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June
2006
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For me, there’s always a surefire indicator that British Summertime is here; no matter how late I’ve got to bed I can’t sleep beyond about 8 or 9 in the morning, when the sunlight comes streaming in through the windows. I guess an investment in some thick, heavy-duty hotel-style curtains could be in order?!
'MD' Besides G’s in Bicester on Thursday 1st, my first proper gig of the month was a return to NYT in London on Friday 2nd. Although outlying areas like Shoreditch, Islington and Camden push the envelope regularly, venues in the West End leave a lot to be desired musically. Their location means they attract largely tourist and ‘beautiful people’type crowds, (for ‘beautiful’read ‘pretentious’.) Happily, NYT, close to Leicester Square, is the exception, largely down to the efforts of Jay of the Black Moth Connection crew, whose In Focus is just the kind of heavy session the club needs. The bustling crowd was hugely responsive during my 90-minute set, Tony Matterhorn’s ‘Dutty Wine’getting a particularly noisy reception. Clinton Sparks, Tim Westwood and Steve Sutherland are among the guests booked for future weeks, with the Summer season wrapping up with an In Focus float at Notting Hill Carnival in late August.
'MD at The Trinity Rooms, Limerick ' On Saturday, Mrs. D and myself set off in the blazing afternoon heat to Gatwick Airport for our flight to Shannon, Ireland. This was for my latest appearance at the spacious and impressive Trinity Rooms in Limerick, a venue which I’d always considered Parveen would enjoy. For logistical convenience, I’d opted to travel without vinyl –just CDs. I’m getting very comfortable doing sets this way, and it’s getting hard to imagine me humping heavy vinyl on to flights very much from this point on, (although I’ll continue to use vinyl for land-based UK gigs.) While I played a three-hour set in the R&B room, the open-air courtyard, (the place where all the smokers are forced to congregate,) was entertained by a troupe of Polish DJs who specialise in cutting up indie and rock tunes with breaks. The traditional Irish hospitality meant we returned to our hotel room nicely bladdered, with a large Sunday breakfast necessary to soak it all up. On Monday, I found myself in the bizarre situation of being paid for a gig which never happened –an all-too-rare occurrence! I’d been contacted at the last minute by the promoters of Vodka Island to handle the R&B room at their new student-based night at Onanon, just off Piccaddilly in Central London. By 11.30, however, it was clear they weren’t going to make the expected numbers, so my room was aborted and I was allowed to go home. To their great credit, the promoters paid me for my wasted time, for which they get my full respect. Many wouldn’t!
'On Anon, London' One of the walls in my living room is taken up by two big map boards – one of the UK, the other of the world - and every time I play a gig in a new location I stick in a red pin to mark the appropriate spot. It proves quite a conversation-starter among visitors to our house! On the UK one, a region that’s eluded me in all the years I’ve been DJing is North Wales, but that was finally put right on Thursday 8th when I headed off to play Liquid in Wrexham. Liquid is part of the monolithic Luminar leisure corporation, and it’s rare to find them getting behind urban music any of in their lookalike venues. In this case, the action was happening in the Envy part of the club, with the commercial/ mainstream dance business going on up above. The venue had booked me a last-minute hotel, but the combination of chavs fighting noisily in the street at 4am, the Turkish bath-like heat, and a delivery lorry pulling up below my window at 7am resulted in very little sleep, so I drove home bleary-eyed to grab another couple of precious hours more.
'MD at Liquid, Wrexham' On Friday night, I headed to Bristol for my two-hour set at Romeo Brown’s. The venue was like a sauna after a swelteringly hot day, but this only added to the firing atmosphere, and it ended up a hugely enjoyable gig. The crowd seemed to want ragga and bashment all night, so I was only too happy to oblige. Upon exiting, the streets of Bristol were alive with drunken chants of ‘Enger-land!’ ahead of Saturday’s World Cup game – and that was just the girls.
'Romeo Browns, Bristol' With my previous appearances for Milkshake at The Showbar in Bournemouth, I’ve driven there and back the same night. The glorious weather presented the ideal opportunity to spend some extra time down there on Saturday 10th, however, so me and the missus took an overnight hotel recommended by resident DJ LJW. This turned out to be Milkshake’s last session at The Showbar; promoter Dave has now sold the brand to The Opera House, so it remains to be seen how its long term future will pan out. The attendance levels were thinner than usual, doubtless due to the football and the hot weather.
