NEWS
EVENTS
Event review: LEAF Club
House | Friday 13th March 2015 |
It was the first sunny day of spring. In East London’s Victoria Park, families with young children enjoyed ice cream and duck feeding whilst joggers darted round the pushchairs and sweated in the unusual warmth.
Yet just a few miles away, on this chilled-out Saturday afternoon, thousands of sweaty ravers packed into a dark warehouse to go crazy to the loudest sets of some of the best names in the dance music business. This was the scene at the London Electronic Arts Festival, held in Wapping’s jaw-droppingly cavernous Tobacco Docks for a 2-day celebration of electronic music and all that it stands for.
With day one’s conference over and done with, it was time for a full-on all-day party, curated by famous party boss DJ Rob Da Bank. Stepping into the venue, we lost all sense of time and space; an assault of strobes and thunderous bass meant it could easily have been 5am. Rob himself played a funky set in room 3, alongside disco legend DJ Harvey who played a selection of soulful classics fit for the summery atmosphere of the day.
The low-ceilinged car park that formed Room 2 was hosted by Pan-Pot, who delivered an intense set of pure fire, as well as a floor-shaking set by German superduo Modeselektor. Meanwhile the enormous Room 1 hosted a deep yet bouncing set by Tale Of Us, fresh off the success of their recent BBC Essential Mix.
But the highlight of the night (or should I say day?) was Sasha, who was truly on form despite the limited 90 minute set slot. It was a set packed full of fresh selections, including his new track 'Vapourspace', Agoria's 'Hélice', Maribou State’s fresh new track 'Rituals' and Will Saul’s hot new remix of Odesza’s 'All We Need'. But all hands were thrown in the air with the climactic Carl Craig remix of Caribou’s 'Your Love Will Set You Free', which is quickly becoming a well-loved dancefloor classic.
Up last to take over the controls was Chris Liebing – at 9:45pm, it was hardly early morning, but his classic German brand of techno brought things to a close with style.
LEAF club on Saturday felt like a little slice of ADE in London. Hopefully after this year's success the event will continue to grow!
Words by @MiriamEJohnson
