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The day after watching Mark Steel in Bromley, I took the Windrush line up to Highbury and Islington to the Garage.
I remember a promoter friend who'd booked Utah Saints quite a few years ago recounting the conversation with them, which could be summarised as them saying "You do know that we're DJs, not a band, don't you?", and him replying "Yes, that's why I've booked you."
This night was also an entirely DJ'd night - which meant much less time to rest before sets. When you have bands, there's obviously a certain amount of time required for changeover, usually at the very least swapping out the snare drum and the cymbals on the kit and possibly shifting some amps off stage. When you have DJs, especially using laptops, it's as quick as swapping from one input lead to another¹ or just selecting a different input on the mixer.
Opening was the chap from St. Etienne, doing a very smooth DJ set that built up steadily as one continuous piece of loops and beds. I didn't recognise any actual tracks, but that might have been due to a lack of familiarity.
He was followed by Richard 23 of Front 242, who performed more of a traditional DJ set, moving from track to track, some of which I'm pretty sure I recognised (including Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano (mostly known now as the tune from two different Italian beer adverts at the same time)).
Next up was billed as a film by Jimmy Cauty (formerly known for being part of the KLF) as Towerblock1, but was much more of an audio-visual experience, with the music and the visuals evolving together (and impressively).
And then it was over to Utah Saints, who did their usual, and put out a storming set. Although, being them, it was almost three sets at once, switching between snatches of recognisable tracks overlaid with samples, loops, and other elements to create a single continuous hole. I recognised a number of the ingredients, but they were then morphed and added to in entirely new ways. And it was excellent.
According to my pedometer, if my steps had been actual paces, I would have done about seven miles that night.
¹ On decks, it can be even more seamless, with one DJ cued up on one deck while the other's final track is still playing on the other.
I remember a promoter friend who'd booked Utah Saints quite a few years ago recounting the conversation with them, which could be summarised as them saying "You do know that we're DJs, not a band, don't you?", and him replying "Yes, that's why I've booked you."
This night was also an entirely DJ'd night - which meant much less time to rest before sets. When you have bands, there's obviously a certain amount of time required for changeover, usually at the very least swapping out the snare drum and the cymbals on the kit and possibly shifting some amps off stage. When you have DJs, especially using laptops, it's as quick as swapping from one input lead to another¹ or just selecting a different input on the mixer.
Opening was the chap from St. Etienne, doing a very smooth DJ set that built up steadily as one continuous piece of loops and beds. I didn't recognise any actual tracks, but that might have been due to a lack of familiarity.
He was followed by Richard 23 of Front 242, who performed more of a traditional DJ set, moving from track to track, some of which I'm pretty sure I recognised (including Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano (mostly known now as the tune from two different Italian beer adverts at the same time)).
Next up was billed as a film by Jimmy Cauty (formerly known for being part of the KLF) as Towerblock1, but was much more of an audio-visual experience, with the music and the visuals evolving together (and impressively).
And then it was over to Utah Saints, who did their usual, and put out a storming set. Although, being them, it was almost three sets at once, switching between snatches of recognisable tracks overlaid with samples, loops, and other elements to create a single continuous hole. I recognised a number of the ingredients, but they were then morphed and added to in entirely new ways. And it was excellent.
According to my pedometer, if my steps had been actual paces, I would have done about seven miles that night.
¹ On decks, it can be even more seamless, with one DJ cued up on one deck while the other's final track is still playing on the other.
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