Jamie Jones’ weekly party upped their game this season, with bigger shows and a host of immense DJing talent on offer. Last night saw A Tribe Called Paradise joining the long list of White Isle parties looking to leave the island in a blaze of glory.
Electrical storms and bolts of lightning lit up the sky as I headed down the road towards DC-10 and with the dramatic force of nature imposing itself on the evening I could only hope Paradise could match the drama.
Paradise residents and key members of the Hot Creations crew, wAFF and Richy Ahmed, were going back-to-back in the main room on arrival, pumping out an array of deep and jacking sounds. The throng of revellers were well into the swing of things as the groovy ‘90s style sounds enveloped the room.
Samuel Deep’s edit of ‘Headshot’ by Grobbie – heavily indebted to UK garage – made waves, it’s wobbling heavy bass line induced all kinds of dance floor mayhem. The pair rifled through a set of sturdy house cuts with an old school sensibility, which was both refreshing and geared perfectly towards the mass of dancers.
KiNK was next to step up and the Bulgarian displayed his incredible prowess in producing electronic music in a live scenario. Live acts in the dance world can sometimes highlight the inherent difficulties in playing house and techno live and managing to fully connect with the crowd. The nature of bringing together an array of scattered sounds on the fly to create dance floor oriented music is difficult – a situation where more than two hands would certainly be of help. Though somehow KiNK manages bring together an astonishing level of sounds in his live set with just his two hands, albeit moving with rapid precision.
KiNK is a true innovator when it comes to live performance. The Sofia-based producer poured energy as he worked, fiddling away with his array of machines to pump out raw techno and house cuts. His approach was particularly intuitive and hands on as he held up keyboards to the crowd and bashed away at controllers. It was so hands-on that at one point he leant over the DJ booth and let one lucky punter tap out an acid line on one of his controllers – taking connecting with the crowd to whole new levels. With chopped up vocal samples, organ stabs and blistering acid, KiNK manifestly highlighted why he has become one of the most exciting live acts you’re likely to see.
Dixon and Âme’s Kristian Beyer closed out the proceedings with their intense brand of progressive and melodic techno. The Innervisions masterminds have carved out a distinct sound for themselves, which is no easy feat in the saturated world of house and techno music.
Musumeci’s ‘VI’ served as a fine example of the pair’s fondness for progressive techno sounds that build with bubbling synths subtly euphoric atmospherics. The pair are more than familiar with the DC-10 main room, and much like their takeover of DC-10 back in August, the two Germans had hands reaching for the sky in DC-10’s dark den of hedonism.
Come 4am, the Terrace was all about the party’s originator. Jamie Jones and his team have created quite the brand, and the subtle visual elements of Paradise add vitality, with vibrant splashes of colour and ‘80s styling conjuring up images of Miami Vice and general garish retro aesthetics.
As one would expect, the Terrace was teeming with revellers up for one last Paradise experience for the season and Jamie provided his trademark sound – straight-up house, stripped back, with no frills. Jamie just loves those bass lines – the kind that punch out of the sound system with pure groove. You can’t help but bounce as the low-ends vibrate around the room and Jamie bobs his head, looking thoroughly content with the scenes playing out in front of his eyes.
The Hot Creations boss rarely strayed into different territory, choosing to keep up with the relentless rhythm, but there’s never any danger of it going stale, he just keeps the party alive.
Paradise came into its own this season, with some real high quality guests providing countless moments and the solid residents supplementing the party soundtrack expertly. One can only expect even bigger things from Paradise now the party has built itself such a strong reputation.
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