Photo: Dave Piekoz

In the shadow of Mint Warehouse’s more advertised and expensive ‘Cocoon’ night, Mint Club hosting Kyle Hall was a night not to be missed. This distraction did have its’ advantages: on entering the club I was faced with a more manageable and less noticeably sweaty  crowd than normal.

A generally great atmosphere was generated by Leon Vynehall, which was consistently maintained through his set. He avoided the more strange, downtempo sounds that he is known for and instead stuck to bold floor fillers such as ‘Brother’. In doing so he managed to build a sense of anticipation for the main man of the night whilst also proving he is a name to watch out for.

Kyle Hall followed on seamlessly with an exciting set, playing tracks from his recent album The Boat Party. The combination of more soulful house, such as ‘Crushed’, and fast-paced rhythmic sounds meant that the crowd was always kept on their toes. A high point was the erratic ‘Flemmenup’ and I will always remember the incredible finale. Since his debut in 2007, Hall has built himself a reputation as one of Detroit’s finest, something he certainly proved on Saturday.

After such an explosive end to Hall’s set, A1 Bassline unfortunately failed to live up to the hard job of following the Detroit DJ. His more basic sounds would perhaps have been more suited to opening the night instead of closing it. The crowd dwindled and the night ended on an understandable anti climax.

There were of course a few practical down-sides to the night, namely enforced use of the cloak room and the grim and broken unisex bathrooms – being able to see your cubicle neighbour goes from being hilarious to awkward very quickly. Nevertheless, it was certainly an extremely enjoyable night; everyone was out to have a good time and Kyle Hall and Leon Vynehall did a fine job in making this happen.

Madeleine Davison

Kyle Hall – Boiler Room Detroit DJ set

 

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