And so the day is finally here and in typical Charlie Dark fashion I'm locked outside Blacktronica HQ with three hours to go before I'm due to start spinning. After two hours of futile attempts at gaining entry i concede defeat and call out the rude-bwoy locksmith who arrives with a fat joint in the mouth and a box of screw drivers. Thirty seconds and eighty pounds later I'm in the house and rapidly sorting through tunes for the nights gig. To be honest I'm slightly nervous as it's been a while since I've played to a Saturday night crowd of that size and a residency is a big responsibility. You don't want to turn up and clear the floor with your first tune. I figure we'll start off with some Hip Hop numbers, drop into some funk and some classics and then ease into some reggae before handing over to Mala DMZ. On the off chance I pack some 'broken' just in case the crowd are open to some future flavors but I'm not holding my breath.

Pick up Kweba The Great and shoot down Mile End Road praying that Tom isn't too stressed out. Get inside the venue and it's road BLOCKED with heads bobbing away to Percee P and Guilty Simpson who to describe as large is an understatement. The man is a man mountain and despite having my marker pen and a clutch of his records in my bag for him to sign I chicken out from playing the geek and try to hold it down.

It's funny but despite my years behind the turntables I still get a bit tongue tied when i meet musicians that I admire. I could expand on this but that's another story but some day i will tell you my Jazzy Jeff scratch attack Miami story.

But onward and forward as i step up to take over from DJ House Shoes whose box is brimming with rarities that i don't have and will never find. Despite the nerves the set goes well with Kissey Asplund and Kwasi handling mic duties something lovely, leaving me free to get into the mix. For a Saturday night Shoreditch crowd, the vibe is right on point and they stay with me throughout the set and even bruk out to the Broken, which is a big surprise. Tune of the night has to be the reaction to 'Funky Kingston' by Toots & The Maytals and big thanx to Abbi at Soul Jazz for sorting me out with a last minute replacement copy. My seven inch of this is buried in the chaos that is Blacktronica HQ and I've given up ever seeing it again. In my apprenticeship days i could never understand how DJ's could loose tunes in their own collections but then i went to Gilles Peterson's house and it all made sense. My collection is no way as deep as his but tunes often go missing in my collection only to resurface at the most unusual times.

All in all it was a great night and it feels good to be back with a residency in London. Friends and Family is a great club and thanks to everyone who reached and made the night so special. Mala played a blinder and it's the first time I've seen Cargo plunged into darkness.

Catch you on the 18th April for part two, hopefully with some special re-edits in tow and a whole lot of goodies in the box.

Stay tuned. Peace Dark
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