- Laurent Garnier is a DJ that I have been meaning to see play for a very long time. Rarely is a bad word spoken about either his DJing or his production. He first came to my attention from his track ‘Man with a Red Face,’ which today still has the ability to make a room erupt just as it did initially when it was released.
I arrived around about 11:30 or so. The queue was already wrapped right around the corner, with people patiently waiting with anticipation. I arrived initially in AKA and was pleasantly to find that Sancho Panza would be playing up there for most of the night. They have been the host my favourite party from the last two carnivals, so it meant that I would be a lot of traversing between the End and AKA for most of the night.
I made my way downstairs and was impressed with the quality of the warm up DJ. I was quickly corrected and realized that their actually was no warm up DJ, but instead Laurent Garnier from 10 until close.
The first thing that I noticed about Laurent Garnier was the absurdly big basslines. The End sound system is probably in contention for my favourite in London. It is a clubbers club, with its darkness, grittiness and extreme loudness. This just made the basslines that Garnier was playing that the much better.
I find it quite hard to describe Laurent Garniers style, as he plays nearly everything. He played everything from Jazzy sounding French House, then on to juicer house, then into more tech house, then into some great lower-tempo techno and everything in between. He even found about 20 minutes to fit in some rock’n’roll, giving the audience just a taste of what Jim Morrison has to offer, with one of the Doors tracks. The best way I could describe Garnier without mentioning track names (due to not recognizing any and not really being a trainspoter) is a happy Craig Richards. He reminds of what I would think Richards would play at a day party, twisted enough without totally causing your brain to cave in on itself. He as an ability to play a whole range of styles without leaving the crowds attention or the losing any of the energy in the room.
While Garnier was very difficult to leave, I kept making the trip upstairs to see the Sancho Panza boys. It was nice to see AKA filled to a good level without being totally rammed. Most other times I have been to The End I have not really bothered with AKA as I have been unable to breathe, let alone dance. Sancho Panza had everyone upstairs grooving away, playing their trademark sounds of sexy house and tech house. They seemed to work hand in hand with what Garnier was doing downstairs and was a more than sensible choice for the night.
At about 5.30 I had to call it a night. I left feeling that I had missed so much by not having seen Laurent Garnier in the past. He is probably the best new DJ I have seen in the last 6 to 12 months, and I will be definitely be seeing him when he carries on his residency at The End. If you haven’t seen him before, this fine French export comes highly recommended.