- For a club night to be able to entice us away from the sofa and TV during the post-Christmas and pre-New Years weekend, it would have to be something special. This is how we found ourselves lined up outside fabric on 28th December 2002, itching to hear the masterful tunes of the original techno pioneer, Jeff Mills.
I still recall the first time I witnessed Jeff Mills, and since then I have made a solid effort to ensure I see as many of his sets as possible. His style has definitely changed over the past few years - and not in a bad way. Yes, in his purist techno form Jeff was incredible and I don’t ever recall seeing a venue so pumping before, but the way his music has evolved over the past few years is all for the best - opening up his style to incorporate new sounds and genres into his electric sets.
Room Two was feeling the techno sounds of Oliver Ho, which had everyone dancing away. But as tonight we were out to see Mills, we forced ourselves out and made our way towards Room One where we were destined to spend the majority of our night.
Craig Richards was playing in Room One before the Detroit legend, and had upped the tempo and style of his usual Saturday night set to really get the crowded warmed up. And after hearing Craig play at Fabric on various Saturday nights in usually a much mellower, deeper form, I was quite impressed by this up beat change and as expected he had solid crowd on their feet for Jeff Mills’ arrival.
By the time the man himself made a low-key entrance at around 2am, the dance floor was packed full of punters eagerly awaiting the drop of the first note. The next four hours (maybe it was five – after a while, time became irrelevant) Mills led the crowd on what can only be described as a twisted techno journey – we know it’s a word that is hugely overused and abused in reviews, but it really should be reserved exclusively for Jeff Mills descriptions. Beginning with several classic techno tracks, Mills soon divulged his full artistic talent by intertwining the techno beats for which he is famous with soaring vocals, piano sounds and housier themes. Far from disapproving of this departure from ‘purist’ techno, the crowd lapped up every minute of Mills’ display of musical invention and expression.
The overall out come of this night was much better than we could have imagined and just a few days before new years, we were left in a state. The idea of going out after such an exceptional night just a few days prior seemed illogical. My words of advice, if you get the chance to see Jeff Mills, regardless of your musical tastes, what ever you do – don’t miss him!