Moving Through Air feat. London Elektricity @ Club 77, Sydney (26/02/04)
- London Elektricity
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Last Thursday’s Moving Through Air shifted…yet again. But the venue change didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits, nor did the pitter-pattering of a late night shower outside. Good things were in store for this crowd at the newly renovated Club 77.
Still home to the sounds of angsty, metal garage rock, Club 77 seemed a somewhat peculiar place to host a much anticipated London drum and bass DJ. Walking downstairs into the venue, the place still smacked of seediness, late night sex and alcohol in the toilets, and if the torn up couches and faded carpet were a faux attempt at Bohemian chic, they fell well beneath the desired effect. Add to this a claustrophobic dance floor and serious lack of chill out room, and I was dubious, to say the least. Yet, let it be said that I was alone in my opinions on the venue. Most thought it ‘cosy’, or really liked the renovations, or thought it was the perfect sized venue to ram a good party. So it’s a good thing that’s what the lads from Break and Enter did.
First up to the decks and opening the party was 50/50’s resident, Tiddwell, a familiar face to Sydney dnb locals. Tiddwell eased the empty dance floor into some smooth beats and rolling basslines as the early kids made their way through the door and got comfy. A couple of stand out tracks, but a good way to set the mood for the evening and allow room for Break and Enter’s own, DJ Shuey, to step up to the decks.
Shuey’s name may sound slightly more familiar to many of you nowadays, as he pumps out Velocity on FBi Radio, co-hosts Protein each Thursday at Newtown’s Sly Fox, and of course, still pumps it at Moving Through Airs. Aside from keeping him exceedingly busy over the past few months, all this has allowed room for some serious fine tuning and honing of his vinyl skills. And as always, Shuey was the one to get the crowd up dancing, warming the room with the sweet, sexy sounds of the fine drum and bass that would fill the course of the rest of the evening. Dropping a few teaser London Elektricity tracks in for good measure, the burgeoning dancefloor was well and truly ready for the man who was up next.
Both Tony Coleman and his accomplice, MC Wrec, hail from the uber successful UK dnb outfit, London Elektricity. Cleaning up at the Knowledge Magazine Awards last year and responsible for one of 2003’s stellar albums, Billion Dollar Gravy, these lads know the importance of melody in their beats. So much so, that it’s formed an integral part of their shows, which have since evolved into sell-out live phenomena, having toured all over the UK and recently ripped it up in NZ. But the boys were taking care of business by themselves on Thursday, and they certainly coped well with the challenge.
Opening with Laroque’s inescapable ‘Goldfinger’, Tony set the crowd ablaze straight away and didn’t stop. Dropping track after track from the soon to be released Hospital ‘Weapons of Mass Creation’ compilation, such as Syncopix’s, ‘Happy Happy Joy Joy’, and John B’s, ‘Without You’, Tony kept the crowd well and truly on their toes. Coupled with MC Wrec’s versatile vocal skills on the mike, this was a formidable duo. But the real gold was found when Tony played his own London Elektricty tracks. Flowing through a range from ‘Fast Soul Music’, ‘To be Me’, ‘The Great Drum and Bass Swindle’, ‘Different Drum’ and of course, the title track, ‘Billion Dollar Gravy’, these were the true stars of an already impressive set list.
Hard to follow such a successful set indeed, but local wunderkind Eli proved the task well within his capabilities, keeping the crowd, and even Tony and Wrec themselves, dancing. A stand-out performance from one of the UK’s vinyl magicians, who will certainly be headed our way again soon. Wrec’s performance, by comparison, felt a little lacklustre, possibly also in light of the incredible MC’s over the last few months (last year’s Cleveland Watkiss and Tali quickly spring to mind). As soon as Moving Trough Air finds a venue to call its home, everyone can really relax. But until then, we’ll just enjoy dancing the floors off every Sydney venue till we find one that can handle a decent amount of bass. You can never have too much, after all.
