Andrew Weatherall @ The Toff in Town, Melbourne (11/01/08)
Finding out on Friday lunchtime that the allocated reviewer for that nights gig is off with gastro, my whole night took a new direction. I decided to head to the Andrew Weatherall gig and cover it myself, while taking the opportunity to check out a venue I had yet to take a peek at, ‘The Toff in Town’. Mega exhausted from a huge week of work and ITM, what kept my spirits and drive up was the luxury of being lent a workmate’s car for the weekend and the offer of a free dinner at my best mate’s place. For the first time since being in Melbourne, I had a weekend with wheels and I was going to make good damn use of it! After getting the most quality park in the CBD, I threw myself into the Melbourne Friday night madness on this steamy night and braced myself for a night of Red Bull and Coke overdoses to stay awake ,and a DJ set that I was hoping would blow me away.
Now to be honest, I knew the name ‘Andrew Weatherall’ and his background: ten years in the scene it’d be embarrassing if I didn’t! But what I really didn’t know was the Andrew Weatherall now, what he did these days, how he had changed and how he’d stayed the same as a DJ, producer and remixer. I went to this gig with zero expectation, zero plan and well simply no idea at all! Upon arrival to the entrance on the busiest street in Melbourne, Swanston Street, I climbed the three flights of stairs, past the infamous Cookie, all the way to the newest addition to Curtin House, The Toff in Town. With an inviting dimly lit entrance, to your left is the free section (I didn’t take a look) and to your right, the gracious security, dressed quite smartly might I add, opened the door to the official location for the nights event. Just before entering, I couldn’t help but notice the number of English accents surrounding me, and it became clear that the Poms were out in force to support this UK DJ.
As I delicately stepped in, with the bar as my first destination. I surveyed the room ever so subtly and made a quick assessment of the crowd. Arty. Alternative. Older. Fashionable. Unique. Plus throw in a few girls in pretty dresses who obviously have no idea about the quality of music they are about to hear or who the DJ is, and you have the crowd. After finding out that there was no energy drinks sold at the Toff, my request for a mere Coke was served with surprise. This was definitely a room of drinkers. For the first time in a while, I felt a little weird flying solo as the pairs, and groups of people, looked oddly at me, as a girl on her own was some crime. Lifting my head high, I grabbed a spot on the mini-mezzanine level railing and waiting patiently for Andrew to begin.
T-Rek was working the CD-Js, mixing up a combination of interesting electro-fuelled beats with splashes of samples and tight looping. He was doing well with keeping the crowd bopping along on the spot but not enough to get them dancing. Most of the crowd was obviously eagerly awaiting Weatherall and weren’t interested in anything else but that. A few drunken girls provided entertainment for us all however, as they danced around like tits at the front. By 12.15am, the medium-sized room had filled up to a comfortable level and every time T-Rek poked his head into the curtain behind him, we thought this was it. His scheduled start of 12.15am passed and time ticked by….it was during this wait that I examined the artwork on the walls and the interesting images that were being projected onto the walls. In warm tones of reds, browns and blacks, the Toff is artistically designed with that hint of north Melbourne. If you worn fluro here, you’d be dead. This is the thinking man’s venue with an air of class to it yet as laidback as can be.
Finally, Andrew graced the decks at 12.45am, to a relieved crowd who had begun to get restless, and to a slightly annoyed me as I had to leave at 1.30am and had hoped to catch his first hour of his four hour mega set. Disappointedly I only saw his tiny beginning, but it was screamingly obvious from this teaser that he was laying the ground work for a phenomenal set of simply good quality music. Weatherall’s music knowledge is exceptional and it was good to see him start off with some slower rocking dubby beats. Unfortunately from talking to others who stayed on, there was a problem with sound throughout his set. Real shame. He shouldn’t have any problems at Miss Libertine on Thursday 17 January, where he is to play his second show, as they have a fantastic set up with quality sound. This time I’ll get to stay for most of the set and am looking forward to seeing him play a wide range of sounds and tracks, old and modern, timeless and quality.
If the Toff is to continue to get gigs like this, they are going to have to sort out these sound issues or they’ll just end up as another venue for the mainstream and not serious music lovers. Someone of the reputation and experience of Andrew Weatherall should not have to endure such problems and it is a shame for all who attended to have to watch him suffer through it. It will be interesting to see the comparison to his Thursday night gig and the opinions on the forums of his set. I look forward to seeing this legendary DJ who has a serious place in dance music history make his mark here in Melbourne.
