- And so it begins. The sun is out and with it comes a brand new season of Secretsundaze. The long-running fulcrum of London's summer partying returned over the May Day bank holiday with a brand new venue and brand new DJs. And with tickets changing hands for over £100 on eBay for this one, and 14 hours of partying promised, expectations were clearly high.
Despite a schlep down to the North Greenwich—without the tube running—the venue was already packed by mid-afternoon. The new space was THAT club, a place with a wobbly reputation thanks to its former incarnations as The House & Terrace, Meantime and way-back-when rave venue The Tunnel Club. Its expansive tiered terrace ticked all the right boxes in terms of space, layout and drama. (Dancing next to an empty gas holder as the sun shrank away was a real beginning-of-summer highlight).
An extended warm-up from Giles Smith teased the warmth out of the early arrivers on the terrace, taking in deep house classics such as Nathan Haines' "Earth Is a Place" and Osunlade's "Pride." And taking things not so much deep as subterranean was an early evening live set from producer/DJ Move D, reminding why he's so in demand at the moment. A return with a DJ set would be a welcome later on this year.
After his December show at Secretsundaze and Friends was canceled due to visa issues, it was great to see New Jersey's Brothers Vibe finally behind the SS turntables. With a thumping three-hour sundown set, BV lived up to the hype, despite battling with a monitor delay that also hampered Giles's warm up, crunching out a mix of house classics and modern gems—a highlight being Moodymann's epic remix of Sascha Dive's "Deepest America."
Dutch discovery Melon took things up a notch with a crowd-pleasing energetic three-hour stint that peaked with Josh One's "Contemplation." And it wasn't only the punters that were pleased: It was good to see the off-duty residents able to party with the crowd through the extended opening hours too. James Priestley finished off the night for the hardcore who didn't care about missing the last boat home and who stuck to the DJ booth until the very last tune.
Of course the first party wasn't without the odd teething problem: Initial concerns about how the club's regulars might mix with the SS faithful were visibly confirmed. Despite plenty of familiar faces, there was definitely a locals element that some said diluted the vibe—evident by the fact that many regulars had peeled off by midnight.
And it was a shame the much-vaunted Nexo sound system was limited to a lower volume outside than in. No doubt things will get turned up for the next bash on the MOS courtyard at the end of the month. With a sun-packed, rain-free summer expected for the coming months, this party set the pace: This is going to be one long hot summer, even if the weather doesn't hold.