Easter Bunny came early for fans as the Family unwrapped Kid Kenobi and associate MC Shureshock on Saturday. Having been wooed by the pair many times, I couldn’t help anticipate that under the full moon glow the stimulation of a long weekend would engulf this Valley institution. Once I was swiftly escorted in, I could hear familiar tunes reverberating through the club which was quickly filling with Ministry of Sound disciples. Sure enough resident Chris Wilson had his Family bouncing out of the palm of his hand and increasing the blood flow in preparation for the boys.
A lot of the capacity crowd had sacrificed a night at the Monastry and indeed Sunday breakfast with their own family, so it was appropriate for Shureshock to dedicate the night to Easter. As he did, Kid entered the stage with charming presence and kicked off the set with Timbaland’s The Way I Are . A guaranteed starter as the primarily female front row clearly looked like they would sing the words as loud as they would cheer the removal of Sureshock’s shirt. When Kenobi threw on Potbelleez Don’t Hold Back I was reminded of the potential for his sets to be predictable, which was disappointing. However, when the track approached the chorus and he combined it with Chemical Brothers Galvanize his authentic ability to mix tracks at their core was highlighted. To further my surprise Shureshock began belting out the lyrics to Eric Prydz vs Pink Floyd Proper Education which united three big dance floor fillers from previous years.
As the intense energy oozes from the MC, Kenobi is one of few DJs who can replicate this by jumping about like a rabbit (!) in time with his recognisable tracks; this is a trademark way of having an apprehensive crowd become instantly faithful and focused. Not long after the MoS anthems started thundering, predictably the ‘whoop-whoop’s’ echoed and I’m still undecided as to whether doing this was in pure appreciation and approval or a naïve and irritating excuse for me-too-ism so as usual, I plugged my ears. Thankfully they didn’t last too long and with MC still grooving about the stage with admirable style and charisma, Kenobi with a cheeky smile foreseeing a renewed level of excitement switched to The Crookers remix of Salmon Dance which received a euphoric response.
Moving onto fresher, less melodic instrumental tracks settled the crowd and prepared them for the slightly deeper and dirtier beats to follow. While some Kenobi dependents looked bemused at the unfamiliar tunes, it was a clever move as it appealed more to faithful Family ‘members’ and gave the MC a well earned chance to ice the tonsils. After the ice melted, MC returned to stage front in suitable time to help Kenobi bring the set to a climax. Sensing the front row’s eagerness to seize a piece of skin, MC took a leap into the crowd for a surf only to be reminded that women aren’t overly strong. When he managed to escape the hugs and high fives, he returned to the stage to support Kenboi in dropping The Presets My People to an extremely appreciative crowd who once again had more words to sing out in unison with MC.
To keep the set away from what could have sounded like one of his latest album releases, the set was directed to an end by several solid electro tracks and a sniff of break beats. This ensured that Kenobi kept a variety of fans salivated whilst enabling him to explore most of his genres. The reliable Mark Dynamix, while attempting to keep the floor filled following the boy’s departure, respectably played his minimalist, deep electro genre. Though once the floor realised there were no lyrics to shout, it thinned forcing Mark to summon the faithful commercial tracks which re-invigorated the crowd and forcing security to stand between them and him.
I wouldn’t advocate Shureshock in describing the night as “…the best gig in the country” because I too have seen the ‘Triangle’. Nonetheless this ‘house party’ still consistently fulfilled the expectations of the masses who eagerly invited Kid Kenobi and MC Shureshock into their Family room over Easter.
