Jam Packed @ Fabric

Have to big up MistaJam for asing me to be a part of the launch of his new Jam Packed night in Fabric! Being only my 3rd time DJing in Fabric and first time in Room 2 (with Butterz booking me in Room 3 earlier this year) I was very excited at the prospect. Nearly 10 years on and off of raving in that special venue meant I knew exactly what to expect!

With Goldie closing out his set to a packed room as I arrived just before 1am, he was followed by Mz Bratt coming out to a warm reception alongside Clencha on mic duties and DJ Kayper on the 1210s. A very energetic performance with great synergy between Bratt on lead with Clencha backing her up on hype and Kayper dropping some tidy scratches in kept the energy up of the crowd despite the switch from Goldie's set to Bratt's electro hip hop grime fusion.

Then MistaJam came on and ran the full spectrum of dance music from classic dance tracks from Daft Punk and The Prodigy, rap tracks like Niggas In Paris, Grime riddims like Take Off, a whole host of dubstep tunes I couldn't name but saw do damage to the room and even a segment of jungle classics and an old school Garage segment! The hour flew by and with great mic skills to keep the crowd involved it was a real party set. He took the crowd back to the 90s and right back up to date once more reminiscing on some of the amazing dance music this country has produced over the last 2 decades. And it was fitting as tonight was Fabric's 12th birthday celebration!

Ending his set with Skream's seminal remix of La Roux a familiar high top fade walked out on stage. D Double E the legend proceeded to tear it down for 30 minutes with the crowd in the palm of his hand. Opening with newer tracks like Lyrical Farda and Pumpin It Out (which I premiered only 3 weeks ago) the response was awesome, and when it came time for Hard, Bad To The Bone, Bluku Bluku and Street Fighter Riddim the crowd were going mad. I actually filmed all of the Bluku Bluku and Street Fighter Riddim PAs on my iPhone but when I came out the club the footage was lost. Gutted!

And then it was my turn! I tried to mix up as many known Grimy vocals as possible and pushed through an hour set after introducing myself. The singalongs were plentiful, the ravers took over the stage and several of them reminded me about how sick Outlook Festival was and showing me their wrist bands still worn proudly! After an hour of sing alongs and hype I handed over the reigns to TC who no doubt tore the place back down again with some dirty basslines. But I had just come off a 14 day tour with Skepta and my bed was calling!

I had an amazing time and am really grateful to both MistaJam and all the people at Fabric for allowing me to be part of their birthday celebrations and kicking off what is hopefully a long running night down there. To see so many names all in one room from completely different genres but all working so well together was a great change compared to the current trend for booking 'jack-of-all-trade' selectors. And the crowd response proved it worked as the room was packed out all night!

And if you wanna see a bit of it, check out these excellent photos from Rhodri Jones: http://flickriver.com/photos/rodrico/sets/72157627951377878/