- In 2004 the ground floor doors of Shoreditch's famous Tea Building opened with a new identity. Nothing but a huge digital clock on the outside, counting down the minutes to last orders was to give away what was now inside. What was inside was T Bar; a name that over the six years that followed, London came to love. Its forward-thinking line-ups, warehouse lounge interior and Funktion One sound system were just some of what made T Bar so special. Most astonishing of all: Entry was free.
Presenting acts that you would elsewhere pay a small fortune to see, T Bar introduced parties that will go down in London's fondest electronic music memories. Damian Lazarus's Stink, Sunday night's Dig Your Own Rave, fabric after parties and Phonica nights were just a handful of the events T Bar offered the city. After its opening, the venue quickly made a name as East London's place to party, any day of the week.
When it was announced in June this year that T Bar had closed its doors for good, the news came suddenly and without warning. Their free door policy had been abolished earlier in the year after its venue change, sparking disappointment from T Bar regulars and promoters. Shortly after, Derren Smart resigned as head of programming and promotions. The new Houndsditch venue was in trouble; that wasn't difficult to see. Being one of the last quality electronic music venues in London left standing, the industry and its punters were saddened by its eventual closure. When Jaime Ritchie, T Bar's Managing Director announced the T Bar closing party with a Wolf + Lamb-dominated line-up including Boston's Soul Clap and Nicolas Jaar, though, disappointment was replaced with excitement for the final one night extravaganza.
For whatever reason, the closing party could not be held in T Bar itself. Its replacement venue, however, was far from a disappointment. Scrutton Street Studios is one of the many warehouse style spaces to have popped up in East London over the last few years. As established venues close down, more of these spaces seem to appear, paving the way for what seems destined to be, once again, an underground music scene. Set over two huge floors, Scrutton is an amazing space, industrial pipes and concrete columns dominating an otherwise blank canvas. A top quality lighting system had been installed, casting red and blue glows across the floor and over its excited and mixed crowd.
The major let-down on the night was the heat. The one air conditioning unit I saw wasn't working. And sweat poured from everyone's bodies and eventually from the ceiling, the walls, the floor... Scrutton slowly steamed itself into an uncomfortable sauna. What's more, a long bar on each floor, lacking in staff, left the eventual 600+ crowd with a 15 minute wait for a drink after a 30 minute wait outside and a 15 pound entry fee. In fact, the only real link I saw between T Bar and its closing party was a projected slideshow of photographs providing visual memories from the original Tea Building to the eventual Houndsditch venue.
London's own Floating Points began the night downstairs rapid, bass-heavy and too hard for the time slot, lacking the elegance and melodic structure that is evident in his work. The DJ/producer's musical direction in this set didn't flow, and it didn't pave the way for the artists that were to follow. Twenty minutes later, I found myself upstairs where Derren Smart and Jonny Rock were playing a disco set. Great music, bad mixing and no one seemed to care; everyone was having too much fun. Derren's Disco and his years of contribution to T Bar got one last round of applause.
Back downstairs, Nicolas Jaar's long awaited London live debut was inducing madness. Sweaty bodies pushed and pulled past one another to get closer to the crowd level set-up. Was I at a pop concert or a warehouse party? I wasn't too sure as yet another person's sweat-ridden arm slid past my face to get closer to Jaar. I gave up, and went to the back. The one-hour set that followed was worthy of the attention Jaar has received in the last two years. The audience forgot the unbearable heat, mesmerised by his multitude of tempos. Live vocals on tracks such as "El Bandido" and "Mi Mujer" brought us all too quickly to his closing track, "Time for Us." A crowd that had once been so eager to push and pull at each other, could only stand still and applaud in awe...a sea of wide eyes, satisfied smiles and sweat-drenched faces.
Soul Clap followed: The Boston duo of Elyte and Cnyce hold a string of edits, remixes and a few originals to their name. Their trademark sexy, deep house spread through the room quickly. Sample-heavy and with deep bass, Soul Clap know exactly how to hold a crowd and have fun with their music. And that's precisely what they did.
As much as there was a missing link to T Bar at this party, Jaime Ritchie organised what was—despite the heat—a well-programmed event with some outstanding music in a great space. Especially with the talents of Nicolas Jaar on display, it was a fitting reminder of what T Bar brought to London on its best nights: quality music and epic parties. You'll be missed.