After the closure of the legendary End club, Shogun wanted to carry on with their successful London nights but needed to find a new home. They found The Lightbox in Vauxhall with state of the art lighting system which boasts 15,000 separate LED’s all on custom made panels in the main room with a 500 audience capacity. This was the perfect venue to start a new residency and so they launched their first night there on the 22nd of August. I made plans to go there to check it out.
I was taken away by the lighting in the main room with visuals created by LED’s over the ceiling and the walls which was amazing. Really you have to be there to appreciate and I can only imagine how it felt for some people in the venue who had prescribed them self a little extra before their visit. At one point the ceiling seemed to be pulsing which created an electric atmosphere and a show in its self. Shoguns night started with a more rolling mellow approach to bring their fans to a peak slowly, not to rush them and not to tease them too much. Once the night had peaked and the night had entered the very early hours, clubbers were still entertained with quality that only took them to new levels. Some of you will already be aware of the endless talent attached to Shogun these days. One of which ‘Icicle’ who has captured are attention with his offerings of late.
Shoguns night was well organized and it was well noted that the set times had been planned out to generate excitement throughout, with daddy of the decks ‘Friction’ taking a two hour headlining slot which is almost expected at most nights not just his own these days. Alix Perez played a soulful set on the Pioneer CDJs which the crowd greatly appreciated. His set consisted of a depthy liquid selection and left people buzzing and ready for Friction who was to take the crowd to next level. By the time Friction took to the decks the temperature in the main room was starting to sore. You can imagine what hundreds of led’s were doing to the place, even if low level emitting diodes. The crowd suddenly got a lot thicker and Friction delivered - at points mixing across three decks with his slick mixing style once again proving why he is doing so well in the game. Its safe to say it is now his own game with such a backing to his very successful label.
Next I was in for a treat as Holland born and bread ‘Icicle’ was next up to spin. Earlier last year I was impressed with his productions that made it on to ‘City Of Lights’ released on Crunch Recordings. His set was of the darker variety and he opted to even educate a lot of the heads inside the building. By this point the visuals and led’s were mind blowing and I had to take a step back from shooting with my Sony and also from my skanking to absorb the moment. The DJ’s name was even jumping across the display at some points of which the front row crowd especially enjoyed and appreciated fully.
My favourite set of the night – Break. Break really made his presence known very quickly by coming in with ‘Calyx, Get Myself to You’ and from then on in the set became heavier and a full on assault. I could hardly breathe from the heat but was glad that I stayed right until the end to witness this. Break is one DJ that I will be in a rush to see again in the very near future I should hope that you will keep an eye out as well.
It was really refreshing to see that the second room had lots to offer with old school jungle and jump up being presented in an orderly fashion like the main room but with a slightly different take. The second room was a lot cooler and less crowded so was a really nice retreat if you still wanted banging tunes but without the heat of the main room getting too much. There was also a third room for chill out which had another bar so everyone was kept happy by being well catered for. The outside area was large and had plenty of seating and unlike a lot of clubs and you didn’t have to queue to get out for some fresh air or a chat.
Sound in the venue was well thought out, with a well placed sound system and quality to compliment. The system handled every frequency that Shogun had to throw at it and delivered them clear.
We like what Shogun has to offer and that is well planned nights with a professional label backing. If you don’t want the hassle of a huge crowd at Matter and you want the same standard as Ram nights then look no further. This would be a perfect night for you and your friends to venture out to. If you like your nights out to have show like features then the led’s in the main room are the main attraction of the venue. For us though the venue didn’t matter, the location didn’t matter but the music, the talent and the label were the elements that made this a killer night!
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