Club Club feat. Gui Boratto @ Chinese Laundry, Sydney (23/02/08)
After enjoying a fantastic night of clubbing at the Chinese Laundry a few weeks ago, I placed a lot of expectations on Club Club to again deliver a knockout event. But why wouldn’t I? Firstly, Brazilian techno god Gui Boratto was to be playing a live set, and if this wasn’t enough, Kid Kenobi & MC Sureshock were launching their residency after the DJ’s long stint overseas representing Aussie dance music. With three rooms of genius music selection, I thought why not follow the path I set a few weeks ago?
So I started out in Sand Bar where Spencer Henderson was pumping a very retro-filled set. It was enjoyable to hear his Baltimore-heavy mash up of 70s songs with electro-breaks beats. Simon and Garfunkel’s Cecilia was a popular feature along with Deee-Lite’s Groove is in the Heart. Henderson saved most of the hip-hop tracks for Wax Motif; however, he also mashed in Kelis’ Milkshake and Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal with the Chemical Brothers’ Do It Again.
I wanted to catch the end of Jeff Drake’s set in the main room, so I went down and got a good spot for the start of Kid Kenobi. Drake was impressive playing to the increasingly packed crowd. The Tocadisco edit of Kid Dub’s Tetris got the crowd in a frenzy and with Kid Kenobi nowhere in sight, Drake extended his set. I was disappointed that Kid Kenobi was late to start, but I was still able to catch a decent proportion of his set. For any people who caught him and his MC partner at last week’s Good Vibrations Festival would know that the sets were very nearly identical; however, considering the crowd response at Good Vibes, I wouldn’t have changed anything either. I do feel that Kid Kenobi’s track selections are leaning a little more towards the commercial, for example The Potbelleez Don’t Hold Back with MC Sureshock’s rendition of Proper Education, and Sesa’s Like This Like That were played. However, the smattering of broken beats coupled with Sureshock on the mic made these usually unlistenable tracks quite enjoyable. Like most clubs, I don’t believe live acts fare well in a small, enclosed environment. MC Sureshock was fairly inaudible and with no fault of his own, less relevant than other times I have seen him with Kid Kenobi.
My only disappointment at my last visit to Club Club was the lack of time spent in The Cave, something that I sought to rectify this time. Prior to Saturday there’d been a lot of hype revolving around the live techno performances of Gui Boratto and naturally, I was keen to check him out. Firstly may I say that The Cave was the most packed room in the club, but that’s no surprise as it was always going to be rammed for Boratto’s performance. As soon as he kicked off his set, the crowd response was phenomenal. Every time the Brazilian dropped a track it was accompanied by the screams of hundreds jammed into the room. About half way during his set I looked over at my friend who had protested about getting dragged away from Kid Kenobi but to my surprise, there she was as packed up against the diehards around her transfixed by the sounds she was hearing. And those sounds were very diverse, a lot more upbeat than initially expected. Tracks from Boratto’s 2007 album Chromophobia were spliced in alongside a selection of his remixes and a swag of unreleased gear. Gate 7 and Terminal were aired early, eliciting appreciative cheers from the first note. While woozy, minimal-influenced sections were lapped up, it was the more proggy, build-up-and-breakdown moments that had the room truly on side. Re-edits of Adam Freeland’s Silverlake Pills and Robert Babicz’s Sin were welcome surprises, but for the many fans of Chromophobia, it was all about hearing tunes like Mr Decay played very loud.
Boratto closed his set with his signature track Beautiful Life, which was again very well received. I always admire a performer who can keep a crowd in a room, let alone get a constant positive response from their audience the whole way through a set. If there’s one thing you take away from this review, let it be that you should go and see him at his encore Sydney show at the Bunker on this Saturday. Not one person walked out of that roomed feeling anything other than blown away. Even if live techno isn’t your thing, you’re sure to see some fine work from a guy who is equally good on the production side of things as he is performing in a club.
