical playlists, but Cadzow ultimately decided to take the leap.
“Since I had heard such great things about the Frequency events, I knew it would be fun,” he said.
The idea was first proposed by Cordoba, a longtime fan of Frequency. Though a cafe and a DJ group may seem like an unusual duo, bringing the two together made perfect sense to Cordoba.
“I realized that this community of people are all being brought together through music and dance,” she said. “Highland is an essential part of mine as well as others’ community. So I brought up the idea of bringing the two together, and the guys were all for it.”
Each DJ brought their own style to the show. For example, audience members could relax to Slump Test’s ambient bossa nova tunes, or stand up and dance to Device Operator’s techno-style rave music. The mood was further set when the lights were turned off after dark, when the whole performance was illuminated by candles and a projector that added visual elements to the DJs’ sets.
One of the goals Cordoba had in mind when proposing Cafe Freq was to introduce Frequency to new audiences and expose Highland Coffees patrons to new music. Roy Hernandez, a regular at the coffee shop, found out about the event from the flyers hung up in and around the small business, and he was eager to see what the novel event was all about.
“I like seeing local artists,” Hernandez said. “And I think it’s always really fun to see new music.”
Cafe Freq may have been the first event of its kind at Highland Coffees, but it certainly won’t be the last, said Cadzow. In fact, fans of Frequency and regulars of Highland Coffees may get another performance in no time at all.
“We definitely hope to have another Cafe Freq event soon,” Cadzow said. “Perhaps in the next few weeks while the weather is nice.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source lsureveille.com ’
