On receiving an e-mail saying: “Due to bad weather secretsundaze has had to move inside the Ministry of Sound”, I almost considered not going. The sundaze day rave has always had a relaxed and friendly vibe, something that only comes with being outdoors in the daytime, not something foreseeable in a dark vacuous space at 1:00pm in the afternoon. The Coronet Theatre party a few months back was a classic example of the brand getting greedy, a night-time event in an enormous space with little atmosphere.
As we got to the Ministry at about 3pm, a few people were smoking on the terrace and the rain had stopped. In the time it took me to get some drinks, the terrace was suddenly heaving and a man on a ladder adjusting some wires looked promising. Soon enough Giles Smith and entourage emerged behind a table laden with decks and some minimal grooves started to plink through the speakers. It turned out that they’d had to rehire the whole of their previously cancelled equipment and reinstall it, but it was well worth the trouble.
Rhadoo was on first, one third of the A:rpia:r trio pioneering the Romanian techno scene at the moment. His white label dub remix of Saint Germain's 'Rose Rouge', was one of the best tunes to come out of DC10 last summer, so I was looking forward to his three-hour set. The look of concentration and effort on his face throughout clearly paid off because the whole thing was a stomping techno orgy that, coupled with occasional glimmers of sunshine, transported a concrete car park full of enthusiastic clubbers to a sun-kissed terrace in Ibiza. The only fault I had with the music is that they always have a habit of switching it into old school disco about an hour before the end, and whether you like old school disco or not, when it follows good techno you feel like you've stumbled into a Hed Kandi soiree by mistake.
Giles Smith seemed in good spirits - switching from sitting behind the decks, to DJing, to dancing with the crowd. Will Saul who was due to play the after-party also made an appearance and looked pretty content, reclining in a deck chair behind the speakers. All the usual factors were there: Italian ladies, zany sunglasses, ridiculous haircuts and an enormous inflatable lollipop. The location was a lot better than expected, less congested than the Canvas terrace and a lot roomier than you'd imagine once the burger vans had been cleared away and shrubbery moved to the side. Tickets had sold out weeks in advance for this and it's clear to see why secretsundaze is still so popular, even though the secret's out.
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