THE ADVENTURES OF DICK SPLIFF AND SUPERCHOP



After a few Irish beers at Scruffy Murphy’s I was ready! For what?...I wondered.



I was not quite sure if we had (found) arrived at the right place, so my party of five, after a huddle, consulted with security staff who pointed us in the direction of the Mandarin clubs vast pokies room. After a small adventure of our own which seemed to take us through the underbelly of the club and up the service lift to the top floor, we were starting to wonder what adventures precisely Dick Spliff and Superchop had in mind for us.



The lift door opened and we were greeted by a smiling door girl and directed into the unknown. Knowing we had made it, we headed for a rewarding cool beverage with which to appraise the venue, music policy and setup. The mandarin club at first seems an unlikely venue with the feel of Sunday morning yum-cha session gone horribly wrong. It sports an awesome ceiling decorated in ornate patterns and Chinese lanterns and its “what the?” atmosphere was added to by a very red lighting scheme, in which I knew I’d have some fun tonight. (Red environments seem to do that for me.)



Learned hand was behind the decks to greet us with some old funk, inviting us in for a shuffle before Will Styles joined him on the other decks, (that’s right… two DJs on three decks all night long, and would have been four if the desk was bigger) to engage in battle. To my joy they played some James Brown and my favorite track (today) Maceo and the Macks – “Crossing the Tracks.” Within five minutes I knew I was going to have a memorable evening of big fat bass with happy melodies well into the morning.



The dance floor started to show signs of life around 11 and I took this opportunity to lose my inhibitions about being uncoordinated and pull some disco moves with my buddies. Before I realised what had happened, (some hours later) there appeared to be some movement in the DJ box with Will Styles and Learned Hand, having spent their best tracks, moving along to make space for the featured back to back performance of Mark Walton and Pitty the Kid.



So on to the main course of Mark Walton Vs Pitty the Kid. I didn’t see it coming but Mark launched with Groove Armada’s: – “If everybody looked the same” (you know the brothers good for the moola) before smoothly cruising into some slower breaks. I’m pretty sure I heard the Drumattic Twins’ – “Feeling Kinda Strange” in there somewhere to drop a name. I always enjoy the matching of the lighter side of the breaks world with some hip-hop. Pitty the Kid and Mark Walton seemed to share some point of view because their set flowed seamlessly amongst a few styles with bursts of scratching from both parties who looked like they may have done this before. A most enjoyable few hours for those who managed to make it after Fourplay and go the hard yards or the softer faction, such as myself, who arrived at the kick-off whistle.



Much to my, and a bunch of punters’ dismay, the night was called a night as I seemed to find my groove due to a slight lack in numbers at the bar not the dancefloor. So off into the cold we wandered unsure if other adventures lurked around the next bend.



For a very lightly advertised party the turnout was impressive and with a little advertising plus the word of mouth this night will generate, I think this will turn out to be quite a busting at the seems event. I am very much looking forward to seeing you at the next installment of “The Adventures of Dick Spliff and Superchop.”