Dance macabre

The Basement in Beirut was practically made for moments like this. The all-encompassing gloom is interrupted only by the lilac glow of a laptop, which only partially illuminates the sharp cheekbones and spiked hair of its operator. The urgent beats throb around the narrow, concrete-lined space and, three minutes or so later, a spotlight tracks the arrival of the hirsute lead singer, a mop of curls framing large, mournful and kohl-lined eyes. The edgy beats subside into crisp, icily melodic bleeps and the first of an eight-song, 50-minute set is unleashed to an enthused audience.

It’s September 11th, and although the rest of the world is marking a slightly more significant anniversary, the 300-plus crowd is witnessing its own slice of history; the birth of Slutterhouse. Featured in NOX 37, the Lebanese duo of Rabih “Mick” Salloum and Nabil Saliba are finally playing live for the first time since their initial studio-plus-internet-based collaborations began almost exactly three years ago – a gig promoting their debut album, Made in Dance. Nabil’s alter-ego, Trash Inc, has helped swell the crowd and build the anticipation – and triple, or perhaps treble, the pressure.

“I’m kind of glad it’s all over to be honest,” laughed Rabih after the show. “After all the preparation and all the hype, it’s nice to get the first live show out of the way. For the previous weeks, people had been coming up to us and saying ‘It’s going to be so great!’, and I was like, ‘How do you know? We might really suck!’ So, there was quite a bit of pressure on us – especially for Nabil who is so well-known here. It was like we couldn’t make any mistakes.”

Mistakes, though, were mercifully restricted to a strange mic set-up for the first few minutes or so of the opening track – not that the audience even noticed. “One guy came up to me afterwards and said, ‘That was the best show I have ever seen!’ which was a bit much. Like, have you ever left your house before, dude? I guess that’s why I prefer to get praise from people I don’t know, it seems more honest. But everyone was going crazy, and we were pretty satisfied with how it went.”

“The crowd was really lively, really into it,” confirms Bryan, the NOX photographer on the night. “It was packed, and although most bands seem to complain about the Basement’s acoustics, it was a great show. They mixed some of your more typical electro beats that the Lebanese seem to go crazy for with a rock’n’roll voice. Really interesting.”

The feedback continued for the rest of the week, with DJs in Gemayze bars even slipping on Slutterhouse tracks they got from the event. TV shows and radio interviews were scheduled and they were asked to play the Road to Kifan underground music festival – which they politely declined. In fact, dealing with the new-found fame might have them heading for the security of the “underground” scene they clearly dislike. “Of course, I had phone calls from people from school who I’d not seen in tens years. I mean, what are they after? Reflected glory? I’m not Michael Jackson.” Not yet, Rabih. But we’ re keeping a watch on that money.