Jumping straight in the deep end once entering Space, I beelined for Yousef and found myself front and centre of the Discoteca for one of the more heated warm up sets of the season. Yousef was pumping it heavily through the speakers, with some enjoyable moments when he dropped Julio Bashmore's Au Seve and incited an enthusiastic clap-along (the inescapable track also followed me into the Terazza later, via Gilles Peterson) and a lovely piano riff that I couldn't identify, but which was akin to some tracks on Yousef's excellent forthcoming album (read the review here). Although there were these highlights, and a very positive atmosphere in general, I'm going to have to be unpopular and say I didn't really enjoy Yousef's set much tonight. There was a bit too much of that booming and repetitive tech house which, while popular on the island, was too conservative a representation of an artist I know to be creative and unique. But hey – warm up sets are not exactly meant to be self-indulgent, and it certainly did its job.
Chris Liebing took over with an offbeat tick and a menacing grin which communicated that we were all about to be annihilated. With no small regret I scarpered to catch the end of Gilles Peterson in the Terazza, but all reports say the Discoteca was, in fact, smashed to pieces, as forewarned by Liebing's demonic flash of teeth. In the Terazza, Peterson was taking things in a completely different direction, with a very light-hearted and playful set. We swung about to some 2-step garage, we sang along to Strings of Life – Rhythim is Rhythim, we sambaed to Mir a Nero – Michel Cleis and nodded to a tropical sampling of This is Ska. We were kept on our toes, to say the least.
Laurent Garnier opened in atmosphere and emotion, as he tends to, with the poignant strings of War - Julien Jabre. He had his own booth set up perpendicular to the usual DJ booth, to accommodate his live L.B.S. set up. My friends and I had bagged a choice spot on the open side of the booth, which meant we not only had a great close up view of Garnier working, but also indisputable visual proof that DJs do actually have legs. He took us through some laid back and groovy numbers like Breaking – Kyodai and one of my favourite tunes of the night When A Man Sings On A Track – Douglas Greed (with very witty lyrics). Soon after this Garnier was joined by Stephane Dri, who has been touring and playing with him for all his live L.B.S. shows. The pair delved into deep, dark and progressive terrain with their hardware set up, and the live component was clear as you watched Dri communicating with and taking direction from Garnier as he navigated the aural passages of our evening. As the hours clocked over Garnier built layer upon layer like only he can, with Dri joining him on the dials intermittently throughout the night. The only thing that broke my focus was standing under a slightly malfunctioning ice cannon, which was attacking me like more of a hail cannon. I was being pelted with icy flecks but I didn't want to move from my prime position! First world troubles, eh….
He eventually made his way around to some savage acid, but didn't stay there for too long, moving the sound on to knock out his two most popular classics back to back – Gnanmankoudji and Man With The Red Face. I hope this move hasn't become too much of a formula for Garnier, because it's still such a pleasure for his audience. No doubt his tendency to do alternative live edits of these tracks helps keep the magic alive. Indeed one of the joys of seeing Laurent Garnier play is spotting the looks of pure ecstasy on his face when he hits a sweet spot with the sound.
He played long past his allotted time (who were they kidding with a two-hour set anyway) and was still going strong when I tore myself away with the promise of bed. Although frustrated that Laurent Garnier's magnetism made me miss out on Coxy (boohoo, right?), we'll definitely be catching his set in full at the Carl Cox Closing party on the 18th of September.
