LIVE: Go1 Launch Party – Amusement 13, Birmingham 22.07.16

For years now, I’ve felt that my hometown has been left behind by the other major cities in terms of flourishing scenes. London has had its day, predominantly through Dubstep with the likes of Skream and Benga really pushing the movement. Manchester to, with its massive indie scene. I mean even Sheffield has had a reasonable amount of exposure since the early days of Bassline – where it arguably originated from. For such a populous city, Birmingham has offered very little towards a scene for a quite some time now.

Recently though I’ve started to take notice of some activity that has been shaking things up a bit in Birmingham. Finally, individuals have taken it upon themselves to put the 0121 back on the map. A sound/scene has started to emerge the past year. A sound that could only be described as a mix of tech house, minimalist and techno. Promoters and artists are putting on their own events throughout Birmingham and they’re all gathering a head of steam. That’s why I was delighted to be invited to Go1’s launch night – a new party brand that has been launched that looks set to change the landscape of Birmingham music.

The launch was held at Amusement 13 – a quirky new space that has recently opened in Birmingham. Although quite a small outdoor space, the concrete jungle produced an incredibly intimate vibe where fellow ravers enjoyed a cracking night of music. A chilled blend of tech house, house and disco boomed around the new outdoor space.

The event allowed young, local and no doubt talented DJs to showcase themselves on a good platform which is so important for the growth of the scene. Boll, who launched Go1 impressed me. After chatting to him for a little while he admitted that he had only just got back into mixing but this didn’t show at all.  A smooth and composed performance appeased ravers and certainly appeased me. A special mention to Latmun too – who’s tunes were dropped throughout the night much to the delight of myself.

It felt like more than a launch party and it certainly didn’t feel like a scaled down event. Professional execution meant that there was nothing but good vibes all night. I hope this is the start of something big because the foundations are definitely there.

It’s about time someone took Birmingham by the scruff of the neck and it seems like Go1 will definitely have some involvement with spearheading this scene.

Matt Cooper
@mcooperwrites