| The night was to see Chicago house
'master' Marshall Jefferson play host to us, the
willing crowd, at The Venue, Edinburgh. Having been
at this club many times before, I have seen it at
its best and worse, and this night saw it somewhere
in the middle. The top level of this three floor
club had been closed off for the night. The main
room was at ground level, and the 'cooler' was in
the basement. The only effort I could see put into
the decoration for the main room was a 'No strings
attached' banner hanging off a side wall as you
walked into the room. The basement looked good,
with a DJ playing out from the corner while a bar
sat next to it and the seats were on the other wall.
If the management could duplicate the style of the
interior of the basement up in the grottier middle
and upper floors of the club it would add so much
to the place.
But we came to hear the music, and on that front I have rarely been disappointed
here. I arrived to see the last parts of a set
by Steve Cass. He threw out good tunes and mixed
them together with style. I heard him throw in
some nice touches, like a spinback, usually a
bedroom DJ's cover-up mix technique to mask a
mistake and as such rarely heard out in the clubs,
but done with good effect here.
Marshall Jefferson was excellent. His mixing
throughout the night was solid and worked well,
though there was nothing especially inspired.
What made this set so good was watching his true
specialization as a producer, which was his choice
of records. He put together an excellent set of
records that kept the entire crowd on their feet
throughout the night. The occasional old school
classic was also thrown in at regular points in
the night, which is something I am very keen on
and would like to see at more clubs. I felt that
had he tried too much with the mixing it may have
worked against the overall effect. But with just
shy of 20 years experience of this music, and
coming from and being involved with the origins
of Chicago house, I'm sure he knew what to do.
The crowd he played out to was energetic and
happy, and just about the right size. At the peak
of Marshall Jefferson's set the whole main room
was full, but you still had room to dance, and
that is what counts. People were smiling at each
other, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, with
'seen but not heard' security. I would have enjoyed
being a bouncer for this night.
All in all I had a good night, and so did all
my mates. The cost of entry wasn't bad, the price
for alcohol wasn't silly, and the music was top
class. The next 'No strings attached' would certainly
be worth the trip. |
