Anyway here we were, Jam Gorilla, Prosiak & Le Mufti (a superb motley crew) going to SEOne on 23 July in a minicab and discussing rather explosive topics connected to recent bombings in London and wondering where is it going to happen next? This subject seems to be taboo in the clubbing environment where, it seems, they all live in a kind of bubble pretending that the outside world doesn’t exist or has no bearing on the weekend’s madness. Perish the thought but another question is looming; what is actually happening in the Middle East and who is liberating whom? We were however on a completely different mission altogether to liberate some sounds and experience some moods at “Break The System Down” so the subject was somehow quickly forgotten.

Security at the venue was reasonably apprehensive given circumstances but cool and efficient nevertheless. Perhaps the ban on bringing bags to the venue had something to do with it or maybe the conscious public was on its best behaviour but who cares as long as the door check is quick and intelligent.

Inside a rollercoaster just begun and this Indoor Festival 2nd Birthday– a creation of ES Collective (read Antiworld, Psygate amd Technoworld) promotion – was indeed a one hell of that.
Have been going to SEOne for ages now – starting with the infamous Warp Experience in 1999 and also been to many other festivals or mega events taking place in this enormous space. And have learned there is only one thing in common between them. They are neither better nor cooler nor bigger, they are just…different.

When it comes to Antiworld Indoor Festival it has been consistently offering, over it’s two years of existence, exhilarating and psychedelic to the heart journey through 5 sumptuous rooms of baroqueness deco, vision and sound. There was no change in quality or letting down the pressure on punters with “Break The System Down”.

In fact I will remember it as the one of the best Antiworld parties I have ever been to.
The vibe was nothing but fantastic –maybe it was the present danger that brought people together. Or maybe it was the fact that all light-hearted clubbers stayed home leaving space for true partygoers to flourish. And they were having a hell of the good time banging in every single room including Clockwork Prism’s chill out. Hey good on ya!
It was a high quality crowd making an extra effort to dress up and impress with surreal outfits and trippy hairdos. Glowing in the dark, shining in the open they added extra dimension to the party in full swing. And it was a swing in ways more than one.

Firstly it was truly a festival of light of any kind you could imagine or fancied. There were several rooms packed with exquisite visual effects but two main rooms, Psygate and Upfront, were exceedingly good in throwing blizzards of multi coloured smoke mixed with powerful scanner stabs and sprinkled with fluorescent, luminous and ultra violet toppings.

Couple that with tongs of silk flames enveloped in screens of visuals and lasers slashing through and playing with your retinas. It was a visual and aesthetic feast that will stay a long time with me. Extra mention goes to Electro Breaks room deco designers for creating a superbly cool and suave optics. Bravo…
Secondly musically it was a kaleidoscope of all shades of psytrance, hard dance, techno, breaks and old skool. You name the style and it was there, well…apart from jungle and garage, but my uneducated guess is there wasn’t enough room to accommodate them or they demanded a completely different crowd.
Labelled as “back to the underground party” the line-up indeed included well-known and established artists together with DJ’s playing in squats or semi-legal underground venues in London. And they delivered fantastic performance, full of verve and bite. There is no point to list them all here, as it would be a long list and some of them are walking legends of the scene demanding more than just a mention…
Lastly there were people and they were absolutely unique, international mish mash of high order,

So again here I were as many times in the past schmoozing through the maze of SEOne - leaving poor Mufti completely in awe of Clockwork Prism chill out and Mandie More delicious mix, and deservedly so. Dropping my meagre belongings under the care of Prism crew – consistently in top form and to their credit voted the best room in Alexandra Palace enterprise, ahoy!.. – I went awol into the masses.

Thanks God place wasn’t rammed – otherwise everything turns into the nightmare of queuing up everywhere – and doing continuous rounds presented no problems. First room in my continuous voyage – nomen omen – was Frequency, tech house specialists extraordinaire. Cheerful and busy grooving with dirty twisted bits and bobs lead by Moni, Alek and Mikki between others. For best result go and see them @ Alhambra as this place provides unrivalled underground feel.
They offered housey refuge for many seeking respite from the unleashed furies just next door, and that was Psygate hosted by Antiworld in collaboration with BNE & HOMmega Records – completely different kettle of fish altogether.

What can I say? …Psygate room was a high quality and kicking psytrance spectacle, illuminated by surreal deco, steaming with visuals and heaving with the buoyant crowd, the busiest room of them all and in my humble view most entertaining on the night. There is no friendlier bunch than psytrance peeps and I sampled it at Fairy Tales, Symbiosis (where are they hiding now?), Synergy Project etc… or psy gigs downtown with Mr Horoscope at the helm. Wherever they go they bring something special with them. No question about it. The same goes to the DJs and on the night I was impressed with Marcello Vor, Oforia and Delirious driving psychedelic waves through receptive audience. There is indeed something to behold when the tune hits the nerve and the crowd moves like a giant serpent stretching and reaching out beyond. Psychedelic force I say. As a consequence stayed there longer making occasional forays into surrounding domains.

Upfront Room was as mentioned before an orgy of special effects supported by strong hard dance line up. To be completely frank, I don’t really care about headliners since it’s all in the vibe and the people – they are the true creators of the bangin party - I seen many a venue emptied or staying empty despite booking big names but surprise, surprise Lab 4 banged it out loud and clear. Locked in the cage they manically rattled space around them with highly powered mix. Got everyone dancing and even muppets in the stalls area were bouncing. Weeked.
Matt Handy had an excellent entrée earlier on and things went smoothly on and according to plan if there was any plan, that is. I missed all other acts simply for being somewhere else and enjoying different buzz.

I was probably in Teknoworld – interesting combination of ascetic deco and gloomy lights, to be in techno mood I presume but it worked just fine. Excellent performances, especially from D.A.M Mast Vs Fabio Spezzaferri. An absolutely not to be missed class act and playing harder than nails techno full stop - they kept me glued for at least half hour before I realised its time to move. Damn reviewing 5 room’s bash, there is never time to stop and savour the music anymore. Yet I revisited Teknoworld again and again simply drawn to the rawness of the sound and it’s squat appeal and watched Mike Smeglett and Chris Liberator spinning out hardened magic.

Electro and Breaks room hosted by Neon And Silverback Records was a very pleasurable ultra violet experience. Took time to fill up but the sound was great and slowly place got rocking in its sublime electro ways. It was also surprise to hear Lisa Lashes chopping out the breaks and she was great by all accounts. Change of career on cards,.. maybe?
Personally I think it suits her better because her hard house mixing doesn’t do much to me. Suppose I am just spoiled and hard to please hardcore, innit?

Blissfully tired and worn out I ended up eventually like at any past Antiworld’s event @ SEOne in Clockwork Prism room, rearranging myself and having a chat with Matt Harder Faster about good old days. Or maybe it was a bright future. Whatever….
With one last round and deep into after party time I found myself listening to Eduardo Herrera finishing still up for it crowd – mad cap he is indeed. But unable to move due to over exposure to party elements and after 13 hours I finally gave in. Go home muppet. Zzzzzzz……

All in all it was awesome experience and perfect example of working harmony between different styles. Thick walls of SEOne are mainly responsible here for keeping entities of separate environments intact and the place still keep this old underground vibe going. Yes sir!.
Autumn edition of Indoor Festival will soon hit you in October at secret location in London. The party is as good as the last one so I honestly recommend it. Just go…

Jam Gorilla

For more photos click here