Three leaders of the nu-rave movement in one building at the same time. If someone wanted to end the sale of day-glo caps and glowsticks in one easy move then tonight is their chance - the sea of synthetic nylon luminous clothing would make ignition extremely swift but let’s not dwell on the potential terrorist risk at Koko on a Friday night, the music was pretty incendiary too. Norway’s Datarock shuffle on and they look like they could be a band who play anything from death metal to scum punk but the opening chords of a manic 30-minute set prove otherwise; their music sits firmly in retro dance (the theme of the evening) which is something that Datarock are very good at indeed. Cue much glowstick waving, arms in the air and dancing that takes up room for two. Shitdisco, the second band of the evening, started life putting on free parties in a Glasgow tenement so the rather gaudy surroundings of the Camden Palace are a world away from their roots, similarly Camden has probably never seen such a collection of retina-busting outfits. Their new single ‘Reactor Party’ has been one of 2006’s catchiest dance songs of and it draws one of the biggest choruses of whistles and horns of the evening but the rest of their set possibly lacks a few more killer tunes. However, this is balanced by their energy and persistent wave of indie-mixed-with-old-school sound which is fantastically addictive; it almost defies you not to smile. With the regular drummer suffering from a recent arm injury, lucky his sling matches the all-white clothes of the band, a stand-in was employed whilst the regular drummer had to make do with a cowbell and drum stick which was actually quite in keeping with the band’s DIY attitude to having a good time. Other makeshift instruments included the ubiquitous dance party loudhailer and some clue as to how the drummer’s injury was sustained was given when one band member launched himself into an ambitious crowd surf which ended in him being dumped rather painfully. Although its doubtful many of the crowd were out of nappies when the ‘The Bouncer’ was being played in warehouses and fields around the UK they’ve certainly embraced The Klaxons’ version as their own. Along with a cover of the classic ‘Not Over Yet’, these were two highlights of the evening and judging by the presence of The Arctic Monkeys and Mystery Jets at the gig, they may just be onto something bigger than a party in a disused warehouse.

Words: BEN H. MURRAY
Photos by: MIKE BURNELL