This weekend in London is Carnival Weekend.
As well as Carnival itself – the biggest and best street party the UK has to offer, with hundreds of soundsystems from the sublime to the ridiculous all vying for revellers’ attention in Notting Hill and the surrounding area – there are an inordinately high number of Carnival-related parties, not to mention some completely unrelated but nonetheless tasty clubnights, taking place all over the city.
Over the following pages, FACT highlights the best parties happening on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. The cast of players is vast and star-studded: Loefah, Matthew Herbert, Kode9, Diplo, Toddla T, Marcel Dettmann, Shut Up & Dance, Legowelt, Kode9, Jeff Mills, Coldcut, Surgeon, Four Tet, Levon Vincent, Pinch, Hudson Mohawke…the list goes on. And on.
Friday 24th August
David Rodigan prepares to get toasty at Fabriclive
FABRICLIVE: PLAYAZ CARNIVAL SPECIAL
FABRIC, £8-£19
Drum ‘n bass heat from Hype, Pascal, Shy FX, Rockwell, DJ Marky, Sigma, Taxman, Subzero, Prolix and Sigma; added Carnival vibes from Shut Up And Dance and David Rodigan.
TROUBLE VISION CARNIVAL WARM-UP
CORSICA STUDIOS, £15, 10pm-6am
Gilles Peterson headlines, but Mahogani Music house supremo – and former Slum Village DJ – Andres is worth the price of admission alone. T. Williams and Breach bring up the rear with well-turned house and Funky.
BROKEN & UNEVEN PRESENTS: OSTGUT TON
SECRET EAST LONDON LOCATION, £12.50-£15, 10pm-6am
Not sure that the greyscale techno one associates with Berghain and its in-house label, Ostgut Ton, is particularly “carnival” in feel, but there’s no doubt that this will be a terrific party for the Berlin-inclined: Marcels Dettmann and Fengler go hard with special guest Surgeon, while Prosumer and Ostgut boss Nick Hoppner rep the housier sounds of Panorama Bar.
The Egyptian Lover is at the wheel for Blunted
UPFRONT PROJECT: BLUNTED
FIRE, £10, 10pm-6am
Electro and hip-hop rinse out headed up by the indefatigable Egyptian Lover, plus Jazzy Jay, HouseShoes, and a high-octane footwork finish from DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn.
MONO AUDIO & BM SOHO PRESENT FUNKY CARNIVAL SPECIAL
CABLE, £6-£16, 10pm-6am
Top-notch Funky and related soundsystem ruffage from Lil Silva, Amit (live) and Bristol boy Kahn. Better still, the first 50 arrivals get free entry.
Saturday 25 August
The Ragga Twins step out for Urban Nerds’ Carnival Warm-Up
URBAN NERDS CARNIVAL WARM-UP
THE SCALA, £8-£15, 10pm-6am
An undeniably massive party this, with Mala & Coki and Kode9 leading the charge. Jackmaster, The Ragga Twins, Sunship, The Heatwave, Breakage and Champion also figure in a line-up that few parties will be able to compete with this weekend.
FABRIC SATURDAY
FABRIC, £10-£19, 11pm-8am
You could argue that it’s business as usual for Fabric on Saturday, but when business as usual entails sets from Joy Orbison, Dixon, Session Victim, Shackleton and Pinch, it’s worth taking notice.
BIG CHILL PRESENTS NECESSARY MAYHEM
THE BIG CHILL HOUSE, FREE, 9pm-4am
The best things are life in free, and in this case also happen to boast soundsystem legend MC Tippa Irie, BBC 1xtra’s dancehall don Robbo Ranx, Serocee and more.
Loefah leads a smoking line-up for the Troupe Carnival Party
TROUPE CARNIVAL PARTY
PULSE WAREHOUSE, £10, 10pm-3am
Swamp81 boss Loefah, still London’s no.1 DJ as far as we’re concerned, is joined by rising stars of garage/house, Bondax, and Klose One, for this session south of the river.
SUMMER SLAM 2012: THE CARNIVAL SPECIAL
HIDDEN, £8.50-£10, 10pm-6am
‘Floor-pelasing garage, bashment and house fro DJ Spoony, Rinse FM’s Mark Radford and Booker T, among others.
BLUEPRINT
CABLE, £15-£20, 10pm-6am
James Ruskin’s Blueprint label nights have become one of London’s most reliable hubs for quality techno, and you can’t ask for better this weekend than a special extended set from the one, the only, Jeff Mills.
Jeff Mills brings his techno wizardry to Blueprint at Cable
WOW
EGG, £10-£20, 10pm-10am
Regular house/techno all-nighter (and beyond) at Egg in Kings Cross, notable on this occasion for a headline set from New York dance legend and Body & Soul resident Francois K.
OSCILLATE WILDLY
CORSICA STUDIOS, 10pm-6am, £6-£12
Deep house, garage and the like from Tevo Howard (live), George Fitzgerald, Christian Loffler (live), recent FACT mixer Huxley, Braiden and more.
WAY BACK HERE
SHACKLEWELL ARMS, 9pm-3am, £5
Hip-hop leaning flavours from Eglo Records boss and one of London’s best DJs, Alexander Nut, alongside supreme digger Mr. Beatnick and Tom Lea.
