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Four Tet All Nighter: Light at the end of a 'Long Dark Tunnel' for London Nightlife
House | Friday 23rd October 2015 | Jacob
Recently, a lot has been written on London’s nightlife dying out, most referencing inevitable cuts to Arts funding under the Tories, closure of several of the capital’s well-loved clubs and a general feeling that European nightlife capitals Amsterdam and Berlin are ‘doing it better’ (talk to anyone that went to ADE, Dekmantel or Berghain/Tresor in the last few months for confirmation of this). There even appears to be some scepticism at the proposed appointment of a London ‘Night Mayor’, a position that could potentially oversee an improvement in the undoubtedly lucrative (and essential) British tradition of going out.
Amidst this negativity towards the current state of British nightlife for the last few months, I enjoyed one of the best nights out of my life last Friday at the Four Tet All Nighter at Brixton Academy. Face value tickets sold out faster than Chipmunk did grime in 2009, with Four Tet explaining the pricing of the tickets in this tweet back in 2012:
I saw Fugazi at Brixton in the 90's... £5 ticket, no light show, no bullshit... one of the best things I've ever seen.
— Four Tet (@FourTet) May 8, 2012
Unlike Chipmunk, Four Tet stuck to his principles, and has kept the pricing the same since the curated night starting in 2012. Being shitely organised at the best of times, I missed out on the general sale. I resigned myself to finding tickets 4 times over face value. Having scouted about for tickets on social media for a few days prior to the event, Four Tet tweeted trying to get people selling the tickets at face value that they no longer needed. The response to this was pretty decent, with loads of people tweeting saying they had several face value tickets for sale, and myself finding 4 tickets all face value. I arranged to meet with the guy selling them, being more than happy to pay £25 for the lot, as I was expecting to pay that for just one ticket. As I handed over the money, he even exclaimed that he hadn’t got any change. I thought this little instance highlighted the unifying effect that Four Tet has had with his both his fans and these curated nights he has put on for the last 3 years.
Anyone who has been to Kieran Hebden’s curated events in the last few years will know about the special atmosphere that is created in the Academy, dissimilar to any other ‘big night out’ I have been to, particularly at Brixton Academy. The somewhat aggy atmosphere that was commonplace when Rinse have had their showcases at the venue was nowhere to be seen or felt; bouncers were calm, the communal feeling generally relaxed. Hebden has not only kept the same line up throughout the 4 years it’s taken place, but also the eclectic variety of music played throughout the night. These nights live long in the memory because of how simply and effectively they are put together. People were just there for the music. The stripped back approach; cheap tickets, big venue, no visuals, big sound system, few spills, all thrills and a staunch line up really highlights a return to the core essence of British clubbing, and it continues to be a breath of fresh air.
Props go to Four Tet and everyone else that played at the night for continually keeping it ‘no lights, no screen, no bullshit’. The variety of music that were heard on the evening was the best thing about it, with a few choice cuts attached in the playlist below. Over the four years this night has taken place has been the night finishing in a power hour for jungle and hardcore, this time initiated by Daphni, with 'Long Dark Tunnel' igniting the end of the night for the fourth year running. The Four Tet All-Nighter symbolised the fact that London nightlife is anything but dead, with the principles at the core of nights like this setting the benchmark for the future of clubbing in the city.
