Clifford Price, AKA Goldie, arrived punctually at the booth as the clocks turned midnight.
The crowd began to swell in anticipation; for the dozens packed in to Sneaky Pete’s on a Wednesday night, the chance to see a drum and bass (DnB) legend like Goldie was not to be missed. Feeding off the anticipation, Price was manic and excitable from the moment his fingertips touched the decks. His set, mixing ethereal vocals with harsh, stomping baselines and skippy breakbeat drums held the crowd captive for the next 3 hours. Eerie time-stretching of samples (a technique of extending samples without changing their pitch pioneered in Price’s music) featured heavily. The sudden contortion of jungle classic ‘Inner City Life’ around the halfway point of the set brought a mixture of gasps and screams from the mosh pits. Different influences were proudly shown off throughout, borrowing from neighbouring genres like garage and house and finishing with a burst of jazz.
Goldie has been experimenting with sounds his whole career. Tracks like ‘Inner City Life’, from his breakout 1995 album Timeless are finding fresh audiences today, proving the long legacy of Goldie’s work. In fact, nearly 30 years on, he is going from strength to strength as part of the resurgence in popularity of dance music amongst younger listeners. July saw the release of a remix album of Timeless, featuring fellow day-one DnB pioneers such as Nookie and Photek. In recent years Price has worked with everyone from Skepta to Greentea Peng, proving his moniker of ‘The Alchemist’ through a constant sonic tinkering.
In fact, it is hard to think of a bigger or better act for this underdog of a venue. Nestled between much larger rivals on Edinburgh’s Cowgate, Sneaky Pete’s (or ‘Sneakys’ as it is known to its regulars) is about the size of a small flat. To quickly imagine a bucket-list DJ of Goldie’s status playing to a capacity crowd, picture about one hundred ravers in your living room. Clubbing here is best experienced first-hand: the walls and ceiling sweat as if they are alive, the floor vibrates and the dancefloor becomes an impassable mix of bodies and smiling, sweaty faces. The atmosphere at this space is unmatched across the city.
Goldie has, in theory, far exceeded venues of this size; It is not hyperbole to call him a star. He is easily identified by his unique style and work on both the big and small screens – from Guy Ritchie to James Bond via Celebrity Big Brother and Eastenders. However, fame seems to have had little bearing on his craft. Genuine enjoyment of every moment was clear in his shiny, golden grin. This was truly an artist at work; sometimes slumped over his desk in apparent exhaustion, often gesticulating and screaming to the audience, a cigarette hanging limply from the corner of his mouth. He played far past the usually strict 3 AM curfew, seeming reluctant to abandon his post.
Running on fumes but carried by this unbreakable energy, an intimate crowd continued to move jerkily across the dancefloor. It suddenly occurred that it is not often that the writer has attended a club night that could be described as ‘wholesome’. However, after finally staggering out into the night steaming and chatting, sharing cigarettes and swapping tips for the rest of an otherwise frantic Freshers week, this was one of those rare occasions.
The implacable brilliance and energy of Price himself created a special night, set against the community atmosphere of an unique venue. The whole night took on a deep colour in my (admittedly, fuzzy) memory – a sort of iridescent and metallic shine like a smile from the one and only, Goldie.
Image of Sneaky Pete’s by Calum Skuodas