Todd Terry, David Morales, Inner City, Graeme Park, Mike Pickering, Dj Paulette, and Alison Limerick

It is such an honour to see Todd Terry perform live as he is one of the most legendary house producers ever with such a distinctive sound that can be heard a mile off. It’s safe to say that this heavyweight has been on the scene for the best part of about thirty years now and has maintained his fantastic reputation along the way. His sound is very much a sampled haven of crossing over dance and disco. I can’t believe he even performed a boiler room set. He is so composed when he performs, just letting his music do the talking whilst he triggers samples on the decks that induce mass sing alongs and drops. He performs one of his biggest hits, “Keep On Jumpin’” which brings the house down. This huge audience can’t contain their excitement and the floor erupts, with everyone jumping up and down with their hands in the air, singing along to any melody that they hear. It’s retro but fresh, sounding as though it could have come out any time between 1980 and now and it would be considered “current”.

It is no surprise that this techno band, Inner City have been around for over twenty-five years. This chart-topping outfit are playing a very relaxed and modest show tonight to an intimate crowd of 500 compared to their usual 5000. I mean, they have been signed to everyone. Virgin, Atlantic, Columbia, you name it. Fair play to them though. “Big Fun” is the opening song for this band which possesses a bit of a wildcard drumbeat with the bass line really driving the song. There is a blanket of synthesizers over the top with the square lead synth sounding like is has come out of a kids Yamaha keyboard with a slow glide that is generating a memorable hook, that I know full well I will be singing on the way home. They show off their song “Big Fun” which of course went to number 8 in the UK charts in the 80’s, and of course number 1 in the U.S dance charts. (Lets not forget that this group had four consecutive number ones in the U.S Dance chart.

Alison Limerick first became a big success in the 1990's, for the well-known song 'Where Love Lives'. The British singer got a lot of recognition for her single, which is a personal favourite of mine from that era. However she never quite topped that song, which was number 3 in 1991 on the US Hot Dance Club Play list and hit the UK Singles Chart at number 9 with a remixed version in 1996. Alison has had a very good career in the music industry, having worked with many other famous singers like George Michael and Lamont Dozier. She even had a spout on the movie scene by making an appearance in 'Collusion' as a jazz singer, she actually became one of the singers heard in the closing title song on each episode of Blackadder the Third, which I'd say is pretty awesome. Alison is a great performer in the sense that she knows how to engage the crowd and get them involved. In one of her shows I caught at a festival, she was telling her dedicated fans how much she loves and appreciated everyone of us, she'd point out individual people that were jamming along with her which made you want to go even crazier just to grab her attention. I was surprised by how deep her voice can go and the vocal range that she displayed in her performance. She just stood alone with a microphone and despite her awful laced tights, she was amazing. It's hard for any performer to create an unforgettable show without props or other people, but she did it well and I would love to see her again.