Insekt

Insekt

21 July, 2008
by: LadyAsbo

Filthy tunes, an amazing venue and a downright rude soundsystem mean that the lucky thousand clubbers who entered Insekt's cocoon last Saturday aren't going to forget the experience in a while. With a double-teaming from Vauxhall after-party Twist, hangovers won't be forgotten in a while either.

This was Insekt's first outing to King's Cross venue Scala, an ex-cinema converted into a cavernous stomping space with labyrinthine staircases and side-rooms perfect for exploring – though increasingly difficult to navigate as the night wore on. The night holds a well-deserved reputation for 'quality' hard house events without a whiff of cheddar or Edam. The three founders are also prolific on the filth scene outside of club promotion, young-gun Chris Comben heading-up Combat Records, James Nardi a talented producer under various guises and Marc Johnson running Flashpoint and the recently resurrected Tripoli labels. Busy Bees!

Saturday's sprawling line-up had a touch of class, featuring new resident Defective Audio, MDA & Spherical, Jon BW, Olly Perris, Justin Bourne's last ever Insekt appearance and of course the aforementioned trio. Funk Deluxe hosted a house, breaks and electro room while WHP and Nose & Lips held the hardcore fort, spoiling us for choice. For me, however, it was all about the main room. Chris Comben set the tone for the evening by knocking out chunky beats as raw as sushi from the off. Next up, Olly Perris gave a dynamic hard trance performance featuring a spot of impromptu stage dancing. MDA & Spherical, like Perris not a typical Insekt booking, delivered fleshy trance with some electro-influenced riffs which worked well. Then grunting bass and an increase in BPM signalled James Nardi's turn for deck duty, sparking two girls into a synchronised floor-banging session.

Defective Audio made his first outing as Insekt's 2008 resident, and his hard set with a funky undercurrent lead the hordes into serious heads-down territory. Marc Johnson followed with intent dropping anthems such as 'Blunt Force'. His fast and furious hour was not for the fainthearted, but for fans of air-punching, hoover-laced darkness it was a 'must-see moment' of the year so far. Finally Justin Bourne, sadly soon retiring, took to the stage and released a filthy, hour-long last ever Insekt set, inducing a demented reception from the floor. Highlights included the stunning 'Dreams' and his own masterpiece 'Drop the Dime'. Suitably, he finished with 'The Hulk'.

But there was no rest for the wicked as we boarded the Twist party bus to take us south of the river. Changes have been afoot in camp Twist recently: having to move from Crash to Hidden has left a lot of dedicated fans less than delighted, but beefing up Hidden's soundsystem and making the place a whole lot darker softened the blow somewhat. In any case, Twist's DJs, like Insekt's, are hard house's equivalent of a premiership all-stars select side. Steve Maynard, Paul Batten, Tom Basquil and the almighty Karim delighted clubbers with filth while Glyn Waters, Gordon Darley and Ashley Waters held fort ably in the other room.

Insekt and Twist both attract an unlikely bunch of clubbers, but despite the fierce music the crowd are as friendly as Ant and Dec on uppers. England has carved a niche for itself as a country of eccentrics and the Twist crowd should be in the running as the epitome of that: as the rest of London is sleeping, the faithful are stomping their hearts out to repetitive beats. But when being wrong feels this good, it must be right.


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LadyAsbo