A Review: The Hydra – Moodymann, Omar-S, Moritz Von Osw @Studio Spaces

[Above image credit: The Hydra]

With a lineup much more loaded than the last time the Mantissa crew attended a Hydra event at Studio Spaces we were unsure of what was in store. The beginning of the evening provided two very solid sets from the Kenneth Christiansen and Luke Hess in Room 2 as well as Dimensions Soundsystem setting the tone in the main room. Dekmantel were able to hold the crowd’s attention and keep the party going through the delays to the Omar-S set which of course lived up to the hype.

Omar-S

Although the warehouse was overcrowded through the early parts of the evening, a lot more so than the Ben UFO all night set, the vibe and spaciousness improved from 3am onwards. Omar-S, playing his typical mixture of Detroit techno, acid house and his own productions took the level up a few notches during the prime hours of the night.

With many Omar-S productions in the Mantissa record collections it was amazing to hear them in their full glory on the sublime Funktion One Soundsystem used in the Warehouse at Studio Spaces. Many of them were layered with acapellas (Bone Thugs N Harmony – Ruggish Thuggish Bone and Omar-S – Be Yoself) or layered on top of acid tracks such as the classic Set It Out.

Moodymann

After the sudden increase in tempo and uplift in mood following Omar-S, Moodymann took over from 4:30am till close with a brief cameo from Flo Real after 6am. While managing to keep the mood up, Moodymann played a variety of euphoric music, including the likes of Liem – If Only and Crazy P – Heartbreaker.

At one point, I turned around during If Only, to catch the eye of a middle aged couple. The husband clearly enjoying himself told me the name of the tune, before we simultaneously got back to dancing just before the clap kicked in about 2 minutes into the tune. In my opinion it is moments like these that make the dance music scene so great. It can be enjoyed by people of any age or race within a safe space, free of judgement. The track mentioned could not be more relevant to this fact or to the current state of the world.

Omar-S and Moodymann are two DJs and producers whom many people including ourselves at Mantissa have looked up to for many years.

Two very interesting characters who have shaped the scene and drawn many people such as myself to it. This night was testament to their ability to bring people together within one of London’s premier club spaces.