Review: Cerrone at Mojos

Cerrone at Mojos
w/ DJ Larry D, Charlie Bucket, Ningaloo Records
Monday, June 5, 2023

Among the ranks of dance music pioneers, France’s Cerrone stands tall. He may not be as immediately associated with mainstream disco as a BeeGees or Village People, nor quite hold the cult pioneer status of a Giorgio Moroder, but Cerrone was arguably just as important as either in the development of the genre. The man’s run of records from 1976-85 were both popular in Europe and seminal Euro-Disco documents – the kind of lush, sleek, at times mechanical grooves that went on to inform all that came after, from the French House of Daft Punk to the soulless sturm und drang of techno.

The venue was moved a few days beforehand from Freo.Social to Mojos. Any worries regarding the venue change were gradually dispelled with every punter spilling in, as the tighter surrounds presented the kind of intimate and sweaty atmosphere suited a night of hedonistic grooves. Local DJs DJ Larry D and Dancing in Space co-founder and all-round disco specialist Charlie Bucket were a natural choice, and they warmed up the crowd with a set of disco deep-dives. The set ran the gamut from soul-inflected vintage disco (Disco Maniac by Tirogo segueing into a Fela Kuti cut) to some choice modern remixes, such as a double of You Can’t Hide from Yourself and Right My File from house tastemaker Dimitri from Paris.

Once the grooves began there no downtime, with the tunes continuing right up until the man himself positioned himself behind the decks. With a shock of pure white hair, sunglasses and an air of detached European cool, Cerrone was a walking advertisement for the longevity of having a good time. At 71 years old he showed no sign of slowing down, his mixing solid throughout all. He kept the crowd in the palm of his hand and looked to be having a cracker of a time in the process.

Cerrone’s set stuck largely to his latest album, which given its contents was a solid choice for this stage of his career. Last year’s Cerrone by Cerrone followed the tradition of a few prior ‘Cerrone by [insert artist here]’ releases, but saw Cerrone cover himself with a set of modern re-tunings of old classics, many featuring vocal turns by Brendan Reilly (who would make an appearance soon). The album is a sleek, imminently listenable collection that serves both as a solid modernisation of disco and simply a stellar compilation. With a best-of list this strong, Cerrone had copious belters to serve up all night.

The set opened with the soft piano tones of Dance Ritual Medley, a luxurious collaboration from 2007 which warmed up the crowd. Look for Love came next in its 2022 iteration, a seminal Cerrone composition with unmistakeable violin riffs. This segued to an ambient piece and handclaps, with the background projecting cheesy space visuals, before the transition to another banger in Cerrone’s Paradise, a classic late 70s tune with a killer bass line and angelic choral vocals. The heavy orchestration pre-empted the transition to Love in C Minor, Cerrone’s first bona-fide classic. The modern remix by Dimitri from Paris was a very classy rendition, with the crowd challenged not to move their feet to its classic violin-driven coda. The Impact, a relatively recent chugging synth-driven tune, closed this more instrumentally-minded portion of the set.

The second star of the show was Brendan Reilly. An established jazz and soul vocalist with song credits as part of Disclosure, Basement Jaxx and Stormzy, Reilly was an established talent and it showed, his R’n’B inflected vocal chops perfectly suited to reinterpreting these tunes. He entered dressed in his black hat and robe, a holy priest of funk welcoming all to the diocese of disco. Je Suis Music, his opener, is one of Cerrone’s most pop-oriented tracks and was one of the night’s highlights. Give Me Love followed next. This track opens the album and it’s easy to see why, Reilly wearing his heart on his sleeve in a soulful rendition of this heavenly slice of disco pop. Other highlights included The Only One (the most lovably cheesy moment of the night), Hooked on You, and a cover of Never Too Much by Luther Vandross.

The tail end of the night served as a reminder that Cerrone was not all syrup. Latest single A Part of You is one of the finest dance singles of the year, a euphoric trumpet-laden disco number that had the crowd stomping. The background projection wisely featured its brain-melting psychedelic music video in all its glory. An epic disco remix of Gimme Some Lovin’ and the smooth tech house vibes of Medium Love by Apparatique showed us Cerrone’s penchant for mechanical grooves.

Naturally the night had to the end on Supernature, the Moroder-esque disco-techno classic which had the crowd in hysterics. It’s here that Cerrone finally embraced his original role as a drummer, stepping aside from the decks to deliver some fine skin work. The crowd was sheened with sweat and the set seemingly at a close as Cerrone exercised one final trick, unleashing his huge recent track Summer Lovin’. It was the perfect summation of the master in 2023, its vintage swirls of synths, huge basslines and repeating violin figures enveloped in a more modern EDM-ready production style that perfectly managed tension and release.

As the grooves of Ningaloo Records carried on proceedings, punters had the kind of beady-eyed looks on their faces that are the sign of a great night. Indeed, this was one that would not soon be forgotten thanks to Cerrone’s impeccable curation.

MATIJA ZIVKOVIC

Photos by Aurore Aguettaz