- When I first heard of We Fear Silence, I immediately felt that its title encapsulated exactly what I was feeling in those first few weeks following the closure of The End. A fear of silence: Silence from the former "End" residents and from the team behind it all who made it such an extraordinary club. Appropriate, then, that We Fear Silence is the brainchild of two of The End's programming team. That they chose The Arches as their venue is in line with current trends in the London clubbing landscape, with rising rents and a saturated East London scene instigating a migration south of the river.
I'd not been here before, but I'd heard glowing reports from friends; I wasn't disappointed. Recently refurbished, the impressive six arch venue (although only three were in use on this night) combines exposed brickwork and a stark, warehouse-like interior with luxurious features, such as the leather sofas and white fabric canopies across the ceiling, to great effect. Add to this a state-of-the-art intelligent light system, lasers and a new Nexo Geo sound system and you have a venue which is among the closest rivals to fabric in London.
Photo credit: Dos Fotos
Never being one to arrive early at clubs, I rocked up at about 12:30 and after some good-natured banter with the door staff (including the security, surprisingly enough) went inside. I immediately gravitated towards Room 1 for Ben Watt's mammoth all-night set. I've admired Watt since his EBTG days and his eclecticism sets him apart in the world of electronic music. Deep house, with some warm, melodic techno was the flavour of this set. Watt's customary cleanness and precision was applied throughout, and with decollage.tv accompanying him with excellent visuals, this proved both an aurally and visually stimulating few hours.
As a result, I missed Chris Woodward and Tim Green in Room 2 but managed to catch the end of Mademoiselle Caro's set and then an excellent set with her and Woodward playing back to back. This proved to be the best part of the night: Their captivating, largely minimal techno set nonetheless stayed warm and avoided the severity that often accompanies minimal. The room itself, with green lasers shooting into and bouncing off a number of disco balls made it a really brilliant, if surreal final hour.
Photo credit: Dos Fotos
For any DJ an all-night set is no easy feat. That Watt managed to sustain a crowd throughout (and one which was visibly enjoying itself, no less) is testament to his talent, even if the music was not particularly innovative. In Room 2 Caro and Woodward provided a more than adequate selection of cutting-edge beats. "End" similarities were abundant but ultimately they were just that: similarities. This party at a truly fantastic venue combined things like the excellent programming and attention to detail characteristic of The End with a new and exciting direction. In all, a successful launch to a promising new project.