Back to Basics
Andrew Weatherall. Ralph Lawson,
James Holroyd
The Garage
Saturday 16th February

There isn’t much that hasn’t been said about Back to Basics regarding its long standing legendary institute-like status in the Leeds clubbing scene. Check any blog, review, feature or interview and you’re bound to encounter a theme that speaks highly of its stature; especially so as they are now approaching their 22nd year in the game. The Basics spirit is one which is truly unparalleled, and since moving over to the smaller, more regular jaunts at DJ Mag’s ‘Best Small Club’ The Garage, the nights have become an even more a fruitful occasion. Saturday was no exception.

The night’s main act (although residents James Holroyd and Ralph Lawson were by no means auxiliary to the line-up) lay in Andrew Weatherall. Providing an idiosyncratic blend of techy-disco sprinkled with acidic moments, his set started relatively easy and progressed and evolved into an all-out aural extravaganza. What is always so striking about Weatherall is the sense of a real comprehensive and developed performance. His smooth, calm control is done so with such commensurate ease, the set then emerges into a whole which is arguably greater than the sum of its parts. The only regretful element of the night was that Weatherall only played for 2 hours, but even so, one still could not be more satisfied with the way he played. A memorable track towards the end was Platikman’s ‘Spastik’, and without waving an app-enabled smart phone about all night, much of the rest of the magic shall remain in the moment. As Ralph Lawson stepped up to the see night to its conclusion, he continued in the same vein as his in-store at Waxwerks during the day with plenty of house and disco cuts to keep the party flowing. And with that, Basics still remains two steps further than any other fucker.

words: Chris Mclachlan