Hold up @ the Arc // The Arc

In what seems to be a bizzare turn of events, on a Saturday night I found myself trapped in the Arc with a load of indie kids about to take part in what they lovingly call ‘hold up’.

I was an indie kid. I gotta say that before I start. And somewhere deep down I still am. But I would never go as far as to say I made it into being one of those emo-lites. My first impressions of this place are always the same. You seem to have a whole load of people and no where for any of them to dance. Just small boxey things which claim to be rooms but are nothing more than large coridoors. Still never mind, that I can get over, im still struggling with the bar rape though. Thats left me scarred for life. Ouch. (And in a plastic pint glass too!)

Anyway, pissed as I was I have to say I finally felt like I was in a place where my hair felt at home. Everyone in there was pretty great too. Nice people, which wasnt the case the last time I went to an indie night. lets just say that If pretention was sex everyone in there would have been well and truely fucked!

My major problem with indie nights is the music. I love listening to bands. I fucking love it. Anything, anyone, anytime, dont get me wrong (No U2 or chilli pepers tho – talentless fuckstraps)…But, there’s something fundamentally unispirational about going to a night like this these days.

I think I started going to indie nights about 8 years ago. And you know what? Some tracks come and go, and the DJ obviously feels obliged to play the odd smattering of new stuff, but the staple food of the indie DJ’s diet hasn’t changed. Still, week after week, the same old tunes are banged out. Again and again. And as this pattern seems to emerge I believe that, nuclear holocaust aside, it will continue for eons.

I always thought the point of clubbing, of PAYING, to go out to hear music was to hear fresh new things that you hadn’t encountered before. I dont want to hear ‘fools gold’ in a club anymore. I dont want to have to stand there bored while tune after tune of decent but OLD stuff is dregged out yet again. Surely anyone with half a CD collection to their name will understands this? You PAY to hear the cutting edge stuff, otherwise you invite friends round to your gaff slap a CD on and have a party at home for free.

Now im getting to the crux of the matter. The very main nerve of my point. Anyone who knows me has probably guessed where this is gonna going and what is gonna be, but nevermind. I digress. So, are you ready for it??? Because here is comes…

The thing is, when tracks like ‘The Happy Mondays – Step On’ and any of the Stone Rose’s stuff (which were all played on Sat.) were made, they were a fresh hybrid of the stormingly good ‘madchester’ indie scene and the CHICAGO HOUSE scene (Dance music!). Tracks like ‘T-coy’s – Carino’, ‘Adonis – No Way Back’, ‘Phuture’s – Acid Tracks’, ‘Mr Fingers – Can You Feel It’ and ‘Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principles – Your Love’ shaped the indie bands in making this brave new sound that is still revered by Emo-bots to this very day.

I remember clubbing in what is now lovingly refered to Audio, at the good old fashion Tuesday indie session. The mediocre stuff that still gets played now was filled out by what were then, forward thinking tracks of the moment, which were taken on, and became anthems of that place. Stuff like ‘Lo-fidelity all stars – Battle Flag’, and pretty much anything off the first two Chemical Brothers albums rocked that place to its foundation. Much more so than any of the mindless piffle we are supplied with today.

Now im not saying indie DJ’s should start playing those records again. Thats so far away from my point its untrue. What I want is freshness. I want to hear tracks I dont know. I don’t want to sing along to every word. And what happend to this indie-dance based movement that everybody loved and still LOVES so much? All the old tracks go down well, but are boring. The people love them, but why not educate them. Drop the old ones from your sets and play the fresh, modern equivelent.

Adam Freeland was recently given the ORIGINAL MASTERS to ‘The Doors – Hello I love you’. In these he found a section of vocal that was never used. A rytheing, screaming section, where Morrison’s voice escalates into an un-nerving climax. And that is one of 100’s of crossover dance/indie tracks that are made in the same vain as the pioneer stuff of 90’s manchester. And yet now there is no place for it at one of the biggest, friendliest indie nights in the south.

Ian Brown, Queens Of The Stone Age, Richard Ashcroft and even Local hero’s The Eighties Matchbox B’line Disaster, have worked, or are currently working with James Lavelle’s UNKLE project to make some really superb, enlightening dance music which would fill all of the tiny dancefloors in that club.

Where’s the Evil Nine Stuff? Where’s ‘Restless?’ Where’s ‘Crooked?’

Where’s DJ Shadow’s sublime and inteligent ‘What Does Your Soul Look Like?’ Or ‘Stem’, Or ‘Fixed Income’, Or ‘Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt?’

Superfurry animals were a Techno group, and that influence is smattered through their sound. So don’t just discount it or shrug it off as some dancey shite. You all loved ‘The Killers’, You might not admit it now but you did. Why? Because of the ‘NEW’ sound. Which was made by an Acess synth. Which has been the basis for most decent dance tracks for the last 8 years.

The exciting thing about the Arc and the indie crowds in general is the passion and the acceptance of the crowd. The DJ played tracks by Dizzee Rascal and the Beastie Boys which were embraced with the same enthusiasm as the most boring and drab of all the tired old indie ‘classic’ (The Smiths – Charmless ‘Fucking’ Man) And the thing is, its not a bad song. Im just sick to death of listening to it. Its been forced on me so much that I take it as a personal insult where ever I hear it.

But im not even saying it’s gotta be new tracks. I mean Id be happy listening to Cream’s Disraeli Gears backwards and on a loop till 5am. (Now that would be an awesome night!) But its just the same tired format. There’s no inovation. The current DJ’ing technology is amazing. And still we get the same retro fades outs from one song into the next. No attempt at mixing. With the advent of Pioneers CDJ-1000 the indie night should have died as we know it and been revolutionised into the most exciting and versatile night available. Musically, there’s no limits on what goes and what doesn’t, and technically there isnt either. So surely that should be reflected by the way they are hashed together?…

The technology make’s the music so manipulatable. You can grabs loops and stabalise beats and sample and seemlessly. How about really crafting a set and blending some of these tunes togther. Use a laptop and final scratch or Ableton live to really produce something beautifully unique and original for the paying clubber.

Now dont get me wrong. I had a good night, but I just feel this tired old method could get itself a revamp. Thats all. And thats a few ideas I had about how to do it. And by the way, here’s a quick thing to end on…I really like the title of the new Artic Monkeys EP. ‘Who The Fuck Are The Arctic Monkey’s’ – My thoughts exactly. Popular isn’t nessasarily good. Shit however, no matter how you dress it up, is still shit.

Peace and Love. 3 0 3 t i l l i d i e

The Arc
Currently no website?

Arc
160 Kings Road Arches
Brighton
East Sussex
01273 770505

Words: 3 0 3 t i l l i d i e