On 7th November of this year, the very first Rabid Festival took place. This is London's brand new winter techno festival. The line-up boasted such names as:
Umek : D.I.M. : Matthias Tanzmann : Paul Ritch (LIVE) : Ambivalent : Fabrizio Maurizi : Peter Van Hoesen : Mike Dehnert : Andre Kraml : SIOPIS : Marcin Czubala : Scuba : Deepgroove (LIVE) : Sigha : Silversurfer : Spoc : Jacob Husley : Peter Pixzel : Cormac : Hannah Holland : Mikki Most : Ian Robinson : KeToLoCo DJs : Ivan Escura : FB Julian : Pinto : Nazareth : Christopher Ruvalcaba : Sebas Ramis : Rama Bloom : Haine et Doute : ITM : Multifarius : Mario Leal : Pepper
...and a whole host of others.
With a line-up this extensive, playing in a chilly London winter, we needed a big ass club...
The festival sprawled over 5 rooms of London Bridge's SEOne.
Rooms were hosted by WetYourSelf, DJ Mag, Ketoloco, Trailer Trash and Lost Souls, who also played host to the amazing official Rabid afterparty at Cable.
Those who went to Rabid will know that much of SEOne, apart from WYS's main room, was quite empty - which really was a great shame. This brave debut was brought to a recession-hit clubland of financially reluctant ravers. Rome wasn't built in a day, and the hope is that as each year comes round, this will grow. I waited in DJ Mag's room, with bated breath, to hear Fabrizio Maurizi play. As his set time neared, the music stopped and a burly bouncer inflitrated the dancefloor, announcing that the room was closed. Pretty upset, I shuffled out of the room with the other Maurizi hopefuls, to later hear the dancefloor buzz that he would be playing at the Cable afterparty... even better! Boy was I pleased.
Dancing out the rest of the night in the WetYourSelf room was a treat. Paul Ritch and Matthias Tanzmann banged out some absolutely mental beats. Pounding, chunky, rhythmic techno to our hearts' content. The crowd, myself definitely included, loved absolutely every minute of it.
With a line-up this extensive, playing in a chilly London winter, we needed a big ass club...
The festival sprawled over 5 rooms of London Bridge's SEOne.
Those who went to Rabid will know that much of SEOne, apart from WYS's main room, was quite empty - which really was a great shame. This brave debut was brought to a recession-hit clubland of financially reluctant ravers. Rome wasn't built in a day, and the hope is that as each year comes round, this will grow. I waited in DJ Mag's room, with bated breath, to hear Fabrizio Maurizi play. As his set time neared, the music stopped and a burly bouncer inflitrated the dancefloor, announcing that the room was closed. Pretty upset, I shuffled out of the room with the other Maurizi hopefuls, to later hear the dancefloor buzz that he would be playing at the Cable afterparty... even better! Boy was I pleased.
Umek, after some technical issues (prompting him to do what any great technician would do - swearing and aggressively flashing V-signs at his laptop), finished things off at SEOne, bringing the mood down to a deep, rolling groove that segued nicely into the short walk to the afterparty...
And what an afterparty it was! Cable is an excellent club, designed by the same clever folks that put together the layout of Fabric - the only shortfall being the treachorously slippery floor in the bar room, and (tragically) on the staircase... be warned! The sound system and acoustics in that place are, in my opinion, totally spot on.
This served Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones well, playing a back-to-back set with warm acoustic sounds and grooving percussion throughout. In contrast, Fabrizio Maurizi transmitted his signature electronic, mechanical, even mathematical sound. His Daddy Diego-esque crushed synths and clicking beats went down oh so well. The intimate and friendly feel of this shindig was second to none. A real social vibe permeated the atmosphere. It was a far cry from the messy come-down extravaganzas often witnessed at afterparties.
Three cheers for Antony Difrancesco and the rest of the Lost Souls team who did a great job of putting this together!
The Rabid website is here, which currently displays some more videos from the night. I'll certainly be checking the goings on at next year's installment, which will be on Sat Nov 6th 2010. Hopefully, I'll see you there!
JM
