Tomas Olesen checks out what's rumbling in the basement of East Village and it turns out to be D&BTV Live.
Remember Movement at Bar Rumba back in the '90s? Bryan Gee smacking it with someone like the Ragga Twins on the microphone, friendly faces raving to the bitter end despite it being a sweat-box and a Thursday. Last night I think I witnessed its natural successor – D&BTV live at East Village.
East Village is a perfect venue for this. The system carries more than enough weight to punch hard through the assembled ravers and the little basement doesn't need to be too rammed to feel busy. Not that it needs to 'feel' busy. It IS busy, and it's a Wednesday. Movement made Thursdays the big night for drum 'n' bass heads in the '90s and it looks like D&BTV may well make Wednesdays the thing in 2010.
A.M.C is on first and gets the early doors crew off to a flyer. A couple of his tunes are a bit trancey for me but they go down well with everyone else, so what do I know? His mixing is spot on and super fast – Darren Jay certainly seems to give him a whole heap of praise as they switch over.
Darren Jay really is the stand-out DJ on the night: proper drum 'n' bass played the way only someone with 20 years of experience can play it. Classics known and unknown get rolled out and with Fearless now on the mic the party really gets into full swing.
The best thing about the evening though is the friendly and up for it mid-week crowd. There's no attitude and there's a good split of guys and girls and of age groups. The advantage of being out in Shoreditch mid-week is definitely the type of people who are also out. Come the weekend it will once again feel like the West End, but tonight it feels like the Shoreditch of old.
Bryan Gee and SS both play storming sets of jump up tunes too and the lights seem to come on way too early. Judging by the speed of exit it seems that 2am has crept up on a lot of other people too, and with jobs or universities beckoning in the morning people soon disperse.
The Drum and Bass Arena/D&BTV crew really have got something special going on at East Village and entry is free as long as you text the requisite word to the number on their flyers and website before the night in question. Making Thursday mornings difficult for yourself has never come more highly recommended.
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