Until their weekly Monday club night was ended by the closure of the end early 2009, Durrr was the coolest thing on the block. Dragging scenesters out of Shoreditch at the start of every week, DJs The Lovely Jonjo and Rory Philips pummeled the dance floor with all the hard electro they could take. Since then, they’ve only done one-offs, but teaming up with Bugged Out!, their December party was one not to be missed.
Tanlines kicked things off; a band that should be far bigger than they are right now. Playing their jungle-dance music, they’re something tropical about their style, mixing airy synth chords with floating vocals and high-energy percussion. Bees and Bejan to get the crowd going, they burst into rapturous dance, singing back to lyrics for single Real Life towards the end. With a ticket price of £14, the dancefloor wasn’t quite packed by the time they neared the end of their set at 11.30am, but the hoards still through the door saw them off stage with a hefty volume of applause.
With Durrr and Bugged Out!’s great DJs filling time between bands, it seemed near instantly that Holy Ghost! put in the second live performance of the night. A mixture of Chromeo’s sensuality and Delphic’s effortless beat, there’s something truly captivating about the New York band. Seemingly playing a little faster than they come out recorded, from Static On The Wire to I Will Come Back and the Daft Punk-esque I Know, I Hear, there’s little doubt Holy Ghost! are going to rocket in 2011, especially with live performances that are so easy to get into.
Of the line-up that mattered, Aeroplane effectively finished up the night, and in what style. You might remember our review of the recent Kitsuné Maison club night in London where The Twelves proved their mettle from behind the DJ decks. Well Aeroplane perhaps did even better. Likewise playing a couple of their own remixes, including Friendly Fire’s Paris featuring Au Revoir Simone, their mixing and track selection is the epitome of perfect electro and has you moving before you know it.
How I wish Durrr was still going weekly, the one-offs aren’t bad in the mean time though.