There was plenty going on all across Europe on New Year’s Eve, as always. But right in the heart of London, something truly special unfolded when a newly revamped space was unveiled in the form of E1. It celebrated coming to life with a marathon 27-hour rave that really made a big impact from start to finish.
With all the bad news of club closures and ever more draconian police measures constantly filtering throughout clubland, news of a fresh space will always be welcome. Located in Wapping, the place was formerly known as Studio Spaces. Now though, it has been kitted out with not one but two brand new sound systems and the industrial rooms in which they live have been designed around them.
Perfect for techno parties, the club is a picture of a dystopian post-industrial future with steel girders, brick walls and plenty of concrete forming the backdrop. As such the line-up reflected this with a serious line-up featuring bigwigs like Ostgut legend Ben Klock and New Yorker Volvox as well as abrasive talent Blawan.
We arrived well into the party and the place was jumping. Smoke filled the floor and blurred the edges so that you got utterly lost in the sound. And that sound was crystal clear, with booming bottom ends all sounding loud without hurting your ears. It was fast rising star Courtesy, who was at the controls when we arrived and she whizzed through rough textures and corrugated grooves with fast mixing that kept us on our toes.
The fact space has had a huge air con update helped meant it never got too sweaty on the intimate floor and kept us going for hours. Avalon Emerson was next up in the Black Studio and she tripped through psyched-out techno sounds, weird synths and plenty of hard to define grooves that all kept the crowd twisting and turning through.
That crowd was a knowing mix of ravers, some young and keen, some more aged and battle-worn, but they all seemed impressed with what they were experiencing. For us, Blawan playing at 6 pm was a real highlight. He jarred tired bodies into action and slammed through some big drums and industrial moods that eventually made way for more flailing percussion. It was a great way to end what was a monumental launch party.
Pictures by Hungry Visuals
