I'VE been banging on about house, techno and the myriad benefits of the rave to my 19 year old daughter Estella all of her life. I even played dance music to her when she was in the womb. As a baby hypnotic grooves helped settle her to sleep.
So when she turned 18 last year I fulfilled a long term promise that I made to her when she was 12. If I was still raving when she came of age, that I’d show her what it is all about. At 46 my passion for dance music runs deeper than it ever has. That’s one of the amazing blessings of this culture for me. It gets better with age and experience.
Anyway, as Estella grew up I spent countless hours attempting to direct her to great electronic music, subjecting her to hours of my DJ sets. So I was understandably horrified that my efforts seemed to be in vain when she showed a preference for X factor, One Direction and manufactured pop. It seemed like Simon Cowell had won her over! Either that or my DJing was really bad.
When Estella turned 18, I took her to see one of my heroes Sven Väth play a Cocoon party in London. It turned out to be the best night of her life up that point. And that's how I feel every time I see a DJ like Sven or Carl Cox play too, I’ve have had so many 'best nights of my life' with him or Carl in control, but dancing next to Estella that night was indeed one of the best dance floor experiences I have had in my 30 years at the rave. So I had high hopes for our next excursion!
We headed to Brighton together on Saturday 23rd July to see my other favourite, Carl Cox.
We had been waiting a long time for this one as Estella knows what an inspiration Carl has been to me ever since I heard this set (below) he played in 1996, which changed my life all those years ago.
It was buzzing on the beach. Fatboy Slim had already set the tone the night before. The sun was shining and the weather was sweet!
At 60 years young, Coxy is still such a force to be reckoned with. His very presence behind the turntables causes the crowd to go up a level and his infectious passion for what he does is unsurpassed.
He gets better with age and he’s in a great place creatively right now. With his artist album Electronic Generations due in September and Wembley Arena beckoning for his first full live show in the UK, 2022 is looking to be a vintage year.
Carl’s residency this summer at DC10, Ibiza is also one of the most forward thinking parties on the island.
Bringing his and Christopher Coe’s Awesome Soundwave label into DC10 to showcase live electronic music artists such as Saytek, Robert Babicz and Mat Playford was a bold move which is paying off big time for all involved and it underlines why Carl is so important as a guiding light in the scene as well as a formidable artist and DJ.
Back to last weekend in Brighton. After storming sets on the beach from Nic Fanciulli and newcomer Chelina Manuhutu, Carl finally appeared on stage and was met with a rapturous reception from the sold out crowd. Every ‘Oh Yes’ throughout his performance just threw fuel on the frenzy.
This was a homecoming gig and storming performance from the British DJ legend. It was another best night of my life situation for me alongside my daughter.
And what did Estella think?
“Seeing Carl Cox for the for the first time was an incredible experience, made even more special as I got to have this experience with my Dad.
Growing up dance music was always an influence in my life through my dad's passion for it and he promised from about the age of 12 that I would see Carl play live one day with him and that day finally materialised on Brighton Beach.
Seeing such a legend perform in the flesh has only made my love for the music grow tenfold and I’m so grateful that at 19 I have finally realised what my dads has always told me about dance music and the culture that comes with it is true, it’s about people from every age group, ethnicity or background coming together and having a good time. Celebrating life. It was a set I will never forget.”
Mission accomplished. Roll on Wembley.
Look out for Mark Gwinnett’s interview with Carl Cox coming soon in Friday’s Something For The Weekend section of The Sun newspaper and online ahead of the release of Carl’s album Electronic Generations and his milestone forthcoming show at Wembley Arena on September 17th. Click HERE for tickets.
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