Springtime Sessions

So it’s that time of year again. Paddy’s Day is just around the corner and there’s a hell of a lot going on over the bank holiday weekend to cater for those in search of a good session. Pints aside though, there are also quite a few good gigs going on over the next few days, starting off with DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist playing the Ambassador tonight. Anyone fortunate enough to have a ticket should be preparing themselves for a night of quirky instrumental hip-hop and an awesome live show. Go forth readers and dance.

Sunday night sees a triple whammy of gigs as Michael Mayer and Hercules and Love Affair take over Spy, The Fall play Tripod and the Pod hosts the first Bacardi B-Live party of 2008. Although HALA are only playing a DJ set in Spy, I’d be interested to see what gets played. Made up of a loose collective of friends including Anthony Hegarty of Anthony and the Johnsons and producer Andy Butler, HALA are signed to hipper than thou New York record label DFA and are causing quite a stir amongst music bloggers the world over. Certainly one to watch.

I’m going to be heading pod-wards on Sunday however to see Australian electro-rock duo The Presets. Citing a rather diverse range of influences from dark rock all the way through to disco with training in classical music thrown in for good measure, the band’s live shows are said to be energetic, thrilling and more than a little bit unpredictable. Support on the night comes from UK hip hop maestro DJ Format (whose Fabriclive album is definitely worth a listen) and Disco Brasil. Expect an eclectic mix of hip-hop, soul, baile funk and electro. And all for only 20 quid!

Sweat drippin’ off the walls…

If you’re into dance music at all, you surely will have noticed that Spy has been pulling in some amazing acts in the fields of house, electro and techno of late. With everyone from old school favourites Michael Mayer and Felix Da Housecat through to current dance rock darlings MSTRKRFT, Simian Mobile Disco and Boys Noize all set to play over the coming months, nobody can deny that the promoters are putting in some serious work. However, having gone there to see SebastiAn of the uber-cool Parisian Ed Banger label last night, I’m beginning to consider selling on my tickets for any future events. The reason? Spy is simply too small a venue to host such big name acts.

Remedy can market the gigs as “intimate” all they like but the reality is that when you pack that many people into so small a venue, things simply start to get messy. It was nearly impossible to get in and out of the room in which SebastiAn was playing, the tiny doorway creating a bottle neck effect of almost total gridlock. Not entirely practical (nor exactly safe) when hundreds of eager clubbers are trying to get into a minute room of insane temperatures to dance in whatever space they can find. Having gone out for a smoke and simply to catch a breath of fresh air, there was little or no chance of getting back into the main room. A shame really, given SebastiAn’s set was awesome.

Granted, the sound system is such that his set was played downstairs in the main bar and in the room opposite but when you pay for a ticket to see a DJ, you want to be able to dance in front of the decks, or at the very least in the same room as them. In the end, the bouncers resorted to kicking people out, we witnessed a few fights break out downstairs and it all got a little bit crazy, and I don’t mean in a good way. We left, pretty disappointed at having spent around 25 quid on a ticket and having been forced to spend most of the night avoiding being crushed in an entirely different room to the act we’d come to see. What pissed me off the most really was that I normally love sweaty electro nights, but when it comes to the point that you can’t actually dance and you’re drenched in other peoples’ sweat (seriously, it was dripping from the walls), it just doesn’t seem worth it. I really hate to say this, as I have been looking forward to seeing MSTRKRFT for ages, but unless there’s a venue change, or less tickets sold for future events, I seriously doubt I’ll be going. It seems strange to me that Remedy insist on using Spy as a venue for such big acts, given they’ve hosted previous events in the Tivoli and TBMC (now the Button Factory). Admittedly, hosting pounding electro nights in such luxe surroundings has the feel of being some kind of really cool house party but the sheer heat and packedness of the venue seriously takes away from the tunes.

Switch @ Mr.Jones

It’s been about two months now since we waved a final goodbye to Backlash. Once THE electro night of choice for Dublin students, its (questionably named) replacement Mr. Jones was the cause of much speculation. The Bodytonic crew promised us a similar feel to the original electro night but with a twist i.e. featuring more guest artists, bands and a broader spectrum of sounds. However, with Ivan Smagghe having been a no show when he was billed to perform in January and the sounds in the “Kitchen” becoming increasingly samey and commercial, some people were beginning to tire of the Pod as the dancing venue of choice.

Switch’s guest performance at Mr.Jones last night is surely to change all that. By midnight the venue was already pretty packed as Chewy warmed up the crowd with a selection of bass heavy tech-house and electro. Space on the dancefloor was scarce as eager clubbers psyched themselves up for the self-proclaimed “fidget-house” stylings of Dave “Switch” Taylor and come one o’clock when the man himself appeared behind the decks, the venue was jumping.

The first time I saw Switch was in November of 2006 when he was playing with Klaxons, also in the Pod. At that stage I was unfamiliar with his stuff but remember him playing a banging set, so good in fact that my… em… friend… fell off the stage (and nearly onto the DJ) from dancing so much! Last night was pretty much the same deal, good danceable bassline house and a charismatic, varied and most importantly fun set. The dance-floor didn’t empty in the slightest all night, testament to the DJ no doubt. A highlight of the set for me personally was stage dancing to “This is Sick”, one of Taylor’s own tunes remixed by Donna Summer. Check it out and keep your eyes peeled for more guest sets at Mr. Jones. Last night’s was a stomper.

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