Full Day’s Shift at Fabric On & On & On…, Dinner Break at Secretsundaze – Full Time Rave Review!

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 | Event Reviews

Photos by Nik Torrens for RA

After the success of the Fabric 10th Birthday it showed that marathon Berghain style party sessions could work in London, so it made sense for fabric to give it another stab, this time under the “just for fun” circumstances. So the first weekend in March saw fabric host another 30 hour marathon session from Saturday night through till Monday morning, with a line up equally as mammoth to suit. Everything was pointing to a party as fun and wild as the 10^th birthday, but ultimately that was its main draw back.

Like a younger sibling “On and On…” inadvertently followed in the footsteps of its older sibling “the 10th Birthday”, where every detail was compared to the other every step of the way. First comparison to be made was the crowd and atmosphere. Arriving on Sunday morning, Troxler is in full affect with Craig Richards. Room 1 is a comfortable busy, similar to the 10th Birthday and perfect for throwing shapes; except the main difference was a lacking edge in the atmosphere. It missed that electricity and that unified excitement that was so predominate in the air from last time. There was still energy in the crowd, but it seemed more like a crowd going through the usual after party motions. That judgement is probably harsh one, but again it’s so easy to make these comparisons. That said, Troxler and Richards were still on fine form laying down deep and dark grooves with flourishes of funk and soulfulness. Whilst the room wasn’t at fever point they had still captured a crowd that were hanging on their every movement.

By the mid afternoon Keith Worthy was laying down his deep techno grooves however they weren’t enough to keep the attention of Room 1 which had started to wane as Saturday night’s legs grew tired. Trus’Me followed soon after, lightening the mood with his slow grooving house set punctuated by flashes of cosmic disco, aside from a few calamity mixes the tune selection was spot on, hooking in a new wave of punters. However whilst Worthy and Trus’Me were both good, it wasn’t quite enough to fully ignite the crowd.

For the late afternoon earPIPE stepped out for a break to watch the sunset. Conveniently this happened to be from the 31st floor of Centre Point with Todd Terje and Sound Stream providing the soundtrack at Secretsundaze Red Bull Music Academy party that was taking place. This is probably the best winter venue SS has held a party at. The stunning views on such a gorgeous day emulated that Secretsundaze outdoors day time vibe, whilst all the coldness of the British winter was firmly locked outside – just perfect when combined with the bright soulfulness of Terje and Soundstream. I definitely urge SS to throw a few more Sunday daytime parties here through the winter.

After sun down and a few tonics, we head back to Fabric. The wristbands given to us got us back in no probs and we were greeted with Dinky ushering in Monday morning. She’s laying down some solid techno tracks, but Room 1 is still a little frosty and she’s not cutting enough of a unique groove to lift the crowd. For a typical Saturday night her set would have been on the money, but at the tail end of a 30 hour marathon the crowd needed that something extra to latch on to. Along with a couple of sound outages and a hangover hitting home whilst still on a session, it was time to call it a day…

Overall Fabric did a good job, the night ran like clockwork, there was some great music on offer, but it could have been a bit busier at times and the atmosphere was just missing that last piece. And whilst it was a different party with a different meaning, it was just too difficult not to compare it with the 10th Birthday to its own detriment. Whilst the line up was technically very good, it didn’t have that constant stream of stellar DJs that instantly draw in a crowd on name alone. There were no repeated Villalobos appearances or a constant stream of heavyweights to instantly attract and keep a crowd through the days. So the programming of DJs needed to have been carefully planned to keep your average punter locked in through out the two days. Unfortunately Keith Worthy, Trus’Me or Chez Damier whilst brilliant DJs weren’t enough of a “name” to instantly hook in a crowd which in turn would have fed into kick starting an atmosphere through more bodies. It sounds fickle relying on “big names” but then your average clubber is relatively fickle too.

However don’t forget we were only there for part of the Sunday daytime activities, so our perspective is blinkered somewhat. It maybe we just picked the wrong time to go as we heard from other punters that Ellen Allien and Dave Clarke weighed in with some great sets on Saturday night whilst Wolf and Lamb and Radioslave closed Monday in fine style. It may sound like we’re being picky and negative, but I think that’s just testament to the quality we expect from Fabric. Give it a few more tweaks along with filling in those last missing pieces and I’m sure Fabric will get the formula right to make marathon parties like these work in London on a regular basis.

I wait with baited breath for the next one. Preferably on a Bank Holiday weekend!

Tags: Berghain, Centre Point, Chez Damier, Craig Richards, Dave Clarke, Dinky, Ellen Allien, Fabric, Keith Worthy, Paramount, Radioslave, Red Bull Music Academy, Secretsundaze, Seth Troxler, Soundstream, Todd Terje, Trus'me, Wolf and Lamb

1 Comment to Full Day’s Shift at Fabric On & On & On…, Dinner Break at Secretsundaze – Full Time Rave Review!

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EarPIPE

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