Mosca at Roxx was the first night I had been genuinely excited about since moving to Southampton 3 weeks ago. Freshers was cool, but there’s only so much JLS one can take before becoming irrationally angry. I knew things were going to be different this particular Friday though; we prelashed to Craig David, nothing could go wrong.
Apart from Junk on Saturdays house music is a bit of a rarity down here, but it seems that things are looking up. Roxx, a new club that opened its doors for the first time on October 4th, has the potential to become a focal point of bass music in Southampton. It has the makings of a great venue; it’s intimate but not claustrophobic, the Funktion One sound system is loud and bassy, there’s a seating area for a mid-dance beverage/where you can dump your drunk mate and crucially, it doesn’t get too crowded. The first night by organisers ‘Heavy DJ’ was almost sold out, but there was room enough even for the most elaborate of dancing. Roxx is open plan and spacious but it felt like the organisers hadn’t been greedy with ticket sales; there was the right amount of people.
For me, the best thing about the night was the atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be there for the music; it didn’t matter that you were sweating or finding the lights a bit more interesting than you normally would. There was none of the pretension of your average Friday night in town, where every single girl is being hit on and most of the guys are dancing ‘ironically’ because they’re still 3 jaeger bombs away from being able to do anything other than prod the nearest female.
Southampton residents Bitr8 and Jaycek warmed up the night well without alienating potential dancers with overly aggressive music, Jaycek’s trap set was energetic but not overbearing. Karma Kid upped the tempo and people responded. The 17 year old was very impressive and is one to watch for the future. By the time he dropped Disclosure the crowd were primed for the main man. Mosca played a cracking set. It was eclectic; drawing from garage, house and techno his sound was driving and relentless. He was dancing along to every song he played, and that enjoyment of the music carried over to the crowd who were clearing loving it. ‘Bax’, his best-known song, went down an absolute storm.
After the show I managed to ask him a few questions and we talked about the night … He was initially a bit discerning; “can you ask a different question please” was the first thing he said to me, but only because he didn’t want to give generic answers. Clearly passionate about music, he was much happier having an informal conversation, and I was able to get much more of an insight into his world than “how did you enjoy Southampton?” would have ever got me. “I like to play tunes where you don’t know where it ends and where it starts… to be honest I was feeling antagonistic tonight… but it went off”. When I asked him about the future of DJs like Flux Pavillion and Coki he brushed off contemporary dubstep as “nonsense”. “If you’re gonna mix tunes you might as well mesh them together, have this mad knotted thing…get lost in the music”. I felt like after the night we’d just had, I almost knew what he meant.
With one good night under the belt already and the likes of Joy Orbison, Disclosure, Oneman and Andy C all soon due to play in Southampton, the calibre of DJs coming down to play is on the rise. With several venues now consistently hosting top nights, the future of our bass music scene is looking bright.
1 Comment
like the plain speaking and light touch…more please !