Damian Lazarus

Damian Lazarus played a set at All Night Fuji down at Orange court starting at 3:40am on Friday night / Saturday morning. I headed down there on the advice of friends who had caught the minimal master at various Tokyo gig over the last year or so. Unfortunately I have always had commitments precluding me from joining them on those occasions, and unfortunately again last night was the same, at least partly. Fellow FujiRocker Jeff & I managed to get down there for the latter half of his set, and it was well worth the half hour trek. In fact, had we known just how good it was going to be, I think we would have weaseled our way out of our prior duties.

The closer we got, the more apparent it was that we had made an error of judgement in only catching the end. Dirty minimal grooves permeated the bush as we traversed the boardwalk in the dawn's early light. When we arrived there was still a good sized crowd in attendance, grooving away under the rapidly disappearing moonlight. When the sun came up, there was a minor exodus, leaving the hard core lovers of the dark & dirty tunes spinning on the decks. This was a crowd won over by a master, competing against such attractions as the Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus and Big Willie's Burlesque, stiff competition to be sure, even if of a very different type. Lazarus would have won me over had I had the choice. After I got there, the bubbling electro house bass lines stayed juicy through to the end of his set, great to dance to and very well blended. When Ta-Ka took over at 5am, the mood changed a little, a bit faster, housier, but still nice nonetheless. However, it wasn't enough to keep me there, and I left the scene shortly after, kicking myself for not getting there earlier.

Report by Dom.