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Hed Kandi - The Winter Mix Party
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Date: Saturday 26th November 2005
Address: Pacha, Terminus Place, Victoria, London
Occurrence: Monthly
Hours: 9.30pm – 6am
Ticket Price: £20
Genre: House
Dress Code: Gold! (but not really!)
Capacity: 1,000 |
| Line Up: Phil Faversham, Rob Wilder, Andy Norman, John Jones, Pav on Percussion and the Lovely Laura on Sax |
My expectations were very high for tonight. Firstly, it was Hed Kandi, which has grown enormously since it was formed in 1999, and secondly, because it was Pacha. After having been to the glamorous Ibiza equivalent, it had a lot to live up to!
I think we picked the coldest night of the year for our first visit to Terminus Place, even with two jackets on I was still frozen. Don’t know how the girls do it!
Once inside, my first impression was that the club was not as big as I thought it would be, but the elegance and class associated with Pacha was instantly noticeable. Set inside a 1920s building, it still has the original oak paneling and a beautiful stained glass ceiling, with massive chandeliers hanging from it. The main room is surrounded by a fabulous balustraded gallery (their words, not mine!), and reminded me a bit of a concert hall venue. The design is perfect for a club, as you are just engulfed by people from all angles. There are also plenty of comfortable areas to sit down and chillout in, if required.
The cool instantly recognizable Hed Kandi décor was on full display, with massive drapes and logos suspended from the ceiling. Not content to stop there, they also had Pav on percussion, with his drums and bongos etc. set up right next to the DJ booth, the lovely Laura on sax and quite a few fantastic dancers; all the above helped to add something extra to the night, and it is refreshing to see a club make so much effort.
Oh, almost forgot about the music! It was superb all night, and anyone into house would have loved it. Early on in the main room there were plenty of big vocal tunes like this summer’s massive Love Generation and the DJ was using vinyl sometimes too!
Once the night was in full swing, the atmosphere was excellent, typical of Hed Kandi, both friendly and party like. The music progressed nicely throughout with the DJs blending old with new, and I felt like they were playing for us, reading the crowd and playing whatever was appropriate for that time. Memorable moments included Nush’s You Girls Look So Sexy and Shiney Grey’s Why; the one with the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams bassline, causing some real dancefloor damage! The number of huge cheers that arose from the dancefloor was testament to the quality and popularity of the tunes.
During percussive sections of the music, Pav would come in playing some delightful little fills and Laura would play some lovely melodies that I sometimes thought were part of the tune. Very nice. Don’t know if they work in conjunction with the DJ or if it is all purely off the cuff? Either way they got it spot on.
The only downside of the night for me, was the extremely loud main room sound system. I don’t think that it was just me, but it did actually hurt my ears at times, and vocals were often distorted or difficult to make out, especially later on.
Shortly before 4am, Hysteric Ego’s Want Love signaled the final change of DJ, and John Jones then played some minimal, some house and some tech until close. There was now a noticeable change in the music, while still managing to please the crowd with dancefloor friendly numbers such as Madonna’s latest, Jaydee’s Palstic Dreams, De’Lacy’s Hideaway and Woz Not Woz.
There is also a compact backroom at Pacha where we spent a little bit of time. The music was more chilled soulful house in there, and the sound was crystal clear. The nearby toilets even had small ceiling speakers in them!
Overall, I think you’ll gather that we had a very good time. The venue, the music, the night and the crowd were all wicked. A good variety of music was played and I think that the Hed Kandi ethos must be “Good Fun”, as that’s the way their events seem to turn out, and the wall to wall beautiful girls that always turn up is never a bad thing either!
As 6am reared its ugly head, it was time to face the cold reality of the journey home, and believe me it was cold! Pure Baltic might be a better phrase! Standing at Clapham Common at 6:40 am waiting on a train literally frozen to the spot is not my idea of fun! But it’s always worth it and I’d do it again anytime. Next week probably.
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Venue: 9
Music: 9
Crowd: 9
Sound System: 7
Total: 34 / 40
Rating: Silver Award |
| Review written by:
Kevin Boyle |
kevin@uk-cl.co.uk |
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