21 December 2013

Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall

Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall

Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall

We spent last night at Hammersmith's town hall at Despacio, the James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) / Too Many DJs project. Think hipster school disco with a 50,000 watt sound system. Speaking of which, the sound system was incredible and pretty much took on the role of overpaid, over-entouraged star of the show. It requires a crew of fifteen, can kill everyone if is turned up to full capacity and has apparently pretty much bankrupted James Murphy.  It was a bit surreal as though it was plenty loud, you could still hear each other speak on the dance floor if you wanted to talk. 

The feeling was a weird mix of nostalgia and cutting edge, with the the town hall's municipal fire doors and corridors telling my subconscious 'you're back at school' and McIntosh amps and haircuts telling me another story.

Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall

There were nice cocktails from Clove Club - including Despacio Punch and Black Bull; cold coffee, salted caramel and vodka -  and a choice selection of tacky Christmas decorations to feast the eye upon. 

Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall Despacio at Hammersmith Town Hall

James Murphy and Too Many DJs gave a nice interview to the Guardian with their favourite Christmas party tracks here. It includes the revealation that James is an acquaintance of David Byrne "but we don't call and chat about Breaking Bad or anything."

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