Tour Diary: We Out Here [UK, Summer 2023]

Looking back at our time spent in the UK last August, starting with a weekend in Dorset for We Out Here 2023 and a week in London afterwards.

Thank you to Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy and the Love Dancin' crew for a joyous and musical time, to Gilles Peterson for the vision, Noah Ball and the great staff for seeing it through.

Thank you also to the Wax Poetics crew for inviting us to speak in the Talks Tent about the state of NY nightlife alongside DJ Amir and DJ Tara.

Here is a glimpse of the weekend from our camera:

There were many highlights but Channel One Soundsystem in the tucked away Bowl stage stands out immediately to both of us. Mikey Dread and MC Ras Kayleb had full command and the sound and selection blew us away.

We camped on site all three days and bounced around, but found it hard to pull ourselves away from Love Dancin' – it felt and sounded so good. The stage is the brainchild of Colleen, Trojan Soundsystem's Daddy Ad in partnership with Danley's Iain Mackie and Loud And Clear Glasgow's Andrew Pirie. They aim to recreate the ambience of an intimate party at a festival which for many reasons is not easy. It featured a wooden dance floor and high end audio components by Danley, Moon by Sim Audio, AudioTechnica, Chord Cabling, and Isonoe.

Thursday was curated by Trojan Soundsystem and featured Marcia Carr, Trojan themselves, Hopopa from Fat Freddy's Drop, Anu and more. We popped into Friday's party curated by Mr. Scruff featuring Mikey D.O.N. and the tent was heaving. An insane image that will be forever imprinted in our minds.

We were part of Saturday's program curated by Colleen, playing after the lovely Handson Family and before Cosmo herself. Earlier in the day we had the pleasure of meeting Zag and Ceylan of My Analog Journal and ultimately hear long time heroes Black Science Orchestra close it out. Here's a photo by Zak of Dance Policy, a Manchester-based dance music zine Saturday's madness:

This is Paul roaming around the grounds at night.

The Talks Tent had a great rotation of personalities throughout the weekend discussing all topics music, community, and dance. We were fortunate to catch the legend Brian Jackson talking about his career, as well as writer Emma Warren, author of two great reads "Dance Your Way Home" and "Document Your Culture: A Manual" along with Zak. Ours took place on Sunday.

Above is the crowd gathered to attend our talk, which was organized by Wax Poetics (shout out Dave and Imani!) A panel entitled "New York, New York" with DJ Tara, DJ Amir, and us, talking about the current state of clubbing in NYC. Here's another one by Zak:

We are not outdoorsy people, but we humans are very adaptable beings. First day the morning dew was uncomfortable, but we leaned in and by the end we were already planning the following year's trip.

The first shower at a proper hotel was legendary. We spent the following week in London visiting friends, having meetings, buying records, and the like. We managed to pop by the Defected offices and meet Simon Dawson who's been supportive of us over the years and record a mix for Faith. We also visited NTS and contributed two hours.

The trip ended with a few nights at the jaw-dropping Standard Hotel in Kings Cross and a gig down in the library which landed squarely on Paul's birthday. We had a cake! Imani aka Saige Sounds, who we've become penpals with through Wax Poetics bizness, came through with friends, a few folks we met at WOH a week earlier turned up and we had a great time.
Big thank you to Stephane Vacher for the help there. That was the cherry on top of a very memorable week; maybe one of the most in our careers.

Despite being invited back, this year, Barbie's pregnant and WOH date falls just outside of the doctor's recommended international travel window, so we'll be cheering from the sidelines. Wishing the WOH fam an incredible weekend of mind-expanding music.