Dillinja and Lemon D, the duo behind Valve, are pretty talented guys: as well as being effin’ good producers and DJ’s, they actually built their rig especially for Drum & Bass and it is known to be the loudest in the world. It’s also a very clean sound with absolutely no distortion or any other unwanted noise. Because of the volume, earplugs were available on the door, and there were signs everywhere advising people to wear them to protect their hearing. The idea of Valve soundsystem is you turn up the volume and feel the vibration of the bass thru’ your body. Nice.

The crowd was very mixed racially, all quite young, and very friendly. There was also some mad leaping, jumping and hip shaking on that dancefloor. I was in the moshpit dancing with these huge Asian guys, and I had to be careful not to get knocked over!

My favourite set of the night came from Pendulum, who absolutely rocked it in the main room. This was the third time I’ve seen this lot – they played all their hit tracks ‘Tarantula’, ‘The Vault’ etc, but they sounded far better than I’d ever heard them before. Amazing what a difference decent speakers make.

The bassbins cranked up to the max when Lemon D followed with an insane set, cutting between jungle, and a heavy, grimy, mishmash of world groove samples. Arriba! Personally, I would have liked it even more if the MC hadn’t been ranting incessantly throughout the whole set. Sometimes it’s good just to let the music talk.

In the bar area, DJ Flight’s set was like rolling waves: from liquid D&B, getting progressively harder, then taking it down again slightly in preparation for the next DJ. Shame I missed a lot of her set, but she’s now most definitely on my ‘must see’ list.

After that the vodka took hold, and I lost track of who was playing, in what room, and when. The ‘baby box’ is an interesting little space with chillout sofas surrounded by what looked like fairy lights dangling in fronds from the ceiling. The bar is a larger space, with lots more activity happening, and the ‘box’ aka the main room, was like a massive D&B church where the faithful lose it to the beats and feel the bass in their bellies.

The general feel of MoS is quite commercial, and the bar is expensive at £8 for a double vodka, but at least it’s quality stuff, served with ice & slice.
Security kept a low profile, with just the occasional guy walking through the crowd. There was a presence on the door, but it wasn’t rude and intrusive like it used to be at Ministry.

This venue once had a terrible reputation for over-zealous and moody security, and because of that, I avoided it for years. However in the last two times I’ve been recently, the doormen have actually been pretty chilled. Keep it up like this and I’ll become a regular.

©Mandi Peers