Together @ Turnmills

The recent news regarding the imminent closure of Turnmills didn’t deter the young, glittered faces of Together’s multifarious friends. The itching revellers were baying to get busy. This was Together’s 2nd birthday bash and, as such, a grown-up kids party ensued. There were decorations, there were goody bags, there was even ice cream and jelly.

All partisans reacted with gusto, donning bright, gaudy, ridiculous costumes for effect: giant afros, native American headdresses, wedding gowns, Postman Pats, leprachauns, sharks. The variety in fashion was as erratic as the music itself.

In the big room, resident Anil Chawla made subtle dashes into dark, swirling, shadowy tech so as to not frighten the guests away too early. From there, Hot Chip’s beardy Joe Goddard laid down a subdued set - perhaps one more suited to an over-the-waves, sunny Thai beach than a sweaty London birthday party – thus saving the raucous, whooping, hollering behaviour for the headliners. And sure enough, just as Fischerspooner introduced their special electro-popping New York art, the punters began to glaze over.

For those that didn’t automatically buy into the big indie names plastered all over the flyer (Fischerspooner, Foals, Maccabees, Hot Chip) a louder, more crunchier filling was available in the satellites. Although the big boys did a sterling job, the discreet “(DJ Set)” scrawled next to their billing meant they were always going to be simply silver medal.

The minions of the night, the ones that actually DJ for a living, were prolifically more indulgent than their supposed superiors. Evil Nine’s punk rock breakbeat and John Kennedy’s kickstart electro storm were both assuredly humming yet neither were as gratefully received as the rare sighting of Rex the Dog. Cordially dropping their remix masterpiece, ‘Tony The Beat’ (The Sounds), their pure knob-twiddling, feel-good, mash-mania brought the temperature to a gritty boil, whilst skimming the danceable realms of Daft Punk’s computerised disco. Plonk, bang, whizz, beep.

Disappointing crowd controls at both the entrance and the toilets meant considerable queuing hurdles throughout the night. But, the sheer volume of the unfaltering crowd undoubtedly maintained the freshness.