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With the coolest line up this side of Lapland, Modular’s Xmas party promised to be so much more than an uncomfortably tense office piss-up, and subsequent more uncomfortable drunken fumble in the dark stationery cupboard. With Canadian beat masters MSTRKRST, and electro garage rockers The Kills on the live list, and a host of pant-wettingling exciting DJs lined up, it all looked to be shaping up so handsomely …
… and handsomely it began with foppish dandy haired chaps The Horrors giving us an eye-opening glimpse into their record collection in a noisy DJ set that has the tiny back room heaving early – pleasant surprises came in dubstep packages, with the lads spinning tracks from the South London master Skream amongst others. Most entertaining, however, is watching Farris carefully trying to not flatten his hair every time he dons his DJ headphones -brilliant.
Cue an exciting novelty DJ set from The Mighty Boosh, a.k.a Noel Fielding and the funny looking fat one (minus the other off, you know, the one that isn’t Noel Fielding). Watch everything go wrong. It’s not their fault in the slightest – while Mighty Boosh minions scurry around the stage, Noel, flicks through the selection of music for them to put on between dancing for the crowd and chatting to the Horrors still mincing round stage. And the selection ain’t half bad either; it’s all cheesy, but just the right side of cool to be fromage frais on a bagel, rather than a Dairy Lee slice on a burger. Joan Jett, Beasties, The Castaway’s Liar Liar – all good stuff. But Fielding becomes too irresistible – girls rush stage. Bouncers get mad, girls get pushed about, lights come up, music gets quiet. Bah. The rest of the set is marshalled by four burly gents who stand affront the stage, in front of the MB lads whose antics seem less fun in the light, at tame noise levels.
Worse, however, is Turnmill’s decision to cut the capacity of the room in light of this fracas – i.e., this reviewer, and loads of others are not allowed in to watch hear The Kills coz some bright spark decided that it would be safer to pack a load of angry punters into a queue in the hall, rather than a half full auditorium. There is no consolation in the fact that The Kills look rubbish either – the only audible music from the queue to get back into said room is the banging house form the main auditorium, which provides quite the odd backdrop to watching VV fall to the floor at the end of the set while Hotel looks to be kicking it hard too (shame we are watching this through a tiny window, and can’t hear it at all).
And it turns out that while we are queuing to get back in to this room, MSTRKRST have been snuck on too, and most people have missed them too. Faces are glum, and the kids certainly don’t look impressed with the door restrictions. The night is saved, however, for those who stick around to dance the night away to a banging b-more/electro/disco/everything set from Delvin and Darko, and XXXchange, who take over the room and entertain the remaining crowd. A combination of filthy bass, and spunky bmore beats, mixed with cheesy disco, such as Anita Ward’s ‘Ring My Bell’ give party kids something to smile about. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.
