Well I'm finally back and in recovery after the dynamic duos holy trinity of dates !
Pleased to report that the knees have held up well, although my back is aching down one side :pass: - probably from too much punching the air over the 3 x nights !
It was 3 x dates. 3 x totally different venues and one heck of an amount of tracks - with some absolutely brilliant moments. Admittably I think I'd reached near saturation point by the end of Sunday night into Monday morning.
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[B][U]Cream (Nation, Liverpool) Friday 22nd[/U][/B]
Don't know were to start.
Some will remember this for the wrong reasons and one of the most bizarre endings in any of our clubbing days.
Me. I'll recall the evening fondly for one brilliant set and one later immense set from Diggers. Speaking to John after the Leeds event he mentioned problens with the monitors ... ever the professional, John may say he struggled at first. But from our vantage point (the old vip balcony) we could see quite a few conversations and pointing early on, but aurally there were certainly no complaints, as what came through in the club was pretty bloody fantastic.
I went there with my two brothers - hardened and well travelled Sasha fans and (it pains me to say) Digweed-skeptics (which pains me even more than their support of Everton fc) ... suppose some people have certain loyalties to either, whereas I appreciate the differences and variety between the two different but unique & equal talents. My Bro's couldn't believe just how good Diggers sounded - dark driving progression, it was Diggers (1 hour - brilliant) Sasha with flu (1 hour - pretty good, a bit fabric'y .. but did play Charlie May's Demons Amongst Us - tune !!) Diggers (50 mins - immense :RightOn: !) (Sasha 15 mins Jon Hopkins & Doves - Jetstream) ... premature police closure (90 mins if you were last out !).
The closure was a real shame as something quite special seemed to be brewing, and I was gutted for our youngest who has been on the wrong end of Sasha no-shows, and the police refusing paid ticket holders entry at the Warehouse project last year because it was 1.05 a.m. (that's £25 ticket, £20 overnight parking. £30 hotel contribution and petrol money down the swanny ... funnily Visa never mention that on their "priceless" adverts :roll: ).
There have been the internet rumours etc. about events at Cream - suffice to say, one person was carted away with blood pouring from their nose and mouth after a bad reaction to whatever they'd taken ... so there's a lesson on there for everyone about moderations and simply going to enjoy the music. The Police made the right decision (i.e. if it was a bad batch of drugs sold then there was the possibility of more casualties the longer the night went on). When asked if I'd taken enything I replied "just a bad batch of stella !" much to the amusement of the officers and we had a bit of banter. They were polite and people co-operated, so credit all round.
So bizzarely I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed Diggers brilliance - that was worth th price of entry alone, well that and bragging rights about all the classic Digweed sets they've now missed !
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[B][U]Godskitchen (Air, Birmingham) Saturday 23rd[/U][/B]
This is a strange venue - Air was previously Code. Code was a big open main room (and a damned fine one at that) with a sound system that was built for it. They completely revamped the club moving the Dj booth to the front end of the room and chucking in a mezzanine & balcony etc. Which means loads of deadspots and a confused sound system that's quite disorted on parts and unprojected in others.
However, if you pick your spot (as we did) you end up onto a winner. Balcony, birds-eye view overlooking the DJ booth with quick access to bar and toilet + crystal sound, as you benefit from the DJ monitors and rising higher end rather than distorted pounding bass.
This night reminded me of the [ms] banner "Why we stay up late". Many of us part with our hard (and hopefully legally) earned salary, clock in the miles, put or bodies through long tiring trips and nights so we can experience the highs, the special nights and special moments (Sasha on the old space terrace, John playing the Space Discotque, Renaissance, Bedrock 10 etc). Mr semi-unreliable Coe can infuriate you at times ... and sometimes you just wonder what John's had to put up with over the years and where he's had to cover/pick up the pieces for his friend (as good genuine mates do). Well, Saturday night reminded me why I made the trip to all 3 nights - Sasha was simply awesome :RockOn: .
I'm not sure if people truly get Sasha - one minute it's Sasha bashing week, the next its deity status. The Bedrock Board fabric thread showed the diversity of opinion with some all to easy band wagon jumping. Anyway, in summary a pretty great 1st hour from Sasha followed by an absolutely amazing hour from JD ... but then greatness kicked in - a sublime changeover track that literally caused my jaw to hit the floor, followed by Sasha playing like he hasn't in years ... NE3 mode, incl (I think) Chris Raven : "I know you love me too" :shock: - John just left him playing (possibly because of the Cream situation) and stood back for most of the remaining of the night. A true sign of respect. The music was so far removed from what he played at Fabric it was unreal. When Sasha's that good it reminds me why I put up the inconsistency - one of those nights that seem like folklore at time !
