late licence

Nightlife - Edition 26 NOV 2004

Fatboy Slim
@ Octagon

Disclaimer: I was really rather pissed for this gig, and if I’m honest I went along with a few prejudices – what I’ve heard of his sets before haven’t really set my world on fire, and as it turned out he didn’t really play anything that I found that exciting: I like my dance music a bit deeper, more funky, and generally more interesting, and it seemed to me that he played mostly fairly monotonous techno. As I said, I was a bit drunk, and all the klaxon noises combined with the terrace-like swaying of the crowd just made me want to chant football songs. Most people there seemed to love it though, which made for a fairly good atmosphere. Saying that, when I asked to borrow somebody’s bottle of water I was kindly told to “fuck off”, which was nice. This sort of confirmed to me my prejudice that the people who go to watch Fatboy Slim play dance music don’t really get dance music, and are going to watch him because they’ve seen him on MTV. More than a bit snobbish of me, but there you go.

He obviously knows his crowd though, and played snippets of student favourites like Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes, which were both greeted with rapturous applause. The projectors showed images of acid smilies, and Mr Cook was characteristically animated in the specially constructed booth set up in the middle of The Octagon, and he gave the crowd what they came for.
I had a good night out, jumped about a bit, and bought drinks from the bar with which to spill on the floor. I wouldn’t normally pay £15 to watch a ‘superstar DJ’ had I not been going with friends, but there are obviously more than enough people that are happy to do so, and to his credit Fatboy Slim sent them home happy.

Oliver Bones

Home Video / Digitonal
C90 @ Bar Abbey

What Sheffield is really good at is, for a variety of reasons, throwing up people who, quietly, think at tangents and get on with the job of putting on low key nights which mix a bit of imagination with a love of the leftfield and put on nights which are well worth tracking down.

With a minimum of fanfare the C90 crowd are gently building a reputation for putting on club style nights which are as interesting as they're fun. It's a fair cry from the mass 4/4 hypnosis going on at The Octagon when you've got Digitonal and Home Video playing in a neat (and blatantly underused, given the current parlous state of Sheffield's club scene in terms of venues available) cellar bar somewhere down London Road. The mix of music, visuals and a relaxed crowd make it an attractive proposition.

We didn't catch too much of Digitonal but it seemed a fairly surprisingly straight forward drum'n' bass set. Since C90 doesn't seem to be particularly about frenetic frugging it fit the bill nicely. His second album is on the way and should be a good 'un.

Home Video are recent signings to WARP - but that would give you no idea of what to expect. They look like Interpol - shirts and ties - but play a kind of smooth post rock. It's good and worked well with the visuals which spread itself all over the boxy stage and lent the band the impression of something caged. Perhaps the only disappointing thing were the hours. C90 runs to pub time. It's be great if they did some late night stuff since there's definitely something good going on.
Bob Simms

IN THE BAG

Danny Mager (Phon-etics)

1. Omar – It’s So (Omarmusic)
The UK legend returns with some heavy hitters.

2. Plantlife - The Return of Jack Splash (Gut)
Prince meets amp fiddler uptown.

3. Jill Scott - Beautiful Human (J Recs)
The queen of soul’s new ‘un, proper good.

4. Tweet ft Missy Elliott - Turn Da Lights Off (Elektra / Vandross)
Sampling good stuff.

5. Rhian Benson - Say How I Feel (white)
New British star shines on this new Bugz remix

6. Sa Ra Creative - album sampler (CDR)
Super hot soul love.

7. Kelis - Mmillionare (Virgin)
Wicked.

8. Quango ft Eska - Rocc It 2nite (People)
Bruk step gem with the ever good Eska on vocals.

9. The Beatnuts - Find Us (promo)
A true belter.

10. Themtoerags - Oozyfunk 3 – (boozy)
Bigger, better.


	Nightlife - Edition 26 NOV 2004 Fatboy Slim @ Octagon Disclaimer: I was really rather pissed for this gig, and if I’m honest I went along with a few prejudices – what I’ve heard of his sets before haven’t really set my world on fire, and as it turned out he didn’t really play anything that I found that exciting: I like my dance music a bit deeper, more funky, and generally more interesting, and it seemed to me that he played mostly fairly monotonous techno. As I said, I was a bit drunk, and all the klaxon noises combined with the terrace-like swaying of the crowd just made me want to chant football songs. Most people there seemed to love it though, which made for a fairly good atmosphere. Saying that, when I asked to borrow somebody’s bottle of water I was kindly told to “fuck off”, which was nice. This sort of confirmed to me my prejudice that the people who go to watch Fatboy Slim play dance music don’t really get dance music, and are going to watch him because they’ve seen him on MTV. More than a bit snobbish of me, but there you go. He obviously knows his crowd though, and played snippets of student favourites like Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes, which were both greeted with rapturous applause. The projectors showed images of acid smilies, and Mr Cook was characteristically animated in the specially constructed booth set up in the middle of The Octagon, and he gave the crowd what they came for. I had a good night out, jumped about a bit, and bought drinks from the bar with which to spill on the floor. I wouldn’t normally pay £15 to watch a ‘superstar DJ’ had I not been going with friends, but there are obviously more than enough people that are happy to do so, and to his credit Fatboy Slim sent them home happy. Oliver Bones Home Video / Digitonal C90 @ Bar Abbey What Sheffield is really good at is, for a variety of reasons, throwing up people who, quietly, think at tangents and get on with the job of putting on low key nights which mix a bit of imagination with a love of the leftfield and put on nights which are well worth tracking down. With a minimum of fanfare the C90 crowd are gently building a reputation for putting on club style nights which are as interesting as they're fun. It's a fair cry from the mass 4/4 hypnosis going on at The Octagon when you've got Digitonal and Home Video playing in a neat (and blatantly underused, given the current parlous state of Sheffield's club scene in terms of venues available) cellar bar somewhere down London Road. The mix of music, visuals and a relaxed crowd make it an attractive proposition. We didn't catch too much of Digitonal but it seemed a fairly surprisingly straight forward drum'n' bass set. Since C90 doesn't seem to be particularly about frenetic frugging it fit the bill nicely. His second album is on the way and should be a good 'un. Home Video are recent signings to WARP - but that would give you no idea of what to expect. They look like Interpol - shirts and ties - but play a kind of smooth post rock. It's good and worked well with the visuals which spread itself all over the boxy stage and lent the band the impression of something caged. Perhaps the only disappointing thing were the hours. C90 runs to pub time. It's be great if they did some late night stuff since there's definitely something good going on. Bob Simms IN THE BAG Danny Mager (Phon-etics) 1. Omar – It’s So (Omarmusic) The UK legend returns with some heavy hitters. 2. Plantlife - The Return of Jack Splash (Gut) Prince meets amp fiddler uptown. 3. Jill Scott - Beautiful Human (J Recs) The queen of soul’s new ‘un, proper good. 4. Tweet ft Missy Elliott - Turn Da Lights Off (Elektra / Vandross) Sampling good stuff. 5. Rhian Benson - Say How I Feel (white) New British star shines on this new Bugz remix 6. Sa Ra Creative - album sampler (CDR) Super hot soul love. 7. Kelis - Mmillionare (Virgin) Wicked. 8. Quango ft Eska - Rocc It 2nite (People) Bruk step gem with the ever good Eska on vocals. 9. The Beatnuts - Find Us (promo) A true belter. 10. Themtoerags - Oozyfunk 3 – (boozy) Bigger, better.