The English Channel, Hoxton Bar and Grill, London
The English Channel stooped over his Roland 505 wrapped up in his own little world...
With the amount of pubs and bars in London offering live music to it's punters, not every underground venue is going to be great, but whoever organised tonight’s get together must have had better days.
Even before he sets foot on stage it doesn’t bode well for The English Channel. You have to wonder if the organisers have actually listened to the artists playing, cleverly pitching the anthemic dance of The English Channel in between two mediocre rock bands.
The Mancunian born dance man is left the hard task of wining over a Nathan Barley type personage who wouldn’t know a good song if it jumped up and raped them. It’s a steep hill to climb to say the least, he does well to even get some of the stubborn heads nodding with his masterfully programmed beats.
There is no doubt he's got the tunes but tonight he lacks a certain spark, and not all because of his position in the line up; it's simply because The English Channel is not designed to sit on a stage in front of an audience.
In this band friendly environment, the crowd are forced to constantly watch the stage where there is nothing to see but the hooded figure of The English Channel stooped over his Roland 505 wrapped up in his own little world. This in turn allows the audience to get wrapped up in there own little worlds, causing the atmosphere to suffer to the extent that there is none.
He pulls them back in every now and then, the electro dub of 'Forty Days Forty Nights' is almost hypnotic and the wonderful 'European Sun' is enough to get a few fans dancing down the front, but you can’t help but feel this would go down much better in a packed out club environment.
Saying that, at this stage in his career, The English Channel cannot afford to be too picky about what gigs he plays, it’s a case of taking the rough with the smooth. Tonight was definitely a rough one but let’s hope there were enough people here to realise, or at least appreciate, the potential on show. Better luck next time.Sam Tolley
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