Photo: Paige Gould
The past 12 months have seen a whole host of new nights begin to make their mark on the Leeds scene, and in a city spoiled for choice this is not as easy as it seems. After hearing a lot of good things about Deep Fever from a few friends, I went down to discover how one of the new forces on the Leeds bloc sees off a successful first year on the scene.
Photo: Paige Gould
The night brands itself as a strictly house, techno and disco affair, shining a spotlight on some of Leeds’ unsigned talent alongside rising stars on the UK circuit. Following on from the successes of their opening party in October and attracting ManMakeMusic’s tour-de-force, Trikk and his particular brand of darkly bass driven pumping house back in November, the scene was well set for a promising night.
Photo: Paige Gould
Choosing to move from their previous venue Musiquarium to local favourite Mint and selecting rising star Harry Wolfman to headline were both early signs of intent. When we arrived, Jonny Rhodes and Keep it Down were busy welcoming a packed and eager crowd with some solid opening sets, building up the collective anticipation.
With the party off to an energetic start and a packed crowd, Harry Wolfman took control of the decks. His set was an eclectic offering of spacey techno and pumping house which moved into some expertly-timed disco edits. A personal favourite moment had to be when Late Night Tuff Guy’s rework of Prince’s ‘Controversy’, was dropped roughly an hour into his set.
Photo: Paige Gould
When Mono_cult Resident Matt Long took over at 2.00 the crowd had reduced to a more comfortable size, with the introduction of a more trance based techno and house eventually giving way to some rougher selections. But an all-night highlight has to be when Prosumer’s Hold Me Touch Me remix of Murat Tepeli’s ‘I Forever’ was dropped at around half past 2. The detuned, rather dark and sparse piano seemed to fully capture the mood of the whole crowd.
Photo: Paige Gould
All in all, any night that seems to be building up a solid reputation with an established loyal and young crowd, while jostling for space in an overcrowded scene deserves to be commended. Choosing to upgrade to Mint hopefully represents just the first stage in the night potentially expanding to bigger and better things later this year.
Murat Tepeli – Forever (Prosumer’s Hold Me Touch Me Remix) [AVA]
Oscar Frandsen