Laidback Luke & The Crookers @ Gatecrasher 7 Leeds

Saturday night was spent seeing Laidback Luke and The Crookers in Leeds. The Ibiza styled night was a change of scenery but awesome at the same time. With the venue changing from Victoria Works (which has had its licensed suspended) to Gatecrasher 7 in town there was barely room to breathe. Cream is one of the best-known nights in Ibiza and plays some of the best house music around; Leeds was lucky to have a small taster of the Ibiza music. The venue was packed out with police in every corner keeping a close eye on everyone but that didn’t take away from night what so ever. The night ended with an after party at cloud9, which went on till 10am then next day.

Wax:on 5th birthday

On Saturday the 28th of November Wax:on celebrated its 5th Birthday at Stylus Leeds University. Since 2004 Wax:on has graced us with some of the most exciting and innovative new music, ranging from electronic dance to Dubstep. Headlining the night was Cassius the French electro-house duo, Zdar and Boom Bass have been mixing on the music scene since 1988, and Leeds was lucky enough to witness such legends in action. Second on was Belgium based band Aeroplane and one of Wax:Ons favourite DJs, Brodinski. Also playing that evening was People Get Real and Eskimo Twins.

Down in Mine the more intimate room in Stylus was The Count and Sinden. The Duo consists of Joshua "Hervé" Harvey (The Count) and Sinden. They are most well known for their track “Beeper” which features girl of the moment Kid Sister. Doorly, Jack Beats, Mumdance, Tek-one and Birthday treat, Nero were all representing down in the Mine as well.
Over the last year Nero has become the name worth dropping in both the Drum and Base and Dubstep scenes. They have remixed tracks by the likes of La Roux, Deadmau5, and The Streets.
The highlight of the night had to be Brodinski, who usually plays noisy techno, bass heavy house through to a more melodic minimal, came out of his comfort zone for the final hour and played some of the best Dubstep of 2009.

I caught up with The Count and Siden later that week, while they were producing in The Counts studio in North West London. Both mentioned how amazing the crowd in Leeds was, even though they were shattered after playing in Paris the night before. They said the energy of the crowd was so intense, as soon as they started all tiredness was forgotten. After the gig the duo said they only had 10 minutes to say a quick hello to Brodinski, Mumdance and Jackbeats before they ran out the door and set of back to London.
The Count, also known as Herve, gave me some inside information about collaborations with Armin Van Helden and A-Trak planned for 2010. They also mentioned that they have been working with Fat Boy Slim on their next current album. When asking the duo what the highlight of 2009 was they said it was having a track as big as ‘Mega’ that so many people across the board played is a huge achievement for them. They are now planning on holding a remix competition to try and get some variations of the track, which would be great for any young potential DJs to get involved with. The guys were a pleasure to talk to and are next performing in Cardiff on the 10th December.

Metropolis

As an aspiring PR I have been writing articles for the Leeds Met Paper and attempting to build a portfolio of work. Any work I do, anything I get published, or any work experience I get, I am going to use this blog as a documentation of my journey to become a PR. My first piece of published work this year was a review of the night Metropolis, which features below…
(my photography is terrible but a little picture won't hurt anyone!)

A sold out Victoria Works was bursting at the seams with sweating students, all ready to show their respect for the legendary night, Metropolis presents Ram and Beatdown.

Room 1 included Ram Records founder and England’s leading Drum and Base DJ, Andy C, Prophecy, Xample, Subfocus and Chase and Status.

Beatdown in Room 2 was host to Dubstep heavyweights, Rusko, Scratch Perverts, Toddla T, The Gaslamp Killer and finally the vanishing act that was Skream, whose remix of hit single “In for the Kill” by La Roux has made him and dubstep house hold names.

The highlight of the night had to be the live Chase and Status set whose small addition of a drum kit and percussion sent the crowd crazy. The interaction between the MC and audience was unforgettable, so you can imagine the state of the crowd when Chase and Status were joined by Plan B for their new single ‘End Credits’

Towards the end of the night a room of jungle dancing students were disappointed to discover, closing act Skream had failed to turn up. Excuse given was that Skream had been held up at another gig in Manchester, disappointment was short lived as the replacement was fellow Dubstep pioneer Benga.

Ticket prices weren't cheap £17.50 but with that line up you left feeling your money had been well spent. Unfortunately the clocks going back meant final acts such as Benga had their sets cut an hour short.

The nights frolics left the students bashed and bruised but utterly satisfied with what was had been on offer. Metropolis at Victoria Works will be gracing our presence again on November 21st, with artists from the Hospitality record label, including High Contrast, Logistics and Benga one not to miss.