Its fairly obvious that London dominates the UK club scene with fantastic line ups every single weekend (and during the week), superclubs with million pound sound systems, warehouse events where even the poshest of people want to be seen in.... And yet... Theres just something about seeing an A grade DJ play in a smaller city outside of London...
Its kind of like they already know what to expect when they see their upcoming gig list and 'Fabric' is listed. I can only imagine someone like Efdemin's reaction to seeing 'Doncaster' on their list... Most of my clubbing outside of London has been done in Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry and Bristol, even these are large compared to Donny, but theres something different about the anticipation of the weeks leading up to the event, the pre-drinks, the travelling in, the queuing and hearing that muffled beat coming from the swinging door...
Some great examples I can think of are - waiting in line to get to see Falko Brockseiper @ Below @ The Rainbow in Digbeth (before they put a proper roof on it), heading down the stairs at Po Na Na in Leicester to see Liquid People and more recently into the graffitti'd Sophbeck in Leicester to see Giles Smith... Just last week I took a long walk down Gloucester Rd in Bristol to head to somewhere I hadn't been before and to see a DJ I hadn't seen before - The Revenge @ Blue Mountain hosted by Freejive. The night was fantastic from the very reasonably priced drinks, the loud soundsystem, the smiling faces and just great music...
I've just listed two of the best reasons to once in a while climb out of the black clubbing hole that is London and have a wander around the country - the price of drinks and the people. I hate paying OTT prices for what you can get in the offy next door for a quarter of the price... And I have to admit I have walked out of some London events just because of the attitude... I think that you get a better atmosphere out of the capital because the fans are genuinely appreciate DJs that make an effort to not take the easy route and just play in London all the time, and they repay that by going crazy! I know there are DJs that don't play outside of the capital for contractural reasons, and tbh thats just crap...
So if theres anyone out there that has been stuck to London like a magnet for a while open your eyes, spot something you like in a smaller city, book a holiday inn and go for it...
I find that catching a dj in a smaller venue seems to allow them the opportunity to experiment more beyond the "safe" set they feel they have to deliver to larger venues. There are a few larger venues that want innovative djs but most places are just concerned with getting enough people inside the large area so that it doen't look dead to the patrons. To do that, they cater to the lowest common denominator.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, and thats what seems to happen at some of the London nights that seems to be put on just for the sake of putting a night on...
ReplyDeleteTake the Den/Centro (used to be The End) - a largish venue, does anyone actually go there? All their nights seem to be filled with names no-one has ever heard of...
I'd take the CAMP or Plastic People any day, Fabric is one I will go to because of the variety of line ups - and this is because control of the music is down to their brand.
I'm actually heading to MoS this sat for Defected In The House (mainly to see Dimitri From Paris in the box), I'll post a review next week...