#underground?

I guessed the sound system to be in the 10,000 W range and was comprised of two enormous stacks, containing a total of twelve bassbins and eight tops (all Funktion-One), along with four Martin Audio loudspeakers on stands for monitors. In front of this, stood about 50 stoic nightclub goers, bobbing away to some fairly hard techno, making one forget that it was in fact a quarter past ten on a Sunday night, and not half past three on a Sunday morning.

As I watched Uruguayan-born badman Nicolas Lutz lay down one obscure vinyl after another on the 1210s, resting on requisite concrete paving stones set on top of the hire tables, I wondered what the now resident of Berlin was thinking of his audience. Was he expecting more people? More dancing? More drugs? No one seemed to be rolling particularly hard and were generally content, as was I, to simply absorb the piercingly-loud music into my body, watching Lutz’ fluid movements: time, queue, fade, then he’d duck behind the decks every few minutes to dig for another record.

I couldn’t work out whether he was conscious of the fact that most every time the beat dropped, he was nowhere to be found or whether it was by design? Perhaps it was his way of exuding genuine humbleness to the crowd, or maybe he simply lacked a proper table upon which to sort his crate? Some instinct told me this is exactly the sort of thing this veteran was expecting.

Anyway, who cares? His sound was growing on me. The moderately hard techno, which was at first was an assault to the senses, soon became a welcome change from the just-a-little-too groovy tech house that’s been littering my ears of late. It was actually very satisfying to crave a glimpse of a melody somewhere amongst the frothy sea of acid 303 stabs, if only for a brief moment.

Who were these people around me? I’ve met some of them, but never bother with asking what their day job is. I didn’t really want to know, perhaps because that might distract me from the music. The small group of us gathered inside this fairly well known, multi-purpose warehouse space in Hackney Wick to experience something transcendental, however fleeting it may be. Some, myself included, have come here alone, drawn only by the promise of a robust sound system and, just maybe, something a little more unique than can be found in Shoreditch on a Saturday night.

Here's some just-a-little-bit-too-groovy tech house for you. Call me a hypocrite because I just don't care. Besides, it's a Thursday and I'm at home, not a Sunday at a warehouse party...