Quantic @ Phonic:hoop
May 7th, 2002 by paul63
Quantic
Phonic:hoop
Enigma, Brighton
Saturday 4th April 2002
A good friend having had a miserable night out in East London the previous evening (details of a dodgy spot to see absent DJs available on request) called Saturday afternoon to see if there was anything on in Brighton which could ‘save’ his Bank Holiday weekend. A quick scan of ‘The Latest’ revealed the normal offerings at the ever-increasingly commercial ‘Zap’ and ‘Honey Club’ – i.e. a wide musical spectrum from UK Garage to UK House and back again! This, I hasten to add, is probably palatable for the stag and hen nights nights that snake their way down the city’s main arteries on Bank Holiday wekeends, eventually being expelled from various joints on the beachfront at 02:00 on the button. Not my cup of tea, however.
The only gig that seemed to fit the bill was Quantic at Enigma. The Phonic:hoop residency on Saturdays revolves around a range of acts including Robert Luis, Bonobo and the like. With Quantic’s new album coming out in June, following his superb 12” ‘Apricot Morning’, this spot was definitely worth a look. So after a bit of hasty organisation we hooked up and headed down to Ship Street, just off the seafront.
Having inadvertently jumped the queue (of 2 people), received the obligatory look of derision from the bouncer, we headed upstairs. A point to note is the box of ‘Fruit Salads’ the club so kindly places next on the cash till. Is this supposed to salve the pain of the entrance fee? Do most entrants possess varying degrees of halitosis? It annoys me for some bizarre reason and as an act of defiance, I eat five prior to getting to the bar. My fruity fresh breath was then stimulated by a modicum of fine Continental beverages and the night eventually got underway.
The club itself is small, on one level and elongated rather than being particularly wide with the DJ booth being in full view for most of the punters. It had been a while since I’d been to a small enough venue to almost be able to spy the next track before it had hit the decks. The clientele was pretty diverse including your average weekend piss-heads, which was a bit of a surprise. One member of our group still swears blind that he saw John Eales of Australian rugby fame in full match kit! I can’t verify this but knowing the integrity of the source I would disregard the comment out of hand. If Quantic fronts the next Australian Rugby World Cup anthem I’ll apologise then. All in all however, I would say that the majority of the crowd was pretty well-versed in what to expect and were inoffensive and pretty chilled out all night.
The tunes, more importantly, were top draw and were an interesting choice considering Quantic’s own output. Considering that he is only 21 his depth of variety, genres and artists that formed his set were a welcome suprise. From memory I think the set lasted for 3-4 hours with a brief pause for a superb vocal session (I believe it was Alice Russell) and was without doubt good value for money. A blend of acid jazz, full-on 70s funk, rare groove and a twist of soul and some jazz loops made up the first half of the night after which we settled back into some more beat-orientated tunes with some dub thrown in for good measure. Eclectic it was, predictable it wasn’t.
The only slight disappointment was the absence of a couple of Quantic’s own numbers thrown in at some point. Not one to plug his own material – I like it. On balance it was a cracking night that appealed to many musical tastes whilst the set always retained a sense of direction and purpose. Of the eight people who made up our little group not one left disappointed.
So I highly recommend that everyone going along to The Enchanted Garden this summer make a bee-line to check out Quantic’s performance. You will not be disenchanted.
Paul Crayford
Quantic will be appearing at EG2002
[galleryurl=http://www.bigchill.net/gallery.html?id=15]EG2001 photogallery[/galleryurl]
