- Parties at secret venues feel like they've been done to death in London. It's the same cycle every weekend. A promoter touts a super secret party with adjectives like "clandestine," "unique" and "intimate." Yet when you arrive at the event you realise you're back at one of the same overused warehouse spaces you were the month before. Commercial trance leviathan Paul Van Dyk has even got in on the act, announcing plans for his own "underground" warehouse party. The purpose of running a party at a secret venue—dancing in unique surroundings to weird music—would seem to be defeated.
Photo credit: Adrian Hylton
Thankfully the folks behind Love Fever see things differently. Operating in off-the-radar surroundings such as abandoned strip joints, Love Fever are known for putting a remarkable amount of care and attention into lighting and club decor for those who can find their low key shindigs: a facet that has allowed them to secure the talents of NYC legends Danny Krivit and Nicky Siano at previous parties. In an oversaturated market, the Love Fever crew promise something different.
Although LF doesn't really promote that heavily, the addition of a certain Gadi Mizrahi to the bill at this particular night had brought more than enough attention to proceedings. As promised, the venue and interior design scored 10 out of 10 for effort. An out-of-hours gallery was teleported to '70s Manhattan thanks to sleazy projections on the walls, huge suspended balloons, restrained neon lights and obligatory glitter balls. The music on offer also seemed to reflect the retro nature of the decor. A polished blend of slow-mo house and spiced disco re-works rubbed shoulders with modern club music from Art Department and electro obscurities such as Donna Allen's "Serious" and Nicolas Jarr's edit of "Blue Monday."
As he has done on frequent occasions, the Wolf + Lamb head honcho proved he has the substance to live up to the hype around the label. The 200 or so strong crowd lapped up Mizrahi's set in the confined main room, while any one wishing to take a break was treated to a crash course in how to seamlessly blend disco and house by Jacques Renault—undoubtedly one of the names to watch on the disco/re-edits scene. Musically the night was absolutely pitch-perfect.
Photo credit: Adrian Hylton
The night had a few sore points though. To state the obvious; art galleries have smaller bars and less toilets than clubs. Getting a drink or using the bathroom became a laborious time-consuming task at times. However, this can just be marked up as one of the unfortunate trade-offs that come from running a night in a truly unusual venue. With genuinely good ideas and a tangible pride in what they are doing, Love Fever are certainly promoters to seek out if you are even the slightest bit interested in disco and refined house.