TOV @ The End - 06-06-2003

sdm

This is Dog Fort
VIP Junglist
Joined
Nov 29, 2001
To celebrate 10 years of being one of the most high quality and consistent drum & bass labels in the scene, TOV held a party at the infamous End nightclub in WC1 to mark the occasion. We had been to most of the legendary Hardware nights this year in the same venue so we already had a good idea what to expect.

Once inside, we headed straight to the dance floor to catch the last 20 minutes of Damage’s set, which as always, was of a high standard with both mixing and tune selection being spot on. It seems a shame that he always ends up being first on as we rarely get to see a full set from him.

Up next was Brockie, who delivered his trademark jump up sound in true Undiluted style – raucous beats alongside pulsating b-lines. I was impressed with what I heard, especially when he dropped one of my favourite Virus cuts ‘Medicine Remix’. I found the tunes got a bit samey near the end, probably due to the fact that he was playing a lot of his own stuff, but it was a good set to get the masses whipped up ready for the next onslaught.

The dance was starting to get rammed with Bad Company raring to get behind the wheels of steel – this time it was D-Bridge and Vegas representing the BC crew. A fine selection of dubs were played including cuts from fellow BC member Fresh including ‘Temple of Doom’ and the simply amazing ‘Signal’. One of the most stand out tunes was Tech Itch’s ‘Pressure Drop’. The way the BC boys extended the twisted breakdown was very well executed and both DJ’s and the crowd were getting rowdy. The enthusiasm generated by D-Bridge and Vegas was being injected into the crowd and the vibe was beginning to reach melting point. Hive’s ‘Neo’ and Keaton’s smasher ‘Invisible man’ tore the place up, giving the End’s bass heavy sound system a proper hammering. So far this was the best set of the night.

Next up was the South Coast’s premier dubplate selector, DJ Friction. I’m always amazed by Friction’s tune selection and his technical ability on the 1’s and 2’s and tonight was no exception. Tune after tune after tune were all mixed seamlessly together with his trademark double dropping antics in full effect. It was good to hear some older tunes, such as Militia’s ‘Electrolux’ and Ram Trilogy’s ‘Screamer’, which got rewound with ‘Dubplate’ being thrown into it almost instantly. Current dubplate of the elite in the form of Pendulum’s ‘Vault’ was also spun…….rewind anybody?!?! The whole place erupted when this one dropped, causing maximum carnage on the floor, and of course, everyone was well up for the reload. In true Friction style, another tune was slammed straight into the mix to create maximum havoc when both tunes dropped together. An intelligent, varied set was complemented by a sensible ratio of MC to music with only the heaviest tunes getting rewound.

A quick glance at my watch indicated that things were about to get nasty. At 2am it was time for one of America’s top flight DJ’s to step up and show the UK massive how it’s done. Like many of us in the crowd, I had never seen Deiselboy live in action so wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I wasn’t disappointed to say the least. It was a matter of seconds after the first tune dropped that ‘Titan’ came smashing into the mix – this set an early precedent of what we were to expect from the man like Deiselboy. His mixing was tight and the tunes he played kept the dance floor hungry for more. The current anthems such as ‘Vault’ and his own rework of BC’s ‘Grunge’ were blended with tunes on a more techy vibe which seemed to work very well. You could easily see how he has got to be number one in the States, his mixing style was very impressive and he managed to add to the atmosphere already created by the previous DJ’s, which is a feat in itself.

‘Vault’ has been blowing up on dance floors worldwide for some time now and is being cained by the most of the scene’s biggest names. It was hardly surprising then, that one third of Pendulum was to travel half way round the globe to play in the UK. This was the set I was most excited about, as we were about to witness Pendulum’s first set in the UK…..Bring it!!
What can I say other than OMFG!! Pendulum played a blinder with all their current tunes such as ‘Back 2 you’, ‘Spiral’, ‘Trail of Sevens’ and the already murdered ‘Vault’, which got rewound by the man himself! It was a very diverse set, covering a variety of styles, but every tune kept the dance floor moving with his relentless assault of beats ‘n’ bass. Nice. Fabio was running late so Pendulum played on, showing the same enthusiasm that he had throughout his set, playing almost 30 minutes more of quality tunes to keep the raver’s raving. D-Kay’s ‘Platinum Remix’ stood out to me as one of the tunes of the set. Bigup Pendulum!

Fabio arrived at about 4.30am, and immediately got down to business laying down the smooth, soulful side of drum & bass that he is best known for. It’s hard to name any of the tunes he played as I’m not really up to date with the current flava’s of ‘liquid funk’ tunes, but rest assured he played a wicked set throughout and although the floor was starting to empty, the party was still pumpin’.

Last up was Hardware resident, Loxy. It must be hard to put a lot of effort in when half the crowd have disappeared but that’s exactly what Loxy did, keeping the remaining junglist soldiers bouncing around with his rinseout selection that always manages to get a crowd rocking.

I’ve gotta mention the breaks room, as this was one of the highlights of the night for me. I never really hear breaks stuff when I’m out, but this was the icing on the cake at an already quality event.

Overall, a TOP quality night – big fun was had by all. Roll on the 28th for the Hardware Vs. Valve event – Dangerous!!!!!

(Words by M-Code)
 
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