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Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! |
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Review: Sunday morning hymns with ‘F’
Reported by Less is Bat
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Submitted 13-07-05 20:31
Faith or ‘F’ is an event that has been at the centre of clubland debate from its birth. Surrounded by drama one couldn’t fail to have a sneaky look at its line-ups and read the comments about their launch. I was eager to head to faith and make up my own mind about this exciting new afterparty.
Afterparties are hard things to pull off successfully. Faith starts at 05.30 a.m. and so a majority of its crowd have yet to head to bed. Building a line up that will support and excite this tired, flippant and unstable clubber mood is a tricky task. Too ‘hard’ and you burn people out too early, but too gentle and people begin to sit… and then sleep. K.A.R.L. is the musical director for Faith and as a friend he had chatted to me about the promotion and made his passion for achieving this balance clear. Armed with my clip board, camera and coffee I leapt from bed at 04.00 and made my way to Fire club to see if Faith would have people praying for more or heading home in a vow of silence.
As I arrive at 05.30 there were already a good few people bopping about on the dance floor of the main room. Bedlam had been running in Fire club the night before and as I made my way towards the second room I became entangled with the chaos of shutting down bedlam and opening F. The bouncers were stopping people from entering the main room which was now operating as F and yet those who had paid to go to Bedlam were confused as to why they had to leave or pay to head back into the main room. K.A.R.L. and the head bouncer were on hand and speaking with the crowd and soon calmed things down and moved people along. I found the speed of the turnaround amazing: the moment the second room was clear of Bedlamers staff immediately started cleaning up, restocking the bar and putting up the UV and laughing gas stalls, F posters and set times. All in all this whole process only took about 20-30 minutes.
The main room was extremely tribal, funky and techy. Pagano’s mixing was impeccable and at this early stage I was enjoying taking in the details such as the F statues and décor and the excellent sound system. The crowd was a mixed vibe. People were somewhat refrained and only about 30% of the turn-out were dancing and in the party spirit at this early stage.
The Faith team
By 06.30 Pagano in the main room had become much more uplifting and the second room had now opened to the F crowd. Pagano's tune selection was still very tribal but not as dark as it had been when I first arrived. More people were arriving at this stage as people were finishing off from the night before and arriving for an F breakfast. The bouncers were doing an excellent job on the door and I witnessed someone with a very bloody face trying to enter whilst a little worse for wears. They sorted him out with something to clean his face but didn’t let him in which was in my view the right decision. Richard the second promoter was at the door helping to make these decisions and keep the new entries cheery and feeling welcome.
As I made my way to the second room ABS was on the decks. This room was less busy than the main one but most of the people were dancing and enjoying the, again, tribal and progressive vibe. The music in this room was an excellent compliment to the main room as the tribal-style beats were present in both sets. The laughing gas stall was awake and doing a good business even at this early stage. It was the second time that weekend I'd seen Fad hard at work cheerily handing out balloons. Everyone was in good spirits and even Andy Farley who had arrived very early was enjoying the tunes in the main room and soaking up the atmosphere.
Andy Farley
The main room had filled up dramatically by 07.00 with the end of other events such as Twisted. A rather wobbly Technikal staggered in with Mark French and friends to enjoy the morning vibe. Vin Diesel also arrived fresh from jetting back from Ibiza at 03.30 earlier that day. I was impressed that so many people had made the trek down and were awake and kicking to the F beats. The dance floor was full and people at the bar and seating areas were all in great spirits. Back in the second room the tunes had become funkier and more uplifting and this room too had filled up.
Nile from London — “Gay and straight together is how it should be. I’m really enjoying tonight and feel really relaxed. Everyone is so friendly.”
Andy Farley had stepped up to the decks and at about 07.30 he began to drop in a few sneaky anthems to get the crowd going. An excellent remix of ‘Shiny Disco Balls’ had everyone bouncing up and down and heading for the dance floor. Farley’s set was more upbeat than Pagano, which was needed at this point. Everyone was in the mood for a good stomp and Farley was producing the right tunes to get everyone going. His ability to bring the mood up then pace it down again really impressed me. He wasn’t playing at his usual hard and fast pace, which made a refreshing change and was exactly the right thing for the crowd who I feel would have faded away if the tunes had been too full on. The crowd was as large and energetic as any 2.00 a.m. crowd and it was easy to forget that this was an afterparty on a Sunday morning.
The crowd was a mix of gay, straight, foreigners testing the water, regulars and those odd few who never fit into any boxes. There was also a few more fresh faced souls like myself who had got up early to make the trip down to Vauxhall for some Sunday morning prayers. Having been proposition by one chap three times I was wildly amused by his last ditch attempt; “Ok… this is my last attempt… I have an indoor pool.” Luckily at this exact moment Farley dropped a stonking remix of the old anthem ‘Good Life’ so I was able to skip away into the crowd, which was waving its hands in the air and stamping their feet as hard as possible.
By 08.15 the musical mood had shifted gear again and Farley was dropping more dark and yet bouncy tunes. 80% of the crowd were now on the dance floor and the temperature was increasing rapidly. Most of the blokes had removed their shirts and a few disrespectful souls had strung up their tops to dry on the arms of the Christ-like statues. Although I didnt find the heat unbearable a few who were dancing more than myself seemed to be uncomfortable with the heat.
David Jimenez
The second room was really full and by 08.30 we were hearing some seriously happy, techy and bouncy tunes. This set by Lisa Germanwas less hard than the previous one which was great as people had somewhere to go if they were finding Farley too intense. Her style was quite progressive and the crowd were really enjoying it and most were dancing.
