- If you squinted hard enough, you might have thought you were at one of WMC's mentalist boat parties...if it weren't for the clusters of shivering partygoers watching the 6 Nations Rugby on a neighbouring boat's plasma while waiting to board. Meandering down the Thames from Temple Pier, Electronic Sessions 5th Birthday was many things, but it certainly wasn't your average dance party.
Indeed, the stunning views of Houses of Parliament and the London Eye would have ticked boxes on any half-decent sightseeing tour, while the bustling bar—and the sight of a beer-fuelled Dave Seaman letting loose on the dance floor pre-set—also lent a slight booze cruise vibe to proceedings (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Musically, Electronic Sessions catered for both the commercial-loving and the underground-leaning alike. Below deck, Heads Up DJs and then Electro Saints dropped tunes at the more accessible end of the scale, as Deadmau5's "Not Exactly" and Tomcraft's "Loneliness" were rinsed, much to the approval of the skimpily dressed females occupying the dance floor. Above deck, the sounds were sating for those craving something with a little more depth. After setting the tone with progressive trance-orientated sets from Olly Holmes and Nick Bowman, the tone shifted into dark stomping tech territory as Norwich DJ pair Jumby & Scott.A nailed warm-up duties for Seaman.
When he stepped up to the decks, Seaman served up party prog of the loosest variety, his set driven by uplifting melodic stabs and rolling basslines. This vibe was only intensified when the boat hit choppy water and the entire dance floor collectively swayed from one side to the other. Seaman's knockout blow was the blistering quasi-acid lines of his own re-edit of Stopmakingme's "Smint (Remute's 'Wild Baby' mix)," which hit with rib-rattling impact.
It's not unusual for parties to suffer a drop in intensity after a DJ of Seaman's calibre exits stage left, but the pairing of Quanta & Altobelli were as dynamic as they come, working their way through boshing techno, throbbing low-slung electro and even slipping some diva house into the brew. Perhaps the party's final DJ, Jez Eyre encapsulated sentiments best by playing Faithless's "Not Going Home" as his closer. Judging by the state of the packed dance floor, he wasn't the only one.