Club Review: SMD Delicatessen with Chic ft Nile Rodgers @ The Warehouse Project

Date: Saturday 12th November 2011

Words: Oli Byrne

Photos: Joseph T Denyer

Chic's musical history is second to none. Having had a huge influence on disco, soul and funk music as well as being sampled by plenty of modern artists, it's fair to say they are simply, legends.

After catching the last few tunes of resident Krysko's warmup set we were ready to hear something that doesn't often come to the Warehouse Project; a live disco band.

And what a crowd this was. It was possibly the most diverse crowd I've yet to see at a Warehouse Project event. Young and old were standing side by side eagerly awaiting the band. They came on at midnight and began to rock the crowd with hits of their own and some huge pop songs from yesteryears including 'Like A Virgin', 'Let's Dance' and a personal face of mine, non other than Sister Sledge's 'We Are Family'.

It was such a great party atmosphere, and the slow tempo vibe was refreshing change to The Warehouse Project's usual 125 house and techno DJs. I'd heard great things about Chic's performance from a few friends who had seen them at Rob Da Bank's Bestival, but I wasn't expecting such a tight, well rounded performance. Every member of the band really did look like they were into the tunes, and there wasn't a single note out of place.

I think it's fair to say that I - nor anybody else in the crowd -  definitely wasn't expecting what came with the finale. When Chic came to play arguably their biggest hit, 'Le Freak', they were joined by Johnny Marr of the Smiths on guitar. It really was a brilliant end to a top performance.

On next was the first of two replacements for Jeff Mills; Space Dimension Controller. As a producer SDC couldn't be further apart from the sounds of Jeff Mills. But as a DJ, well, he certainly brought all the right records to please even the most die hard of Mills fans. Jumping straight into Detroit techno, he got the main room up to the speed it's used to. Having never seen him before I was really impressed with both his mixing and tune selection. He was playing techno from all years and really kept the energy up - and no one really seemed to miss Mills at all.

In the back room were top bloggers Bicep. Known for their ability to find some absolute gems from all eras and for their brilliant edits and original productions, they played a set of disco edits and no nonsense chunky house including tunes by the likes of FCL and Medlar. It was a a nice escape for house fans from the techno onslaught that was coming from the main room.

At half two we went in to see the start of headliners, Simian Mobile Disco. The last time they played here they were playing their electro tinged, poppy sound. They sure have changed since then. Their more recent productions have unearthed their obvious love for techno and their set was testament to this. Gone is the electro sound they used to play, and in comes a brand new, big techno sound. This set wouldn't have been out of place at an all night banging techno night. After hearing so many people complaining that Simian wouldn't be up to filling the boots of Jeff Mills, a lot of people were ready to eat their words. Everyone seemed to be loving the new sound that Simian boys have discovered. I hope they continue to evolve like this as this sound is definitely better suited to them.

Overall, a great night. It would be great to see a lot more of these eclectic nights billed in the future. It really did help the atmosphere in the club, and will be a difficult night to top at The Warehouse.

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