- "Just another weekend in Elephant & Castle..." the Corsica Studios website promised when talking about a previous Ekstravaganza, but what I found at Prins Thomas' latest London event was far from the average night out in South London. And a lot less cliquey than certain parts of East London too. Last time out, Prins Thomas was promoting his first artist album. For this issue of his London residency, it was back to business as usual. We had Blackbelt Andersen from Full Pupp, plus French deep housers Chateau Flight playing a rare live set, alongside not one but two sets from Thomas himself. Meanwhile over in Room 2, it was the TOTHEBONE boys (anyone who thinks house and disco nerds take themselves too seriously should check out their hilarious podcasts) and their guest from Berlin, Prosumer.
Photo credit: Nick Ensing
The Panorama Bar resident's set time on the night was a definite issue. While it was good that he was given a long set, from 2:30 until 6:00, it was a shame that it pitched him directly up against Prins Thomas playing his second set of the evening. Let's be honest, if you're at Prins Thomas' night and he's playing the closing set, that's where you're going to go. That meant there were times when poor old Prosumer was werking it with his characteristic mix of Chicago and Detroit sounds to hardly anyone at all.
Having discussed the relatively few minuses, let's go on to the night's many plus points. Thomas' first set was a good start to our night, with a bumping sort of bassy sound greeting us as we walked into Corsica's no-frills warehouse-esque space. Sax-infused and resounding with a wonderfully kinetic beat, it set the tone for a good night all round, and built anticipation for his closing set.
Before that, Chateau Flight took over in the main room with abstract electronic sounds underpinned by a deep house beat, just as we've come to expect from the Parisian duo. Nicholas and Gilb'r both seemed to be enjoying the friendly vibe in the room as they constructed a set that encompassed Detroit-style piano solos, big snare rolls and bass-heavy deep house. Lovely stuff in all, plus it made me want to know more about the duo, which is all you can ask for really. "La Roquette" went down particularly well.
Photo credit: Nick Ensing
In the end, though, it was always going to be about Prins Thomas' closing set. He's the man everyone was there to see and he certainly delivered, albeit in a more chilled way than some may have been ready for after Chateau Flight. Anyone who knows a bit about Thomas' music will know that he's as Balearic as he's disco, so they shouldn't really have been surprised by the volley of classics that ended the night. We had some jazz tracks, we had some Tears For Fears and we had "Riders on the Storm." Who says that end-of-the-night tracks don't work anymore?