Another day, another Orbital gig at the Brixton Academy.
Elated with my previous visit, except for the rave-zombies, i decided to venture back down to The London and see Orbital perform on their, 'in the round' tour. The gig itself was a bit shit if truth be told, compared to the previous carnage

Anyway, the gig finished at 2 or so and we decided to go to Quirky at The Vox.

This underground club actually scared me, the three of us sat in the inital bar area, and didn't move from it... we planned on getting the first train back to Derby.

I had taken some MDMA i had gotten from Amsterdam a few months previously and it began to hit hard, and generally make me more paranoid.

The music i could hear all night was good, but then all of a sudden it started to get VERY fucked up.

It sounded like an analogue bomb going off.

This, i HAD to get closer to. So i walked the 20 feet or so, i was previously too paranoid to walk, and entered the 'disco' proper.

The area was long, narrow and low. I was at the furthest end from the DJ and there was a throng os about 30 people standing, it was quite crowded.

The music sounded electric as the MDMA stirred faster.

All of a sudden the small crowd parted and a guy was literally spat out of it and landed on the floor at my feet, twitching and shaking. His eyes were looking straight up, unfocussed and filled with fear.

I seriously thought he was about to die.

The music had done this. Its intensity was such that he was simply thrown from the dancefloor, not dissimilar to being spun off a fast roundabout. Centrifugal Rave

I was amazed and shocked in equal parts. The guy eventually gets up and staggers off, probably home, as fast as he could. I meanwhile fetch my pals and tell them, 'its ok, sort of'. We get down towards the DJ to see just what on earth is making this 'music'...Think teh bastard child of Pan Sonic, Aphex and Spectrum loading noises.

There is a shadowy figure on stage with a dissected piece of equipment, its innards exposed to the claustraphobic cellar. He has various crocodile clips and wires attached to it and he keeps clipping and unclipping them, and every time he does the speakers scream and wail in analogue ecstacy.

It sounds fucking amazing, i love it.

I don't mind the pools of vomit or the mash head who's eyes have gone to Butlins and who's dancing makes Bez look like Bruce Forsyth doing the waltz AND she is a girl. Completely and utterly off her head, but loving every second of it.

The music continues to cleave the air...hardly any beats, just the relentless pursuit of debilitating frequencies and drones.

It was now time to leave, and i reluctantly dodged the vomit and made my way out, into the unfriendly London streets.

What a night, what an experience. I will never forget the guys face as he landed. Fear, confusion and madness. A scary combination.

That was 15 years ago, and i have never experienced such intensity since. Yes i've kept up with Aphex Twin, traversed the glacial sine waves of Pan Sonic and went head to head with Venetian Snares, but nothing has come close to the madness that presented itself that night at The Vox.
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Wed 8 Apr 2009, 15:43, 1 reply)

Delay
'I had taken some MDMA i had gotten from Amsterdam a few months previously and it began to hit hard, and generally make me more paranoid.'

Wow! Do all pills from amsterdam take so long to hit?
(speedevil, Sat 11 Apr 2009, 22:31, closed)