Considering that Drumsheds is not only London’s largest new dance venue, but the world’s, it’s incredibly civilised. Two weeks ago, Tottenham’s old IKEA reopened as a superclub with a capacity of 15,000 people, and on Saturday evening, it was Hot Chip’s turn to entertain the sea of revellers.
Brought to us by Bugged Out! – one of the UK’s longest running club nights, commonly hosted at the Surrey Quays venue Printworks before its closure – Saturday’s lineup was an ode to the Nineties and Noughties rave scene, complete with Orbital, Basement Jaxx and smiley face logos aplenty.
Much like any regular night out, time is split into the universal itinerary of drink; dance; smoking area; toilet break; repeat. The key difference at Drumsheds is that you’re back home and tucked up in bed with your drunk food of choice by 11pm. Some attendees were even considering making restaurant reservations. Due to licensing, the venue is required to close at 10:30pm, meaning every party is more or less a day event, beginning at lunchtime.
Once excited ravers had had their fill of exploring the venue’s three rooms, X, Y and Z, they flocked into the largest (X) for a DJ set from Basement Jaxx. The electronic duo opened with a remix of Skepta’s week-old single Can’t Play Myself (A Tribute To Amy), a remix of Amy Winehouse’s Tears Dry On Their Own. After an hour of mixing other artist’s tracks the duo finally dropped their own 2001 classic, Where’s Your Head At?. It's fair to say: heads were lost.
Props are also due to the interlude DJ who ingeniously dropped the 1980 Jona Lewie track You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties, which re-entered the UK Singles chart in 2010 after being featured in an IKEA advert. As hard as Drumsheds has tried to replace home furnishings with industrial sparsity, the spirit of the Swedish giant still lingers.
At the early hour of 6:30pm, Hot Chip took to the 40-metre stage, opening with 2015 single Huarache Lights. The band began as they intended to go on: with unquenchable energy that was immediately matched by the crowd. The only breather came via an emotional tribute to Sinéad O’Connor. As lead singer Alexis Taylor told The Standard earlier this year, Hot Chip would have loved to collaborate with her more than anyone.
"We’ve never played this in an IKEA before" Taylor admitted, following Prince’s version of Nothing Compares 2 U, before reigniting the room with closing tracks Hungry Child and Over and Over. Hot Chip brought 15,000 people together with a set so mesmerising that even the stern security guards were filming it. The icing on the cake? At the end of the evening, Hot Chip was swapped for McDonalds chips, an early night and a hangover-free Sunday.
