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| Boomshaboom |
Date:
Saturday 20th November 04
Address: The Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh
Occurrence: One-Off Special
Event
Hours: 8pm
– 3am
Ticket Price: £22.50
Genre: House
Dress Code: Street
Smart and Sexy
Capacity: 1,800 |
Line-Up:
Main Arena: Timo Maas (Live on Radio 1 1am-3am),
Lottie, Tom Middleton, Stuart Duncan, Alan Dobson,
Soul of Man (Fingerlickin Records) + Stereo MC’s
(DJ Set)
Ultragroove Bacardi B-Bar: Joey Negro, Gareth Sommerville,
Craig Gee, Gav Grant, Basil (percussion) |
Boomshaboom is the brainchild
of Derek Martin of Progression and Stuart Duncan
of Jet!, and was the first of a planned series of
one off events taking place in Edinburgh. The inaugural
event took place at the Ocean Terminal, a shopping
mall in Leith on the Edinburgh coast.
A shopping centre may appear to be a very odd place
to hold a dance event, and it was, but this came
with a few advantages. The main room is usually
a canteen style food court and quite large enough
for the 2000 capacity crowd. Not many venues in
Edinburgh can boast this. However, this was also
one of the biggest drawbacks of the event, and something
which unfortunately let it down quite a bit, that
due to the size of the main room and the fact that
it wasn’t designed for musical events, the
sound system just couldn’t live up to the
event. It simply wasn’t loud or crisp enough.
Nevertheless, the rest of the facilities were top
notch. The toilets, were clean and plentiful and
not of the low standard normally found in clubs,
the usual Debenhams clientele wouldn’t allow
for that, and the Bacardi bar which was situated
in the Zinc bar area of the venue was better suited
to a musical event.
And, although the main rooms sound wasn’t
the best, it created a good atmosphere with an air
of space that helps the venue seem full of energy
without feeling over packed. This was probably helped
by the full wall of ceiling height window looking
out over the Leith Docks.
Boomshaboom was broadcast live on the Radio One
Essential Mix with Timo Maas playing from 1am-3am
in an incredible set. Timo was obviously he main
draw for many people who were hugely appreciative
of his set.
Despite the fact that Timo Maas is truly one of
the best DJ’s, my favourite moment of the
night came from Tom Middleton who played Franz Ferdinands
“Take me out” to the biggest reaction
of the evening.
Also along for the event was Lottie, Tom Middleton,
Soul of Man, the Stereo MCs, Stuart Duncan and Soul
of Man in the main room. Joey Negro and Gareth Sommerville
from Ultragroove, Craig Gee, Gav Grant of Progression
and Basil headed up the back bar. Although I don’t
have any major issues with any of the DJ’s
and enjoyed everyone’s set, I think the main
room could have done with getting a bit harder and
faster earlier on as it didn’t really get
the crowd bouncing till Tom Middleton came on.
The line up was more like a festival than a club
night however I’m not sure that the timing
of the event was the best matched to the £22.50
ticket, coming up for Christmas and a week before
most pay days meant that this event didn’t
sell out, which I’m sure under other circumstances
it would have done.
Derek Martin said of the event "The idea
for Boomshaboom was to create a high-profile,
exclusive night with high production values, big
names and unusual venues. The fact that the Essential
Mix is broadcasting the first one is a statement
of our intention to put on something that Edinburgh
hasn't experienced before."
With four events planed for next year I can’t
wait to see what’s in store, and hope that
they live up to their full potential in the future.
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Venue: 7
Music: 8
Crowd: 7
Sound System: 4
Total: 26 / 40
Rating: Silver Award |
| Review written by: Lindsay
Strachan |
lindsay@uk-cl.co.uk |
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