- Wall of Sound's regular Friday night at Fabric Live never fails to wrap the queue round the block. With past events featuring sure-fire crowd-pullers such as 2Many DJs, Jacques Lu Cont and Tom Middleton, we've often come home a few stone lighter, not to mention a good deal smellier. Nonetheless, not even the chronically claustrophobic can resist the appeal of an exclusive DJ set from the mighty Chemical Brothers, and with this being their only UK DJ date of the year, this was simply no time to demand space for one’s elbows.
However, making matters a great deal worse was the Bros’ controversial decision to reject Fabric's larger and more accommodating main-room in favour of the dark, garage of a sweat-pit that is room two. Bearing in mind that this was only to snub the chin-stokers that inhabit the VIP balcony overlooking room one, this was not only a little pretentious but bloody unfair to the paying fans. But not to worry, Fabric Live has never been about the big names, it's about the new ones, and with the main space free of champagne and riders, some suitably hot new acts were free to hock their wares as Kill 'Em All, Let God Sort It Out took over. Particularly striking were Shy Child – a keyboard-playing singer and a drummer who crammed more sound into that space than one thought possible. Throbbing electro basslines roared over hypnotic thunderclap beats, while funky licks and riffs popped and fizzed like Red Bull. Dominating the stage as much as they filled the dancefloor, Shy Child boasted an energetic and engaging stage presence to rival any superstar - Chemical who now?
But yes, however tempting it was to snub the snubbers and get lost in the heady electro and house of room one, the dynamic duo beckoned fiercely from the club's dark side. All the same, merely reaching the rooms' entrance was feat of endurance like no other, and once melted into cracks of the crowd this reviewer was subjected to a sardine-can effect that he shalt not soon forget. Bordering on the life threatening (I kid you not), it was literally impossible to move independently, let alone dance. Which was certainty a great shame as the Chems fired out some mesmerizing, primal techno and house, the raw, cavernous electronica a soundtrack to the murky and humid arches.
Culminating their set in a climatic ego-boost, the glorious 'Out of Control' brought cheers from the tightly compressed block of clubbers, but undoubtedly came as a relief to the many who no longer felt obliged to honour their entrance fee.