Hi Oktane at Hidden

Hi Oktane at Hidden

03 August, 2009
by: LadyAsbo

People love to talk of a North v South England divide.  Blackpool v Big Ben. Jellied eels v gravy with everything. Essex girls v dodgy Scousers. You get the idea. Tonight the North's finest Hard House export, Hi Oktane, are nobly doing their bit for National relations; upping sticks to London with a simple mission statement. Showing the Southerners how to party! But enough of this sniping – with a line up that would leave the harshest of critics foaming at the mouth and not one, but two London exclusives all for a recession busting tenner let's get to it! Unusually for a London based event, the DJs have been chosen from the North and South which makes for a very interesting line-up indeed.

Hi Oktane have been running their critically acclaimed, ad-hoc events in Leeds for the past year and Friday marked their London debut. Despite a slight management re-shuffle Adam M, DJ, producer and Red Management's latest signing remains the Head Honcho.

Hidden is of the 'no frills' variety of venues. Arriving later than anticipated walking through steel doors Spoonfed are met with an impressively full dance-floor. The first exclusive of the night – hard house hotties JoJo and Cally Cage battling it out back to back was well under way. Their performance styles could not be more different – Cally is serene and graceful while JoJo has more of the hyper child on blue smarties vibe going on. When they work as a team tonight, their tight, no nonsense mixing quickly has tips the crowd beyond the warm-up stage.

Next on deck duty is Karim. This signals battening down the hatches and preparing for a lesson in delivering a hard yet always groovy set. As he conducts the floor with his trademark smile, the crowd chant along to his version of 'Never Lost His Hardcore' like an enthusiastic, tone deaf and very wrong school choir.

Up next, Ben Steven's and Rodi Styles latest project 'Chaos Theory' takes the night in a different direction. Spanning over a hundred releases between the two of them Chaos Theory give their tunes a live make-over Gok Wan would be jealous of by shaking them up, turning them inside out, chopping and mixing them into something brand new and exclusive. Oh and did I mention they use five decks? A feat which renders the boys as busy as an amphetamine addict on a cleaning spree. The end result is creative and uplifting whilst managing to leave the cheese firmly behind in the dairy aisle.

Time for Spoonfed to rest the old sea legs briefly. The smoking terrace outside Hidden is hilarious – somewhat like the holding bay for a secure mental unit. Joking aside Hi Oktane attracted a very friendly, attitude free, although male dominated crowd. Outside, we spot a gorgeous girl dressed as a bee, a smattering of obligatory furry booted cybers, a fashionista or two but most people sensibly flexing the jeans and trainers option giving maximum manuverability for eight hours of stomping.

Eagerly awaited Adam M's set took us back to the 'darkside.' The beats got filthier and the dance moves became more eccentric. I glance round and spot one guy stomping so hard I'm worried he'll end up in Australia. A phrase bandied around too often in clubland is that the DJ makes it look all too easy. It is in Adam M's case undisputably true and his top-notch tune selection is supporting evidence for his case. Bush Babies 'Delicious' (Tinrib & Dave Randall Remix) and the wonderful Adam M and Karim collaboration 'Hysterical' commanded whoops and many a Hard House Chop from the floor.

Next up Illogik takes to the decks looking poised and aware of what needs to be done to save a flagging dance-floor. A razor sharp set follows showcasing his presence behind the decks and ability to read a crowd. 'Tronic Equator' goes down like a volcanic eruption! If the crowd went bananas for Adam M then they were well and truly demented for Illogik. It's the end of the hour and the floors full again – job done!

James Nardi and Dave Curtis were in charge of the power-hour and kept the faithful going until 6am. Dave Curtis and Defective Audio's 'Hurt Me' induced some major arse swinging and Cheshire grins. Nardi and Curtis are a force to be reckoned with. They're so good it seems a shame not to give them an hour each in which to run riot.

With a name like Hi Oktane you know you are in for a full throttle evening. Where Hi Oktane deserves to be congratulated is their ability to build the night up gradually through the choice of DJs so that a wider spectrum of the genre is experienced. Sticking to their ethos of promoting new talent and selecting respected, but not necessarily commercial, crowd-pulling DJs is brave and great for the scene too.

Tonight the alleged North-South divide is far from our minds as England United party hearty. Perhaps Hi Oktane's spiritual home will always be Leeds but we miss you already. Hurry Back!

Click here to see all London house.
Click here to see all London DJ music.
Click here for things to do in Vauxhall.

LadyAsbo