I breezed through the line at around 12:25am and found myself dance-walking to a remix of Dub Phizix’s Marka as I entered the main room. Marcus Visionary was playing his last track, getting the fresh-faced junglists ready for Dj Hype.
Surprisingly, there was room to dance. It was the first time I had been at a DnB party at Guv and it wasn’t absolutely rammed – especially for a legend such as Hype. *shrug*
12:30 came around and so did DJ Hype. MC Daddy Earl warmed up his vocal chords and the crowd with a long splashy introduction. The visuals were neon graffiti-esque, ocularly pleasing for even the most sober of partiers.
As the intro was HYPE, HYPE, HYPE-ing the room, I took a look around to see my fellow junglists: a young lady wearing striped knee socks with flip-flops, a heavy make out session between two girls, and a couple teaching each other some dance moves made for interesting people watching. Generally speaking, the crowd was pretty young and mostly mid-twenties and under – not the usual DnB crew I am accustomed to.
All the serious dancers were took their places at the back of the room; as the intro submitted to the DnB bass lines, their hat brims faced down and their feet kicked up.
DJ Hype wasted no time, plunging straight into DnB smashers. I couldn’t name or Shazam many tracks (as everything was intricately and awesomely layered) but I did recognize a lot of the tracks from the Hospital Records Podcast, Dj Pressure’s DNBradio.com show and rinsing out at other DnB parties.
His track layering was unrelenting. He played a lot of hits, and combined old school bass lines as MC Daddy Earl added some dope lyrics to the mix.
About half an hour into his set he dropped Out The Blue by Sub Focus feat. Alice Gold, adding a dirty rumbly sub bass that inspired the most passionate of bass faces.
Hype dropped rinse-worthy beats, and the rather spacious back section of the dance floor allowed for some serious towel-swinging. I’m still in awe that Guv wasn’t full for this party, but I’m not complaining about the extra room to dance!
As DJ Hype’s set progressed, he moved from amped-up DnB to more reggae-inspired vibes, giving me a chance to contemplate checking out the patio.
The progression through genres continued throughout the night, as we travelled from DnB right down to sexy slower beats that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was surprising, but very danceable.
DJ Hype’s set came to a close and Lush took over the decks at 2:30 am. The dance floor was clearing out by now, but there were still many dance floor soldiers still on duty.
Lush took us straight into chest-rumbling jungle bass. All the dancers that were in the back were now close to the front….yep, it was that time of night!
I lasted a few more tracks, worked up one last sweat, then called it a night.
It was great to keep my DnB steppin’ skills in check, and see a legendary DJ/Producer in action. Hype played mostly hits, albeit mixed creatively, I detected crowd pleasing. After at least two decades producing and DJing, I’m curious to hear what he would play for himself.
It’s my pleasure to contribute to EDMtor!
Heather Williams – EDM TOR
Find more of Heather’s writing at TheHeatherNetwork.com
