London. I’m sitting in a large pub talking to a man who looks like Karl Marx. A woman across the table dismisses the idea of getting everyone to go through Green Park naked because it’s already been done. Last time they pretended to be Picasso in the park and apparently that went down well. These are Simon (Speedway 5), my capoeria-loving and frequent party collaborator’s, art friends. I’m not quite sure why I’m here, even though Simon said no way to the warehouse party. Something has to give.
It’s Saturday, the twelfth day of April, which means we’ve seen the worst of the winter and spring is doing its best to spit on us. Summer is but only a dream. It’s night, and I’m dragging round a suitcase for my sins.
After the pub, I do my best to con Simon into coming with me, even though he’s tired and had three messy weekends already and he has to get up in the morning to take his clothes off for a painter in the park. I tell Simon that Riton is making a sneeky special appearance, and Simon’s eyes widen. “Really? Oh fuck it. I’ll come for an hour.”
We end up in north London; luckily Simon knows this part of town. We stop into an off-license - I buy a bag of expectedly stale popcorn, two cartons of apple juice and a bottle of Żubrówka. Bump, bump, and we’re down a road that leads us to a massive warehouse. People spill out of the yard surrounding it. This is a hella trendy party, one glance confirms. Simon and I make for the stairwell and mix up some cocktails, siphoning the liquid into a water bottle.
Mariano, the lead singer of Lesser Panda and one half of the Toilet Disco DJ, gave me a special invite to the party. He texts me to come to the DJ booth, which sends me in an Alice-in-Wonderland tour of the premises.
As well as the massive main room, where Matthew Waites (Kitsune) is performing before a heaving throng of people, there’s a basement. I take the stairs at the back of the room down and find several large rooms, where people are sitting around, snogging, chatting or playing with records. A contrast to the busyness of upstairs, with a nice mellow vibe.
The DJ booth turns out to be the a small room next to the main room, with a hole cut out and glass in place, but it’s a happy meeting. I introduce Simon to all of the Lesser Panda band mates (Chris, Chris, Ben, and George) and find out that it’s one of the guys who owns the whole place. They’re all incredibly nice, as cute as their pictures indicate, only different and slightly older than I’d realised. Lovely lovely people.
Mariano explains that the place was a complete shithole when Chris first found it. Despite naysayers, he cleaned it all up and now it is warehouse party heaven. Of course the party that night is totally free, a fact that everyone I talk to keeps marveling about. London is one of the great capitalist cities of the world - by god, why would anyone do anything for free? Albeit, a big fuck off party is always good publicity and exposure for bands (including theirs) but actually there’s a lot of goodwill being put into this party. These people are so nice you’d think they’d had brand-new souls.
My first friend of the night is the one-man Drums of Death (Greco-roman). It’s interesting to meet someone before their paint, not having an inkling of what’s in store. He’s a bit nervous, but subtly funny, with a low-key sensibility. His show stuns, and it’s great to see the performer unleashed. He describes his sound as heavy, but I’d say shouty - ah, who needs apathy and complacency ? Definitely one to catch.
Next on was Architeq - Live set (Tirk) and Mirror! Mirror! I was two when the Sex Pistols shocked London, but these boys reminded me so much of a fresh young angry rash with a passing resemblance to 1970s rockers. And they all looked they were about 15. Amazing! The Lesser Panda boys were the last act on - I spent most of their gig squashed between waves of people and I think some drunk guy pinched my ass and I had a good old go at him ! haha.
Throughout the night, there were loads of great Dj sets including power disco from Heartbreak (Lex) and a indie fun from Rodaidh (Cocadisco), and late late in the hour, we enjoyed a set from Mariano, who played the mix featured on Allez-Allez. Cheat? No. It was seven in the morning and who doesn’t want to hear Abba?
Simon passed out on a pile of coats in the DJ booth. I made friends despite not wearing big 1980s ugly glasses and equally stupid cardigans. Night turned into day. Mariano led the gang into a group dance that, with my ever quickly failing memory, was reminiscent of cumbya. Everyone was maddeningly happy and bits of stuff that sticks to your feet and soon it was 11am and I fell into the bed of a gay men and woke up with pink stickers all over my jumper. I drank wine on either side, sent messy emails and texts, was gratiously happy for the homo mansion as a needed rest, and then proceeded to get lost in Shoreditch, with a near karmic relationship with a beautiful trustafarian and African music on my ipod.
Warehouse big, trendy young people & it’s all gloriously free ! Join the Lesser Panda group on Facebook or myspace and you’ll soon be at all the good parties too.
Oh yeah, another freebie - a glitchy bassy Atari remix of Lesser Panda’s “Happy Birthday” from Liverpool electronique duo To My Boy.
Happy Birthday - Lesser Panda - To My Boy Remix
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