It’s that time of the year when social networks are plagued by such words as ‘deadline’, ‘essay’ and ‘fail’. The library ups its gravitational pull, and you probably haven’t seen your housemate for so long that they could be officially declared missing. The apathetic whimsy of most of the academic year is eaten away by your laborious and seemingly useless degree. And what’s more, that shiny headed Etonian and his fox-hunting pals have been welcomed back into Number 10. It’s not a nice time for anyone. It’s moments like this that lead us to cripplingly existential thoughts, and even a kind of paralysis. What else can we do?

Well, through the years, there has been one place that has been an escape for millions of young people: the club. Butter Side Up’s latest event with Prosumer at Wire was a true example of the healing, therapeutic powers of house music. With some wax, speakers and a dark room, this German DJ and producer provided solace for a few hundred enthusiastic ravers. And although the solace was temporary (Monday always edges closer), the reassurance in humanity afforded by his wonderful all-vinyl house set will live long in the memory.

The Edinburgh-based bald cuddly bear dropped joyous hit after joyous hit, mixing tracks as a painter might stroke a brush – smoothly, sensuously, creatively. Among his trademark pumping garage-house tracks, Prosumer lit a collection of disco beacons that really warmed the hearts of the crowd. But disco is a genre that isn’t without a strong hint of melancholy. This sorrowful feeling was in the chilling vocals of Desmond Child & Rouge’s ‘Our Love Is Insane’. It was in the moody padded synths of Herbert’s rework of ‘Sing It Back’. But, most of all, it was embedded in the lyrics of ‘Nowhere’ by Hokis Pocus. It’s a song about being on the way to nowhere; about dreams dissolving into the dead space of a Sunday afternoon. Yet this is another joyous disco track that fired up the Wire floor on Friday night. Maybe we’re all on our way to nowhere. Maybe these exams will defeat us, and the hammer of austerity will put the final nail in our coffin. But, in spite of all, we’ll still be dancing.

[Oliver Walkden]
Photo: Michael Mann