Modspectacular

The scene was set for a blistering night for mods on the grid, Davey MacIntyre was throwing open the doors of the new 5.15 Club and as the mods gathered expectations were high.

But before I warble on about the nights entertainment lets discuss the build itself, its sublime! The dimly lit interetior, textured brick walls, arched booths, almost hidden DJ booth screams authenticity. The posters on the walls and the fantastic club graphic on the wall [which is cunningly also the dance ball] give the place a real retro feel and as you dance you feel yourself begin to become immersed in the whiole sixties experience, it really is magnificent. Even if you dont like the music and have no affiliation to mod its worth tping over to see the build and get a sense of those infamous sixties beat clubs from which so many iconic bands sprung. If I were to have a tiny criticism it would be that perhaps the satage could do with trimming to increase the size of the dance floor, but that really is nitpicking and as I'm no virtual architect that might just cripple the overall aesthetic of the place,,,feck I'm waffling.

Three DJs were scheduled to play tracks tonight with the promise of additional surprises. Almost everyone who is anyone on the British virtual mod scene was present: Boone and Suzi, with Seth from the OSRHQ, Boone was to play the opening set; master builder Slate with his new wife Maddie ,the gesture queen;Thom and Meri owners of the AAi club;top modsters Dugi and Aston owners of Soul Mods, Eden half of the dynaimc mod DJ duo, Scotney Sean, who would substitute for Massacre in the DJ line up; Royal Lytton master maker of cool T-Shirts; Lupo Lexington who dresses so cool he puts me to shame and, also Shauna of the Moonletters blog.  In fact so many cool ,generous and funky people were there its difficult not to mention them all, but then this would read like a school register of mod. There were also several notables missing who were sadly missed but they were probably sadder that they missed this.

Hidden away in the DJ booth, mixing an alchemy of mod and soul Boone readied himself to kick start the night with his hour long opener, he played some standards and some variations of standards, as Davey rapidly rewrote his set list. The dancers leapt onto the floor and the hooos rang out as the Action and others began to scorch thru the stream. As Boone plonked the needle on some majestic mod, the FFS gesture eminated more and more from Davey's corner,,,Boone got everybody tuned into the mood and raring to go for Davey to take it over with another two hours of mod mayhem.

First time Ive heard Davey play a set and he delivered mightily with some soilid tunes that had people dancing on the floor, on the tables and,,,on the bar, mentioning no names.. This was to set the tone for the evening as the dance floor filled and Davey kept us smiling with a string of super mod tracks. Definitely a new kid on the block worth looking out for, his mod stream was well worth the investment in his club. If you're going to build a club that looks this good you better have the music to match,,,and he did.

Next up was a late substitute, Scotney Sean from the Soul Mods drafted in to cover for Maasacre Soon, who had real life commitment, nothing you can do about that it afflicts us all at some time! I guess Sean had been hitting the vodka his chat mesages got louder as he went on, and much like myself Sean does not do voice,,maybe the Scottish vernacular type is a ruse and he's really from Epping Forest, somehow I doubt it. Blogged that matey! I missed much of Seans set at the Soul Mods so it was good to be present from the start and what a set it was,,stunning. Mod missiles from the heavens, after a few earlier technical issues which everybody understood but me, Sean was off and flying. I'll admit there were moments I forgot about SL just shut my eyes leaned back and let the music steal over me, I doubt I was the only one. My only regret I didnt have a gesture of sufficient quality to announce how great I was feeling listening to those tunes, or how my poor wife suffered as i strangled them to death with my abysmal vocals. Fecking fantastic.

This was slowly developing into one of the best Mod nights on the grid for some time, and it waasnt over..as Slate manfully or studfully take yer pick, came on as an extra special ending DJ at midnight, no mean feat to follow the mighty set laid down by Sean. But, Slate's mix of ska revivalism, classic mod and Northern Soul stompers was sublime the perefect ending set, bringing the whole mod ethos together and keeping us away from our beds as we pursued a joyful final hour of majestic mod tunes. And I can find no fault in anyone who includes both Jimmy Radcliffe's Long After Tonight is Over and Dean Parish's I'm on my Way. What a tune to end on, Wigan did it and that shoyuld be good enough for anyone.

Dugi won the nest T-Shirt award, well there wasnt one but he would have if we'd held one.

The room was brimming by now and I'm sure somebody mention that the club had maxed out, yeah there was crashing, and other issues like lag, all the problems that come with popularity but hopefully it didnt ruin anybodies night.

I have been in many clubs but there's been few that can match one full of sharply dressed mods strutting and dancing the night away. I was blown away by some of the cool virtual mod stylings on display and would have liked to IM dozens of geezers to ask where did you get that great shirt, shoes, sweater etc...but the night was about more than me fashion stalking, doesnt mean I wont ask next time though.

What can we take away from this night, mod is thriving on the grid, we have another spectacular hang out and the music the DJs play is as good as anything on the grid. As for a final word I'll leave that to Seth. altho I'm paraphrasing as I forgot to log it down,,,some blogger I am-bloody useless.  Seth: reminds me of the best nights we had at the wheel. Cant get higher praise than that, if you were there thank you and if you werent try harder next time you missed a blinder.

Left-Right, Our marvelous DJs. -Slate on the bar with his super wife Maddie, Sean and Davey [apologies to Boone who is not in the shot]

5.15 Club