- Last Saturday, I moved away from my normal clubbing scene in East and West London and decided to venture South into the heart of Brixton. There was something going on at Mass that I wanted to check out. Being in Brixton itself created a nostalgic mood for me. When I first moved to London from Singapore, I used to live in Brixton for a couple of months. I've not really been back there for quite some time and so being in Brixton itself brought
back some memories.
Saturday night and Brixton was live! There was Hard House Academy happening at the Brixton Academy and we noticed a long line at Plan B. We made our way to Mass and noticed that there was a big gay party happening opposite at The
Fridge.
When we finally reached the imposing structure of Mass, we had to be searched thoroughly and walked under a metal detector machine. Extreme heavy duty security going on there. We walked up the stairs of the converted
church and walked into one of the two rooms. I was surprised to find it
crowded for it was not even midnight! People were bopping to the infectious break beats.
Soon, Henry G came on and took over the decks. With Vanna on the microphone and Locash scratching, Henry started his set with a beautiful, atmospheric track. Vanna's melodic voice created the right ambience and they soon launch
into a tight and impressive set. The threesome showcased a wonderful play from start to end. Locash's deft hand worked each vinyl perfectly in time with Henry's almost flawless mixing. And Vanna synchronised herself well with the boys. There was a good rapport between all of them as well. The crowd yelled and cheered them on. More and more people streamed in and joined the throngs of others dancing on the dance floor.
I went to check the other room and found some serious banging techno being churned out. Several clubbers were already into that mind-numbing fast paced beats as seen by their utter concentration and focus on the music and jumping up and down. Don't get me wrong, I like techno, but not that stuff where each track sounded just the same as the previous. After the fourth tune, I walked back into the main room.
The three behind the console had the crowd eating out of their hands. I'm not really a fan of break beats, but I'd do admit, I enjoyed myself and it was difficult not to join the infectious crowd dancing to the music. Soon, it was time for DJ Flashback to take over.
I couldn't put a definition to the music he was playing. It sounded like drum and bass to me but it was more than that. The dance floor seemed to love what he was giving them though. Curiously, I asked Henry, who was playing earlier what was it I was hearing. He explained that most of the stuff Flashback was dishing out was old skool wave and hard core. It was what people were partying to back in the 80s when there were raves in warehouses. Hard core was what the current sounds we know as drum and bass
and break beats developed into. It was fantastic! I had a musical education that night! Looking at the crowd, I was certain that most of them were actually from the hey days and it must've been a trip down to memory lane for them.
We then decided to call it a night and left soon after. It never fails to
amaze me that London offers such a variety of music for each and everyone everywhere. That's what's great about this city!