All I can remember was that green laser shining through my eyes and out the back of my head like some special effect on an old dotor who side kick thats just been shot on the dancefloor. Seriously, ask me to recollect my first memory of Cake and thats all I can remember, that and the overwhelming feeling that I had found my place of rest: all be it resting with one of the biggest sub woofers known to man blasting through your chest like a double barrel shotgun. And its only been a year!
Having only turned 18 last year, my club life is only as long as Cakes name but it wasn't the first club I ever went to. No, because there was a time not so long ago that there was only one place you could go and at seventeen, armed with my brothers passport and my best 'make me look older shirt' I made the mistake everyone should make in their life once. I followed the crowd and went to... well if your from Inverness you'l know where Im talking about but for the sake of keeping the JNS name clean I will call it 'TopFourty2TopFourty'. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time there! Yeah the music was crap and there was A LOT of arseholes but I was with my mates, I was underage and most importantly I had never been to a club before. But then, I became of age and my night was no longer dependant on my brothers friend who one time played five a side with one of the bouncers at 'TopFourty2TopFourty'. So I went to Cake.
The only way I can describe this move is like this: having recently moved to Glasgow we have made a lot of tripes to IKEA and you don't visit there without going to the restaurant upstairs and getting some Swedish meatballs. Well the first time we went we waited for ages in this long que, we got to the end eventually and got our meatballs and they were tasty. Second time we went we weren't in such a rush. It was then I noticed hidden behind a large shelf of cakes and refreshments there was another que, this one had no one in it. Well I joined it. Turned out I got tastier meatballs a lot faster and the woman who worked behind the counter were much friendlier, I even got time to choose a dessert without some uptight Asian woman ramming her tray up my arse because she never got the drapes she so desperately wanted. (Not a hate on Asian people, she was actually Asian!) But the point is once I had experienced the fast line that only the smarter people knew about I was never willing to back to waiting in the slow line. And in some wierd and far off way this refers to how I chose Cake.
I immediately knew that this was the place for me. That I belonged with the two steppers and the buckfast slushies. Im glad I made that decision because not only did I meet some of the soundest people I know today but it made me the DJ I am today. And I don't just speak for myself when I say that. Its the little things that make a difference sometimes and this is where Cake excels. With people who actually care about music behind the running of things and there get to know mentallity, they have won themselves a lot of faithful clubbers.
However there has been a painful and well known past with this particular venue. Not Cake but the clubs which once occupied the rose street building. Although I can't see Cake going the same way there is an ever lasting fear that if we were to lose it that it would be the last time. You don't have to look far to see the consequences of something like this happening. If you were to look at the article Euan wrote about Downtown USA this week you will see how much effect the loss of venue has when not only does it helps local acts but brings in the names we'd never see otherwise. Again though, I can't see Cake going the same way but its important we don't take it for granted.
I know I don't. Nights at Cake have been some of the best moments of my year. There over priced cans of Strongbow haven't stopped me getting wasted at every opportunity and given a chance I'l show off my pish dance moves to anything whether its fidget, electro, house, techno, minimal or chilled out rhythms on a Sunday.
See the thing is, whether we know it or not, the club you choose reguraly on a friday or saturday night can say a lot about your personality. A lot of my friends still go to the cheesy clubs in hope of finding some 'dirty' with a spade full of fake tan smeered acorss there face just so they can shag the ogg boots off her. And you know I don't hold that against them, maybe if I wasn't so awesome I would be out swigging blue wkds and purchasing many lacoste polo shirts with my dole money. But you'l probably find just as much va jay jay in Cake on a Saturday night, and for the people who have a passion in music and club life, well you don't have a tricky decission to make. Because its not only a club to me but a life choice.
And so on behalf of Justice Never Sleeps I would like to say Happy Birthday Cake and don't blow all the candles out at once.
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