- With Christmas now approaching very fast, the lead up to the biggest occasion of the year can often become quite a tumultuous time for even the most stable of individuals. With so many office parties and other related festivities taking place all over the country it would be almost forgivable for missing the odd music gig. I decided to make my way to Waterford once again for what promised to be a great evening of techno courtesy of Musiklab@The Forum. This year in particular has been a memorable one for the city, graced by the talents of Carola, Mills, Craig, Smith & Umek.
With a vibrant scene and promoters dedicated to putting on good nights, Waterford has become a hotspot outside the capital for quality electronic music. It's now widely accepted as the Republic's second city in terms of where the top DJs visit when they arrive on Irish shores. On Saturday 3rd, legendary London DJ, Ben Sims, who has been mining at the coal-face for sound for some years now, turned up for an eagerly anticipated date @The Forum for the next sequel in his previously much lauded Irish appearances.
A huge queue had formed at the club from the outset -- some had even travelled from all over Ireland for this one -- proving there was a sizable interest in tonight's shindig. Despite Mauro Picotto spinning in a venue not too far away, there seemed to be a spread of dancers throughout the city centre as tonight's winter warm-up got underway.
Peter Breen kicked off with some crisp, percussive techno as hordes of dedicated followers made their way into the expansive venue. I noticed that the lighting rig in particular, looked amazing and I was informed that this was due to the arduous efforts of a guy called Stress. The energy was apparent even at this early juncture as the tribal phonk of Rob Slac, Johnny Fiasco and Max Renn's 'Poco Loco' urged people onto the floor.
All this augered well, as a positive vibe permeated into every movement across the club and with tracks from the First Cut label, Ingoma and material by Mark Williams, a sense of affirmitive action was relayed to the revellers. At one point Breen dropped a track that seemed to be submerged underwater -- fighting for air and almost drowning -- before he let it rise up and burst through the speakers causing aural mayhem. Breen finished out an accomplished set which adequately satisfied the venue with a Robert Hood/Oliver Ho collaboration on Meta.
Next up to bat was Luke Logan, who gave us Plastikman's "Spastik" and then Smith & Selway's "Move", as a driving force got the dancers marching in almost military fashion. Freaky, funky movers filled the floor by this point as Dave Clarke's "The Wiggle" brought us back to the Red One days with the energy rising higher. The classic DJ Funk's "Run" got a great reaction and Luke had indeed readied the troops by the end of his set using a Hardcell track.
Just after 12:50 saw Ben Sims take to the 1's n 2's and also the 3's! The lights dimmed down as he mixed his first track through and buried all the hi-end of the sound from the mixer bringing an ominous air to proceedings.The apprehension continued abated until a massive spinback tore the sound in half and then.........silence. The building, tribal, rhythms emerged from the darkness and then those primevil groans of Tres Demented brought an almost sexual release from the rising tension and the crowd just responded as if it was the moment they had all been waiting for!
In no time at all Sims had grabbed the place by the scruff of the neck as if to say " you had better get busy....or else! " Using a speeded up sample from "The House that Jack Built" and syncopated rhythm-signatures, we were strapped into a rollercoaster ride which felt like it could come sliding off the tracks at any given moment. Sim's rhythm attack started on the lower body like a boxer, working his way up to beat us around the head and shoulders as the twisting, turning bodies got wrapped up in those slick, tribal tracks.
Serious crossfader action with half-beat juggles, stutters, scratches and Ben's intuitive ability to cut and paste sections of records in a hip-hop style in favour of longwinded mixes, brought out the best from the crowd. KB's re-edit of Inner City took us to a place you know you want to go in the g-g-good life ........and we were almost there! Bass-monsters breathing fire got us into that Hardgroove sound with Alpharisc's "Freash People" getting the heads swinging from side to side as those drums just kept rolling.
Rue East's "Birmingham" sent spooky, organ-riffs onto the floor as the intensity of the situation became evident. Time was running out but Ben just kept dropping tracks, rolling and scratching and hitting us with more from Shufflemaster, DJ Funk and some of his own material from labels like Theory and Hardgroove. By the end of the night as the music was supposed to finish, Sims teased the crowd by attempting to play one more and then stopping seconds later.........but wait...yes..one more!
The ardent critic in the audience may have argued in favour of more minimal, down-tempo set material and that the european-electro sound is much more "of the now". In response to this I would have to say that the reaction of the crowd was all the evidence one needed to conclude that this type of contemporary electronic music is still in huge demand.To hear it being mixed in Ben's inimitable blink-and-you've-missed-it style is a real bonus for anyone with a penchant for letting loose on a dancefloor. I would rate him alongside Mills in terms of 3-deck wizardry and this was confirmed by many of the Irish DJs I spoke to on the night.
In short..........a great night. Let's hope Ben makes a return visit in the New year for some more of the same.
Special thanks again to Luke at Musiklab.