- I’d firstly like to announce that a good friend of mine, Joe, was unable to attend this gig (Joe had been anticipating this event for months) because he drank a little too much whisky at my apartment and as we were leaving, toppled head over heels down the 30-odd stairs that elevate my humble abode from the ground level. As a result, I missed the first hour of Danny Howells' set because I had to escort "Joe the drunkard" back to his apartment on the north side of Chicago before making my way back to Vision Nightclub.
When I arrived at Vision sometime close to 1:30am there was an impressive line that spilled out of the club and onto the street. I waited in line for about 15 minutes with my girlfriend and the remainder of my friends who had managed to make it down the staircase of my apartment in one piece. Upon entering the club I thought about poor Joe, the drunkard, who would now be waking up the following day with a blistering hangover, an abstract pattern of painful bluish purple marks allover his body, and no recollection of Danny Howells whatsoever.
It turned out that Joe possibly did himself a favor by falling down those stairs. In the past 3 or 4 years I have seen Danny Howells perform on a number of occasions (mainly in Australia, but also in the U.S and U.K), and each time he's provided the perfect soundscape for an unforgettable night. This past Saturday, however, was not one of those nights.
When I arrived, Howells was already throwing down the heavier stuff, ranging from snippets of dirty electro, a little acid, and some minimal atmospheric techno. He was playing constant 4/4 time signatures and there wasn't much diversity in track selection. I was disappointed because I came to give my respects to a DJ who is best known for his eccentricity, and his genre crossing “deepsexyfuturistictechfunkhouse”. I figured that he’d dig deep into his record box and shape the night more creatively (given that he had 5 hours to do so). Instead, Howells gave Chicago a taste of the heavier and edgier side of his crate.
As the evening progressed Vision nightclub became more and more packed. The dance floor was definitely alive and shaking. However, a name such as Danny Howells is always going to fill a dance floor, regardless of whether or not he's performing at his best.
At around 3:30am Howells shifted directions a little, laying down the percussive houser, Sam Paganini – "Into Africa”. Funnily enough I was just getting ready to leave, but this track caught my attention and urged me to stay a little longer. I listened intently, in the hope that "Into Africa" would mark a point of change. Unfortunately, this change was short lived, and Howells went back to throwing down the big guns. I left soon after, disappointed in the fact that what I came to see was a creative 5 hour set that would bump its way through the dirty gritty stuff and evolve into bigger sounds as the night progressed. Instead, what Howells served up was 4/4 techno monotony. Oh well, I guess even the most revered and respected DJs are prone to playing mediocre sets every once in a while.
*By the way, I don’t dislike techno. But, when you go to see a DJ like Danny Howells you go with a certain appetite. If I wanted techno, I would have waited for Richie Hawtin or Adam Beyer.