REVIEW: Gilles Peterson, The Stanton Warriors & Nitin Sawhney at Fabric Live on 14 Jan
Simply choosing which Fabric Live night to see is an feat in itself. With weekly lineups to drool over, featuring a veritable who's who of electronic music, you're pretty much guaranteed a satisfying night, even if it is a little more expensive than some of their contemporaries. On the menu tonight, musical supremo
Gilles Peterson, breaks heavyweights The Stanton Warriors, and writer, producer, conductor, composer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist,
Nitin Sawhney. Personally, I was very keen to witness Sawhney in action again as a previous performance alongside UNKLE was event programming at its most captivating, so a brilliant performance, especially served after an equally attractive Peterson set, it seemed like a night too good to be true. Suffice it to say, my expectations were high, so maybe this was why I was left a little hungry after tonight's dish. Peterson knocked me off my feet (in a bad way) with bass-heavy, bangra-infused beats at only 11pm, (am I getting old?) and then The Stanton's regrettably started to bore me with break-beats to nap to.(I am getting old!) So surely Sawhney and his companions couldn't let me down?
Well, maybe there was something in the air conditioning that night because they too supplied an insipid high in comparison to last time's deal. Replicating their live interludes note-for-note and adding a far more drum & bass flavor to proceedings proved a bit of downer and failed to hold my attention for long.
And although I would still urge every person to witness this extraordinary musician at work, I may have a glance elsewhere before seeing him again soon. OG