- Anyone who has experienced Circo Loco in its natural habitat of DC-10 will usually tell you, it's the party's atmosphere that really makes the place special. As uncompromising, memorable and relentlessly rhythmatic as the music may be at Circo Loco's Ibizan parties, the unique feeling of being penned in between those infamous red/yellow walls by 1,000 half naked hedonists is not one that's soon forgotten. Throughout its weekly tenure in Ibiza, Circo Loco was one of the few parties in the world where it often felt like anything could happen—and, of course, most weeks it did.
When Circo Loco first brought its unique White Isle freakshow to London it managed to export a huge chunk of the rabid debauchery of DC-10; largely thanks to the sweat box nature of The End nightclub and a cast of international miscreants that were hell-bent on keeping the twisted spirit of Circo Loco alive and well. Transferring that special atmosphere to the comparatively sanitised surroundings of matter, which is situated inside the supremely corporate O2, was always going to be a challenge. Some might say that for Circo Loco to even consider throwing a party in such a venue runs contrary to the anti-establishment and underground ideals it has come to stand for. However, as they have continually done over the course of their history, Circo Loco proved their doubters wrong once again.
Photo credit: Paul Zedman
On entering matter at around 11, the expansive space of the main room was already nicely filling up to the sounds of Matthias Tanzmann. Tanzmann's house-driven but always slightly hallucinogenic productions pretty much encapsulate the sound of DC-10 and his relentless 4/4 groove was proving the perfect tonic to get things warmed up. Sounding excellent on matter's impressively defined sound system, Tanzmann thundered through a set of impressively locomotive house beats. At times he ventured into techy territory, as with the appearance of Loco Dice's "Definition." At others the sound had a contrastingly funky lilt, the peak of which came from a neat edit of Chaka Khan's "Clouds."
Tanzmann's set was followed by DC-10 stalwart Tania Vulcano. Opening up with a pleasingly driving house beat, the first half of her set was peppered by intermittent bursts of percussion that were so loose they often seemed completely out of time. As usual, Vulcano delivered a performance that illustrated why she has been one of Circo Loco's most favored artists over the years. But it was during Vulcano's set—at least if you were at the peripheries of the dance floor—you noticed that in places this wasn't the usual Circo Loco crowd. Among the revelers that had come in red clown wigs and birthday hats, there lurked groups of polo shirt clad lads who could often be seen swaying out of time to the music with at least two bottles of Stella in hand at any one time. Thankfully, this unsavory demographic was in the minority and if you pushed through the sweaty throng you could markedly feel the atmosphere intensify as the Circo Loco hardcore made their presence felt.
Photo credit: Paul Zedman
Taking a moment to duck into room two provided one of the highlights of the evening, a set from the ever-impressive Dyed Soundorom. Interestingly, quite a bit of thought had gone in to getting the feel right for the evening. Room two's lighting, which usually includes a huge amount of ceiling mounted LED's, was completely turned off. This enveloped the room in a thick darkness that—when coupled with an overzealous smoke machine—meant that visibility for most of the evening was reduced to zero. Oddly enough, this feeling of scrambling around in the dark would probably be highly familiar to anyone who's ever tried to negotiate DC-10's dimly lit main room while wearing a pair of shades.
Dyed's set was predictably potent. Delving through his usual style of warm tech house, Soundorom sent the crowd ballistic with his remix of Anthea and Alex Celler's "Playmaker," whose trademark double clap halfway through actually provided a singalong moment despite the fact the section has no vocals. This admittedly impressive scene was then topped with the inclusion of Shakedown's "At Night"; providing a genuine wtf?! moment as the crowd lost it to a cheery slice of radio friendly pop-dance delivered amongst brooding stripped down house beats.
Photo credit: Paul Zedman
A quick detour back to the main room provided yet another talking point with a typically trippy set from Ar:pi:ar; quite simply three of the most groundbreaking electronic producers and DJ's of their generation. Almost all of their tracks were totally unidentifiable to anyone but the most ardent trainspotter. Delivered in waves of undulating power and ever-increasing tension, the Romanian trio continually moved the crowd from a state of total confusion to total rapture. The pace hovered around the remarkably fast 130 BPM mark, but then seemed slow down to a more reasonable 124 in others. One standout record seemed to contain only gurgles of sub bass, echoy background noise and seemingly intermittent hits of woodblock and sounded like someone absent-mindedly tapping a table inside some kind of cavernous factory.
Fortunately most of the Circo Loco faithful knew Ar:pi:ar's old tricks. While the throng shuffled listlessly during the more weird moments of the set, the anticipation could genuinely be felt to rise before the inevitably urgent beat of the next track leapt from the speakers causing the crowd to punch the air and cheer. Few DJ's could—or would—even try to do what Ar:pi:ar did at Circo Loco; provide a set that was genuinely experimental but still managed to keep people dancing and interested. They may not be the easiest artists to listen to, but they are one of the very few that are genuinely different.
Photo credit: Tamsin Isaacs
Despite this great array of musical talent, Circo Loco at matter was not perfect. At times, especially when the club was at busiest, the club filled up with annoying bottlenecks leaving many standing in queues for what seemed like an age. Getting home from the venue, which is situated on an industrial estate and is essentially cut off from the rest of London, is an almost soul-destroying experience that can threaten to tarnish a great night. However, it must be said that's not the fault of Circo Loco themselves. The days of Circo Loco being an outsider from the world's most mainstream clubs may be in the past, but the party still maintains its ear for non-conformist music and a sense of all-out hedonism which should be celebrated.