Defected 10th Anniversary @ Ministry of Sound, London - 24th January 2009
“Oh my God” says the taxi driver as we get near to Gaunt Street. The funny thing is I can’t see Gaunt Street. I can’t see the Ministry of Sound. I can’t see the Defected 10th Anniversary party. All I can see is a queue. To be precise, and this is the great thing, all we can see are two queues. You see, the queue that turns right, out of the Ministry of Sound, runs literally around the corner and into the next street. You see the queue that turns left and does the same. For all we know they could meet round the back.
It’s not too far fetched to think that most clubbers had come to the same conclusion as me; it’s the last weekend in January, it’s raining, it’s cold. To be frank, the weather is hostile. The last weekend before getting paid after Christmas is going to be, well, as dead as a vinyl.
But for every vinyl there is a silver MP3, as the saying goes. In this case we are surely to be rewarded with our efforts to untangle ourselves from our sofas with a sell-out night of chunky, vocal-house nuggets like only the most successful independent house music label of our time knows how. Yes - Defected is in the house. And not for the first time either. It could even be argued that the Ministry is the spiritual home of Defected as a club night, emerging as it did from the back room in 2001 to begin a successful four-year residency. After flirting with another residency at Pacha and nights at other clubs such as Canvas, it seems the nation is keen to see the union of Defected and the Ministry of Sound blessed once more.
Perhaps the door staff have also been caught unawares at the sheer popularity of tonight’s event. It’s fair to say, expected or not, they are struggling with the sheer numbers. In a way it’s great to see such demand being created for dance floor space but you might think that a club as experienced as the Ministry of Sound would be ready for such an eventuality. At the very least this kind of turnout it shows the need for a quality, trusted, house night in the capital. But tonight is equally about the celebration of ten years in the business of Defected Records. “It would have been easy to simply put a DJ line-up together so we had to try something a little more ambitious” says Defected top man Simon Dunmore. Testament to both Defected’s ability to think creatively and to try something different, the Defected team have put together a live band to play some of the greatest hits from the label’s back catalogue. “I was really nervous about a band playing live at the Ministry” says Dunmore “but I guess that was what made it even better when they delivered”. Whether a good idea will turn into a good performance is another question and in my mind I saw this as a marketing gimmick to get people into the club early. Those with the smarts to think differently were, it seems, paid back in full with not only an unforgettable moment in clubland history, but also entrance to the club and avoidance of the queue that many will also remember this night for.
A great surprise and a great start to the show, Shovell takes on Chocolate Puma’s Whohaddrumss, whilst Yasmeen steps up for Glad I Found You, and Imaani brings her Wiseman track with Copyright to life. The format of live band covering electronic music could so easily turn into a lounge music, Hammond organ happy hour session -but this is working surprisingly well. The crowd is clearly wowed by the intimate nature of the performer and audience relationship in a venue better-known for the largely unseen DJ. The obvious skill of the musicians makes the session work incredibly well and brings home the musical ethos of the label itself, making me remember how “traditionally” musical some of the Defected releases are. Marc Evans does a great job of The Promise and Bryan Chambers All I Do before the real star of the show Julie McKnight enters the building. “Diamond Life was never actually a Defected release but she [Julie McKnight] was our special guest and we all wanted to hear it” says Dunmore. What we all, perhaps, should have seen coming and didn’t is one of the shining moments of recent nightlife history: a live version of Finally, beautifully introduced with the lazy guitar riff, building superbly throughout. The track lent itself to the live format so well, that I’m surprised it hasn’t been covered before. “I do not know if I would have been any prouder if it was Aretha Franklin or Chaka Khan up there” says Dunmore “Julie McKnight's Finally has given me so much over the years”.
With such an eventful start to the evening, it’s easy to forget the main attraction hasn’t even started yet. It seems that the Defected view to DJ line-ups is to stick to what works - and why not. This way the people that buy the tickets know what they’re getting and as Defected haven’t had the biggest club presence over the last few years, the roll-call of roster talent must have been a no-brainer. For me tonight’s events are all about The Box. For the uninitiated this is the main room of the Ministry, a big, dark, no-nonsense space full of sound-system, DJs and dancers and nothing else. What we can expect from the big guns line-up are funky house grooves – but not necessarily funky house, if you catch my drift. The Shapeshifters are a perfect example. Their blend of club friendly house music is perfect for the disco philosophy of the Defected team. “Disco and house music in its most genuine kind of definition just means people having a good time on a dance floor on a Saturday night” says Dunmore, and once you’ve understood that you can understand why the Defected club nights – and the label - work so well. As The Shapeshifters find their groove the club is already extremely busy and the dancefloor in The Box, which doesn’t usually warm up until later, is jumping.
Those expecting soulful grooves and vocal house are going to have to head for The Bar for their fix, where Copyright, DJ Spen and Arron Ross are tempting the well dressed crowd with a slice of the finer side of all things vocal and all things groovy. At one stage in the evening a live vocalist appears and sings over the DJs set - which is something I haven’t heard for some time, and works surprisingly well. For me this is the kind of music that the bar was made for; it’s an area to groove in, not an area to jump up and down in, and tonight it makes a good contrast to what’s happening on the main floor. By this time Bob Sinclair has taken over from The Shapeshifters, the change in tempo, and mood, is lapped up by the eager crowd. It’s never hard to spot the start of a Bob Sinclair set. He’s also a showman, a live performer, someone who wants to give more than a guy who plays records. The beat immediately changes to more of an African inspired rhythm section - still very much house music, but house music Bob Sinclair style. For those who aren’t entirely sure who has just taken control of the decks, what can only be described as a Bob Sinclair jingle booms out of the system occasionally. The crowd clearly love the showmanship, and alongside the more familiar Bob Sinclair produced numbers are what seem to be some DJ tools the man himself has produced for the occasion. It’s all a step too far into the commercial side of house music for my sensitive taste buds, but there are others who leave the main room at this stage seeking less mainstream, perhaps something a little more refined.
The Baby Box can be a hit-and-miss space, which is odd considering it is smaller and more intimate than a lot of the spaces at The Ministry. Tonight it’s hats off to the Anything Goes crew who have kept a steady and importantly a danceable groove going all night. Tribal but sometimes vocal, usually funky and definitely banging is the order of the day. We dip in and out, as do many others (the main room goodies are too good to miss) but every time we dip in the vibe is good, steady and easy to dance to. Back in the main room Junior Jack & Kid Crème take over to give the floor what it really needs: a serving of groove based, hard-hitting club records. Actually it’s surprising at how hard it gets at times, but the crowd enjoys everything that’s being thrown at them.
If Defected set out to represent what the label has achieved over its ten-year journey, then it’s done a good job tonight. It has shown that it is still in demand, that it’s got a distinctive sound while at the same time covering a range of sub-genres (vocal, funky even tech-house), that it has a talented set of musicians and business people on its roster, and a party ethos in its spirit. Here’s to Defected for giving us some of the last decade’s defining moments in house music, and thank you Defected for another great night out.