It's two o'clock in the morning and David Holmes is holding court with several hundred sweaty Beijingers at the Yan Club, a former machine-making factory built with Soviet aid in the 1950s.

“I’ve never seen so many people having such a good time without the help of narcotics,” enthuses Holmes, who also received a standing ovation last night in Shanghai. Eclectic as ever, his two-and-a-half-hour set is a mix of big dance choons and classics from the likes of Joy Division, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones.
While most of the crowd is going none too quietly nuts, there is the odd dissenter.
“It’s too loud,” says 23-year-old Liu Yuan Yuan, a journalism student. “We are not used to this kind of music. I like Karen Mok and Enya.”
There's no sign of Enya, but Mary Black, Cara Dillon, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Donal Lunny and The Frames are also in town as part of the same China/Ireland Cultural Exchange Programme that’s brought Holmer over.
“I’m really pleased to have been invited,” he enthuses afterwards. “DJing is an art form and is finally being recognised as such.”
And the artist is remaining true to his art.
“I’m playing all kinds of music in China. You can’t allow that pressure to play something to please the crowd. Why should I? I play what I want because it’s part of an exchange and I show them what my music is about. Sometimes records present themselves to you. I play what I really enjoy.”
Beijing’s entertainment press was keen to point out that Holmes was the biggest thing to hit the capital since Paul Oakenfold played to a party on the Great Wall two years ago – the hard-won gig produced his two-disc Great Wall album.
Holmer’s pedigree also got a mention in the Communist Party’s newspaper, the People’s Daily. The last foreign DJ of note in the Chinese capital was Britain’s DJ Lisa Lashes, whose prominent and pert bosom plastered on bar posters drew a large male crowd to her early April gig. Apart from Lashes Japanese DJ Ken Ishii has been a regular visitor to Beijing clubs, along with several small-time Australian and European DJs.
“I’m part shocked!” says the Belfastman of the local welcome. “I played Hong Kong ten years ago and didn’t enjoy it so much. I’d never thought of coming back to China and then this came up. People at the Shanghai show were mental on a few drinks. The dancefloor was packed at ten o’clock, incredible!”
Beijing remains the political capital of China, a more serious, severe version of south-eastern Shanghai which Holmes adjudged to be,“More European. It’s a lot seedier almost, compared to Beijing.” Certainly there’s more bars and clubs in China’s skyscraper city. Beijing has only a few clubs of note and most have opened in the past few years. Local DJ Mickey Zhang draws a faithful crowd every month at Cloud Nine in the Sanlitun bar area, a two-floored mix of red walls, lanterns and kitsch. Spicy Banana in the heart of the city’s business district plays house and techno mixed with sugar-sweet Mando-pop to promiscuous young Chinese and older western men. Largely the same clientele pays the bills for Vic’s, the busy neon and chrome club on the grounds of the Worker’s Stadium, a mass concrete Soviet showpiece of Communist sports prowess. Girls get in for free on several nights a week, hence more men in slacks, blue shirts and business visas in their western passports. Rock fans meanwhile head to Maggie’s, a bordello jammed with working girls from Inner Mongolia province. AC/DC, expensive drinks and slobbering, groping expat men sets a Saturday night scene in one of the busiest clubs in the city.
He didn’t have much time for sightseeing or letting off steam at Tienanmen Square but Holmes sensed some familiar political tension in the censored Chinese air, where bars and raves are still new concepts to locals. None of Beijing’s dance clubs are older than five years and many city clubs struggle through red tape, police pressure, pay-offs and demolition orders strewn in their path by officials. Rock and electronica are still viewed with suspicion by a government which often finds itself the subject of satire in underground songs.
“I’ve jumped in at the deep end on this trip, I haven’t had a lot of time to read up on China. But growing up in Belfast there wasn’t a lot of options. People were afraid to come to Belfast then but there was an energy from that. It’s a similar kind of vibe here. The energy from the club in Shanghai really was something.”
He hadn’t thought about coming back for more narcotics-free shows, but Holmes said he’d fly back to China for more gigs if invited. Right now he’s got little time.
“I haven’t been active on the DJ scene for a while. I’m busy with soundtracks and my wife is also having a baby. But I’d be delighted to help out any Chinese artists. If a Chinese DJ gave me a CD I’d pass it on for them.”
His red star may be rising: certainly Holmes’ government-issued driver kept ahead of the traffic as his blacked-out Audi saloon moved across town.
“Asians are so meticulous in their planning. I walked into the club in Shanghai and they had scenes from Ocean’s Eleven playing. They’re mental drivers though! It must be the loss of face thing, they keep going, nobody wants to back down!”

David Holmes joins Johnny Moy and Arveene on June 6 for Mainline at Dublin’s Sugar Club