- The kind of crowd a party draws can make all the difference. Of course, getting enough numbers through the door is essential to any party's survival, but there’s no denying that finding yourself in and amongst likeminded people is often what separates a good night from a great one. Despite their policy of booking DJs that have rarely (or never) played in Leeds, Butter Side Up initially struggled with numbers. But over the past year or two, their approach has begun to pay off with the gradual emergence of a regular following.
When I arrived at Wire, about halfway through the residents' back-to-back warm-up, the mood felt right. The club's wicked sound system, combined with BSU's cultivated crowd, was perfectly set up to accommodate Kyle Hall and his diverse record bag. By this stage, the BSU DJs were settled into a deep house groove, trading in thick, glossy chords. Towards the end of their set, the more introspective stuff made way for tougher tech house as the room geared up for the main event.
Hall stepped in at 1:30 AM and immediately brought the tempo down a few notches. With his productions ranging from no-bullshit club thumpers to sample-based soulful house, it was difficult to predict which direction his set would take. He started off with a few rhythm tracks, holding off on the synths and warm pads that he's known for. Once everyone was settled into the groove, his selections became more varied, moving freely between disco house, bleepy techno and extended synth solos. As eclectic as it was, his set maintained an upward trajectory throughout.
As Hall crescendoed towards an explosive final ten minutes, his second-to-last record got stuck in a weird locked groove. Whether this was intentional is unclear, but the enthusiasm that greeted it showed how much trust he’d built with the crowd over the past two and a half hours.