“We, um, we brought you some stuff so you don’t get bored in here. I made you a new mixtape, I made you a new mixtape, I made you a new mixtape, miiiixxxxxxtape, there’s some stuff on there I really think you’ll like!” Is the immortal opening to DJ Yoda’s Stranger Things themed mixtape and live set. This basically told everyone at Concorde 2 all we needed to know about the live set he is about to thrown down. But let’s rewind an hour or so before we delve into the evening’s main event.

The support was handled by Kontroversi. Their brand of inoffensive electro pop was a fitting start to the evening, not counting the SynthWave playing when you first entered Concorde 2. Kontroversi borrow heavily from Prince, SynthWave and classic pop to create music which they’ve called ‘Cadillac Funk’. Mark Sutton and Leonardo Robarts, AKA Mr Margaret Scratcher and Lionclub, looked like they were in different bands though, but due to a mix-up had to perform together. Sutton was dressed all in black and Robarts looked like a psychedelic causality from Shambala or Womad. Their set was a bit like Stockholm syndrome. At first you aren’t into it and want it to stop, but the longer it goes on the more you get into it. After 40 minutes their set was over and we were awaiting the main event!

After the “I made you a new mixtape” intro the theme from Stranger Things kicked in and the crowd went nuts. Some members of the audience had made a real effort and had come in fancy dress. One group had necklaces of multi-coloured bulbs around their necks, another was dressed up as Dustin and a large portion were wearing Stranger Things T-shirts and badges. To say Concorde 2 had a party vibe would be an understatement! As Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein’s theme was played Yoda, as only he could, mixed footage from the series, bootleg videos of the cast messing about and a clip of Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin singing along with the theme. After this exceptional intro John Carpenter, Toto, Dolly Parton, The Cure, Oingo-Boingo, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths and The Clash all got played, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

What makes Yoda’s Stranger Things Mixtape so enticing, and playable, is how he manages to evoke the sense of the series throughout using music from the period and snippets of dialogue to make it a lot of fun. Because in essence that is what the show is. Lots of subtle, and some blatantly obvious, pop cultural references that make us, the audience giggle with glee at the thought of the pay off, as well as dancing the dreariness of the day off and singing with unabashed joy when familiar tracks were played. However, the highlight of the set was when Yoda was scratching the audio/visual elements of the show. At one point he took a clip of Winona Rider talking and cut and beat matched it. These are usually skills reserved for DMC finals, but Yoda was showing us how far he has come since he started mixing eighteen years ago. Then only real downside was that there weren’t more people at the Concorde2 to witness this audio visual spectacle that will long live in the memories of everyone there!

Nick Roseblade