As I approached Family on Friday night for the InTheMix Christmas Party, my hopes of a good night were bolstered by the line I saw snaking, three-deep, almost to the corner from the “Guest List” side. I like queues about as much as any other clubber, but optimistically took the wait in good faith that the ridiculously long and slow-moving line must mean things were already bulging at the seams inside. Family staff were characteristically calm and beneficent, their demeanour suggesting a lack only of electrically charged cattle prongs with which to hold us back, or a letter from President Bush conveying even further authority than their power trips indicated. When I had finally proved my non-Jewish status and got an all-clear on a body cavity search, I was astonished to find the place, well, empty. This led to immediate speculation among confused patrons as to the reason for the hold-up. We concluded that staff were either characteristically doing us a favour by letting us get worked up in anticipation first, characteristically lovingly trying to give people inside some personal space (about twenty square metres each), using us as advertising to passing motorists, or uncharacteristically punishing us for – gasp – not paying cover.
[Trying desperately to suck party vibe from the empty walls, I determined to head upstairs to Uncle – where, my editor Pete’s optimistic member email had promised, festivities would be centred – and to locate and meet the fine editors of our fine magazine. It was as I wandered listlessly around Uncle and quizzed strangers about the whereabouts of the elusive trio that I realised the difficulty of locating someone I had never met. Family staff were characteristically helpful (“He’s – um – sort of normal height. About so high [indicating normal height with wavering hand]. Actually, no. I’m not sure. You’ll have to look around.”, and then, contradictorily, “He’s not here yet”), but I stumbled in the end upon an introduction.]
At any rate, Uncle was, at that early stage, certainly where the party was at, particularly as the basement was occupied only by a few pilled-up punters flinging themselves unselfconsciously about to Neroli’s hard house. Jay P and his compatriot Allan Ho were forging some sweeter beats upstairs and managed to lure the majority of the clientele to Uncle, and some of them even onto the dance floor. Numbers steadily increased as punters proved themselves worthy and slowly emerged from the Family security wringer. Hakka commanded a more imposing presence in the Basement, laying on more thick and heavy hard house with a trowel, and Pistola vs Sy Fi – rockers of houses and definitely, say my sources, the new black – pumped out some more user-friendly, chopped-up electro house upstairs.
Mag00 vs Nate B then hit the decks to perpetuate the friendly, danceable vibe before giving way to editors Ian and Cosmo, who took over at 1.30am. The Cosmo & Nearhos partnership had the small dancefloor filled with their less hardcore, more amicable beats, but the duo were eclipsed somewhat when Amber Savage eventually cleared away the rubble and started to throw her usual onslaught of deep hard house / NRG beats and short, treble loops at the writhing mass of house fanatics who streamed onto the Basement floor. Ms Savage’s parentage became glaringly convenient as she proved her surname with sparse tracks with the middle sucked out of them – just bottom-heavy, chest-vibrating, dance-compelling deep beats with fit-inducing high-pitched loops – and set her mass of puppets jerking appreciatively.
Onto the special effects: Dick-Tracy-meets-Bond-girl dancers in short skirts and trilbys climbed aboard temporary go-go stages on the dancefloor – as rolemodels? To delight the male contingent? – and although I am not normally a sucker for light shows, it must be said that the green strobe lights were, like, trippy, man, and inspired, I am sure, much wonder in drugged-up punters.
Ms Savage signed over the residuary to Baby Gee, who mixed up some more house to keep the stayers happy, and Karma took over from Ian and Cosmo.
Overall impressions? Nice work from Amber, if you like that sort of stuff. Characteristically nice work from the benevolent and eager-to-help staff of Family. Nice prediction work from Pete – Uncle really was the place to be, as far as my not-hardcore tastes were concerned – and particularly nice housey-funky-beats-and-breaks DJing work from all of our editors. A night to be proud of, and an impressive benchmark for next year to live up to.
