Secretsundaze Go Bang Review

A night out in London used to be amazing, guaranteed.  I have had about 6 nights out in London this
year, none of them have been amazing, all have been slightly or significantly
spoiled by crowds, and sometimes even disappointing music.

So I took affirmative action and booked a ticket for the
daytime Secretsundaze party the day I found out about it, taking no notice of
which DJs were playing – I had only been to one Secretsundaze party before and
the crowd there seemed really nice. 
Decisive.

I arrived early on, it was very quiet to start – but aren’t
all parties in the first couple of hours. 
It gave me chance to talk to lots of randoms – it was a ridiculously
friendly crowd – and have a few strawberry ciders.  The music was good – first DJ was resident
and creator, Giles Smith, who warmed it up nicely.

Quite a few people seemed to recognise me, apparently I now
look like the son of Camilla Parker Bowles.  

Someone must have been on drugs to say that.

Also I look like some guy from the recent series of Big Brother (I definitely
don’t look like him!), oh and that guy with the blog, and who comments on
Resident Advisor.  I’ll take that.  There was an excellent
Seth Troxler lookalike near me too – even had the accent perfected.

I liked the venue – Studio 338, fairly easy to find not too
far away from Tony Blair’s Dome.  Simple enough inside, with a large terrace
where the DJs and the vast majority of the crowd were.  Unusually there were plenty of toilets –
though they also doubled up as a sauna. 
The roof of the terrace created a sun-trap (good practice for my upcoming Ibiza trip) and was frustratingly hot
underneath.  Just like my office.  Shame it wasn’t
raining.  Praise also to the venue for
supplying plenty of bar staff.  Security
were also friendly and relaxed.

Next up was Floating Points, the first 20-30 minutes of
their set was slow and predictable disco and funk – I don’t think the crowd
quite got it, but once they upped the bpm to something more usual, the
dancefloor filled, mixing deep house with disco and a very commendable set.  They could have done to smile a little more!

I don’t remember much about the live set from Portable, I do
remember the changeovers not being massively smooth.  I enjoyed it as I was dancing, but I cannot tell you much about it as I maybe not have been at my height of sobriety.

The final DJ I saw was Omar S – he was outstanding.  One of the best sets I have heard all year –
starting off dark and quite sinister, but never afraid to mix up the tech-edged
sounds with something more house-oriented, some of his own productions and some
definite classic party tunes too.  Really
have to see him again.

Tune of the night was this little surprise party gem – I might have to play this when I DJ on Saturday.

I lost everyone and decided it was best to mission back to
Reading around 9/10pm, thankfully avoiding the Russian Mafia who I had become
convinced were after me and safely navigating the melting escalators of the
station upon arrival.  Not to mention the
festival twats smashing bottles at Reading station.  Delightful.

In conclusion – the best night out in London this year,
superb music, lovely crowd – I cannot wait for next year.

Only downside was not meeting Tonka.  Or maybe I did?!