- September sees the end up of the summer parties, and with the cold comes a change in programming, with the possibility of clubs digging a little deeper to tempt the crowds out of the house. Maybe it was the weather, but there was a definite cozy winter vibe at tonight's Fabric blowout, plus an air of expectation due to Villalobos having just released his 'Fabric' mix CD. And with Bruno Pronsato, who has been making waves playing with Sammy Dee as Half Hawaii, also on the bill, it was a great night to brave the chill and head down to Farringdon.
I arrived at the club just in time to catch the butt end of Jamie's Jones set in the main room. Sadly, heads were still filing in so the atmosphere was not there yet, but nevertheless Jamie was carving out a nice deep house groove. Fabric is open till 9 a.m. of course so no surprises that people weren't wearing out their moves just yet.
As PM ticked over into AM, the VIP area filled up, people began queuing to smoke, and I sneaked onto Room 2 to catch a bit of Slam live. Anyone who has heard their new album will attest to their main room appeal, and the combination of the smaller, darker room two space with the smoke machine set to overdrive was strong. There wasn't much to look at, just darkness, dust and fevered bodies jiving and colliding to precise mixes and long fixes, but the mood was working, with people were locked in and responding to the loud techniness.
Meanwhile the main room had filled up to capacity with bodies jigging as if there lives depended on it. Tonight was a real mix of people - suits and shirts mingling with local promoters/DJs, sexy girls with chic handbags two-stepping next to those who'd made slightly less effort - but all seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Bruno Pronsato's live p.a. was warm and full, no mean feat for a live set, and he looked happy slipping in and out of his new material. Rhythmic and raw, the music and vocals really impacted on the crowd - plenty of hands in the air. Live p.a's can sometimes succumb to sound problems, but Fabric really nailed it with Bruno and his set sounded alert and accurate no matter where you stood. Overall impression: 'A Night At The Proms' for pasta dancing dudes. Yep, this is a good thing.
Later came Ricardo. A lot of people have mentioned 'Horse House' recently in regards to this man, but his set wasn't pitched at those expecting geometric disassociation - tonight the emphasis was on deep, percussive 'house' music - it's like you really need to go and see Ricardo on every occasion as he often flips the script. Villalobos was followed by Craig Richards, who stepped aboard playing some very direct main room techno mixing very tightly and taughtly. His set was clever and very directional, not particularly obvious stuff, and the response from the crowd heads down and sweaty palms. The atmosphere late into the morning can really have a furious seriousness about it, and on a good nights it feels like that if you leave you really might miss something. It felt like that tonight.
Overall then, it's parties like this that I actually don't mind London: good music, a great sound system and a nice mixture of cultures and creeds. Bruno played to a new crowd and most definitely stood up to be counted, while Ricardo proved these days he seems very at home in Fabric - whoops and cheers and rapturous applause throughout. Lots of moaning about queues and drink prices, mind, but this is Britain - what do you expect?