- Formerly a staple of London's indie scene, Barfly reopened earlier this month as The Camden Assembly, the latest venue from the company behind XOYO, The Nest and the recently-renovated Jazz Café. Similar to other food-and-music spots such as Oslo in Hackney, The Assembly's bottom floor features a kitchen serving on-trend American diner fare, while upstairs is a small but considered club, complete with a stage, DJ booth, bar and d&b soundsystem.
The venue launched on Thursday, September 15th with five consecutive nights of music, the highlight of which, for me, went down on the Sunday with MikeQ, Teki Latex and L-Vis 1990. Parisian Latex's early set of house, Afrobeat and grime inspired a few boisterous dance moves beneath the dusky blue and red strobes. One man—who later turned out to be MC and viral video sensation Jay Jay Revlon—began vogueing and death dropping with such passion that he failed to notice the puddles of alcohol surrounding him.
Qween Beat label boss and ballroom star MikeQ controlled the decks from midnight onwards. Rather than look at the DJ, the crowd turned their attention to the right-hand side of the room, enamoured of the cluster of people vogueing onstage. Gradually, the evening transformed from a typical club night into an exhilarating display of artists in their element, as some of the fiercest members of London's vogueing community challenged each other to the soundtrack of MikeQ's beats. At one point, security attempted to usher people off the stage, but thankfully it didn't work—any attempt to pacify the dancers would have killed the spirit of the night entirely.
L-Vis 1990 followed with a steady stream of bass-heavy house cuts, showing his love for UK producer Lil Silva in particular by dropping "Funky Pulse" and "Seasons." Although the battling voguers had by that point completely taken over the stage, the MC kindly invited the rest of the audience to join the party. MikeQ returned for the final 30 minutes, garnering a huge reaction from the waning but still energetic crowd for his Sinjin Hawke collaboration, "Thunderscan." It was a privilege to watch skilled DJs and dancers from a predominantly US scene performing in London. Barfly may be gone, but it looks like The Camden Assembly will be similarly dedicated towards showcasing less established underground acts.
Photo credit /
James Kelly