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Weekend Dance
2007-09-15 Weekend Dance Barcelona’s Sinnamon Records has done an amazing amount for Spain’s standing as a destination for major international artists. With Razzmatazz and Summercase already to their name, and a third forthcoming festival scheduled for next year, the label looks to the electronic scene for September’s Weekend Dance. One of the things that Sinammon seem to do quite differently from many labels is to be a specialist promoter of two distinct genres whilst finding the bridges to appeal to both audiences at the same time. As a result this dance music one-dayer has a decidedly indie feel to it with the presence of acts like Massive Attack, and the always eclectic 2manyDJs / Soulwax. Kicking off the highlights was a late addition to the bill in the shape of the British heavyweight garage rap star, Dizzee Rascal. Though not always considered to have delivered on the promise of his Mercury Prize winning debut, “Boy in the Corner” Dizzee is a truly great MC and, despite the initially “difficult” sound of that first great record, a pretty accessible showman. The limited size of the early evening crowd did not diminish the power of his lyrics or performance and just as at this year’s Sonar, it was a strong, impassioned display from a technical master. Massive Attack are a band that fall decidedly in the arena of electronic music. Their once pioneering trip-hop sound is surely just as influenced by all out techno as it is rock. However, this fact doesn’t mean they fit neatly into a bill featuring Vitalic, Digitalism and Deep Dish. The slow, at times, dub-like pace of much of their output is a mellow ride after the raw buzz of Dizzee and seems to give much of the growing audience time to buy drinks and have a chat before they get onto the serious task of the evening. Massive Attack make dance music but they’ll never be a dance band, with even their most popular tracks more sing-a-long-alone-in-your-bedroom than jump-about-at-night-with-your-mates-in-a-large-industrial-space. But then who cares? They have so many great songs, use such a talented group of performers and offered truly intense and beautiful renditions so the fact they that were a little softer than the rest of the night’s entertainment seemed irrelevant. Whilst this clearly wasn’t the view of every weekend-dancer present, the chance to chill out on the grassy nole watching performances of “Angel,” “Teardrop” and “Unfinished Sympathy,” was a true treat. Overlapping in some ways with their fellow Brits, Faithless occupied a space in mid 90’s public conscious perhaps stronger than any other live electro act. Mixing the then popular banality that was Ibiza trance with something more organic and upbeat they created significant mainstream hits whilst still catering for a discerning audience. And, perhaps, most of all they gave dance music some character, wrote floor fillers that actually felt intelligent and perfected an unparalleled live act. There aren’t many mid 90’s dance tracks that would go down at a music festival today the way “Insomnia” and “God is a DJ” do. The band still holds its charm and energy and Manni is still an imposing figure leering over you like skinny builder with a messiah complex. They know how to put on a show and they know how to make you dance. Classic, beautiful stuff. Soulwax were an indie band. They were pretty good but then they decided to start making dance music by mashing up a thousand other different artists to create something incredible. Then they decided that just DJing wasn’t enough and that they could split their efforts into two projects one DJing, one live. As good as 2manyDJs are they do always have their moments in a set where you just want to keep hearing a particular song or the beat dies for a minute too long. Soulwax nite versions are even more of a party band – as their disco suits testify. The beats never stopped, the crowd kept dancing and everything seemed right with the world. The pure electro sound of French Italian DJ Vitalic comes as something of a shock after the mix of styles we had just been treated to. He’s certainly a love it or hate it sort of act with little room for manoeuvrability if you do not like your house music hard and minimalistic. Though I would not place myself in the pure house camp I do think there’s a time and a place for raw, super loud electro and at four in the morning at Weekend Dance might be it exactly. The force of the music coming through such a large sound system really lifts you off your feet and makes you want to dance. For the first time in the evening it felt like the crowd were all feeling the same thing. Not bad for a load of beeps and synthesised drum beats. Which left, me at least, with only one act left. The Belgian super duo themselves, back to reclaim their place on stage. The greatest purveyors of the mega mashup, 2manydjs barely let one sample begin before three more have cut in in the background to skew the original song into something new, beautiful and extremely danceable. They turn songs we all love into tracks suitable for nightclubs, with tunes like “These boots were made for walking,” never before provoking quite so much throwing about of bodies. And as great and skilful as they are it’s their big, classic remixes we were all holding out for, Peter Gun and The Gossip, Girls and Boys and Justice so that when they come – sort of like when the headmaster finally put on Kylie at your school disco – everyone feels that same rush, and nothing could make you want the night to continue more than that rare, simple feeling.