Saturday 18th June
Well, what a great night it turned out to be down at the Palace last night. We got down there just before the club opened and met up with Luis. I got set up (in the DJ box, I don’t mean I finally got whacked) and played the first hour to an empty club, but when I came on later there were a few people dancing which was really cool. I really liked the set up in the DJ box, despite the crossfader not working, and thoroughly enjoyed playing. I couldn’t thank Luis enough and was delighted when he asked me to bring my tunes again tonight. Wicked!
The ravers from last week were there too, and I got chatting to the manager of the Palace (another one… how many do they have?!) who’s called Tommy and does the trance parties with them. He asked about Muck FM and told me about the psy-trance parties which are held outdoors in the summer, and the after parties back at the club in the morning. They sound amazing and I’d love to go to one. He’s another top guy, and as with every single person we’ve met here he made us feel very welcome. I actually think the Portuguese are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. Or maybe they’re normal and it’s just that everyone back home is miserable. Must be the weather. Which reminds me to mention that it’s forecast to reach 39 degrees here next week (phewww!), and also reminds me to laugh about the terrible weather you lot are having back home. Don’t worry, I’ll bring some sun back for you I promise!
Anyway, I digress again.
All the crew had a good night, and even Handy behaved himself. He was last seen leaving with a new acquaintance at some point before midnight, which was a huge relief to me Whigfield-wise, and has meant he’s had a smile on his face throughout today. Mrs Muck had a good chinwag with the lovely Brazilian barmaid, and while I was playing the beautiful Romanian assassin glided in and headed straight onto the dancefloor to move hypnotically to my tunes. It made my night, made my tongue hang out, and made me fuck up the next mix. Totally worth it though.
Aldy wasn’t there last night, so thankfully there were less shots than usual going round, which I was avoiding anyway because I’m not a good drunk (DJ).
I found it a bit of a challenge playing to an unfamiliar crowd who I had no idea what they thought of the genres of music I play. Luis and the other DJ who played last night play mostly minimal, tech house and techno in the Palace, and Luis’s eyebrows were raised when I upped the BPM to 133 in my second hour. He told me that’s a bit fast for Lagos, which worried me, as my main set consisted of tunes a couple of BPMs faster than that! It’s difficult when you only have a small bag of tunes with you, and not much room for manouevre if a change of direction is needed. Luckily, as it turned out, another DJ arrived to play so I didn’t play a full second hour and my problem was solved.
I’ve had a look through my tunes today and have more than enough tunes to get by tonight. I’m not sure how long, or what time I’ll be playing, so will play it by ear later. I’ve picked out a combination of tribal, tech and progressive tunes that should go down well, and have chosen a couple of (what I think) are suitable trance tunes to gauge their reaction. To be honest, it’s cool whatever happens, because we’re having a fantastic time and the Palace has turned out to be the centrepoint of our holiday, with the people who work and play there as mucky a group of people as you’ll find anywhere. It’s a wicked little club, although it looks as if we’re here a little too early in the season to really appreciate it fully. One thing’s for sure- if it is just a front then it’s the best fake club I’ve ever been to…