- The concept is simple: Take what is arguably the best big room space in London, equip it with fantastic, malleable sound and book an enviable cast of DJs, with a heavy lean to the sounds of Detroit. On paper it's a clubbing certainty. In reality, sometimes it just doesn't work. Something is missing—proving that putting on a night always requires something extra. This isn't Field of Dreams. Just because you build it doesn't mean they will come.
Hi-Tek Soul sometimes suffers from this, and it did when Theo Parrish, Osunlade and Derrick May lined up for a head-to-head at the Ministry of Sound at the end of March. I've had some amazing times at this sporadic session, but last week wasn't one of them. Sadly, Ministry still attracts more tourists than purists—and it was apparent when Theo Parrish opened up in The Box. Theo's regular sessions at Plastic People are inimitable and intimate—disco, jazz, funk or house get a thorough workout in the tiny, intense room. In Ministry's main room, however, it didn't translate, judging by the handful that were dancing. Most seemed to pass through, managing little more than a confused shuffle to Parrish's sub-110 BPM house, street soul and funk, before shuffling out in the hunt for something more banging. A shame, because James Brown's "Bodyheat" and Universal Robot Band's "Barely Breakin Even" sounded amazing.
Photo credit: Voyteck Photography
Expectations for Osunlade were high, especially since I'd seen him tear up the MOS terrace at the Secretsundaze closing last October. On that night, I'd seen him amble through to the main room after his set and have a look around. But tonight, here he was playing peaktime, and sadly not really delivering. Where was the flow? The extended tribal work-outs? On this night, his set lacked fire—and when it did go up a notch (Dajae's "Brighter Days" for instance) it would immediately sink back down into plod. The mood in the main room was that of headnodding more than heads-down dancing.
Out in the bar Kirk DeGiorgio pulled off some of the best mixes of the night, and definitely had some of the best music. Sadly he was playing when resident Derrick May had begun in the main room and there were barely more than 40 people to hear him. May's immediately turned things up a notch, taking Osunlade's trot to a gallop. But by this stage it was an uphill struggle, with the Detroit legend settling for more isolator bass-drop tension and seemingly dispensing with basslines altogether. It was a clinical exercise in jackin house and techno—Norm Talley's "The Journey" thumped, and even "Horny Hustle" sounded good—but at 4 AM it was all a bit too late. Why wasn't May on at peaktime? I left feeling more saddened I'd not had an amazing night rather than short-changed. Sometimes a night out's magic needs to be more than the sum of its parts.