Credit: Here & Now
Arriving to the sound of minimal techno and the sight of thousands of happy fist-pumpers on a Saturday afternoon is exactly how your first experience of any party should feel. The venue had been decked out to resemble some sort of flowery jungle scene, with the main room stage adorned with wooden cladding in some sort of gamekeepers enclosure as they looked out at the weird and wonderful beneath them. Throughout the party though, it was more a case of us watching them, in utter bewilderment.
The atmosphere among the organisers was extremely jovial, with Half Baked’s Bruno’s 30th birthday falling on the same day – why they started the parties five years ago. The fact was that they had booked a unique venue in London and invited their good friends to come and play for them, showed that their mission statement hadn’t changed since the very beginning.
Floating past the deep sounds of Vera in the main covered terrace, we ventured upstairs to catch some of Georgio Oniani & Matteo Manzini’s set. Filled with the type of groovy minimal that even your grandmother might dance to, this was a perfect start to the festivities to come. Matteo can often be seen very near the front of Fabric’s main room if a Romanian DJ or Ricardo is playing. His love of that style is evident in his track selection.
Aiming to grab a seat for a short while to gather strength for the night ahead, we walked through the main room, where dOP were just starting. Needless to say, that sit-down was postponed in favour of watching the Frenchmen at work. Smooth and dark basslines were accompanied by the almost gangster vocals from the singer, swigging on a bottle of Bacardi while a girl with an umbrella nearby showered the crowd with confetti. The music was tinged with tech house sounds and a touch of breakbeat charm to keep it extremely interesting.
Upstairs again into the den of iniquity, draped with luscious curtains, and BirdsMakingMachine’s set was peppered with squelchy, squeky minimal goodness; the sort of sound that we have come to expect from their releases, including their EP on Half Baked’s own label.
A highlight of the evening was hearing the sounds of Gemini’s hip-hop foray ‘Let’s Go’, from his late 90s classic album The Music Hall. Later on Hold Youth (Seuil and Le Loup’s joint project) were another standout, even straying into interludes of bassy tracks like Zed Bias’ ‘Standard Hoodlum Issue’, which was at once unexpected and completely fitted in with the atmosphere of the jungle-themed party. Not long, they dropped Derrick Carter’s Jack 1, under his The Innocent alias, which caused an eruption in the crowd.
There was no doubt that the main event was Perlon boss Zip. He certainly did not disappoint, weaving in classic house with minimal tracks like Melchior Productions’ ‘In The Shadow‘, which sounded amazing standing next to the speakers in the secondary atrium.
There is no doubt that Mike Shannon’s closing set was the selection of the night, highlighting that he’s not just an amazing producer, but his mixing is completely on point. Starting with the JTC’s amazing remix of ‘Drip Dawn‘ by Patricia, the set really went from strength to strength. As he brought in his own track ‘Slip It’ (out now on Half Baked) there were smiles all around, including from Shannon himself. There was a special celebratory feeling to his selection, and the atmosphere towards the end was just as electric as when we first stepped foot into the venue all those hours ago. Final track of the night? Well JTC’s Chicago house leaning ‘Infinite Organism‘, which wound its way around the dancefloor and had the intended aim, leaving everybody wanting more.
This wasn’t just a birthday party, it was a clear statement by Half Baked of their enduring ability to create an atmosphere and a vibe that is almost unrivalled in the capital. With them taking the brand further with their label (Mike Shannon – Five Years of Love EP was released in late November) and parties around the world, this is definitely a party concept that is going places and offering something different to simple sweaty dark rooms. When’s the next one?!
