Clandestine; referring to secrecy and keeping information from other parties while sharing it with others. A great idea for the name and concept behind Space's Friday night party with the infamous Felix da Housecat. And luckily for us, they aren't being hugely picky about who they share said musical ‘information' with, as last night I took a peek through the keyhole into the night which claims to expose ‘the dark side of electronic music'.
This night sees the infamous Space terrace as the main room. As a space which is favoured and raved about by DJs across the world, it's the perfect location for Eagles & Butterflies, Junior Sanchez, Tommie Sunshine and of course Felix himself to thrust dance, house, electroclash and sounds from every other genre unmercifully upon your ear drums.
One of the highlights was Junior Sanchez. Initially he was dropping teasers such as Armand Van Helden's You Don't Even Know Me, followed by Ibiza hits such as Breach's Let's Jack, but the last hour or so was constant heavy tech-electro with a rock influence, creating an intensity similar to that of Amnesia's main room. When he played Fatboy Slim and Riva Starr's Eat Sleep Rave Repeat the crowd went wild, singing along to this great mantra.
Tommie Sunshine opened his set with one of our top ten tracks from June, Ninetoes Finder. After lulling the crowd into this sunny sense of security, his set promptly turned darker and was filled with dirty electro house sounds. He went from one genre to another, keeping the crowd guessing, and pulling it off really well.
The Sunset Terrace provided a great warm-up to the night from Hitch, followed by Paul Reynolds until close. Reynolds' set provided a great break from the heavier sounds on the Terrace, but still keeping people dancing with tracks such as Nina Simone's Sinnerman and a sample of the catchy vocal riff from Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
Half past four hit and eventually Felix prowled into the booth to take over the decks. The Housecat's set was far from domestic, playing a wild fusion of house and electroclash with added tribal drums, heavy salsa and the occasional rock reference. He played a good mix of his own tracks, including Frankie Meets Pauline, and Silver Screen Shower Scene, and finished the night with a bang.
So, it seems the cat's out the bag about Space Fridays... Make sure you're one of those in the know!
