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January
2005
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Like many people reading this column, no doubt, I came to bleary-eyed and hung over on New Year’s Day. I was still in Germany, and made a dash back to the airport with only three hours’ sleep under my belt. Annoyingly, my flight was delayed by an hour - the extra time spent in bed would have been very welcome. Parveen met me at Heathrow, and we headed back to her nearby parents’ house for some rest before setting back off to the airport later in the day.
'Blu, Aberdeen' With the exception of a radio show in 2000, this was the first time I’d ever worked on New Year’s Day. The gig was at Blu in Aberdeen, and it was unclear whether the night would be busy or not, despite it being a Saturday. We arrived at the venue at 11pm to find numbers a little light on the ground. The vibes were happy enough as I played alongside local DJ hero David Craig, and all was good. By closing time, we were up for an after-party. In the absense of any realistic alternatives, we ended up at Espionage on Union Street, a bit of a mass-market spot, but a place where good numbers are pretty much guaranteed. And it was rammed. Partied-out once again, we awoke the following morning to find the city totally blanketed in snow, and feared our return flight might be delayed. Thankfully it wasn’t, Scotland’s airports being far better equipped to handle snow than their Southern counterparts! January being the month it is saw the quietest session yet at G’s in Bicester on Thursday 6th, and was followed by an extremely rare Friday night off. To make the most of it, Mrs. D, her brother, his girlfriend and myself hit the flicks to take in ‘White Noise’, a supernatural enigma starring Michael Keaton – pretty engaging, if a little disappointing at the end. It was new DJ territory the following day, as Parveen and myself set of for The Channel Islands, a region I’d visited a few times, (and where I learned to walk, according to my Mum – my memory’s a little hazy on the subject,) but never DJ-ed. In reality, Luminar-owned Liquid in St. Helier, Jersey’s capital, is just about the only nightclub to speak of.
'MD at Liquid, Jersey' As such, it’s well-attended every weekend of the year, and this night was no exception. Unusually, the club didn’t open its doors until 11pm, all the action then being compacted into three hours. I hosted the club’s second room, the R&B lounge, but got pulled into the main room for a peak-time set amidst the dance/ house music action. It was a highly respectable session, and I hope to get back during the Summer months, when things promise to be even livelier. We learned that Channel Islands law is very strict on drunken-ness, with a night in the cells on the cards if you’re found to be too intoxicated to walk. The coachload of hen party girls we encountered on the way in could have been in trouble! On Sunday, we navigated the entire island in our hire car, before heading back for the evening return flight. This had turned out to be the windiest day in Britain for a year, with three people losing their lives. As such, the tiny BE airbus was getting chucked all over the place – pretty scary, even for a frequent flyer like me. The sight of Birmingham Airport’s runway tarmac was very welcome! An excursion to Wales was on the cards for Friday 14th. This marked a return to Sugar & Spice at No. 10 in Cardiff, an upmarket spot that models itself on the likes of London’s China White, and a place notable for banning Charlotte Church for partying just a little too hard. The night’s run by Welsh Dance Music Award winner Shaz, brother of Urban Fusion’s DJ Bibs, who hosted my set on the mic. It was suprisingly buzzing, with a well-behaved crowd that showed particular enthusiasm for hearing some old school revivals, and it ended up being a highly satisfying night. Good to bump into Richie and Eddie, too, some old faces from the days of the legendary Forum. Parveen had crossed the Severn Bridge with me, but opted to stay at the Travelodge we’d booked on the M4. The following day we were due to fly to Italy from Bristol Airport. January being the quiet month it is always presents a good time for a short break; last year we did Barcelona. This time, Venice was on the cards, a fascinating, beautiful and unique city that I’d first visited way back in ’92, and had been pining to re-visit.
