- Catclub is a party concept that has been around for several years in Brussels. It's the brainchild of Lady Jane, an active Belgian DJ. Since 2005, she's been putting on the concept in several venues in and around the Belgian capital. Most of them, however, end up at IMAL, a centre for new media art next to the canal running through the city. Catclub's taste is often varied, but this night's agenda was most definitely deep house, with a line-up that featured Geoffroy Mugwump, a Bruxellois at heart, and Arto Mwambé.
IMAL is, in essence, an exhibition space. It's a large, square hall with some pillars and a relatively low ceiling, which means that the acoustics aren't quite as optimal as in a regular club setting. That was the case certainly during Felix Cage's warm-up set, as the music often blurred into the sound of people talking. Moreover, the people present seemed more into a formal reception than into a proper dance party.
A shift in the general atmosphere occurred when Phillip Lauer and Chris Beisswenger, AKA Frankfurt's Arto Mwambé, took over with their live set. The music finally overruled the other noises and a well-tuned blend of house and acid took center stage. The mood was superb, especially up front, as limbs swirled in all directions. After more than an hour, Mugwump took over in more or less the same vein. He kept things up-tempo and put down some fine, thumping tracks.
One of the biggest highlights of the night, coincidentally was an old piece by Lauer as a solo artist: an acid house stomper that not only made the producer smile, but got the whole room moving. The space was nicely packed by that time—even the bar next to the main hall was cramped. Lady Jane took over, bringing down the tempo a bit and presenting a deeper kind of house for the remaining hours. A surprising amount of people stayed, only confirming that the scene in Brussels at the moment is thriving.