Sunday 26 August
Gilles Peterson is Up On The Roof
GILLES PETERSON… UP ON THE ROOF
BRIXTON CLUBHOUSE, £10-£14, 2pm-midnight
Daytime rooftop party in Brixton with Gilles Peterson on the 1s and 2s – perfect way to pass a Sunday afternoon and evening, all being well weather-wise.
DAVID RODIGAN AND THE HEATWAVE CARNIVAL PARTY
ELECTRIC BRIXTON, £10-£15, 10pm-6am
Carnival vibes with a capital ‘C’: dancehall devastators The Heatwave are joined by David Rodigan, Toddla T & Serocee, Kenny Ken and Josey Rebelle for what will surely be one of the very bashiest and most bogle-friendly sessions of the weekend.
NINJA TUNE PRESENTS
THE PARADISE, £10-£15, 7pm-2am
The Paradise pub-cum-club in Kensal Green hands the controls to Ninja Tune; with Coldcut, Zed Bias, The 2 Bears, Sticky, Adrian Sherwood and Ross Allen among the confirmed DJs, you can bet your bottom dollar that this is going to be rammed.
CARNIVAL 2012 WITH WOOKIE AND WAZE & ODYSSEY
HORSE & GROOM, £4-£7 (free before 9pm), 7pm-6am
Sultry house and UKG action from the mighty Wookie and Waze & Odyssey.
Cheer up, Matthew Herbert – you’re playing secretsundaze
SECRETSUNDAZE GO BANG!
THE ROUNDHOUSE (12 noon-11pm) & PROUD CAMDEN (10pm-6am), £17.50-£29.50
Impressively huge undertaking from the secretsundaze crew: a two-parter occupying the Roundhouse in the afternoon and early evening, then heading to the more intimate Proud Camden for a rave into the wee hours. Matthew Herbert, Four Tet, Levon Vincent, Ben UFO, DVS1, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Sven Weisemann (live), Ill Blu andWbeeza, as well as residents James Priestley and Giles Peterson, are the main players in a star-studded line-up.
CARNIVAL TOP UP
THE REGENT, £12-£15, 7.30pm-3am
Carnival veterans Sancho Panza host an afterparty for all house and disco-inclined West London revellers; music from Crazy P, Matt Brown, Jimmy K Tel and Coldcut’s Jonathan Moore.
CRECHE: THE SUMMER BIG ONE
SECRET LOCATION, £15-£25, 1pm-4am
Slinky house manoeuvrings from the extraordinarily in-demand Julio Bashmore, DJ Sneak, Shonky and Martinez Brothers.
All good in a hood: Julio Bashmore headlines The Creche
MUDD UP!
SHACKLEWELL ARMS, FREE, 10pm-3am
Jamie Rodigan’s Mudd Up! regular is well disposed to give you that carnival feeling inside. He, Disorda, Hartley LP and other guests will be serving up dancehall, reggae, bashment, hip-hop and other things that go with the August Bank Holiday like gin goes with tonic.
COLONY & SCAND BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL
RHYTHM FACTORY, £5, 10pm-6am
Serious techno and electro rally, led by Peter Van Hoesen, Keith Tenniswood aka Radioactive Man and Ben Gibson (live). MPIA3 and DJ Skirt are the other highlights for us.
THE GARDEN PARTY & PARADISE 45 PRESENT 25 YEARS OF ACID HOUSE
THE MASON’S ARMS, £15, 2pm-2am
Unapologetic disco nostalgia from seasoned rave generators Justin Robertson, Rocky (X-Press 2), Pete Herbert and Terry Farley.
TIEF
CORSICA STUDIOS, £8-£13, 10pm-6am
A showcase for Tom Trago’s Voyage Direct showcase featuring the man himself plus Dexter, Alfabet (live), Awanto 3, Legowelt (live) and KiNK. Can’t go wrong with these guys.
Monday 27 August
Thunder in Paradise: Benji B
DEVIATION PRESENTS
PARADISE, £10-£15, 7pm-3am
Benji B brings his Deviation crew and special guests to West London – strap in for tip-top, genre-hopping party madness from Oneman, Toddla T, DJ Zinc, Martelo, IG Culture, Ossie, Semtex and more.
HOT WUK CARNIVAL BASHMENT
EAST VILLAGE, £10-£15, 9.30pm-2.30am
A second bite of the Carnival cherry for The Heatwave, this time joined by Seani B and their regular sparring partner, Sticky.
“If you’re name’s not on the list…”: Major Lazer Soundsystem
RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY PRESENTS MAZOR LAZER CARNIVAL PARTY
UNDER THE WESTWAY (PRIZE DRAW WINNERS & INVITES ONLY), 12 midday-7pm
Once again the hottest of hot tickets, Red Bull Music Academy fly in the Major Lazer Soundsystem with guests Sean Paul, Dre Skull, Machel Montano and Nicky da B; plus David Rodigan, Lunice, Hudson Mohawke, Doc Daneeka, Mele b2b Lil Silva and Raf Riley.
STAUNCH CARNIVAL SPECIAL
SUPPERCLUB, £10, 5pm-12 midnight
Picking up where the Major Lazer bash leaves off, Staunch assembles a formidable cast of rave detonators in the shape of Loefah b2b Zed Bias, A Guy Called Gerald (live), Klose One, Dusky and more TBA.
