Olenka Gibbs gives us her view from The Roundhouse.
If Bank Holidays are good for anything, they’re good for squeezing in an extra day of partying without the guilt of a Monday hangover. By this logic, it’s great that secretsundaze’ massive summer event, Go Bang! is happening today, on this rather lovely August Bank Holiday.
The sun is shining, beer already flowing and the streets on the walk up are packed with eager teens, faux punks and confused tourists, all sparking an electric, expectant atmosphere. A last minute change of venue (due to the London Pleasure Gardens fiasco) sees Camden’s Roundhouse hosting the event - a famed venue for eclectic live gigs, but as far as I know not a popular venue for a dance events. Slightly risky, but better than no party, and the feeling of sheer excitement is as heavy hanging as the bass coming through the glass doors as we arrive.
A few things drew me to this event - mainly daytime dancing and Kieren Hebden, aka Four Tet. Without exception, Four Tet has always delivered an excellent set with musical, rhythmical forethought and spontaneous crowd pleasing, teasing drops. Can’t wait!
A couple of hours early for his set, we enter the arena...and what an arena! A giant disco ball overlooks the weirdly bright, sky lit dancefloor. A massive neon yellow Go Bang! poster hangs as a backdrop. The crowds tip to the heavy side of muscly men and sparsely dressed disco divas, and I quickly remember what these big club events are like. "Get into it", I think, "it’ll be awesome".
After a quick dance, a trip to the rooftop tiki bar cements the Bank Holiday vibe and a few cocktails in the sun fill me and my companions with unbounded party spirit. My friends were a little dubious about the somewhat older crowd, but secretsundaze has gathered a loyal following over the years and diversity is all good right? Then, out of nowhere (OK, I might have been showing a little builders bum while sitting on the step), some charming gurner tries to slide his hand down my backside before mumbling something incoherent and telling my friends “It’s between me and ‘er”. Charming.
The time has come for Four Tet! I pull up my jeans and we head inside. Hebden has drawn in the masses, filling the ample space with cheers as the lights finally start up, creating a welcoming and familiar club like atmosphere. My friend turns to me “When he drops Jupitus, you’ll shit yourself!”
Hard and heavy basslines expertly mixed with musicality are linearly mixed with sparks of Jupitus to thread a sublime pre-drop break through the set. The only bad thing was that time passed too quickly and it was over in the flash of two hours.
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