- With the down-scaling of the seminal Lost nights (which might be reappearing in a bigger form?), epic underground techno events have been few and far between in London lately. The good ol' "secret East London warehouse" seems to have been given to a more eclectic mix of disco, house and middle-weight techno, with London's tough-techno loving clubbers left only with more intimate choices of night and venue.
Photo credit: Vickie Parker
But if the fear from promoters was in the popularity of these nights, then the recent Drumcode party in Ewer Street car-park should ally any fears: London still likes it hard. And London knows how to party hard. We arrived around 1:30 AM to a somewhat concerningly quiet scene outside the cavernous car-park tunnels. The scene that greeted us, however, as we pulled back the heavy, black-felt curtains on the main brick tunnel dispelled any concerns we might have had: The space was filled to capacity with what must be one of the most enthusiastic, excited and joyful crowds I've witnessed in London.
The scene, simply overwhelming in audio and visual senses, was of 800+ clubbers facing the stage and lapping up every available beat of Paul Ritch's pounding live-set. We shuffled our way out of room one, and set to explore the parallel arches, where Ida Engberg in room two held the awed attention of another, capacity, tunnel. Performing on a well tuned, taut and crisp Stealth array, the sound across all spaces was a perfect volume, hitting snappy-mids and exceptionally well-defined highs (essential for Drumcode and CLR sets, with their trademark percussive detail and explosive, hissing build-ups and drops). Stomach-affecting bass, however, left a little to be desired, but this was probably mostly down to the acoustic effect of the solid car-park floor.
Photo credit: Vickie Parker
Sometime after 2 we realised Adam Beyer had taken to the stage, and rapidly moved between the rooms (which, although it must have been a capacity crowd, was easy—the venue having been set-up with ample space to move around). With a full lights and laser rig in operation, and a massive video wall behind Beyer, the production value was stunning (if a little overly colourful, but that's just a matter of personal taste).
Chris Liebing came on at five, and saw the night out in a fine fashion. He performed exactly what has come to be expected of a Liebing set—fast-paced, tight and pounding productions, delivered with an adventurous edge, pulling out some pieces of Teutonic-techno to test the most tired legs of this well-enthused and fantastic crowd. From what I gather, the afterparty at Cable went on with Liebing playing till lunch, but I had a train to miss, and a little sleep to catch up on. This was one of those nights, when everything comes together in the service of a true party, and when all the efforts of Proactivce (the promoters) were more than met by the energy and excitement of London's finest party people.
Photo credit: Vickie Parker