Little Louie Vega @ Ocean Rooms, UK

Brighton, UK - 21.10.04

MAW, Nuyorican Soul, Elements of Life - this man needs no introduction. Having never been fortunate enough to catch either of the Masters at work, attendance was mandatory!

As we arrived, I soon realised that a lot of Brighton people felt the same way...it was going to be rammed. After standing around for an eternity to put our coats somewhere safe we made it downstairs to the main room.For some unknown reason, the clever souls at the Ocean Rooms have put the cloakroom right next to the only toilets in the club, all the way up a flight of narrow, slippery stairs- The whole thing is a lawsuit waiting to happen. A minor quibble, however.

Resident DJ Steve Tennent was getting things moving with a pretty chunky latin selection, working all the effects and delays he could muster,while dropping in accapellas over the top. Jeez, it was quite thumping for a warm up DJ, though the rapidly filling club didn't seem to mind. As the midnight hour approached, Louie Vega appeared behind the decks; the whistling and cheering reached fever pitch as Steve Tennent dropped "Work" and "Mack Daddy Shoot" just to remind us why we were all there in the first place...
Little Louie eventually got down to it, starting with the MAW mix of "Always There", always bound to get girls singing along and swinging their handbags! Then it was straight down into it, laying down classics in succession - "Back In The Day" by Robert Owens (?), "Brighter Days", "Voices In My Mind".

The one problem I've got with the Ocean Rooms (other than the precariously placed cloakroom) is that the main room in the basement ALWAYS gets ridiculously hot whenever a DJ of notable stature plays here - Gilles Peterson was exactly the same. After Louie dropped "To Be In Love", complete with saxaphone solo, I retired to the middle floor, where the beer was cold and I could move my arms freely! The club was projecting his set onto the middle floor, so I watched in relative comfort while Louie continued laying it down, punishing the EQ while he jiggled around in the booth like a man possessed...
Interestingly, he played (as far as I could tell) exclusively off CD, which some people did seem to get pissy about - apparently one goes to see Louie Vega play vinyl, it's "part of the mystique"...Personally I'm not bothered; I would mix off cheese platters if I had to!! While the set did get a touch too noodly for my tastes, this is a man who has worked with heavyweights such as George Benson, Jocelyn Brown et al - so you know that you're getting the real deal! "Thousand Finger Man" soon coaxed me back into the groove, however.

Leaving the club slightly after two, I was a bit disappointed not to hear "Deep Inside", but I'll live... also looking forward to Kenny Dope in the near future.

Truong Mellor 22.10.04 (ears still ringing!)