News / / 23.06.14

DJ Harvey

London Wonderland | 19 June

This was always going to be the highlight of Mo’Wax main man James Lavelle’s turn at throwing a Meltdown: disco’s prodigal son returning to London for an intimate set in a gorgeous environment.

Easing in at an eminently reasonable 7pm seemed to suit the crowd: this was a night for the heads, the old guard, couples who met under the auspices of the sweet embrace of high grade ecstasy on Ibizian beaches way back when, dads in Air max reminiscing about the glory days of Ministry, the occasional casualty scuttering about in the dark. We saw Joy Orbison lurking about in there as well, but he was amongst the ten or so people who you could charitably classify as ‘young’ so any star power was diminished.

The only star at a DJ Harvey set is the man behind the decks; the charisma he sweats out in interviews has an ability to transmit itself into his performances. Watching him – and watching the crowd react to him and in turn watching him react to the crowd’s reactions – is a genuine privilige: you aren’t just watching a man play disco records, you’re watching a master at work, a DJ capable of turning the myth of club-transcendence into a sticky, blissful reality. We got what we expected: four hours of sumptuous vocal disco peppered with lengthy heads-down percussive interludes, endlessly extended deep, deep cuts. It’s hard to imagine many other people capable of turning 10pm on a Thursday into 4am on a Saturday. DJ Harvey is in another league. The greatest.

 

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meltdown.southbankcentre.co.uk

Words: Josh Baines

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