- No Valentine's date for your boy, despite having asked several girlies. To alleviate my feelings of rejection I decided to seek solace in the sound of pounding techno, so I rounded up the usual suspects for a night out at Vauxhall's Lightbox—which as my friend assured me is not gay, although it is technically part of gay mega-club Fire. What drew me to this club on this night? Mainly the amusing name, I must admit; but also the planned live set from Wagon Repair's Mathew Jonson.
The residents were first, though, with a rather lacklustre deep house set that, while bumping in all the right places, failed to set my pants on fire. But what was lacking in the music was more than made up for by the venue, which is, to put it bluntly, wicked. In keeping with the name, the entire place is studded with LED lights which flash in fabulous rotating multi-coloured constellations of all shapes and hues across the walls and ceiling. It's quite a sight to behold and gives the place a vibe that is unlike any other night club I've visited. The whole experience is rather like a digitised version of the hyperspace vortex in '70s TV show and rerun classic Buck Rogers, or maybe like being inside a computer game—a hot, loud and crowded video game.
Photo credit: Nick Ensing
After a bit of a distraction with an amorous woman, I arrived back in the main room just in time for Jonson's live rendition of his eerie classic "Marionette," the chilling tone of which resonated nicely with the various punters who had paid homage to the night's concept by turning up in Zombie fancy dress. In a world still dominated by two turntables, in spirit if not always in practice, Jonson's style is an inspirational look to the future. He expertly mans a mixing desk and an array of electronic instruments to rebuild his productions live before your very eyes. Although he does keep it rather minimal, he managed nonetheless to squeeze some truly sublime bleeps and squeals out of his set-up, to the general satisfaction of all present. (The perfectly balanced and exquisitely tuned sound system at the Lightbox didn't hurt.)
And, then it was straight back to the conventional DJ stuff. Fairly passable deep house I thought, but my mate wasn't impressed. "It's getting boring," he complained. Maybe he had a point. I might've said the same had it not been for the omnipresent flashing multicoloured lights that captured my attention and distracted me in equal parts. Then again, it never takes much for me.
Photo credit: Nick Ensing
We simultaneously and spontaneously decided to leave at 5 AM, an hour before the advertised closing time. But rather than feeling forced out because I couldn't cope anymore—as I sometimes do after a long night out—this time I felt like we left on a high, while the going was good.