Straight Up - 5 November'11
Remember remember the 5th of November, gun powder, treason & plot! Because many many years from now on this very night - Metronomy will be booked to play in Leeds for a DJ slot!
With the night sky awash with fluorescent speckles of neon colour and smoke I made my way to the intimate surroundings of Wire, a club that is literally underground for a cult weekly night in the city called 'Straight Up'
With its loyal following I felt privileged to be a part of an electric atmosphere raring to rave!
As I'd already seen an unbelievable vocal performance earlier the same night from Maverick Sabre, who comes highly recommended (damn right I'm gonna drop that in there - I felt I needed too, mwu hahahaha) this was an amazing jolt from the calm into the raucous sweat-dripping-from-the-wall storm.
The dance floor was heaving with stylish gents & Tabasco hot seniorita's unashamedly letting loose & cutting shapes to the beats.
Benga, member of the quartet from Devon, at certain parts of his set was mixing four, yes, I did count them, 4 tunes at once...Mr Oizo 'Flat Beat' chopped up with their hit 'The Look' matched with Beyonce n Dizzee acapella's propelling the energy into a high octane feel that didn't take no prisoners or leave anyone behind - we were like giddy crammed animals on Noah's rowdy ark with acceptance of pure joy on everyone’s face. It felt like a mad adrenalin shot, exciting as f**k!
However the Polaroid moment of the night had to be when co-promoter Paddy, hopped on the decks for his set and kicked off with Destiny's Child 'Say My Name' (if you don't want to know the score of what happened next in a very graphic visual wordplay way, then look away now...oh you're still reading so you do do you, well here you go)
The wet from the sweat was now replaced with the excitable aroused lady moistness of every single lady in the venue (& a few lads who have a quality taste in mid 90s American girl groups! What do you mean there's no no no no no such thing? Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah there is) who were jumping, singing every note giving it an orgasm of approval; you could glide across the floor it was that damp, armbands optional!
So here is to an institution of Leeds' Saturday weekly club night calendar, set to be a permanent fixture for a long long time - Straight Up, I salute you :-)