Reviewed: Paradise at Printworks

Unmatchable, vivacious and innovative. Three words I, and most ravers would use to describe, in my opinion, the best venue in the UK. You must have been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Printworks since its game changing Issue 001. The excitement of going to such a place rises as soon as you step off of the Overground at Canada Water and make your way towards the industrial setting of the old printing factory. The closer you get the more daunting and incredible it gets as it starts to become real that you are going to be raving alongside a further 5,000 ravers inside of an old factory, something most people can only dream of doing and to make the whole experience even more exciting Jamie Jones brought his Paradise show along for the party. Coming through with some of the biggest names in the tech house scene, the Paradise takeover was set to be an absolute stomper in the Issue 002 of Printworks events.

Kicking things off for us in the Press Halls (Main room) was who else but the tech house groove master Latmun. Known for keeping crowds captivated with his coherent energy and refreshing song selections, there was no one better to get things going. Spirits were high for the start of the day as he belted out tracks such as his new remix, ‘The Golden Boy – Egyptian Lover (Latmun Remix) and one of his recent releases ‘Latmun – Footsteps (Ft. Amy Douglas)’. Some proper bouncy numbers that were just what was needed to ease into the afternoon.

Time moves on ever so quickly when you find yourself glued to the dancefloor, two-stepping the day away and before we knew it, it was 4pm and time for Richy Ahmed to put a funky disco-house spin on the day as he took to the wheels for two hours. Keeping the party going but with his own signature on it was refreshing to hear as it gave a nice break from the tech house selections but don’t let that fool you as Ahmed had everyone bouncing from left to right. Combining tunes such as ‘Richy Ahmed & Gloria Adereti – Put Me In A Trance’ and ‘Kollektiv Turmstrasse – Sorry I Am Late (Richy Ahmed Remix) with a funky array of lighting really added to the disco vibe coming through his set as blues and yellows bounced from wall to wall synchronised to the beat of the songs.

After a little disco boogie, we thought it would be the perfect time to amble on over to the Charge Bay to catch the remainder of Mark Jenkyns set. Underwhelming, maybe a little harsh but is one word I would use to describe the second room at Printworks (Charge Bay), however, take nothing away from Jenkyns who was shelling out some serious heavy hitters such as one of his very own tracks, ‘Mark Jenkyns – Transmission’. The build-up consisting of all the beeps, squeaks and rising horns to really add to the anticipation of the hard-hitting drop, which was matched by the sound system. A proper belter capable of making anyone bust some moves.

It was now about 6:30pm and we had found ourselves back in the Press Rooms under the control of house heavyweight Loco Dice. A set that most people, if they have seen him before, will have been waiting for because you never know what you’re going to get with Dice but you know you will never be disappointed. Moving like a proper dictator, Dice was shelling out some proper bouncy anthems such as his remix of ‘Moby – Go’ which was just the kind of tune people needed to keep them going through the rave, nothing too heavy or light, just the right feel to keep the vibes going. With the venue packed to the brim with ravers, Dice was seamlessly mixing through banger after banger as he pulled out tons of fan favourites such as ‘Neneh Cherry – Everything (Loco Dice Remix). Everyone was in a complete trance as time started to lead on to the final set, Jamie Jones.

It was time for Jamie Jones to take to the wheels to close up what had been an outrageously good day. You know just what to expect from a JJ set, unrivalled mixing and incredible song selection and it was just that. JJ had the whole place bouncing in true minimal tech style as he whipped out songs such as ‘Neverdogs & Sebastian Ledher – Una’ and ‘Zlatnichi – Like Mike’. The subtle drops, the kind of drops where you appreciate the excellence of the mixing, were what everyone had been waiting for and there’s no one better in the game than JJ at delivering those. Now one thing that always gets drawn into conversations about Printworks is the outrageous light displays and it’s safe to say that they didn’t disappoint. The different combinations of colours, shapes and effects add so much to the event, especially if you were a first-time visitor of the venue. Having the ability to completely alter the effect a song has on the crowd just through the lighting was an absolute game changer and JJ took full advantage of this by selecting some darker hard hitters such as ‘Nacho Bolognani – Le (Lauhaus Remix). You know it’s starting to get later when the dark selections start coming out to play and there’s no better place than Printworks for them to get their full worth.

And that was it, the final song, the final kick drum. It was time for everyone to head home after another stellar Printworks event. If you haven’t been, you must go. Printworks is definitely one to tick off the bucket list.