- There is a crackle in the air around Home when an international plays. Is it because everyone is well and truly up for it, that people make a special effort to come or maybe it’s the anticipation of seeing a DJ who so rarely graces our shores. Armand Van Helden was playing at Home on Saturday night and guaranteeing two things - it would be packed to the rafters and the atmosphere would be electric.
The scene around HOME did not match the chaos that was Roger Sanchez – that night a 1000 people missed their chance, the terrace was much calmer (which could be something to do with members having buy tickets). Downstairs it was still packed, with the queue snaking back to the IMAX at 10.30. Grabbing a table up on the Terrace I sat with my friends in eager anticipation and waited for the night to unfold. It was the first time that I had seen Yogi play in the Terrace and I was impressed, It is always a pleasure to watch a DJ who truly enjoys his craft. Despite the fact that he was playing to a fairly empty room Yogi was obviously enjoying himself and his relaxed and happy attitude shone through in his music. His opening set was melodic and funky, more a loungey style of music which suited the mood of those who had decided to get to Home early.
As midnight struck, I decided to walk downstairs and reserve my spot on the dance floor (always a necessity at these sorts of nights). The main room was already packed with the usual eclectic mix - funky clubbers, party prince and princess and those just out to hear some good music.
It must be fairly daunting playing before an international the calibre of Armand Van Helden but Jacksterdid not seem fazed. In fact he was obviously having the time of his life playing to a packed and truly up for it main room. Crowd and DJ were feeding off each other and Jackster was working the crowd into an absolute frenzy. It was a ripper of a set with tunes such as: Sound of Violence (Aviators remix), “Back Together” (Hard Soul - Shemas Haj remix), “3am” (Bobbi Bianco - Ian Carey remix) and “Non Stop rock” (Mark Knight), Jackster had the crowd well and truly warmed up for Armand Van Helden and when he played an acapella of "Revolution Will Not Be Televised" over the top of Magik Johnson's "Million Dreams" it was pure magic.
"Rune" by Calabria built into an incredible peak, the crowd was pumping, Jackster was going off and then…nothing…the unthinkable happened…the music stopped! To be replaced by an incessant 'beep, beep, beep'. The fire alarm had been tripped. Jackster, cool as a cucumber, was a true professional and took the turn of events all in his stride. He left the techies to fix the problem and very calmly stood there, coolly swigging from his beer. The crowd at first bemused by the slight set back then started to get agitated especially when rumours of a fire alarm and a potential evacuation shot around the dance floor quicker than lightening. Excitement, fear and anticipation swept the dancefloor as Jackster with a shrug of his shoulders and a “now where were we?” look at the crowd put Calabria back on. He soon had the crowd right back in the palm of his hand and with a feeling of de ja vu got the crowd going again.
Finishing off with a very rare remix of "Rock the Casbah" Jackster handed over to the self confessed 'bad boy of house', Armand Van Helden. Armand carried on where Jackster had left off and soon had the floor rocking with his own brand of rocky and electric guitar influenced tracks. Playing well known numbers such as "Hole in the head" (Sugar Babes), “Seven nation army” (White Stripes remix) and "Teen Spirit" (Nirvana remix) it was obvious that Armand was going to play a big tune set with an 80s electro house and rock influence.
Armand really worked the crowd for the whole two hours he played, using tracks with large build ups and playing to the ubiquitous excitement and atmosphere.. He utilised both the turntables and the cdj1000's filtering the music with the EQ's on the mixer, cutting the sound on a regular basis so that the crowd could sing along. While I certainly couldn't fault it, others commented that his mixing was not as tight as they expected it to be.
As anticipated "Hear my name" absolutely tore the place apart. I can imagine there is no better feeling for a producer to play one of his own tracks in a club like Home and see the place go nuts with every single person singing along to it. Van Helden also had the crowd singing along to "Stupidisco" (Junior Jack) and a personal favourite "Call on me" (Bangaltar and Falcon).
While Armand's set rocked (in all senses of the word) I did not feel that I was learning or hearing anything new or being taken on a journey. I am all for big tunes but constant hit after hit leaves one feeling exhausted and I found his set did get samey after a while. While I enjoyed the music he played I was not blown away and did not walk away feeling that I had had an experience. I was expecting at least an encore with “You don’t know me” thrown into his set and couldn't help but feel that his set fizzled towards the end as opposed to finishing on a banging high. I left thinking 'was that it?'
I managed to pop up to the Terrace for a bit of a break from the main room madness. I caught some of Julian Jason’s set and the Terrace was reasonably busy during Armand's set. Interestingly Julian was playing it a lot more vocal and funky with not so much deep house as usual.
Alex Taylor had the task of taking off where Armand had left off and took things down a notch with “Four to the floor” (Starsailor) allowing him to build his own rapport with the crowd. Alex followed with “Sweet Dreams” and “David” (Gus Gus). As usual Alex’s mixing was seamless and flowed well. He also played “Freaks” (Moguai), “Silver Screen” (Felix da House Cat) and my absolute favourite “Push up” (Freestylers).
All in all it was a good night. I didn't hear anything profound and was not blown away by the music. However, as always, I enjoyed the incredible atmosphere and vibe that Home generates when an international plays.