- London has no shortage of low-lit, sweaty venues geared towards underground music. So when a new space opens in the trendy surrounds of London Fields, it's no small feat to stand up to its peers. The Laundry, which opened this winter with the backing of Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien, faced exactly that challenge this month when it booked Shlohmo for his first London appearance in over two years.
After getting through the queue, punters walked through a few sets of doors into a breezy converted industrial space that felt like a former parking garage. A DJ was spinning warm-up club tracks and recent rap bangers. The volume was decent, but upon further inspection, all the speakers were at the front, which made the back of the space sound hollow and would cause a big push towards the stage later on.
The night's opening live act was Antwon, a California rapper with a raucous energy and low-slung cadence. He suffered from technical problems early on—his voice was inaudible over the instrumentals for the first half of his set. Apparently the rig had only been installed a few hours earlier, and they'd not had time to soundcheck. After re-adjusting the levels, the second half of the set was groovy enough, with Antwon bringing a woozy swagger that nicely set the stage for Shlohmo.
There was a notable change in anticipation among the crowd just before Shlohmo came on. His star has risen astronomically as of late, with a high-profile collaboration with Jeremih earning him recognition from an entirely new fanbase. His set-up was sparse, comprising just a laptop and his theatrical antics behind the screen. Throughout his hour-long set, Shlohmo leaned heavily on the hi-hats and thick bass that characterise his more recent productions. Gone was much of the subtlety that first earned him acclaim—in its place was a more blingy and in-your-face boom. Still, old favourites sneaked their way in between newer cuts, and the production quality remained high throughout. As expected, Shlohmo re-appeared for an encore of "Bo Peep (Do U Right)." Slipping out just before the tune finished, I couldn't help but feel that the night suffered a bit from growing pains—both in the venue and the artists themselves.