This weekend in London: Bands work the turntables at the Old Queen's Head, Plastic People and Proud

Story by John Power, le cool London & Slutty Fringe

Photo courtesy Be Events

Bands playing at being DJs is nothing new, and with record sales the way they are you can't really blame them for pocketing some easy money when they can. Still just because something can be done, it doesn't necessarily mean it should be. So for much the same reason that I wouldn't pay money to see a DJ strap on a guitar and murder 'Smoke On The Water', it's fair to say that I usually have little interest in witnessing the bassist from some long past it brit pop band mime along to a pre-mixed CD.

Still as ever there are always exceptions to the rule and as it happens this weekend throws up three club nights featuring bands (or members of) whose relationship with club culture goes beyond turning up, pressing play and trousering a manilla envelope stuffed full of cash.

First up we have Castle Donnington's Late of the Pier who aking time out from prepping their new album will stage a takeover of the Old Queen's Head in Islington this Friday. Their debut 'Fantasy Black Channel' was a brilliantly overblown glam stomp and certainly no stranger to the dancefloor, and with various members such as LA Priest's side projects having a distinctly more electronic feel you can be sure that the decks will be in safe hands.

Just in case you did need reassuring though they've done the one thing that bands running club nights tend to excel at and brought some friends along for the ride. So alongside the Pier you also get sets from maverick popster Micachu and a mystery guest so special they've been accorded three exclamation marks in the press release. Now, at the time of writing this they were keeping their lips zipped but amateur sleuths out there may want to take a quick look at who runs LOTP's current label, Phantasy, and produced their debut album and then draw your own conclusions...

That same night at Plastic People in Shoreditch you'll find The Horrors' Joseph Spurgeon holding court at the launch his own night, Wispa. The past twelve months have seen The Horrors reinvent themselves dramatically with 2009's acclaimed Primary Colours and busy themselves with various side-projects, remixes and DJ appearances at some of London's best clubs like Cocadisco.

Judging by the night's line-up Spurgeon certainly knows his stuff and the venue's dark, intimate dancefloor and much loved soundsystem should provide the perfect location to indulge in some serious acidic beeps, techno beats and dubstep bass from the likes of Detroit's James Cotton, DFA's Capracara, Cherrystones and of course Coffin Joe himself.

Finally on Saturday it's the turn of Eel Pie Island's finest, Mystery Jets, to leave the instruments at home and dig out their records instead. They'll be guesting at the ever busy Be presents... at Proud in Camden, and judging by the fact that this is about their 5th appearance in the club's 3 and a bit years it's fair to say that they must be doing something right.

As ever with Be expect a mish mash of indie, electro and disco and completing the night's lineup are a trio of international acts doing what they generally do best, play live. So get there early to avoid the long queues at this ever popular clubnight and catch sets from the likes of Australian electro punk tearaways Teenagersintokyo, French electro poppers KiT and best of all New York's Jessica 6, more familiar to the world at large as part of Hercules & Love Affair.

Importantly though whilst we are willing to make an occasional exception for bands moonlighting behind the decks, let's be clear that's where we draw a line in the sand and our strict blanket ban on nights that involve the daughters of aged rockers, soap actors, models, footballers, Big Brother 'stars' and most importantly all past, present and future T4 presenters remains firmly intact.


Friday 7th May
Late of the Pier Takeover @ The Old Queen's Head, 44 Essex Road, Islington, London N1 8LN
Late of The Pier (DJ Set), Micachu (DJ Set), Tidy Rhythm plus Very Special Surprise Guest

8pm-2am
FREE before 8pm / £4 After
http://www.theoldqueenshead.com

Friday 7th May
Wispa @ Plastic People, 147 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE
James Cotton, Capracara, Cherrystones, Coffin Joe, Jack Frost

10pm - 4am
£6 before 12 / £8 after
http://www.plasticpeople.co.uk/

Saturday 8th May
Be Presents... @ Proud, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Rd, Camden, NW1 8AH
Jessica 6 (Live), Teenagersintokyo (Live), KiT (Live), Mystery Jets (DJ Set)

8pm - 2am
£10 check website for concessions
http://www.be-at.co.uk

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get your daily London fix at Current.com/London
Follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/CurrentUK
We're also on Facebook at Facebook.com/CurrentUK