At 09.00 Lady Biancastepped up in the main room. Her set was much more techy than I was expecting and it offered a very different vibe to Andy Farley. The crowd thinned out by this point and I heard a few whisperings of people heading off home. I think a majority of the ‘crack on squad’ had had enough by this stage and from 09.00-09.30 about half of the crowd went home to confess their sins before passing out. Those who stayed were beginning to flag as well and every seat in the place seemed to be taken by someone.
Collette from Essex (Far Left) — “ We came down for gay pride and had to come here afterwards. I’ve been down before and we are loving it. It’s a great crowd and the djs are awesome!”
By 09.30 the second room was much busier than the main room. I think most people lacked the energy to keep up with Lady Bianca’s resolution to press on with the harder sounds. This is a bit of a shame as her set really travelled somewhere and she dropped some great tunes. There was a second drop of the night for the ‘Good Life’ remix and the crowd again went mad (watch out for this tune). The second room was pushing trancier more euphoric house and the dance floor was really quite busy compared to the sparse few swaying in the main room. Towards 10.00 there was even a few acid-ish techno tunes dropped in. The synths were back in and the tribal feel and bongo beats which had been present for most of the night had officially gone home to bed. The fresh sound made a great change of style and pace and gave many a second wave of energy.
By 10.20 my energy levels had severely dropped. I always wish that clubs would have some kind of food available, especially at afterparties for the fresh-faced early risers. David Jimenez was absolutely blowing the crowd and me away in the second room. His style was really electro and funky and I felt disappointed that my stomach was forcing me to leave in search of food. This DJ is someone I’d been keen to hear more of.
Unfortunately I didn’t get too much of a chance to experience the final set by Ziad in the main room but the hardcore few who were left dancing seemed to be impressed. It was time for this Cat to leave the church of Fire club and head home.
The promoters and F staff had made a real effort to make all the clubbers feel welcome and relaxed. The mood of the whole event had been on the whole extremely upbeat and positive although the sudden departure of many of the crowd around 09.00-09.30 had made a depression in the mood. Fire club is a great setting for this event both in terms of size and style.
The mixed crowd combined with the unpredicted tribal feel makes me sure that every F experience will be individual and different from its last. I really had a great time and would thoroughly recommend you check this event out. The line-ups and style are ever changing and so musically you will experience a different F each week, which in my book is refreshing and a much-needed asset to London promotions that in time can often become flat and repetitive.
Roll onwards F and make us all angelic and happy ravers! Oh and before I sign off I have to give my ‘quote of the night’ which goes to a medium high chap with a bald head and a concerned look: “They all hate me. Do you know what I do for a living? I’m a Psychiatrist and I’m telling you they all f*cking hate me. Seriously.”
All photos courtesty of Jess the Cat. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : :
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Other Features By Less is Bat: Celebrating the launch of Party Proactive at its new Turnmills home — an interview with D.A.V.E. the Drummer The HeatUK and HarderFaster Xmas Payback Party — reviewed! The freaks come out! Riot Spooktacular reviewed Party Proactive is coming: interview with Soto of Botchit and Scarper Squelcher VS Guilt — The Beach Party review
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Comments:
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From: ~deleted1390 on 13th Jul 2005 20:40.20 An interesting read. Sunday after parties are never going to be my thing but this does sound like one I could enjoy.
I'm also looking forward to making my debut in the House room in August.
From: Aaron Baskerville on 14th Jul 2005 08:57.15 "F" is definately going from strength to strength with each party. Great team behind it, but hats off to Karl, who is getting the right mix of dj's playing each week and trying something different .....
From: Less is Bat on 14th Jul 2005 09:27.00 All comments very much appreicated as this is my first full review. Thanks
From: Daniel Reynolds on 14th Jul 2005 10:48.40 A Much Needed 'Kick up the Backside', in London Clubbing. Well Done.
From: emmahardware on 14th Jul 2005 11:13.52 wicked review hun -
From: Pandora S-K on 14th Jul 2005 12:34.41 Another nice ineresting read, well done to the F crew and Karl, for pushing something different - other than the 'Norm' within the clubscene.. As Tod Terry sang..'Keep pushin on, things can only get better...'
From: Mizz_behavin on 14th Jul 2005 12:35.22 Wicked review. Well done to everyone at F
From: Saint. on 14th Jul 2005 12:45.17 Great review Jess.
From: steelo kuchiki on 14th Jul 2005 13:07.55 nice debut review, bo
in the mix, etc
From: raving_pixie on 14th Jul 2005 14:50.03 Well done hun.
From: Disco Diva on 14th Jul 2005 14:56.46 Nice read jess, well done
From: Mizz Chief on 19th Jul 2005 19:31.45 What a fab review - have been going to F since the start and have only managed to miss one - it really is the best I've even stayed in on the Sat night and got up early on the Sun to go - well done to all of the crew and especially to Lee for getting it so right !!!!!!!!
From: anushka007 on 21st Jul 2005 16:44.17 I have been there few times and every time I did enjoyed myself. It is a shame that this party is happening on Sunday morning where usually I have no energy to dance any more. But I must say that great vibe created by promoters and peeps who goes there and very original line ups make want to me come back there
Well done you guys, cos you have a really nice party going off there.
From: Tina Martin on 22nd Jul 2005 08:32.15 Thanks for ya briliant review Jess and everyone's kind comments!! Onwards and upwards
From: Lozz on 25th Jul 2005 14:46.44 Doing something different and doing it very well! Whoooot!
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