XOYO marks the spot - Aug 2011

On a fleeting return visit to London last week I managed to squeeze in a trip to XOYO, the 800-capacity club tucked into an alley behind Old Street station.

When nearby Herbal club closed in 2009 I was bereft, but this venue has filled that hole well. With a team including my ex Mixmag colleague and Bugged Out! founder John Burgess at the helm, you'd expect them to spot a good lineup from ten paces. Which they can.

Toddla T was playing - regular readers will know I'd never slate him. But the other DJs did a wicked job too, mixing up dubstep, garage, funky, jungle, and all other urban loveliness, into a bumpin' room with a great vibe. Rinse FM DJ Oneman took it a little too RnB but we forgive him for that because he also dropped LL Cool J's 'Doin It'. (Remember that one, kids? No?)

Anyway, the point of all this waffle is that XOYO is a fantastic club and you should all support it (and try to convince the council to let it open past 4am). So get your high tops on and jog down to Soundcrash on Saturday 20 August or the Urban Nerds Carnival Special the week after. Look!

Jesters clash with riot police at Holborn rave

Halloween is always a cracking night out in London. I spent mine avoiding a thousand devils' pitchforks at Urban Nerds in Old Street.

Meanwhile, down the road in Holborn, this week's most hilarious news story was breaking at an illegal warehouse rave. Police were called to a gaff near The Den where around 500 people were raving to 'deafening hard techno', says The Telegraph.

After asking people to leave (who probably couldn't hear them if it was so deafening), police panicked and called in the chaps from the riot squad.

The newspaper says: 'Ravers in boiler suits, bear suits, and jester costumes, and an array of hoodies, top hats, fluorescent caps and dreadlocks, were in the road. Some were drinking beer in the road, many were clinging to water bottles.'

Ahahahahahahhaha.

Newspaper quote of the week goes to squatter David Emeri, who told reporters: 'The only thing is I've been here since 3am and I haven't had the chance to go to the lavatory yet.'



Read the full story here. There's an alternative video of the event here.

Urban Nerds Halloween special

Hope I didn't leave you distraught with Gravity Skank's absence these last couple of weeks, chums. Been busy with the non-raving side of life (yawn yawn).

But panic over – I'm back, with lots of raving fun times to update you with: Turning Point Festival, Hospitality at Brixton Academy, plus some interesting new artist releases.

In the meantime, check out this awesome little club night. Silly season is well and truly over, promoters have returned from their summer breaks and the parties are back in full swing. (In fact, October to December is perhaps the busiest time of the clubbing year, so I do hope you've prepared your brain cells for annihilation.)

Urban Nerds is one of the capital's most hip brands and the folks behind it are churning out parties like there's no tomorrow night. Interestingly they've linked up with some major promoters across the UK (including Newcastle's Wax:On and Brighton's Supercharged) and have just announced an event at the cool-as-ice Snowbombing festival in Austria next year.

At the end of October is this Halloween bash in London, with a super freaky lineup including Joker, Cookie Monsta, Flux Pavilion and Marcus Nasty. If you like dubstep, grime and trendy things, you must be there. The 900-capacity venue, Xoyo in Shoreditch, is a newbie that opens this month. Looks like a good'un!

Urban Nerds Halloween Bash
Saturday 30 October 2010
@ XOYO,        
32-37 Cowper Street, London EC2A 4AP

Click here for details.