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| 'As One' presents:
Bugged Out! - The End |
Date:
Saturday 17th January 2004
Address: The End, West Central Street, London
WC1
Occurrence: Monthly
Hours: 10pm - 7am
Ticket Price: £15
The End & AKA, £12 NUS, £10 AKA
only - Advance tickets (£14)
Genre: House
Dress Code: TBC
Capacity: 800 |
Main Room: Justin
Robertson, FC Kahuna, Phil Kieran and Brendan Long
Lounge: Erol Alkan,The Glimmer
Twins and Rev Milo Speedwagon
AKA: Nathan Detroit, Wandy,
Anthony Bebawi |
The first Bugged Out
night was held in Manchester back in 1994 and the
name has since been associated with the UK’s
finest club nights. It’s forward thinking
music and events policies have helped it to win
awards for both best British and International Club
Night. Since October 2002 Bugged Out has resided
at The End in London, a more than suitable venue
for such a highly regarded night.
The End is definitely one of those clubs that should
be visited by all. Above ground level is the stylish
AKA bar and restaurant with the main two rooms of
the club being found in the belly of huge former
post office vaults downstairs. We took in the first
sets of the night while having a drink in the awesome
VIP room suspended above the AKA bar. This is a
great place to go to for a bit of refuge from the
madness downstairs without feeling that you have
left the club environment completely. From here,
we listened to Andy Bebawi really set things going
in AKA with recent breakbeat remix classics ‘Donna
Kebab’ and Groove Armada‘s ‘Superstylin.’
Before long it was time to head downstairs to the
main room to catch Leeds boys FC Kahuna. Their set
was well programmed but not very easy to get into,
a bit of a disappointment but admittedly this was
only the start of a long night that would definitely
be getting harder.
Set of the evening was undoubtedly that of ‘Trash’
man Erol Alkan. It is so refreshing to see a DJ
dancing as much inside the tiny booth in the Lounge
as the people out on the dance floor. Erol is said
to have been offered a resident’s slot after
just one gig in 2001 and anyone who has heard him
play will know exactly why. Back up north, he has
made the Annexe at Nation his own with his unmistakeable
and diverse style- this set tonight featured White
Stripes, Phoenix, Josh Wink, New Order, Stone Roses
slipped in between plenty of dirty tech house. After
Erol concluded his show with Donna Summer, the Glimmer
Twins kept the room jumping to the sound of Tone
Loc and Dakar and Grinser’s ‘I wanna
be your dog.’ It would have been awesome if
we could have heard a little bit more being pushed
out of what is one of the world’s best sound
systems- don’t get me wrong, it was damned
loud but nothing to make your granny s*$t herself.
Past the bar at the back of the Lounge, the main
room featured more of Bugged Out’s perennial
favourites. The large, electric- blue booth in the
centre of the room works exceptionally well, with
DJ’s able to interact with almost the whole
crowd. Long time resident Justin Robertson and Dublin’s
Phil Kieron slammed out plenty of the kind of basslines
Bugged Out is synonymous with. Snappy dresser Justin
Robertson has been someone who never disappoints
in both technique and choice of records on the decks
and from what I saw (unfortunately not enough!)
this set oozed quality. Phil Kieran followed up
and built things to a hard and nasty end to the
night, but a few too many beers meant that I flagged
before the 7am closing time.
Having been a regular at Bugged Out’s night
at Nation, it is great to know that their parties
elsewhere really do live up to those unforgettable
nights out in Liverpool. The environment was certainly
different; as a club Nation has a much more raw
feel than The End, and where do you find hundreds
of loony scousers in Central London?! However, just
because The End is different, this doesn’t
make it worse. In fact, I’m tempted to say
that I preferred it. The atmosphere was warm yet
electrifying and there was next to no attitude in
the club, impressive when you take into account
the cross section of people present.
As Bugged Out finishes its first decade of clubbing,
it is still a night about passion for music and
incredible parties. Lets hope there’s plenty
more to come. |
Venue: 9
Music: 9
Crowd: 8
Sound System: 8
Total: 34 / 40
Rating: Gold Award |
| Review written by:
Tom Scott |
tomscott@uk-cl.co.uk |
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