- When The Pickle Factory opened in October, the team behind it said the club would have the same high-quality, no-frills philosophy as their other venue, Oval Space. As always, though, the proof is in the pudding—the pudding, in this case, being the punchiness (or not) of the soundsystem in the 200-capped room. Struggling to pull open the two doors that separated the smoking area and the dance floor was a reassuring sign. Once inside, the system boasted a weight and clarity to be reckoned with.
Warm-up DJ Toby Nicholas was moving into his final few when I got there, playing melodic house to a room slowly filling up. It was early and the club was more empty than full, but that didn't put people off: in front of the decks, sparse groups of dancers were doing much more than nodding their heads. It was the kind of vibe you get at nights with older crowds—laid-back, confident, lively.
Stepping up at midnight was Uzuri-owner and Berlin-based DJ Lakuti. Her set was a three-hour exercise in restraint, eclecticism and quiet technical mastery. Sparkling disco was overlaid with grooving deep house and shuffling US garage, while the intensity rose steadily and imperceptibly. It was only when the club erupted to the sounds of M.D. Express's "God Made Me Phunky" that I stopped to look around me and take stock of the night, which was just beginning to peak.
Fred P took the reins for the final three hours, touching on the various sounds that define his productions. There was colourful deep house, dark and loopy drum tracks and, perhaps taking cues from Lakuti, some Strictly Rhythm vocal garage (Aly Us's "Follow Me"). What really stood out, though, was the way Fred P seemed to read, and lead, the room. Whenever it felt like the night might start to flag, he'd switch up the dynamic to the absolute delight of everyone around him.