Hey, thought I would add a new entry for June, its been great this week and as ever I have been so busy with music on many levels also the radio show at PickeringFM, speaking to lots of people from all over the world, spent less time on Face book this week I guess…...not.
That being all said, I have been seeing the efforts that Leeds promoter Micky Reilly and his team have been putting out with a night of Retro Classics including a Live PA from the mighty KKLASS feat BOBBI… after speaking to local Scratch DJ, Tyrone Mclaughlin, Mark Watson & Linda and Mark the Ledge Holliday, I thought I best pop along just to see what it was all about, I thought I’d take my camera and just soak it up.
Again as I have said in previous blog posts I tend to think that unless these are done very well, these nights can have very limited scope to the broader audience, me I love my cutting edge Techno & Progressive, something that has stayed with me from the early days of renaissance and the warehouse.
Having been clubbing since about ‘88/89 to the present day, the ethos is still the same, its about the Music, Soundsystem, DJ, and the crowd get that right and it will be packed to the rafters everytime. Having been to the Warehouse many, many times over the years I dunno what it is, but I just love this club, the people the atmosphere, even the Door staff are just happy people and I managed to have a chinwag with a few of them, at Shine if not to keep them awake and alert later in the evening.
After Arriving to meet Tyrone in Leeds, we had a coffee and a chat about many aspects of the music scene in Leeds and Europe and the night that would be, even having some sensible debate on Guetta and his achievements and downfalls… then off we went to the Club, Sound check was already underway and we met up with Micky and the crew and had a chat a beer & a laugh.
Earlier sets of the night in the main room I witnessed were Marc Osikka and Mark Alexander, both smashing it up in the main room, the dancefloor full and that Soundsystem proper is doing its job. Both focussed on their craft and serious about what they were delivering, real quality stuff.
Here is Mark Alexander in action on the 1210's
Marc Osikka seen here focussed and smashing up the main room.
As the night unfolded it was just insane, upstairs were Steve luigi & Mark Holliday and Carl Whitehead & Tyrone Mclaughlin they were on fire, Steve was all over the Vinyl’s and not having time to listen to his entire set, from what I heard it was floorless, Carl Whitehead also delivered a quality pumping session, see some of the footage I captured here, quality....
Here we had proper classics being played by an absolute Leeds legend DJ, I have to take my hat off to him, I would pitch this guy anywhere and against anyone on the 1210’s from the early daze, really enjoyed it, but not as much as he did… great to see this, and I have a lot of love for Steve both for his DJ productions & the countless records he has helped me purchase when I have been a little worse for wear over the years….;-)
Mark Holliday was whipping the people into frenzy with his set and his energy behind the decks, Mark would later Join Alistair Whitehead and KKLASS behind the deck in the main room later we caught up there and had a chat and a boogie
Coming downstairs from this the main room was packed and the bar area was over flowing with people buying drinks and dancing and having fun, smiles everywhere, it was so great to see so many people from the old daze and dedicated clubbers from around the UK.
I was now getting into the swing of things and taking plenty of photos and having a laugh and enjoying the non end of monstrous beats coming out of that funktion one Soundsystem….managed to hit the front stage just in time to see the live PA with BOBBI and KKLASS this was awesome, the crowd were really engrossed & focussed and She had them in her hand, everyone was involved here and it was indeed a focal point within the night (I am bound to say that coming from a DJ’s perspective)
That said KKLASS just seemed to play on and on…Russ Morgan was in his element and there certainly was a great atmosphere both out on the dance floor and behind the decks, lots of happy, happy faces everywhere.
After a while it was time to get upstairs for the Start of Tyrone’s set upstairs, so offski… Carl Whitehead is caning the decks and the room upstairs is buzzing once more, DJ Tyrone makes an entrance with something special and starts cutting up the 1210’s, again I could not stay for the whole session, but many people were asking and complementing on his style. This mixed with the classics and scratching made this a wonder to watch and listen, the opening two tracks and the intro was phenomenal
By this time it was about 3am and I was asking who was up next in the main room, I was then informed that Alistair Whitehead had been involved in a car crash, but was still on his way too the gig. Luckily this was true and Alistair did turn up at about 3-3:30ish.
How he managed to play a set after that was beyond me, but he managed very well, also being constantly in demand by just about everyone in the building as soon as he arrived, naturally like a true pioneer he played his cards well and his mixing did not suffer and he executed some very big drops and soon the crowd were in awe and going mental…What a lovely fella, and a fantastic Professional
That set and just Alistair’s story ended up to be a classic Shakespeare story for me which made for just about every emotion one could ask for, both in the music and the events that night for him, however he was still all smiles and still very much alive & kicking by the end of his set, hard act to follow maybe..?
Alas for me......not……..
Last up to play was in my opinion technically the best delivery of the night which would be Mr Paul Murray steering the mothership home, this was simply a stunning display of precision and a smattering of brilliant DJ’ing the sequencing was fabulous and for me as I love my technology and new equiptment this delivered a very tight and flowing session this had to be technically the best of the night for me…Well done Paul….
Upon getting to my car at 06:30am I was shattered, but what an epic experience, can’t wait for the next Shine At leeds Warehouse, for me next will be another Epic adventure in Leeds this time at the VOX with Lee Softly (Blue Amazon) and the Mighty Mighty frikken Awesome man Ian Ossia for Unite, Lastime in the Same Place Both Ian Ossia & Dave Seaman Completely destroyed that back room, and I would not miss this for all the tea in China...
See you at the Front @the VOX..... this with out doubt will be the hottest ticket in the City of Leeds. Just to wet your whistle for the VOX in July, this is a clip from what happened lastime, with the Legend that is Ian Ossia
No comments:
Post a Comment