The balcony view provided some priceless moments - Sasha's MAC crashing ... cue Diggers quickly looking for a CD so he could cover if required, and Sasha's last track of the 1st hour - he chucked a really beautiful production on and left it there, Diggers have him a look to say "you tw*t" ... cue frantic searching through 100's of CD's for the perfect one, which with a faultless changover was ... err, perfect ! Then the later changeover from JD to Sasha was a touch of genius ... very precious.
Oh .. and a special mention for two of the prettiest bar maids (Nitrogen Room) :Naughty: you're likely to see. Great candidates for the [ms] hot babe megathread.
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[B][U]Victoria Warehouse (Leeds) Sunday 24th[/U][/B]
Pretty worn out by this stage. Now I do find these events strange - all this retro reminiscing for a crap sound system, big trashy room, warm beer and porta-loos and the (IMHO) misguided wish that acid house and smilies are where things are at. Give me Breeder and Tyrantanic and a F1 soundsystem in an iconic club that takes its music seriously, and I'll bite your hand off every time.
John played a laid back opener .. happy to build, and let the beautiful subtlety of some tracks come through. Sasha then played some great stuff, with a focus on melody. As it was a Warehouse party there were also some banging tuneage and a retro feel in parts - John again played a high quality 2nd part and then there was some b2b. JD dropped 2 blinding tracks later on .. although fatigue was setting in. There was stoppage time (reshuffle remix), Ladytron, Love Stimulation, Lamur (Saiz remix), the twisted version of Everything played at 11 and The Doves - Jetstream (Sasha played a dubbed version in @live earlier on perhaps making use of the parts, before Diggers ended with the remix).
[U][B]Summary[/B][/U]
So would I do it again ? Hell yeh, although practicalities, economics, cost and venues also come into play !
Oh, and respect Kudos/appreciation to Daniel : Domnal on [ms] who made it to all 3 and is a thoroughly great chap. Oh .. and nice to bump into Hydrosonic (Air) and Jason (Leeds) who is one of the many regularly that surfs [ms] with a keen interest in what we're all about.
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(Pic - John on Sunday night)
Overall, there were many high quality moments over the 3 nights - Diggers at Cream, Sasha at Air, and both at the Warehouse ( ... ok, Diggers edged it !). With John, frankly its amazing that (i) he has so much new music and (ii) he is at one with it and can produce such well out put together sets that are blended so perfectly. That he must get through and be familiar with so many new tracks is testement his love, hunger and passion for music. There were some blindingly good tracks .. and my brother (who's been collecting records from 3-beat before the guys at the counter actually understood what "progressive" was) was taken back by the sheer consistent high quality of JD.
One thing that's clear when you catch S & D together is the loss of punch with @live in comparison to CD's ... it seems that John's CDJ's go up to 11 .. but MAVEN finds it hard to reach 8.5. John has never said why he ditched Traktor ... whether he hates squinting and pouring over a laptop, or he feels there's a loss in the integrity of the music he holds so dear. I think it's time that Sasha reviewed how he plays out .. he's still a genius when it comes to an ear for a track - but I don't think his setup always does him justice.
If I was to have a couple of gripes it's (a) they didn't play truly back to back, and (b) they didn't find room for the Northern Exposure tracks that we all cherish. That is something that disappoints me with sasha - he has an awesome collection of older music - but he's never added it to his @live sets. Bedrock 10th demonstrated how awesome that tracks sound today, and that in the hands of a true artisan they just rock. So next time guys, for us old-timers, give us some Breeder and some of the tracks you loved to play at Twilo.
After 3 nights I've got a whole batch of amazing tunes ringing around my mind ... and that's what it's all about. So thanks guys for some truly great memories, a special thanks to John for saying "hi" (top bloke), and please make this a more regular UK thing (a Twilo Classics or NE Anniversary Tour would be mind-blowing !).
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(pic - me and my brother Andy ... he only did 2 nights but looks more knackered than me .. suppose he's not acclimatised to the Vortex :lol: )
a few id's
Charlie May - Demons Amongst us Phonique - For the time being (Neil Quigley mix) Paul Ritch - Walk the Line Guy Gerber - stoppage time (reshuffle remix) Konrad Black - Evil Laugh Jon Hopkins - Light Through The Veins The Doves - Jetstream (Sasha's the police are kicking me off MAVEN and serving me an ASBO for the musical crime of playing of Cowpander mix) Humate - Love Stimulation (Toms remix) Guy J - Lunar (Henry Saiz)