Art Department at fabric, 22/09/2012

I was really looking forward to fabric on Saturday, having just got back from Ibiza that morning in very good spirits, and the evening started well with a few local drinks for one of my dearest friend’s birthdays.

However it quickly went downhill upon arrival at fabric, and seeing the ridiculous queue, the likes of which I last saw at Jamie Jones night last year, around the same time of the year. The security assured us that we would only have to wait 25 minutes. As a long-time member I am used to this on exceptionally busy nights and this is understandable.

I had to wait more than 2 hours.

Not acceptable.

Part of the problem was that ticket-holders had priority over members (since when?). What is the point of paying to be a member if I have to wait 2 hours to get in?

Part of the problem was the lack of control that security had over the crowd. Not all this can be attributed to the security themselves as there were an unusually large proportion of tossers in the crowd though perhaps the disgusting behaviour of many – pushing, shoving, jumping the queue, etc, was down to the lack of control and the annoyance this caused.

Also experienced was a glass bottle thrown at a passing car, and although absolutely nothing to do with fabric was a drive-by attempted robbery of what seemed to be someone outside the bar next door – I didn’t see exactly what happened myself, having only seen the commotion out of the corner or my eye but it was described by many others and certainly an unpleasant incident.

I finally got inside around 230am, rather deflated, and totally dismayed by the disgusting behaviour of a fair proportion of my fellow humans, fellow clubbers and utterly sick of second-hand smoke being blown in my face. The sooner smoking is banned from all outdoor areas the better.

I am seriously considering cancelling my fabricfirst/fabriclast membership, as I cannot stand half the cds, and only really like about a quarter of them, my members card discounted entry is much reduced, there are never free/half-price entry nights for members nowadays in quiet months (though probably due to improved line-ups) and what is the point if I have to queue for 2 hours? This may be an over-reaction as I have a severe case of Ibiza blues so I will not come to a rash conclusion. And I do not get that glowing feel of being one of the exclusive special ones any more.

Anyway, once I had perked up there was a party to be had though not before I had to endure two minutes of bland, soul-less depressing techno that room 2 has become very well known for. How did I used to like techno? Perhaps it is just the form of fabric techno. Such unhappy music.

Also a matter of frustration that night was that I just could not get into room 3 for Eats Everything. This is not a surprise due to his popularity, I am not convinced that room 3 is the best room due to this.

Room one is my favourite clubbing room in the UK, so we stuck to this for the rest of the night, first up was a live performance by Tone of Arc. A good performance and the crowd generally appreciated it though I think the guitar scared a fair few away. Also the vocals were very quiet and muffled.

Then came Art Department, however I wasn’t really feeling them as I felt the music was too dark and moody. Yes, I know that this is their style but I just don’t think it is my cup of tea any more. More my state of mind and musical preferences I think than their set. They were absolutely loving it as were much of the crowd (surprisingly not that busy with more than enough dancing space…slightly contradictory to the time taken to get in the club).

Also I missed Craig Richards.  Bad move.

It is hard not to enjoy fabric, and I did have a good night but there were too many frustrations and disappointments, and it should have been a far better experience. Also I accept that I was not on usual form.

Perhaps I do have nettle-tinted glasses on due to the worst case of Ibiza blues since 2006 but I only rate the night out at 5 out of 10.

I’ve been blessed with a lot of absolutely fantastic nights out in my life, especially at fabric. I’ll take it with a pinch of salt and look forward to another visit hopefully before the year is out.

Time for a short rest from the dancefloor I think.