2009-06-05

Taped up

Tonight sees the final installment of my club night, Black Tape. I will miss it.

In October 2006, my friend Becky and I started Black Tape at Ego, because we were a little bored and wanted to put on a fun, eclectic club night without the pretension or clickiness so prevalent in Edinburgh clubs at the time. We also wanted to give other people a chance to pick some tunes, and have some fun playing them to people. We also hoped it would make the music more eclectic, and bring more people down to see their friends DJ.

And it worked. Kinda. It was fun, people came, loads of people wanted to DJ. The quality was not great at times, but it was always loads of fun, and the people who did come loved it.

Shortly after the first few nights, Andrew came on board to run things with me. It worked really well. He’s a friendly, personable chap and a good friend, which is good when you’re a grumpy bastard like me. But Ego was really badly run, so we moved to Henry’s. It turns out that’s badly run too. But it was a Friday night and it got more out of control there, which is always good. Attendance was up and down but we had some amazing nights. Most notably, putting on Broken Records early(ish) on in their history, the Hostage night that was packed, sweaty and amazing, and of course Monotonix.

Monotonix was a band I chanced upon at SXSW 08 and knew we had to try and book them. The thought of them destroying a packed room at Henry’s was so fucking exciting. And somehow we got them to say yes. It was pretty quiet early on, and we were nervous that it was going to stay that way. Suddenly about 12.30 lots of people started arriving. By 1am the place was packed, someone was playing old skool rock classics, and everyone was drunk and anxious for the band to come on. Finally about 1.20am we let them go on. Everyone was crowded round them (they play on the floor not the stage) and from the first shredded note out of Yonatan’s guitar, the place fucking errupted. The place was covered in beer, sweat, trash, paper towels and god knows what else within minutes. Ami at one point turned to me, grinned and took my full beer and threw it over everyone. The more smartly dressed punters who I had been a little owrried about previously, were right in the thick of it gettting dirty and soaked. The band slowly ended up moving round the room while playing. The staff were looking twitchy. Then suddenly Ami was leading the way outside. Drums were picked up and carried out, still being played. Almost 100 people ended up outside dancing around to the drumming on the street. I’ve never seen so many people have such unabandoned fun. 6 police were on the scene within minutes.

Putting on that gig is one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Shortly thereafter, we moved to the newly opened Sneaky Pete’s. We’ve had some really good nights there, and put on some fucking amazing bands (Chapman Family, The Invisible, Everything Everything and Jesus H. Foxx to name a few).

But it’s time to stop. I don’t have enough time to devote to organising like I used to, and Andrew’s probably sick of me anyway. The club’s busy but not as busy as it could be. I’m also getting really fucking old.

So tonight will be our last one. No doubt I’ll get drunk and hug some people. We’ll hand out sweets and cake and play some amazing and some stupid tunes. We’ll place Tiny Dancer at the end. It’s going to be fun and horribly uncool. You should come.

Black Tape playlist on Spotify

2006-09-21

Black Tape

Click on the flyer above to view a more readable version. I would love to see any of you down there on the night. The blurb:

BLACK TAPE
SECOND THURDAY OF EACH MONTH
11PM-3AM
COCTEAU LOUNGE
(Downstairs at Ego)
£3 ENTRY
DRINKS PROMOS
Lots of drinks for less than 2 quid

None of this glamourous DJ nonsense. None of the bandwagon jumping. We play good music. And you can too.

Think of a new track you're bursting to share with the rest of the
world. Think of those amazing early tracks by bands that now fill
bloated stadiums. Think of those album tracks inspiring air guitar and
singing in the mirror that never appear on an A side. Think of those
tunes you used to wait all night for in clubs that have disappeared out
of fashion. Think of a divine mix of indie, classic pop, rock, soul,
punk, electronica, and perhaps a little hip hop that leaves you in a
heap on the dancefloor at the end of the night. Black Tape plays these
tracks, and then asks YOU to have a go at playing them yourself.
Remember what it feels like to finish a mix tape for a friend and you
look at the tracklisting and just wish you could broadcast it to the
entire world? Well now you can, at least to a bunch of like-minded
people in a club.

We are giving half-hour DJ slots to ANYONE that wants one - providing
you can make an impression and make people dance. If YOU want to DJ at
the first ever Black Tape, please email us at blacktape@nonimage.com
with a sample list of tunes you might play. If we like it (or we think
everyone else might like it) we will ask you to send us a mix CD. It
doesn't have to be mixed and beat matched and all that bollocks. Just a
mix of tracks you think would get the party going, burnt to a CD. Bear
in mind that if you get to play at Black Tape, you will be
unceremoniously removed from the decks (don't worry though, it's all
just a laugh, we will probably remove each other a few times during the
night.)

For every Black Tape after that, you can either email us at the address
above, or just hand in a mix CD on the night, with you name, email and
a tracklisting for your CD.

NO (SUPPOSED) SUPERSTAR DJs, HIPSTERS & TWATS. NO TRANCE. NO PETS.

Maybe we'll play: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Seafood, Blur, British Sea Power,
Bloc Party, Interpol, Joy Division, The Postal Service, Le Tigre, Beck,
J5, Radiohead, Flaming Lips, CSS, Spinto Band, We Are Scientists,
Maximo Park, Gorillaz, Sonic Youth, Super Furry Animals, Bjork, Metric,
Asian Dub Foundation, Elastica, Ladytron, The Arcade Fire, Strokes,
Longpigs, The Coral, Pavement, New Order, Broken Social Scene, Basement
Jaxx, Clinic, The Jam, Eels, The Kinks, Rage Against the Machine,
McLusky, Sons and Daughters, Sleater Kinney, The Gossip, Piney Gir, The
Beach Boys, Hefner, Pulp, Symposium, Kenickie, Sultans of Ping FC,
Soulwax, Hole, Electric 6, The White Stripes, Supergrass, Rapture, LCD
Soundsystem, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Talking Heads, Lush, My Vitrol,
Sleeper, The Long Blondes, Devo, TV On The Radio, The Breeders, At The
Drive In, Manic Street Preachers, White Stripes, Modest Mouse, Outkast,
The Go! Team, Pixies, The Crocketts, The Ramones, Ash, Easyworld, A,
Snow Patrol, Muse, The Clash, Ooberman, Prince, The Stone Roses, The
Beatles, Chemical Brothers, Beastie Boys, Weezer, The Smiths, Smashing
Pumpkins, Charlatans, Velvet Underground, Pixies, Buzzcocks, Wolf
Parade,Moldy Peaches, 3 Colours Red, Idlewild, Spank Rock, Beck, Girls
Aloud, QOTSA, Rolling Stones, Radio 4, Battle, The Pippettes, Daft
Punk, Gloria Jones, De La Soul, Morning Runner, A Tribe Called Quest,
Editors, MSTRKRFT, Death From Above 1979, Jamie T, Test Icicles, a
bunch of smaller Scottish bands.
...but, you know, it's kind of up to YOU.

Black Tape is held at the Cocteau Lounge, Downstairs at Ego, Picardy Place
Across the road from the Omni Centre, near Broughton Street and the
East end of Princes Street, the club is not far from the city centre,
and is surrounded by pubs and places to eat.
Map

Andy Lobban

Edinburgh, Scotland