Len Faki - July 17 - Button Factory

Well, let me start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed my night at the button factory, Len Faki was frickin' amazing!

For those of you who have yet to venture to the Button Factory (formerly named Temple Bar Music Centre) will be in for a nice surprise even though it is located in the tourist riddled, hen and stag night haven that is temple bar. Whoever thinks you can't find a quality night out in Templebar is horridly mistaken.

The sound system in the button factory is second to none, 10/10 in that department.

The lighting could do with a revamp though...I wasn't overly impressed with the relentless green laser firing over poor Len Faki's head all night (could that explain why most DJ's are bald? ) Other than the green laser thing, which god bless it, seemed to be very alone in a big black room, there really aren't any more lights to speak of...shame that the sound system doesn't have some decent lights to accompany it! Would have been nice to have some soft lights on the DJ too...all you could see was Faki's silhouette and raving hands :P

The dance floor itself is well positioned, there are drunk friendly steps which lead down to it so when you are finished raving you can step up and get a good look over everybody, not to mention being in direct line of site with the DJ. Not sure if I'm fond of the side entrance to the dancefloor, but it is a necessary escape route for an emergency trip to the urinals :-)

Speaking of toilet talk, why on gods earth do they have to position it somewhere near the earth's core? I'm not unfit or anything, but I don't enjoy a mile long trek up and down twisting stairs to do my business...

This brings me to the lunar based smoking area...another long trek upstairs to a small, crammed area if you want to have a smoke, you can enjoy your drink with it at the same time though! Alternatively you can go to the more conveniently placed smoking area at the entrance (no drinks allowed).

The bar, although surprisingly simple and mundane, was equipped with fast and friendly bar staff. Didn't have to wait too long at all for a pint which is always a good thing. They did run out of Budweiser on tap though...DOH! :eek:

As for the music, I didn't hear much of the warmup DJ so can't really comment on that, but Len Faki was nothing short of exceptional! Like a previous poster pointed out, there were a lot of buildups, but I felt they were tastefully timed! This guy is used to playing 4+ hour sets at all hours in the morning, so cramming your best stuff into a poxy two hour set, having to finish at 3am (genius Irish government decision :mad:) and pulling it off with FLAWLESS technique kept the dance floor full and happy all night! I for one, could not find one single error in his set (really), amazing track listing, impeccable mixing and was very carasmatic behind the CDJ's....all in all, an UBER good show!

The crowd was very mixed...the male to female ratio was in favor of the males but with music that good, who cares! That said, expert in Techno or not, everybody seemed to enjoy their night!

Bottom line: good venue which frequently hosts some of the best dance music acts around. Would like to see better lighting (or if they are already present, better use of them).