Modular Presents Annie - Honkytonks - 13.1.2006

Crossing over to the DJ booth from other forms of entertainment has been fraught with difficulty. David Beckham's brief stint as a DJ at The End in London was greeted with ridicule, and whilst Paris Hilton's DJing attempts at celebrity parties in Miami won her the 'Best Celebrity DJ' at the Dancestar awards in 2004, it is safe to say that she was not up against tough competition. Annie however, a pop star in her own right, proved at Modular that she can DJ like the rest of them with a dazzling set from start to finish.

Upon arrival at Honkytonks, the crowd was greeted by a waft of intense heat - not too dissimilar from walking into an indoor pool and being suffocated by the fumes emanating from the chlorine. Aside from the disgusting body heat and dodgy air conditioning, the crowd was bustling with smiles, friendly conversations, and funky dancing. Van She performed a tight live rock set, although it was difficult to hear the lyrics as the drum levels dominated the vocals. Nonetheless, it was refreshing to have live music played at a DJ gig and the diverse crowd responded well to the change.

The Cut Copy DJs were next to jump on stage and played a varied and energetic set. Starting off with Mylo's remix of Freeform Five's No More Conversations, the Cut Copy boys soon steered away from electro sounds and played an assorted track selection ranging from Franz Ferdinand's Do You Want To, to The Avalanches' Electricity and their own Saturdays.

Annie graced the decks fashionably late and continued the eclectic vibe generated by Van She and Cut Copy with a multifarious set. One notable gem played early in her set was Anti Ny Ep Ii's If I Gave You A Party with its adorably quirky lyrics, "If I threw myself a party would I come-" Annie provided her sundry track selection a sense of familiarity by borrowing heavily from her 'DJ-Kicks' album with Zongamin's Bongo Song, Le Tigre's Nanny Nanny Boo Boo, and Datarock's Fa Fa Fa engaging with the audience.

Although temporarily losing the crowd at around 2:00am with a few filler tracks, the last half hour of her set signalled a gutsy return with The Knife's You Take My Breath Away, Tiga's You're Gonna Want Me, M.I.A's Bucky Done Gun and Annie's own Heartbeat which summoned a sing-a-long moment from her fans in the front row. There were however some technical flaws, with the transition from Goldfrapp's Ooh La La to Mylo/Miami Sound Machine's Doctor Beat being especially awkward.

Yet most importantly, Annie sustained a strong interaction with the crowd throughout her set as she happily posed for photos in between tracks and danced behind the booth. For this reason one could overlook the technical errors and applaud Annie for an entertaining and fun performance. Tags