Sometimes I wish only half the people in the world existed, so that nights like these wouldn’t be ruined by a packed and poorly-ventilated venue. Oxford Arts Factory is stylin’, sure. So-hot-right-now, obviously. But somehow, it didn’t have that spacious, dingy quality that a hip hop gig needs to really make it a night, and when you combine the trendites with the hip-hop jivers there are just way too many people to dance, drink and enjoy yourself.
Enough ranting about the venue, though, because after all that, the music was actually really great. Horrowshow, the latest big signing on Elefant Traks, have always put on a great gig and managed to keep the tracks energetic even when the crowd seemed afraid to taint the shiny dancefloor. Unfortunately, even at that stage my weak, feminine constitution made it necessary for me to leave the hard work to the patriarchy, and recline on the lounges in the other more ventilated room. We even got to listen to terrible indie tracks while being able to see up people’s skirts. Boy was that fun.
After Horrorshow finished we were treated to a “cute DJ lady” whose name I just don’t know (feel free to comment telling me how rude that is, as long as you tell us who it was). She was great. Phat beats and breaks, groovy tunes – people even started dancing! I stood in awe as I pondered the unusual feeling of seeing a female DJ at such a gig. Could it be Oxford Arts’ metro influence, or are people actually realising “OMGZ tha gurlz can haz muzak 2,”? I just don’t know (it was later revealed that her name is Lorna So there you go).
Finally, Hermitude started making some tunes. Anyone who’s heard their latest album Threads, even snippets of it, will know that it’s one solid piece of work. Mostly instrumental, it’s almost dubby, DnB vibe shook the room with bass and reduced the crowd to a pack of wild dogs who ripped and clawed at one another, though I’m still not sure why. They sounded really, really good. Urthboy got up on stage for a ro-man-tic duet with Elana Stone and all in all it was a snappy, energetic set.
But although I was really digging Hermitude, eventually I couldn’t deal with the the lack of oxygen in the venue. So I left and ate Hungry Jacks with the rest of the punters. It was very sad, and I wish it wasn’t so, but there you have it. For the first time in my life, I left a hip-hop gig to eat terrible food. Someone, please shoot me.
crabman says...
A quick look at the lineup would've told you that the "cute DJ lady" was Lorna, who's blessed us with stellar sets at countless gigs over the years.
inkc says...
well there you go. props to Lorna. I'll change the article now.