VOID @ Cafe 1001 Sunday 7th April 2013

This is going to be brief...

VOID was great. 2pm-10pm on a Sunday. Usually this would mean I am holed up on the sofa after a Saturday night out, and with the best will in the world I may make it to an early Sunday after party but ANOTHER party after that is a bit much for me these days. However, if you have can handle a full 48hr clubbing weekend this is the place to end it. And if you are being a boring sensible techno head who appreciates the odd weekend doing normal daylight hour things once in a while - this is the event that allows you to go do your shopping, see the family and then stomp it out before work, leaving you with no sleep deprivation and a sense of total oneness with yourself that you have somehow managed to "do it all." It's a win win.

Is it just me or is this slightly reminiscent of Berghain????

Cafe 1001 is the venue and host to another Sunday afternoon event "Sunday Ritual" which I shall also have to get my ass to soon in order to see Chris Page play a full set (next one 12th May). Chris was just finishing up as we arrived in the early evening and he had pretty much just smashed it from what I can tell. We heard about 15mins of TAKETHATRIGHTINTHEFACE techno to get us going whilst we waved at friends across the dancefloor, drank a beer and bumped into my old housemate TH whom I have not seen in a loooong time as he was living abroad and I had no idea he had even yet returned. Not much time for chat though.... toooooo busy dancing.

Next up was Ashley Borg. I first met Ashley when he was playing with Ear To Ground at CLR last Novemeber. An early set that night in the third room left me more impressed that I had been by the likes of DJ Emerson & Monoloc in room 2 (and anyone who saw that duo back to back at the afterparty that weekend, I am not alone in saying that they were SHIT - heads in our hands, dumbfounded we were witnessing it - shit). Ashley is passionate about his techno and I was keen to see him let rip with a bigger crowd and better sound system. I also really needed a good dance and had been assured that my needs would be catered for.

I had great tunes, I had so much room to bounce about that I actually did bounce. A lot. None of the usual lack of space enforced shuffling about. I did some damage to that dancefloor. This tropical techno fish found a perfectly acclimatised aquarium. There were a few guys about who worked out it was Sunday and they hadn't pulled yet so were leering in full effect BUT small detail.

The Borg

Pushing the boundaries of both Sunday music and the sound systems limiters Ashley delivered a storming set. Fully loaded, big guns blazing, punches in the air, have-a-bit-of-THAT-my-son techno. I was stone cold sober when I walked in and techno drunk when I walked out, leaving only after Ashley finished because I really needed a burger before they shut the BBQ outside. Yes - the venue has a fully loaded super healthy cafe and BBQ. I even had a vodka with kiwi juice from the downstairs bar. Where else can you get techno and awesome food in London, in the same building?!

You can hear Ashley's final track here by Timothy Alexander.

The next VOID is on bank holiday Sunday 5th May. We shall be there. So should you. Did I mention that the whole thing is totally FREE entry too.

You really have no excuse.