- Packed dance floors and mind numbingly loud sound systems make for a fine accompaniment to tequila. Dark tequila that is. Three rapidly consumed shots of dark tequila. Some would say this isn't worth mentioning, let alone writing about in a review of a local Manchester night named Faktion, but I would disagree. On all counts. There's certainly no arguing with the results, or the hangover for that matter. Seeing DJ Pete and Murmur in the state that I managed to achieve for under £10 is definitely something that needs documenting.
I was finally able to take stock of where I was sometime around 1 AM, or was it midnight? I think it was Murmur playing Scuba "Hard Boiled" that momentarily brought me back into the fray. When I'd seen them late last year it had been a housey affair that involved a couple of decks and an elaborate piece of musical equipment. This time round it was a simpler approach with just one DJ playing dark bass heavy dub techno, ideal for losing your mind to. Even without the drunken assault on my brain I would have tumbled into the same black hole, aimlessly reaching for the Roadhouse's hanging red lights. Alice would have had the time of her life had she just listened to that set whilst gallivanting off down that rabbit hole.
The only other time I'd been to Faktion was last year at the School of Sound Recording to see Shed. That night lacked the fundamental aspects of a true party but this time round things were different. The crowd had a personality, a voice, and some even had wandering hands, so my girlfriend tells me. Surprise sexual assaults aside, the mood about the place was invigorating. My God, I would even say intoxicating, if it hadn't been for the tequila.
Pete, otherwise known as the world's nicest DJ in my household, came on sometime around 2…I think. The whole evening for me is a bit of a blur with the concept of time a lost cause. I do however distinctly remember the sheer immoveable joy on Pete's face as he stepped up on to the decks. He took Murmur's well constructed dark mood and added a mischievous groove and his own hypnotic sounds. Hearing him play the Electrofunk remix of La Funk Mob's "Bass Get Phunked Up" almost finished me off. My thorax burning and arms waving. This kind gent has been doing this techno lark since before I was even "knocking back shots with the boys." And by golly can you tell. I recognised few of the tracks he played but horrifyingly wanted all of them.