POD Concerts presents
LAURENT GARNIER
performs both live & DJ set
Plus support
Doors 9pm
Garnier describes his playing style as "shakey, shakey wiggle your botty" and if you have experienced any of his legendary genre-hopping sets, it's very hard to disagree. The ability to mix funk, electro, hip hop, techno, jazz, and disco with almost effortless ease and the stamina to do so for 8hrs straight has earned him the deserved reputation as one of the best DJs on the planet. Born in Paris in 1965, Laurent was raised on music. At the age of five his babysitter, the managing director of CBS records, was giving him records by bands like Santana, Earth, Wind & Fire and The Jackson Five. His father ran bumper cars and Laurent recalls a house full of the latest 7"s that were used to soundtrack the cars. By the time he was 12, Laurent had bought his first mixer and decks. "My parents were taking me to clubs and the music was thumping, the lights, everything was marvelous. It was really beautiful to watch someone with the power to make people dance". Within a year he was making mix tapes for his mates and DJ'ing at his school-friends parties and by 14, he had played his first allnighter, New Year's Eve at his grandmother's restaurant. "You wanna be a DJ?" My Grandmother said, "You're going to have to do it." A pioneer of the early Acid-house movement in the late eighties and the only Frenchman that can boast a residency at the infamous Hacienda, he returned to the U.K. for a bi-monthly residency at The End in 2004 marked unusually by the fact that he never featured a warm-up act, preferring instead to play from 10pm right through until 8am closing, exhibiting a style unlike any other DJ. Garnier has produced five studio albums to date which have included such greats as 'Acid Eiffel', 'The Man with the Red Face', and 'Crispy Bacon'. His newest fare 'Tales of a Kleptomaniac' is described as "a classic" Gilles Peterson. "What a rocket to kick off 2009....my gosh he's setting the bar high with his long awaited return to the land of music making...yes, yes my friend, Garnier's back! On this, his fifth proper album, the world's greatest DJ comes back with quite possibly his greatest album....It has taken a while we know, time also spent making children and moving down to Provence from Paris, but its' been time well spent as I truly believe he's bettered '30' and 'Unreasonable Behaviour'. 'Tales of a Kleptomaniac' not only contains 'big club nuggets' like the Inner visions fronted 'Back to my Roots' and current monster 'Gnanmankoudji' with huge afro horn break n' all....'Tales of a Kleptomaniac' is also a brilliant work which, as the title suggests, represents perfectly, a man fanatically in touch with the natural development of music - he's like a chef cooking up a meal no one's ever thought of before....and it tastes mighty good - like a musical Heston Blumenthal!!On this 12 track adventure Laurent balances the styles just right - from the dance floor to the grimy back room this collection covers Laurent's panoramic vision perfectly... Kicking off with a modern day funk anthem 'No Musik' evokes groups like Kleeer and Cameo using Dub Step snares and electro sounds over a sugarhill rapture - If only the Hacienda was still open today... 'Tales of a Kleptomaniac' is a classic, possibly Laurent Garnier's greatest work and for that I salute him and look forward to the live shows throughout 2009..." With this in mind, his upcoming live and DJ set promises to deliver both sides of what makes Laurent Garnier not only a great musician and producer, but also a DJ capable of captivating and destroying the dance floor.
Gonna be a fucken clinker gig!!!!!