well, it certainly wasn't incredible, and it definitely didnt match my
definition of a party..
the main room was a joke, the bottleneck layout was stupid and led to
massive overcrowding near the stage, and there was nothing to indicate a
running order ANYWHERE, if there ever was, it had probably been removed by
some drooling spotter, as had a lot of the direction notices on the way from
the station.
as for the music, BOC were ok, it was nice to hear their new stuff,
especially after steve beckett made a point of dismissing vocoders as played
out on the warp site a while back..... so vocoders are only old hat when
used on another companies records eh?
Boc are nice in a living room, they don't work live really..
the scary part of the night happened here.... a fire alarm went off for
about 5 minutes when BOC's set started... people were dancing to it, some
were clapping along to it... and i believe many applauded it, believing it
to be part of the set when it finished... this leads me to assume the
following:
if people were dancing to/applauding a fire alarm and actually thought this
was BOC, i can only assume these people will dance to anything, given the
belief that it is being performed by a "big name" (this assumption was
reinforced later that night)
Plaid were great too, though they really didn't sound too much different
from the recorded versions.
the only other highlight for me was rob hall's set in the skam room... an
excuse to dance for a while and actually have some fun... this is my
definition of a party.. but after robs set, back came the digital goop and
people looked confused/bemused and the majority stopped dancing..
at this point I cannot say who was playing where as most things i heard from
either of the 2 area just sounded the fucking same... wooshy noises,
clattery formless autechre soundalike beats and the common site of more
people either sat around or stood looking bemused/unimpressed/conned.
shame i missed mike wiliiamsons performance (the only performing member of
the skam crew i stll have respect for), as this may have lifted my spirits a
tad
after several hours of walking from building to building in the vain hope of
actually hearing something entertaining, the final insult was preparing
itself...
bogdan...
for fucks sake... the only people that like this shit must be 14 year old
kids with DHR t-shirts and chain wallets that still say WAZZZUP! watching
the few fuckups that were actually attempting to dance was hysterical...
drooling (literally) vibrating MDEA fucked morons that looked like their
ambition in life was to pretend they had cerebral palsy. if only i had video
camera to have filmed them, i reckon i could have put them off drugs for
life..
if cheesy speeded up "drill and bass" (puh-leeze!) is the future, give me
the '80s
then aphex.......(i think)
if the sound of a semi decent spymania tune with the added sounds of
elephants being burnt alive is your idea of fun , fine... however it seemed
for most people this wasnt the case.. people were leaving in droves not long
after bogdan started hs shitbarrage... the place halved in number.
and so it continued... irritating painful noises designed to annoy the fuck
out of all and sundry continued into the night... i'm sure that the rephlex
boys found it all hysterical.. as would any prepubescent death metal fan..
this isn't the first time rephlex and their jolly little crew have pulled
shit like this.. like the BLECH nights where grant decided to play chart
music and roland rat to the chorus of "WANKER" from a large number of the
crowd.
and that was it... a complete and utter joke.... never EVER will i be duped
by the warp hype ever again.
The idea of a "party" for me is one of ENTERTAINMENT not endurance, of
having fun and rocking out with friends and fellow ravers, not being
confused, insulted and blatantly have the piss taken.
the idea of recording equipment being banned in such a manner was funny,
especially considering that i'll be getting 80 quids worth of warp mp3's
(including the new BOC) off napster to compensate for the money I wasted on
me and my girlfriend getting there.
as for anyone actually recording anything from the show, it'll be great that
other people will be able hear the sound of a scene imploding, or if not,
the sound of a scene with its head right up it's arse trying it's damndest
to do so.
Agree? disagree? i'll be interested to hear what else other people think....
if i'm in a minority, obviously i and my label have no place in a scene
where anal, insular, music is de rigeur,and i'll be trying to find a more
lighter, FUN oriented list (anyone know if electrobreaks is still around?)
Brian
STUDIO MOO GRAFIKDESIGNCONSTRUKT
DATATHIEF AUDIOPROJEKT
http://www.madasafish.com/user/~studiomoo/