- One for the money, two for the road, three to get ready, now go Danny go!
In his fourth outing at Tokyo’s club Womb, Danny Howells again proved that age-old adage – don’t believe everything you read. His last two sets in Tokyo - 10 hours and 7 hours respectively, on this occasion it was a mere 4-hour set that clubbers had to contend with. Despite the shorter set length Danny wowed us again with a set completely different to those of the past - unpredictable tracks, amazing energy and flow and let’s not forget his constant gesturing towards the crowd and those familiar cheeky faces.
Tonight was not a night for progressive heads nor was it a night for fans wanting to hear 'deepsexyfuturistictechhouse' or whatever the catchphrase. It was for those who wanted to hear something different by someone with the balls (and the sideburns!) to do it.
It takes a master to have the crowd eating out of their hands in under three tracks but left with the over-enthusiastic remains of the warm-up DJ, Danny chose the unpredictable route and of course, came out on top. Rather than continue the banging main set vibe he kicked off on a number reminiscent of the Circulation boys before settling things back into a groove with some disco house Danny-style; reducing the BPMs, taking control of the crowd and without losing a single punter on the dance floor.
Tonight, even the best of trainspotters would have been clutching at straws as Danny abandoned the big tunes and the usual crowd-pleasers in favour of more underground tracks including a few with some cheeky samples - like the track sampling Technotronic's 'Pump Up The Jam' or the one with the instantly recognizable vocals of Prince; perhaps another of Danny's own bootlegs! Energetic and constantly with twists and turns, it wasn't the individual tracks which made his set a standout. Rather, it was the fact that in many respects we knew what was coming, and yet in so many other ways we didn't.
Midway through his set the hard, funky sounds of Tomaz vs. Filterheadz 'I Love Techno' signaled a sign of things to come as Danny upped the BPMs and invited us to join him in a one hour techno feast. Like his influences Richie Hawtin and Billy Nasty this was techno of the hypnotic and melodic kind, yet delivered with a harder edge. A brain-rattling aural landscape this was not techno for the fainthearted. Instead, it was aimed squarely at the soles of our trainers.
Inside the DJ booth we found Danny (sporting a generous new mop of hair and some funky sideburns) gyrating his hips and ass a la 'The King'; avoiding stepping on anyone's blue suede shoes. From our first interview with Danny (undertaken in a stairwell during a haircut) it seems that in the past year, as Danny's hair has grown so has his DJing - a modern day Samson, if you like.
In the last forty minutes Danny brought things back to more standard progressive fare, gently returning the punters to the place where they had started their night. As the race against the clock began and the final encore track approached, thoughts of what tune could possibly do justice to his set began to weigh on our minds. But not Danny's, whose awesome choice of the House mix of Bushwacka's 'Healer' summed up things perfectly. "Whatever it is that you fuck your mind with. Whatever, that, is. Whatever, that, is. It's a lie. It's a lie".
And whatever the magazines may say, do not think for a moment that Danny Howells is not worthy of the poll position. Long live the King!