TBT (41) : Harold Melvin at Despacio (Hammersmith 2013)

Every Thursday I look back to the past.

I want to take you back to one particular moment in time. It was on Thursday, December 19, 2013 – probably just past 1 AM (I think that was the curfew time) at the Ballroom of the Hammersmith Town Hall in Londen. Dave, Steph and James Murphy finished the first of the two Despacio nights and the house lights came on.

But they played one more song: ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, in the original long version by Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. It was truly on of those magical Despacio moments: everybody dancing and cheering “Oh, baby, my heart is full of love and desire for you”. With the house lights on, you could really see all the people dancing around you, and at that moment in time Despacio was happiness… once again.

This was the second edition of Despacio, after its debut in Manchester in the summer of the same year. But it was the soundsystem’s debut in London, so there were a lot of people who wanted to check it out.

I remember people like Jarvis Cocker and The Chemical Brothers attending. Steph was impressed by the fact that Jon Snow (aka Kit Harington) from Game Of Thrones was there – the series was probably the most popular series on earth around this time.

It was also quite emotional for me because my dad had just passed away, the good vibes from Despacio and the Despacio family was amazing.

There are some great pictures of the Hammersmith nights to be found on the Despacio FB page, probably all taken by Kurt Augustyns.