For our underground pick of the month, we turn our attention to Vault Festival. You may have already caught wind of this 6 week festival for one of it’s other diverse attractions, from art installations to horror screenings, to swing dance nights or silent opera. But the reason we are here is the Electronic Lockdown, on 22nd February 2014.
Despite the fact that I was initially unfamiliar with a number of artists on the lineup, this event pricked up my ears straight away – featuring a combination of London record labels, promoters and DJ collectives taking over the subterranean world of The Waterloo Vaults. For one night only, they promise “an eclectic mix of electronic music in a labyrinth of old access tunnels and secret chambers”.
They had me at “electronic music”, but throw in tunnels and secret chambers, and I reminisce of events gone by at Shunt and the early Warehouse days when Manchester were paving the way. In this current climate of huge electronic influence, such memorable events are few and far between without the stench of corporate wealth, big name artists or wannabe fashionistas sporting snap backs, oversized glasses and ankle biters. I can’t promise the exclusion of the latter, but what I do expect to find is a love and passion for music from a range of upcoming artists that deserve your attention more than the back pocket of Hardwell or David Guetta.
The theme for the night will revolve around two rooms; the dark bar and the light bar. Whether this will be reflected in the lighting is yet to be seen, but they’re most certainly accurate in terms of genre. Lets start with the darker arts…
DARK BAR
Hosted by London based record label Activia Benz, the dark bar features a range of artists from the label, including brainchild and co-founder Slugabed. As you might expect, we will be served a heavy dose of bass music, touching on an assortment of variations from the classic to the contemporary, from the outer reaches of dubstep to twisted garage beats, from hip hop and grime to the lesser known ‘sunkissed tibetan crunk’ (which I’m particularly excited about experiencing!). Joining Slugabed on this mystical journey will be Activia Benz DJs in the form of Copenhagen’s Eloq, alongside label new boy My Panda Shall Fly. So if you like you music deep, trippy and cutting edge, get yourself into the dark bar and put your head down.
LIGHT BAR
In the light bar we are presented with a lineup from London DJ collective Soltek, in the form of Daffadam, Nick Duffy and Lizzle. Described as dance music with soul, I expect this trio to deliver a night of house, deep house and sexy electronic goodness which will take us long into the night. Potentially not as experimental as the bass heavy dark bar, but you certainly know what you’re getting and if you like your house (which we do!), these guys will certainly deliver. A no brainer.
All in all, this night screams of a proper knees up, and for £8.50 it’s a bit of a steal! Book your tickets here.
By Hijacker Records (Andy Chandler)
www.facebook.com/ElectronicLockdownLDN
Andy Chandler
Latest posts by Andy Chandler (see all)
- PREVIEW: SW4 Festival – Part 2 - July 22, 2014
- INTERVIEW: HIM_SELF_HER - July 17, 2014
- PREVIEWS: SW4 Festival – Part 1 - June 11, 2014
