No, Thank You
by: peter naldrett

The Leadmill, Sheffield
February 27

Forget all about the Fatboy Slim frenzy that dominated UK clubs last year, the real King of Dance was crowned on a rainy night in Sheffield's Leadmill.

Looking out onto swaying arms, human jumping beans and appreciative connoisseurs of groove, Moby took the entire audience into his unique world of rave, folk, rock, heavy bass, gentle acoustics and habitually repeated thank-you's.

This was a man who built a staggering reputation through mastering electronica, a man who showed us his true roots by paying homage to The Human League and other synth fathers of Sheffield's pop history.

But the Moby tour, already heavily acclaimed by the time it rolled into Sheffield, was much more than one man and a machine plugged into the mains. With a turntable wizard, drummer and bass guitarist in tow, Moby dazzled us with "Bodyrock", shone with "Dope" and pranced around recklessly to the James Bond theme. Upping the tempo with the blisteringly loud bass-heavy "Natural Blues" and cooling it down with Springsteen covers, it was the Gig Of Gigs, a faultless glimpse into a mystically happy musical world.

Like Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, Moby in Sheffield was at the top of his tree, a tree bearing fruit we were all proud to bite into. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."