Preview of the week: Anton Marshall
`Hey, have you heard of Renaissance?” I ask experimentally, honestly believing the hype that clubbers are in and slacker journos are out. “Er … Wasn’t that a Leonardo da Vinci painting?” she replies innocently, sipping on a Mule as her low- key rave vest struggles to find a cling spot halfway up her back. She’s probably figuring me for a right prat, asking silly questions in a pool hall on a Wednesday night. My mind about her is made up.
The story goes that if you haven’t heard of Renaissance you’re probably not a clubber and that’s that. Renaissance claims to be “arguably, the first superclub bringing lush production values and their own classical imagery” to venues around the world.
A long, long time ago in Clubber Time – 1992, to be exact – Geoff Oakes returned from Ibiza, Spanish island of sin and sound sordidness, and set about creating Renaissance. In Ibiza, he’d been to clubs Pacha and Ku, and discovered the meaning of true clubbing. Not being the selfish type, he decided to share his enlightenment with the world.
Contrary to the Neil Tennant idea of “Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat”, the concept was beautiful people in extravagant surroundings.
In direct contrast to the emerging rave scene at the time, attitude meant more than dress. With some aggressive marketing, they attracted 3 000 to the 800-capacity Venue 44 in Mansfield, England at their first party.
Now, with the move towards one-off venues growing stronger – evidenced by the likes of the Sleaze Syndicate, Fly and Mother City Queer Project parties here in Cape Town – Renaissance seems to be leading the way in terms of budget, organisation and agency.
The Renaissance banner has grown to encompass DJ management, regular parties in Ibiza, tours to the United States and beyond, and, inevitably, CD releases, the latest of which is produced by Dave Seaman, David Morales and BT.
The South African tour brings with it four exponents of the Renaissance sound: Ian Ossia, Nigel Dawson, the aforementioned Dave Seaman and the “Fathers of Sound”. All have enjoyed lucrative careers in their fields of mixing, production, record label management and club DJ-ing of course.
Renaissance continually refers to its roots in Ibiza, which it claims is a veritable mirage of true club culture. Thousands flock there annually to bask in the radiance that is both edgy and universally synergetic.
The tour promises to bring this to our shores, embracing South Africa as a possible semi-virgin club destination.
But beyond the promise of the best club DJs and mixers in the world, beyond the promise of true UK-inspired world beats, lies the promise of the experience of a new revelation in clubbing. For the Renaissancers, taking care of the clubber is paramount.
And at the risk of sounding like an internet porn site teaser, it’s the awesome sets, visuals and lighting that all compliment the smooth, sexy, deep, throbbing pulse of this dance culture. It’s bound to hit you there – if you let it.
Get into Renaissance on December 4: Idols, Johannesburg; December 5: Heritage Square, Cape Town; December 11: Funk, Pretoria; December 12: 330, Durban; December 15: Graceland, Cape Town. For details call Ticket Hotline: (083) 438-4040