Following successful events with Derrick Carter and Francois K, A Private Party With… welcomed house legend Kerri Chandler to London. Chandler’s reputation following his successful appearances at DC10 over the summer showed that he was not just a pioneer of soulful house but an artist who could appeal to both the purists and the fresh faces of the dance music scene. His latest surge of popularity through DC10 combined with a rare opportunity to witness a DJ play the entire night, something that most people had not witnessed in many years, was a definite selling point. The opportunity was there to see Chandler in complete control of the musical direction of the evening, with the power to shape his set across a wide variety of styles, from checking in of coats through to last man standing. His appearance in London was held in a disused building in a grotty corner of East London, coincidentally sharing the building with Gilles Peterson who was holding his own party in another corner, as were Art Department. None of the parties ever collided, but it meant that there were plenty of confused punters milling around outside the disused space and deciding which queue to jump into.After finding the correct entrance, punters were greeted with a large warehouse, dimly lit in red. Chandler - surrounded by equipment at the front was welcoming his audience with a selection of vocal house. The audience consisting of a third soulful house purists, a third DC10 kids who caught him over the summer and a third slightly bolshy Essex wide boys.. The first few hours of Chandler's set were heavily textured, taking revellers from sing-a-long classics such as Cassius' "Sound of Violence" down to the grimy bass of the Jamie Jones rework of Azari & III's "Hungry for the Power," right up again to the soulful chords of "Track 1" from his 1993 Atmosphere EP Vol. 1 with barely room to catch a breath in between, the chords from Track 1 giving a particularly euphoric moment from the jumping crowd who were turning the room into an authentic sauna as the night drew on.
The sound in places was questionable but it was just a small case of finding a decent spot near a speaker, as Chandler played records from the sublime to the obscure, for the number one fans down at the front to those staggering around at the back. Seminal house records such as Basement Jaxx’s ‘Fly Life’ leading into jump up looping tracks like Butch’s ‘No Worries’; Chandler was as comfortable playing records that were 20 years old through to the hottest releases of the last 12 months, bringing the audience up and down on a wave of tech-beats followed by soul soaked, percussive yet bass heavy tracks. Big room piano house, 90’s classics, and many of his own releases were interspersed with records well suited to a hazy afternoon on the DC10 terrace.
At one point Chandler chose to play Master at Work’s ‘To be in Love’ – the quintessential soulful house record; perhaps a touch obvious, and most certainly overplayed to the soulful house pedants occupying the space. It was only on closer inspection however, that Chandler was in fact playing keys over the top of the track, or an acapella; it was hard to tell through the haze. This was further proof that these were the actions of an artist truly at the top of his game; daring to take a risk that certainly paid off.
At a very hazy 4am, Chandler’s voice shyly came out from the speakers on the mic, asking how the audience was doing and explaining his love for a night where he could play for a whole 7 hours, to a rapturous response his tones broke out into the singingof his own track ‘Rain’ to the elation of the audience who cheered their appreciation.
As 6am rolled around and Arnold Jarvis – ‘Inspiration’ played out to the dishevelled and sweaty crowd, it was wondered whose private party they would be invited to in 2012.
