Caribou @ Plastic People

 

Caribou descended on Plastic People last night. Normally, there is a big queue outside PP, but for Caribou it was exceptional. For a venue that holds a couple of hundred at a squeeze (and they are very careful about never letting it get too squeezed), there were easily over 300 people without tickets queueing in the cold January air.

As one of the lucky few who had gotten organised when tickets first went on sale weeks ago (and sold out in a couple of days), we were straight inside and grooving on the dance floor to Floating Points, beer in hand, with absolutely no hassle. That’s one of the things I love most about PP: they don’t try and gouge you – even on the little things like the coat check – even though they absolutely could given the massive line of punters clamouring to get in.

Caribou was good, mixing what can only be called an eclectic set that ranged from funk, to soul, to afrobeat, to honest-to-God disco, and interspersed it all with some new electronic tracks that had the requisite intestine dissolving bass and eardrum shredding hi-hats – quite delicious. Especially on the Plastic People soundsystem, which I’ll maintain is the best in London and will only actually shred your eardrums when the DJ is deliberately trying to hurt you…

[Aside: What is it about Plastic People that entices DJs to play afrobeat? When Four Tet played there a few weeks ago the afrobeat snuck in with him, too. It’s not a genre you hear heard in many other places – which is a shame, actually, as it usually makes my ass move in new and exciting ways. Wait… is that too much information?!]

What Caribou didn’t do was drop his album Swim (with the excellent track Sun) and put his feet up. In fact, this gig seemed more like a set showcasing the influences that went into the making of Swim. I almost laughed out loud when one of the first tracks after Caribou stepped back from the decks was an old mix of Let the Sun Shine In. Everyone’s hands were in the air and the feelgood was just raining down.

Which sums up the evening rather well.

PS: If this sounds like your kind of night, keep an eye on the promoter, Huntlys and Palmers Audio Club. I’m sure something else good is coming soon.

PPS: If you’d like to hear a mix that’s not a bad representation of the Caribou DJ set sound, check out the mix he did back last April for the chaps over at allez-allez…