I thought it would only ever remain a figment of my wildest dreams to have a silenced crowd, bopping in appreciation to Prince’s ‘I wanna be your lover’, in a club, in Leeds. But on Friday night, Dimitri from Paris made a dream come true and made an infinitely content Flora.
Friday 22nd May saw Mint Warehouse host the launch of ‘No Way Back’, a new series of nights dedicated to the founders of funk and governors of groove, to teleport the crowds back to the spangling, disco days.
Amidst the stellar line up were the finest stallions in the yard (none other than Horse Meat Disco), and a glorious array of like-minded motherfunkers, including Cosmic Slop representatives. Despite some sloppy transitions from the Horse Meat Disco duo, all was forgiven with a hip-swinging soundtrack of jiggy classics, their support adequately lubricating the limbs in preparation for Dimitri from Paris. A varied crowd was drawn to the event – an eclectic mix of stunned 3rd years, staggering into the real world having finished university forever and an older bunch of ravers, reminiscing their wild youths, but all united beneath the mirror-ball.
The first wave of excitement came when dancing in the ‘Boiler Room’, and after having complemented a woman on her amazing attire, I soon learnt the DJ was in fact her husband. He then played Todd Terje ‘Inspector Norse’. Needless to say I too fell in love with him. The arrival of Dimitri onto the main decks saw the tune played again, to universal acclaim, the ‘beeps’ and the ‘byouws’ echoed by the crowd. He then went on to tease us with the likes of Sister Sledge, ABBA, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, culminating with that all-important Prince track, all the while the Mona Lisa smiling serenely in recognition.
With funk after funk, this rare UK visit from Dimitri only left us all clambering for more. His Facebook bio defines his Parisian style as ‘Suave and bespoke dance music for the finest in you’, and my oh my the finest in me is one serious disco queen.
[Flora Tile]