They say all good things must come to an end and there can be no denying that Printworks, in all its 2500 capacity, nuclear power station-meets-Fifth Element splendour, will leave a gaping hole in London’s saturated frame when it concludes its current club series this month.
The venue has rapidly ascended into London’s most prolific day-spot, seeing everyone from Seth Troxler, Loco Dice, Alan Fitzpatrick, Daniel Avery, Nina Kravitz, Maya Jane Coles and The Martinez Bros grace its frame and that organ-compromising K2 L’Acoustic sound system.
What separates Printworks from its heavyweight counterparts is straightforward, VIBE. Yet to reach the death-knell antenna of the trashtechno-tourist, this is still the stuff of the rave-yard proper: The crowd may be young but they’re keen as champ’s, the line-ups, immaculately curated and lighting comparable to the H-bomb in terms of pure visceral brunt.
Printworks will continue as a cultural destination with a variety of shows lined up throughout the year. The next club series – issue 002– is set to run from later in the year, leaving the UK festival scene – the tragically finite Secret Garden Party and Craig Richards’ Houghton in particular – to lick and lap at your audio wounds.
In the interim, this coming Saturday, you can catch Cadenza’s tastemaker, Luciano who has pulled ammunition in the form of old friends Guti (live) and UK born maestro, Adam Shelton into the ring. Inevitable sonic delights and music-focussed crowds follow.
For disco, funk and soul aficionados, Some Voices – five hundred of them, to be precise – bring the iconic tones of Studio 54 to the floor on April 27th, turning industrial venue into disco inferno, complete with roller skates, hula hoops and glittering mirror balls. The idea: To celebrate forty years since Warhol, Jackson and Jagger knocked their artsy, sexy monied, melting-pot firmly into the halls of disco fame.
These aren’t bookings to miss. But then if you’re reading Electronic Groove, chances are you’ve already taken to the Printworks calendar like a hungry piglet to trough: snout held high in techno-heavy mud. It’s been a great season for the team behind the venue and we for one are looking forward to seeing what Printworks looks and feels like when they up the current 2500 to its full 5000 capacity. One assumes the sound-system, much like the hype that surrounds this place, will struggle to get too much louder.