26 January 2019 (gig)
10 February 2019
Ministry of Sound’s ‘Annual Classical’ premiered at the London’s Southbank Centre on the 26th January; twenty-three iconic club anthems played by the fifty-piece London Concert Orchestra in front of a fully up-for-it Festival Hall.
I’m not quite sure what the stewards were expecting of the audience, but within thirty seconds they’d realised this was not going to be a ‘sit-down’ experience, and when you kick off your set with ‘Sandstorm’, you’ve made a pretty big statement – what an absolute banger!
The euphoric energy of ‘Sunchyme’ was captured perfectly with its wall of harmonics and echoing vocals, it might have been written for such an occasion; but then ‘Livin’ Joy’ drops and it becomes clear that anything is going to go this evening, what a total [pleasant] surprise. Judge Jules has curated a selection of dance anthems from Ministry’s ‘Annuals’ back catalogue – what a selection to choose from, and to to be fair, there’s no sense of ‘playing it safe’ here.
‘Olive – You’re not alone’ and ‘Robert Miles – Children’ are those big anthemic tunes that work perfectly, but then you knew they would, but then there’s ‘Café Del Mar’; that was the point where the hall fully exploded and the collective sense of ‘giving-a-care’ was really gone, the stalls a melee of shape-chucking whistle-blowers ‘having it’ as large as they could. You knew at that point you were part of something a bit special.
‘Insomnia’ was the evening’s finale, a fitting climax to the very best of evenings; the orchestration, the sub bass, the light show; all contributing to the all-encompassing sensory experience that is still affecting me a fortnight later, it’s gradually sinking in, like all the best nights do.
Continuing to be performed around the UK over the coming months, come dressed in your club garms and get your skank-on with someone you love; you’ll be so glad you did.
