Happy 9th Anniversary, Mousetrap

Ok, so this isn’t a live review. But Mousetrap, the Britpop/indie/nostalgia dance party held every month at the Black Cat, has been near and dear to my heart for years and years now, and I think it’s only fitting to say a few words about my experience at this weekend’s 9th anniversary bash. And what a party it was.

Mousetrap has been indulging my Anglophiliac ways for years, and every month has been a treat. The music selection steers a nice even course between trendy new stuff, old standards that are guaranteed to get everybody moving, and the can’t-fail classics that elicit all sorts of cheers as soon as the first note hits the speakers. My feet have logged hundreds of hours on the Black Cat’s dancefloor, and many a blister, too, from over-dancing.

But in all honesty, I don’t know that I’ve ever danced as much, or to as many great songs all in a row, as I did this weekend. Mousetrap’s DJ Mark Zimin kept ‘em coming all night, playing everything a Britpop lover could ask for, from Joy Division to the La’s to Oasis to Blur to Primal Scream to Belle and Sebastian to the Kooks and back again and again and again. Over recent years, there would have been vast chunks of time my compatriots and I would have spent wandering around the entire Black Cat, but not on this night. We were firmly glued to the floor, our feet unable to stop moving as we shimmied and shook and whirled and sashayed to song after song of danceable delight. It didn’t take my long to realize that perhaps yellow snakeskin stilettos were the wrong choice of footwear, but I kept going all the same. It was, quite possibly, the best installment of Mousetrap I’ve ever been to. And believe you me, friends, I’ve been to a hell of a lot of them. We were still dancing when the lights came on and we were all shooed downstairs.

It might not get to the decades-long reign that Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap has had on the stage in London, but Zimin’s Mousetrap proved this weekend why it’s lasted nine years. And so, let’s all raise a glass to the glorious indie lovefest that is Mousetrap. Many happy returns.