- I know this is London, but if you put the Plump DJs on a bill anywhere you can bet your cotton socks the people will flock like queens to Madonna's garage sale. As my crew and i sidled up to the front of the highly (holy?) revered club just after the hour of eleven, the queue was verging on bridal party lengths. Royal style. And after all, the Plumps are the Kings of Fabric - their releases have found their way into car-stereos and bedroom-beatboxes all over the world.
So, understandbly, Lozenger, MC Leo Z and I were paaaarmpt ie. very excited. Not even getting ripped off by a mobile chemist could dampen our spirits. Into the labyrinth we went, shuffling to the drum n bass beats sneaking out of the side-room. Andy C performed well, with a leaning towards dark n long rinse-outs, giving the faithful lots to jack their bodies to. Fabio also hammered out a solid blend of the sans-guitars stuff, inciting Fabric virgins like me to shake a tail feather.
Zombie Nation was the surprising choice as support act for the Plump DJs, and although not everyone lapped up the hard-edged trance (no longer a dirty word?) i was very impressed with the stomping kick-drums and extremely happy to be watching a 'Live' act that responded well to the crowd. Zombie Nation made everyone relive the 'Kerncraft' moments of their lives, drawing out his uber-hit to almost tedious repetition, but also tweaking out his cash-cow just enough to keep it interesting. It was well worth seeing though, as he got into his set like a Canadian snowboarder whooping like he had just completed a 720 degree Melancholy. The fact that he looked like one helped this comparison.
Following on from a higher bpm than they would be accustomed to, the Plump began with an epic mood-piece, Lee Rous firing up the crowd by shouting 'Let's Do This!' or someting very loud and laddish to that effect. The first 15 minutes of the Plumps set was a little lacklustre, but lifted through a wave of breakerific beats, climaxed by Eddi Bo's vocals booming "Don't worry about what the next fellas doing, do your thang!". Indeed, 'When The Funk Hits The Fan' provided the highlight of the morning, positively shaking Fabric's foundations with brute force. I likes.
'Weighed Down', 'Creep Show' and a few cuts from ze Plump Night Out release were other winners, triumphing with understated basslines. When these tracks were dropped, a few fellow Aussies we met upstairs immediately stopped talking about Australia Day plans and took to wearing down the traction in their sneakers. More variation was needed though as their set continued, due to the breaks-by-numbers imitators that have come and tainted their sound since their seminal first release. The Plumps could have really grabbed the crowd by splicing and spicing the tempo, but unfortunately they seemed content to keep playing breakbeats without taking too many risks. They were mos def. very good, but when seeing the Plumps i have come to expect something exceptional.
Thanks to Fabric for the deflowering - don't kneecap me for being critical. Review by Mikey Cahill, Lozenger and MC Leo Z