Review of Boo Williams in Brighton UK

Fluid Groove presents Boo Williams - Friday August 8th, 2003 @ Escape Club, Brighton, UK

For all those that are unaware, Britain has for the last week or so been sweltering in a heat wave. Now when people are talking about the weather, they really mean it. This weekend saw Brighton’s Pride Parade taking place, so the city was also heaving with drag queens and disco divas along the scorching seafront. With Chicago’s Boo Williams making his first appearance here, things were only going to get hotter. Given the high quality of his output for seminal labels such as Casual, I was expecting a blistering performance.

The art deco stylings on the outside of the Escape Club give way to a rather spacious inside, that was still relatively empty when we arrived at around 11pm. Matt Pond was warming the venue up with some thundering rhythm tracks and funky grooves, as people began to move from propping up the bar to filling up the dancefloor. Although I was initially concerned that the night would suffer from a lack of punters due to the myriad of events happening here over the weekend, I needn’t have worried. People started filing in, and they were ready to party. By half past eleven, the club was beginning to bubble with anticipation for the main man himself, and before too long he came bursting through the entrance, records in tow. Boo Williams certainly has presence - clubbers were greeting him, shaking his hand and slapping his back even before he got near the turntables! He began scoping the dancefloor out while Matt Pond wrapped up his set, and at midnight Boo got started with his own brand of sonic mayhem.

Noticeably, the first thing Boo did was to turn the sound right up. Although this was rather painful at first, it took him about 3 or 4 records to get the sound right and away we went. As expected from one of the Windy City’s most prolific characters, he touched upon all styles of House, opening with some funk-fuelled shakers and boogie-inspired beats. However, about forty minutes into his set all hell broke loose in the club as Boo worked a manic steel drum into the mix - the whooping and cheering began, and never really let up. Mr Williams kept the energy levels high, dipping into Latin style vocals and ‘trackier’ bits but never loosing the groove. Not that the crowd would have stood for that. The club was manic by now, with clubbers showing their appreciation by screaming, shouting and some bizarre dance routines. At one point, there appeared to be a pair of lovers copulating in one corner of the venue (house music does make people do crazy things, in my experience), but this is certainly not the subject of this article. Even my girlfriend, not a fan of the boompty boomp, was converted for the evening - the mark of a true entertainer.

Just after 1 am, Boo launched into a disco selection that kept the club jumping, chopping through cuts like “Disco Juice” by Cloud One and Aquarian Dream’s “Phoenix”. This did drag on somewhat in my opinion, but to be fair my dancing shoes were killing me by this point - I hadn’t done this much grooving in a long time. However, Musique’s “Keep On Jumpin’”, and what looked like a spot of karaoke from Boo himself, soon coaxed me back onto the floor. By the time we left at 2 am, the place was beginning to thin out, but those still in attendance were showing no signs of going home, much to the annoyance of the club’s staff no doubt. This was by far the best night I have had in Brighton yet (respect to Matt and the Fluid Groove lot for organising it), with a solid performance by Boo Williams, who I seriously rate as one of the best house DJs out there, doing the do. When he is in your neck of the woods, do not miss this guy!

Truong Mellor

We have 5 copies of the Ultrasessions 1 to give away, mixed by Boo Williams ... Click here.