Old Skool, Drum n Bass and Jungle have been a staple of my musical upbringing. I remember dancing to the stuff in between playing power rangers and eating carrot sticks and hummous at pre and post-rave parties throughout my childhood as well as listening to North London pirate radio stations and, later on, nicking my parents' mixtapes for my Sony walkman. Labrynth was a household name along with the likes of Raindance, Sunrise and Tribal Gathering since the early 90s, so it felt a little weird to me that, 15 years since the last one, this was my first time.
After some house party madness and a hefty tube ride to kick up the pre-rave excitement, we reached Hidden, situated under Vauxhall's magic arches. The area has a buzzin' nightlife I'd never really known about , although admittedly most seemed the up-market, overpriced cocktail-sipping type that I don't normally go for. After some hassle where the club took a stupid amount of time to acknowledge the guestlist queue, we wangled our way in. The place had only been open for an hour but it was already packed out with the music thumping in every corner. A quick scout round established 3 rooms - jungle/heavy DnB ('Originals') for the hard core, house for the softer core nostalgia ('Loyalists') and old skool classics/hardcore for those somewhere in between ('Legends').
The rooms were dark, the place was buzzin' and I had to dance to the sickeningly great choons - who cares if we've heard this one already? Our group naturally split as we found our sound of preference, but it didn't really seem to matter. You only had to glance around to find a friendly face. DJs, MCs, Promoters and other big names on the Rave scene were naturally mingled with regular punters - some of whom tried their own hand on the mic or dancing behind (or indeed on top of) the decks. I even had a little banter with Adrian Age and Chalky White myself. The old skool room was especially inclusive, with the DJ booth placed between sets of stairs leading up to the balcony for a real connection between music makers and appreciators. There was no sign of any 'VIP' elitism or cliques and friends were made very easily. By the end of the night I felt I knew everyone - not at all like the usual, slightly hostile or predatory vibe you get at regular, drink-orientated nightclubs: this is even considering that the vast majority of Labrynth attendees were blokes!
I can't believe I've gotten this far and not yet properly mentioned the music! My group were pretty split on what room they preferred, but I spent most of my time in the Old Skool room. The House room (in the middle and by the entrance) was a little too crowded and bright for my liking and although I loved the heavy beats in the jungle room, the energy generated in there made it way too hot to stay in for long. All the soundsytems were massive, and the bass was heavy enough to make my hair stand on end. DJ Ellis Dee , Slip Matt and Billy Bunter did it for me especially, as they pumped out classic after classic that got everyone's horns and hands up in appreciation. The trademark deep synth sounds of old skool sent shivers from my ears to my spine and time just flew by. Pretty soon they were playing 4 o'clock (in the Morning). I used the loo, grabbed some water, talked crap to people who were happy to reiprocate whilst cooling down outside and had a little rave. All of sudden Billy Bunter was shouting "One More?!" and it was 7am. One More fortunately became Four More, with legendary Valley of the Shadows and Incredible being among their number.
I left the club at around half seven and stepping into the bright sunlight with basslines and piano licks still ringing in my eardrums was a very surreal experiences. I had sweated, smiled, blew my whistle and danced myself silly and bloody loved it! I didn't yet ache (that was to come later) and spent the rest of the day talking rubbish and reliving the night. Rumour has it there's to be a Christmas 09 special - watch this space!
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