'MD in Venice' In the same way that it defies credibility for Stansted Airport to be described as ‘London Stansted’, it’s pushing it a bit to describe Bristol Airport as having anything to do with Bristol; in reality, it’s miles outside the city! Our flight touched down at Marco Polo airport on time, and we headed into a bitterly cold Venice, shrouded in an icy mist and fog rolling in off the canals. The only thing missing was a murderous dwarf in a red coat, (if you’ve seen the movie ‘Don’t Look Now’ you’ll know what I mean.) Venice Island itself only has one club, a discoteheque named Casa Nova, so we opted to give that a miss, and ended up in a late-night bar called Bacaro Jazz – quite a change for a Saturday night! After returning on Sunday, Monday had me back up in Manchester for the Vodka Island student night at Tiger Tiger. The place was just as packed as before Christmas, and the atmosphere just as much fun. Who says Monday nights have to be dead? I opted to make the long journey back straight afterwards, and just managed to avoid a thick fall of snow. The weekend of Friday 21st/ Saturday 22nd saw a triple bill of London engagements. Although it’s far more enjoyable, (and generally more profitable!) to play in other parts of the country, it remains important from a profile/ networking point of view to represent in the capital every few weeks. The theory had been adopted by my DJ mate and fellow B&S correspondent David Craig, who jetted down from Scotland to join me for the weekend’s clubs. It started with the biggest gig any urban DJ can play – Smoove at Ministry of Sound, re-opening following its New Year break. I’d last played on the same weekend in ‘04, when I put together a package in conjunction with Blues & Soul. This week saw a repeat of the format, with the pics due to appear in the mag shortly, (and in the Gallery section of this site.) Joining Dave and myself was Bristol hero Bobby Speed, a last-minute replacement for DJ T-Bone, who turned out to have been double-booked in Amsterdam! The night was as hyped and jumping as London’s number one club always is. A highly satisfying experience – and good to catch up with the Hardest Working Shortee Blitz, who was on top form as always.
'MD, Bobby Speed & Shortee Blitz at Smoove' After finishing my latest Metro FM mixes and with a serious sleep deficit, (just another weekend!,) I headed back into town on Saturday night. After picking up Dave and girlfriend Clarita, first stop was Elite Clubbing’s night at the swish 10 Rooms. The spot was buzzing nicely by the time resident Jaz stepped up to put in a firing set. At 1am, we crossed Regent Street to hit Geisha Lounge at Club No. 3, hosted by T Money and Gus. The January slowdown had an effect on numbers, but we still rocked those who had attended nicely from the vantage point of The Most Dangerous DJ Booth In The World. On Monday 24th, I made a quick 24-hour solo hop over to Paris. Far from work, this was purely a leisure/ sightseeing trip to brighten up the month. The coolest thing was being able to waltz straight on to the plane with hand luggage only – no back-breaking records to cart around, and no tedious waiting at the baggage carousel. A very rare luxury!
'Bienvenue a Paris' The last weekend of the month is the liveliest in clubland as those monthly pay cheques hit people’s bank accounts. My first return in over five years to Bournemouth on Thursday 27th, unfortunately caught the downside of this factor. Being the day before those all-important payrolls, the town was suffering noticeably from a lack of nightlife, and this badly affected numbers at the Flawless event at Fufu nightclub.
'MD, Bizzy & LJW at Fufu, Bournemouth' As ever in such cases, we made the best of it. It was also the opening night of the event, and naturally these things take time to build… Good to see South Coast don Jay Rachet after all these years, anyway. Still doing his thing. Much better fortunes at the other end of the country the following night. My debut session for Love Dough at Ikon in York was bubbling and bustling nicely – as Love Dough sessions generally do. Matt and co. established their Thursday nighter in Newcastle as one of the top urban club events in the UK a couple of years ago, and more recently rolled out their winning formula to York. The club is actually on a leisure park on the edge of the city, allowing noise levels to be stretched to the max with no complaints from the neighbours. Despite being part of the corporate Ikon/ Luminar leisure chain, the venues still attract a clued-up and credible crowd. The month drew to a close on Saturday 29th, with my monthly session at The Bridge in Oxford. This was one of the best ones for ages – everything a Saturday night session should be. A cool crowd allowed me to bust a lot of new heat – The Game, Cam’ron, Snoop & Pharrell, J-Lo, Usher, Nicole Wray and Ludacris all going down particularly well. I left highly satisfied, (despite finding some w*nker taking a piss next to my car!) and could happily have gone on for another hour. And that was January… Diary Archive 2007 2006 2005
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