At the forefront of the UK’s finest promoters are Make Me. Hosting a constant stream of events at Corsica Studios, Village Underground and playing at some of Europe’s finest festivals including Nachtdigital and Field Maneuvers, is a testament to the quality of their events, and standard of in-house DJing showcased at their events over the past ten years.
Among their regular guests is Donato Dozzy, who on this occasion was playing alongside Neel as part of a Spazio Disponibile showcase. Hosting Dozzy on a yearly basis could be deemed as a regular appearance for a DJ who picks his shows as carefully, proving the track record of Make Me, and making it absolutely essential that we caught him on this occasion.
A label showcase is often best suited to a single room venue. However, a typical multi-room event is likely to showcase a range of sounds and styles, the acts playing as part of a label showcase should be capable of seemlessly stitching together their music and sets across the course of the evening. The single room experience eliminates the constant flow of people between rooms and sound bleed than can often occur in multi-room venues, ensuring that the crowd share the same musical experience.
After playing at Berghain and Concrete, the cavernous single room of Village Underground played the perfect host for the Spazio Disponibile crew on the London leg of their tour. As we arrived just after 24:00, Grand River was gently warming the room up with an ambient, downtempo set, providing the perfect breather before the next acts inevitably took it up a level. It only took half an hour before Donato Dozzy, Neel and Retina.it began their set, gently picking up the pace over the next hour. What followed was a masterclass in all forms of deep, psychedelic, and hypnotic techno, truly captivating the audience who were among the best I have been part of in recent years. Virtually everyone was there for the music and living in the moment – as was evident by the lack of mobile phones.
Grand River returned later in the evening before handing back to Dozzy and Neel who closed out the evening. Like Sound Signature 20 at E1 two weeks earlier, the acts switched at will with no set times making for a more fluid event, acting as a team rather than attempting to outdo the previous act. I was unable to ID any of the tracks played, a shame given the quality of music on offer, however this did not detract from an evening that will live fondly in my memory for many years to come.
Written By: James Acquaye Nortey-Glover