'MD with LJW at Milkshake, Bournemouth' Edinburgh is my favourite city in the UK. The architecture, atmosphere and overall charm of the place can’t be equalled in my eyes, so I welcome any opportunity to get up there. On 13th June I set off from Birmingham International for a rare Tuesday gig. Rewind at the intimate Prive Council is run by Jay Glass, aka Phaze 2, one third of the team behind the long-running Sunday Tipsy session at Massa. Jay’s a very switched-on and forward-thinking guy who comes across as far more mature than his 19 years, and we had a good chat about industry-related stuff over an excellent evening dinner – the sort of shop talk that would make my wife scream with boredom. I had a long walk through the fascinating streets of Edinburgh before my 1am set, which had all the feel of a fun and close-knit house party.
'Edinburgh' There was a panic on Wednesday morning as Jay was pulled by a copper for not wearing a seatbelt, and his pleading that he had to collect me from my hotel to make my return flight only made the bastard drag it out longer. In the end, we made a frantic dash, and I made it to check-in with only seconds to spare. Another close shave!
'MD' My latest appearance in London came on Saturday 17th, the third sweltering weekend in a row in the UK, which is kinda rare! This was my first time at the night called Play at Mash in Great Portland Street. The hot weather had apparently kept a few punters away, but you wouldn’t have noticed, as the place was buzzing with a party crowd. The following week I started laying into a feature on European nightlife for which I’d been commissioned by Recline, one of those in-flight magazines you get in plane seat pockets. What didn’t help was the massive amount of required internet research coinciding with my Broadband connection going down inexplicably at home, and no amount of troubleshooting courtesy of my resident techno-wizards Ussherman and Lee Cocker establishing the root of the problem. You don’t realise how much you rely on these things til they’re not there. To me, being permanently on-line has become as essential as food and water. And to think, ten years ago I didn’t even have a mobile phone!
'Parveen at Dukes, Yeovil' Next gig in the diary was Dukes in the Somerset town of Yeovil on Friday 23rd. This was for Bruno, kingpin of the veteran Burnin’ Sound system. I’d played at two of his jams before – one in 1997, the next in 2000. Following the same mathematical sequence, the next time should theoretically be in 2018! Parveen came along for a night out. It wasn’t busy, but I was determined to make the most out of the night, and approached my two-hour set with all the energy I would if the club was packed. As a result, the time zipped by, and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, myself included. Just goes to show, sometimes the small, intimate gatherings really can be among the most enjoyable. The Bridge in Oxford is my longest standing gig; I’ve been doing the last Saturday of each month there for over five years now. (The club believes in DJ longevity; dance DJs Kieran and Ussherman have also been there just as long.) You’d think that would mark me out as part of the furniture, but annoyingly, I still get stopped almost weekly by new bouncers who don’t recognise me as I waltz past the queue. As with most clubs, security turnover levels are so high that hundreds of bar and security staff have come and gone since I’ve been there.
'Off-duty bargirls at The Bridge ' After a very late start caused by another long, hot day, things were just starting to kick in … when my headphones suddenly packed up. This is just about the worst thing that can happen to you in the middle of a DJ set, and considering they were Sennhesiers, which are supposed to be the market-leaders, I was distinctly unimpressed. I was forced to play a mix CD for as long as it took barman Manolo, also a part-time DJ, to run home and get his. A harsh letter to Sennhesier HQ will now be in order, I feel. The month finished, DJ-wise, with G’s in Bicester on Thursday 29th. The following night offered a rare Friday off, so I used the time to lay into my latest Beatmasters Mix, to appear as the bonus with my forthcoming Volume 21 CD. This one is all about the classic beats and productions of Kanye West, so a lot of mining through vinyl stocks in assorted parts of the house was in order. My Broadband connection was finally back, too, so much catching up with websites and retreiving of MP3s was on the cards. … and that was an absolutely sweltering June! Diary Archive 2007 2006 2005
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