Bugged Out! 15th Birthday in London

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  • It's birthday season once again in London's clubland, with 2009 seeing some major milestones for the city's favourite promoters and venues. Ministry of Sound just hit the big 18, Bedrock turns 11 the same weekend that fabric hits double figures, and its prodigal son, matter, recently celebrated a triumphant first year. Not to be overshadowed, Bugged Out! turned 15 last weekend, and decided to throw a party worthy of even the most rebellious teen, inviting a typically stellar line-up to help them celebrate. And, being the gracious hosts they are, they opened up all four rooms of Vauxhall's often overlooked club, Fire, to ensure that the night's many fans could give their best wishes in person. Photo credit: Aziza Azul The LED-encrusted Lightbox was probably the best place to start proceedings, with two long-standing residents, Matt Walsh and JoJo De Freq, working their way through a blend of the eclectic funk that has always been at the heart of the night's music policy. By half twelve though it was time to hit the main room for the first of the definitive Bugged Out! party starters, the man with the incredible reverse hairline, Justin Robertson. Despite being around since the early days of acid house, Robertson's tough, chunky style has never found favour among more mainstream audiences. He clearly found his niche with Bugged Out!, though, and per usual he didn't disappoint, flitting from the industrial marching music of Timo Maas' mix of Green Velvet's "Flash" to the pioneering electro of Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock" with ease. The irrepressible Erol Alkan picked up the baton and ran with his unique blend of tough, disco-tinged electro. Despite his knack at creating incredible sets from obscure records, Alkan's also partial to a crowd pleaser now and again, whether it be old—Solid Groove's "This is Sick"—or new—A-Trak's remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Heads Will Roll." As is often the case with these multi-room, multi-guest extravaganzas, sacrifices have to be made, and in choosing to celebrate with these two Bugged Out! stalwarts, the nonetheless impressive Ed Banger room next door was overlooked by many. Following Busy P, label boss Feadz rounded off the night in the smaller arch, spinning a set that was a great alternative to the main room with his slightly slower ghetto tech style, typified by records like Major Lazer's "Pon De Floor." Photo credit: Aziza Azul Back in the Lightbox, the man behind the latest in Bugged Out!'s Suck My Deck series, Brodinski, was playing fittingly trippy tech house under the twinkling ceiling, and for those who wandered far enough, the Riotous Rockers and Disco Bloodbath's Dan Beaumont were tearing up the inevitably under-populated party room. All in all, a fitting tribute to a real gem in the glittering crown of British clubbing, with DJ's new and old proving that funky house needn't be a dirty word.
RA