- The new T Bar is looking well set to revive its reputation as the place to be seen—again—as Kubicle threw its second bash at its new location in Houndsditch. Celebrating their fifth birthday, the occasion called for the New York duo Wolf + Lamb—Zev Eisenberg and Gadi Mizrahi—to play their debut London gig, which had much of the underground buzzing with curiosity and interest.
Friends of mine who'd heard of them before debated whether Wolf + Lamb were performers or a record label. Learning it was both—and that the duo had their own sound and scene in New York—made it a decidedly refreshing mission to make. The Sunday club kids have been needing a divergent aural adventure, as London's club scene is currently being rinsed by the same names playing events each weekend, lending credence to the notion that all the parties are sounding the same right now.
Kubicle is one of London's longest running events, starting back in the day at Public Life and making its name as "the afterhours party in the toilet." They've been venue hopping the past few months, looking for a bigger—and possibly more sanitary—location to throw their parties. On entering the new T Bar you might mistake it for a college cafeteria- at first I thought we might have stepped into a trendy sandwich shop—but soon enough you're enveloped by the vibe and it all makes sense: T Bar is not set up to be that "Big Night Out" club. London has needed a place for local clubbers to call home, away from the touristy venues and hyped events where one is expected to rave your ass off all night.
Kubicle resident Clive Henry casually wound a groovy set—a far cry from his darker Circo Loco sound—before Wolf and Lamb got involved. Soon, though, it was time for Wolf + Lamb, who began their set with a Michael Jackson edit. I don't think the T Bar crowd were quite expecting it—they didn't quite jump to—but they quickly took it into Trentemøller's dub of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Games," which is one of my favourite tracks, so I took position up front.
Overall, W + L played quite groovy and melodic. I was expecting something a little more artistic and experimental based on some of their productions, and the set seemed to drift midway after their initial hyped-up entrance became less novel to the audience. I have to say they're not incredibly fun to watch, they didn't interact much with the crowd and seemed to shy away from the attention of over-zealous supporters, but generally everyone loved the music and were rocking out. A really interesting crowd emerged throughout; glam hippies, disco punks and euro-nerds—a little more dressy than the usual T bar crowd. The creative kids were certainly out to play.
A few DJ "schlebs" ambled in, Jamie Jones and Marc Ashken among them, but the peak of the party was a surprise appearance from past Kubicle guest Mr C. He took to the downstairs room and shook it up with a rowdier sound until closing. Apparently the Wolf + Lamb boys are going to be lurking around London and Europe for a bit. It'll be nice to see if they come out on the other side of another London gig—maybe something just a little bit more vicious, so their darker side can let rip.