CHOCKABLOCK WAS RAM JAM JAM !

Chockablock at the Egg, in Kings Cross. Friday Night. Grime verses Rave. This is the second time I've been up to the Egg in the last month or so, and had a rough idea of what to expect, but still ...

Soooo what's the vibe ? Well pretty hot actually. From the offset, the clientele were as billed on the flyer. Grime kids, and (Nu?) Ravers, side by side. A place populated by mini-niyis and hood-la las, with a sprinkling of PSMs (Public School Mandem). And you know what ? They offset each other quite nicely, really bringing out the inner neon. A real little piece of East London for tourists, scenesters and the usual clubland characters. But all in North.

First tip for those thinking of hitting it up  - get there before 11.00 if you want the luxury of nil door charge. Sometimes the bouncers don't start letting people in until 10.45 but last night doors were unlatched 10.00 sharp. 

Plus, it's worth bearing in mind that Egg is a little out of the way from the main street. I've heard stories of a mythical shuttle bus, ferrying peeps back and forth for the price of one gold nugget, but as far as I'm concerned, these reports remain unconfirmed.

The second plus point is the drinks are cheap. Easy Vibe coming at £2.50 a pop.

The venue itself is quite unique. It managed to pull off the rare balance of feeling busy, but never too packed. Unlike the hell that is Fabric on a Friday night. I still find it hard to believe people actually pay a £15 door charge just to join the human sea that is a Fabric crowd. Blah blah blah. Back to the Egg. 

The club has two rooms on the ground floor, lying either side of a large outdoor square covered by a marquee. Here lie the smokers, giant playing cards and the social stars. Soundtrack ? Chitter Chatter. It's here where peeps tend to convene early on in the night, making plots, for later.

Now the logistics are out of the way, lets talk music. When I ventured off into the rooms this is what was served up...

Room 1 a smoke filled gas chamber, hosted by an invisible DJ box bumping out minimal techno. Shirt wearing, chino slackers holding up the dancefloor and a 1-d sound. Not my cup. So I couldn't possibly offer a fair evaluation. Ahem.  

Room 2 ? Live-O !!! After missing Kanjji Kinetic (grrrr...) we were entertained by BokBok & Manara. I first heard this male and female DJ combo at Night Slugz, a sort of artschool Bassline night (def recommend checking out). Their brand of bass blends tracks from Drop the Lime, Dexplicit and Sticky into one plucky sound. Check more of their stuff here. 

After the duo melted the icy grime shuffle and reduced the radius of the dance floor circle, a hyped feeling was all in the air.

Whispers in the crowd that D double E was in the building proved true. It was clear who most were here to see. A point made extremely lucid when some younglings (see below, prizes for guessing who) told me "D Double E man. Sick, he is gonna be BAAAAAD. Do you reckon Dizzy might show up aswell?". I told them it was guaranteed. 

Anyways, when the skinny one felt ready, he threw a lit match onto the sweltering crowd. Things exploded. Coolness dissipated to make way for mosh-pit fist banging, popping trigger fingers and calls of "Meeehh Meeehh". The E was murkiiiiing it. The sound system could have been tweaked a little, as oscillating between DJs and Emcees made the levels a little slap-dash but the sheer energy of the set covered up technical glitches.  

I caught a bits and peices of the BullyBoys (best yet to come, I think), Vectra and Butterz (on form) but saw no sign of Namalee or Tic Tac repping the Ravers ... Does that mean Grime won ? Are these guys tied up in the basement somewhere, with glowsticks poking out of their eye sockets ? Or was I just dozey enough to miss them completely. 

Anyway, heavy night. Big Plimpin' all round.





























Thomas