Cirque Du Soul #1
Eton Messy
Fullcircle
Saturday 26th January
Last Saturday, Fullcircle club in Leeds hosted the first instalment of Cirque Du Soul, a travelling party that will invade the quirkiest of hideouts in cities across the country and transform them into a bass-driven circus of dance, colour, and magic. This is exactly what they did. The place was packed with every circus-related costume one can imagine as was strictly required. No costume, no entry. The feel and vibrancy of a circus was definitely achieved, though instead of clowns, acrobats and monkeys riding unicycles, it was the Eton Messy crew who took over the show.
Eton Messy smashed 2012, constantly adding to their following with the YouTube channel hitting 5 million views, and over 25,000 subscribers, and it looks as if this will continue if they continue to entertain crowds as they did at Fullcircle. Eton Messy have been referred to as the ‘future garage messiahs’ and it became immediately clear why when they jumped on the decks at Cirque Du Soul. Their bass-driven set roared through the club and saw everyone clowning around (excuse the pun) for the entirety of the sell-out night. It didn’t seem busier or quieter at any point because there was a constant flow of energy, partly due to the wide variety of genres being played, which kept people on their toes. It was great to see DJs successfully fusing heavy house and garage basslines with funk, soul, hip-hop and even some disco classics. The supporting acts also smashed their sets, with a particular highlight of mine being Will Weaver (Cola Wine), who will also be playing at the next Cirque Du Soul.
Fullcircle seemed to be the perfect venue for such a night, ticking all the right boxes. It was certainly quirky as promised, scattered with evidence of its alternative uses as an art gallery, life drawing class and café, and it’s previously hosted Mono_cult. The open-panned room fully absorbed the bass and a spiral staircase led to a couch-layered balcony accompanied with another bar. The couches provided a space for ravers to take a needed break whilst still able to hear the sounds coming from downstairs.
Although Cirque Du Soul will not be returning to Leeds anytime soon, the monthly mayhem will continue throughout 2013 as the collective journeys through the country with a headline act in each city. The next party will be at Breeze club in Nottingham with Greg Wilson as the headline act. If they do make a return be sure to hit it up, as you will not be disappointed!
words: Julien Passinke
photo: Ian G. Ramsey