Being a serious writer I was just sipping a few beers for the night and luckily for me there are six bars through out. The bars are run very efficiently by the staff, so I was never kept waiting for a beer for too long. With standard club prices although they do three stellas for a tenner which might help to soften the blow. They also have a smoking terrace and plenty of chill-out space. The venue easily holds up to 1500 people and with its 24 hour licence, the club could literally keep going all day.

With a list of promoters including, Bugged Out, Renegade Hardware, Innovation, Connected, Epidemik and Jungle Fever, the club has pretty much something for any hardened clubber and anyone new to the scene.

As I was there for the Hardware, I spent most of my time in the main room and it's big enough for a great atmosphere, but intimate enough to get up close to the DJ booth and see them working their magic and really making you feel involved.

The Lighting System and Matrix at Area

I highly recommend getting down there when something that suits your musical tastes comes up or why not try something new and if you fancy a night of heavy bass and beats, this Saturday night would have been the one to bring you over to the darkside. It really is a cool space and I absolutely loved the layout of the tunnel like main room and it threw me back to the messy old days of Trinity at the Chunnel Club (now Hidden) just around the corner. Great staff, the security was good, just an overall superb addition to South London's clubbing scene.

So onto the night. Having attended a few Hardware nights at The End, www.ravescum.com was safe in the knowledge that tonight, everybody was going to be treated to plenty of music we had never heard before. The great thing about Renegade Hardware in my opinion, is they tend to stray away from your typical drum and bass line ups. This guarantees a music policy which is just that little bit different from what are the more mainstream drum and bass events (which we still thoroughly enjoy by the way) and provides new music and talent that even some of the more seasoned Drum and Bass fanatics like me may not have heard of.

 

The club was pretty full when I got in there, bubbling pretty nicely and the atmosphere was already charging for the onslaught that laid ahead. The first artist I am going to mention is the Offkey Recordings Don. He is the man responsible for one of my favourite tunes of all time, >'Fallin', the man Raiden. He was on form and was one of my favourites of the night. Having seen Raiden play a couple of times over the years, I knew we were in for something special. His mixing was tight and he didn't disappoint with some  quality rollers. Absolutely tearing selection. Lovely stuff and the crowd loved it.

 

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Now onto my personal highlight of the night, it had to be The Upbeats. I had never heard of these Kiwi Maestros before but after seeing them doing their thing live, thought they absolutely smashed it. They were outstanding and pushed the soundsystem at Area to its limits. After doing some research about them I can see they are fairly established and had stopped in London midtour on Saturday as part of their world tour. The tour sees them taking in London, finishing in Tokyo then flying  back to home to NZ and then over to the US for a month of touring in June. For me, these guys absolutely tore it down from start to finish.

 An amazing selection of Drum and Bass, dubstep sounds and basically just downright nasty business. They went down very well with the crowd and in my opinion one of the biggest draws of the night. Check back to http://www.ravescum.com soon for an exclusive interview. Friction bought proceedings to a close in his usual fashion, general upfront filth with a few classics thrown in for good measure, obviously totally different from his old skool jungle set at AWOL when I last saw him three weeks ago. My three best artists for the night without a doubt and 2shy stood out for me from the MC's. But the whole night was rocking and massive respect to all the DJ's and MC's who didn't fail to entertain. Overall an absolutely wicked night and one of my personal favourite regular DnB nights in London.

Many thanks to Michelle, you're a diamond for sorting me out at such short notice and big up to Clayton and all the Hardware family for an outstanding label and an awesome night.

Next Renegade Hardware is 27th June at Area. More info to follow soon. Do yourself a favour and get yourself down there!

RS

http://www.areaclublondon.com

http://www.myspace.com/renegadehardware2k7

Friction from the first Hardware at Area

http://www.youtube.com/v/T41w1q8sr6A

http://www.youtube.com/v/HoT-afaRbS4

This review was written by www.ravescum.com for www.ravescum.com All rights reserved.

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