Jaunt (jônt, jänt) n. A short trip or excursion, usually for pleasure; an outing
Plain and Simple’s roving reporter/man about town and clubbing addict Jammy brings you his eye view of the events he was partying at in the last week… This time he spent his jaunts at The Plex, Colony and Machine night and the Hotflush Records Showcase.
Hello and welcome to Jammy’s Jaunts! Your weekly clubbing review of my antics over the weekend in London. This weekend consisted of the very special 2nd Plex, Colony and Machine night at Corsica Studios and the Hotflush Records showcase at a new venue which I have never been before called the Oval. So the first jaunt began on Friday at Corsica Studios for the 2nd Plex, Colony and Machine night. It was Plex’s 6th birthday and Colony’s 4th birthday. It was 12 months since the last P/C/M night and from reports, it was a pretty incredible night of techno. Throughout the year many Plex nights have been put on with the likes of Robert Hood, Perc and Donato Dozzy playing for them. This time around 3 rooms were open at the Studios with an amazing lineup across all 3 floors. The amazing array of talent that played were as follows: Untold, Ugandan Method (live), Livity Sound, A Made Up Sound, Regis (live), Senking, Ben Sims and Paul Mac (Fokus Group), Ancient Methods, Mill, Kirk Degiorgio, 65D Mavericks, Ø [Phase], Simon Heartfield, Tengui, MB & CB, Luke Handsfree and James Tec. By the time I arrive there around just after midnight the place was already heaving and all 3 rooms were comfortably filled with lots of people huddling outside trying to stay warm whilst smoking.
In room 1 was the Plex room, room 2 was the Colony room and room 3 was the Machine room. I found myself in the Plex room for most of the night and can you really blame me?! Just look at that lineup from that room, Ancient Methods, Ugandan Methods, Regis and Phase! Extreme! From the beginning 65D Mavericks (Nick Dunton) did a really good job of warming things up and the main room was rammed by 1am! Frequent visits outside to chill and get some area was definitely needed and it was good to check out the other rooms too. The Machine room was quality and it was a shame that I didn’t spend much time there. Acoustic wise, it was spot on and no ringing in my ears at all! Untold and A Made Up Sound really did the business. I have never heard of them before and sometimes it’s good to hear a DJ that you have never heard play before. You tend to appreciate unknown DJs more and that was cool. They will definite be on radar now. By this time it was nearly 3am and one of the true highlights of the evening was about to start: the UK exclusive debut live set from Ugandan Methods, a unique collaborative project between one of Birmingham’s finest exports, Regis, and Berlin techno hero: Ancient Methods. I really couldn’t miss this and I was completely taken away with sounds that were created! It was truly a night for people in the know and never once did they disappoint. Next up was Ancient Methods this time on his own, performing a DJ set. First time I have heard him play and I have waited ages for this! Everything that I had previously heard, I have loved and this was a real treat. From start to finish, his hour set, ripped Corsica’s Funktion One system to shreds. It really was a fantastic assault on our ears!
Regis next was up (Karl O’Connor) Co-founder of Sandwell District and Downwards label owner and all round nice guy. I had the pleasure of chilling and hanging out with him after his set and he’s probably one of the most down to earth and nicest DJs I have ever met. Such a legend! He was on for an hour too and he could have played all day, it was that good! The bass and the heavily distorted hypnotic sounds were spot on and even the classic Public Energy – Three O’ Three track was dropped as I have posted on Facebook. The night was getting better and better and by then the club was still pretty much full, but comfortably full. In some places you were able to move without getting too squashed. Just before the end and after Regis, making his Plex debut performance was Ø [Phase]. Another DJ who I haven’t play and again a real nice guy. He played for the last 2 hours until the P/C/M all starts came on. He recently released his Binary Opposition release on Token, getting his tracks remixed from the likes of Inigo Kennedy, Sigha and Ben Klock. It was a great set and totally something different from Regis before him. Techno at its finest! Phase finished at 8am and it was the turn for the P/C/M all stars crew to take charge and they really ended the night/morning with a bang! I managed to stay till around 11am and my stamina and power was seriously tested. But when the music is that good anyway, then that’s all you need sometimes! What a great way to celebrate Plex and Colony’s birthday eh?!
Saturdays jaunt was at The Oval Space for the special Hotflush Records showcase. It was at a new venue that I have never been before and did seem quite tricky to find and ended up getting lost for half an hour before actually getting to the venue! Warming up proceedings was EarToGround head Chris Stanford, followed by Locked Groove, Lando Kal, (live and DJ set) and George Fitzgerald. By the time I got there, it was quite empty gradually it started to fill and very quickly. It took about an hour and the whole space was pretty much full. Lando Kal was pretty cool to watch and certainly different from what I usually listen to. He had groove and the crowd really loved it. I was really impressed with Locked Groove after. He dropped some great tracks and his range of styles was interesting to hear. A great warmup for Scuba to start his live set.
Scuba was amongst pieces of random poles and what looked like scaffolding. This was all for his live show and when it started, it all made sense when the lights and lasers came on. The light show for his live set was quite spectacular and considering the size of the space, it looked pretty amazing. I have managed to post a video up on facebook if you get a chance to have a look. The track that I managed to catch was ‘Adrenaline’. Scuba’s live set was on for an hour and next up was British born George Fitzgerald. All DJs in this jaunt were ones I have never seen play before, so it was going to be interesting to see how he would start after Scuba. The change was effortless and he complemented Scuba’s style to perfection, again very impressed with the music that was played during this jaunt! This weekend was certainly action packed and consisted of new music and DJs with great people having great fun! Same time, next weekend? 🙂
