- Returning yet again at The Cross last weekend, Renaissance brought the hot and talented Tom Stephan with rising Spanish DJs/producers Chus and Ceballos and Aldrin from Singapore together under one roof for a night of progressive/tribal grooves. Only Renaissance would think of organising a night that saw DJs from different parts of the world playing in one room – talk about music bringing people together as one indeed! I was certainly geared up for the night as admittedly, I am a bit of a tribal aficionado and it would be interesting to see how Aldrin has changed in his music direction or if he has progressed in his playing as I used to hear him play at the Zouk club years ago before the world has heard of him.
Unfortunately we got there late and by then it was Chus dishing out his distinct sound that had my friend and I moving even before we hit the cloak room! I've always liked their productions and remixes. I really think both Chus and Ceballos are an awesome duo with the creative talent to produce and remix fantastic tunes. It's not easy to find producers who consistently deliver quality and top notch productions. And as DJs, they both have their own styles and I personally prefer the playing of Chus. He laid down percussive tribal grooves with melodic and Mediterranean elements that had us thinking of beautiful Balearic sunsets and summers in Ibiza. He dropped the vocals of Be Yourself and it made me smile for I'd not heard that for a while. I was just surprised that there wasn't much of a crowd and unlike the last Renaissance gig that I went for (a brilliant Sander K), there wasn't a line outside for this one. We didn't have any problems and didn't have to wait at all to enter (Thank you Renaissance for sorting this out :) )
We then decided to adjourn to Room 2 to catch Mark Wilkinson. It was more crowded there and people were dancing to Milkshake. Everyone had their hands up in the air and people shouted when he began to play Martin Solveig's Rocking Music. There was definitely more whistles and shouts in this side of the club and the vibes there were better and we certainly enjoyed ourselves during our time there.
We returned to the main room just in time to catch the change over from Chus to Ceballos. He began gearing towards the tougher and slightly darker and more progressive sounds. I heard a familiar track but I didn't know the title so I asked a very obliging Chus (who was busy taking pictures!) for the name – Stereo Production's remix of KOT's Dreams. Throughout their sets, I recognised a few of their stuff like In Stereo and When Love is Dark. We went outside to get some air and I can't wait for summer! Renaissance has found an excellent venue in The Cross for their monthly nights especially in summer. People can mill outside in the garden and wait for the sun rise while listening to music. Wonderful! It was nice to stand there and dance especially when another classic track came on – Music is the Answer.
We stayed for a while and by then the crowd was rapidly thinning. A pity, since Tom Stephan was coming on only at 4am. I wondered at the lack of response but it could be that many are waiting for Renaissance's Wild in The Country event which is happening in a week. Or it could be that Londoners are not that keen on the tribal and percussive sound. What a shame though, for I felt the lack of crowd definitely played a part in the lack of vibes and energy for that night. But you've got to give it to the DJs who still played excellent sets. And you've got to hand it to the Renaissance crew for pushing different sounds and organising different nights so that at least the clubbers are given more choices and hear a variety of music that's out there.