On Saturday, The Warehouse was occupied by the Blu E-Cig company who teamed up with Vagabondz for another night in their series of free launch events across the country – a presumed attempt to embed their new product into a young music fan’s demography. Previous nights have featured Leeds’ own Crazy P and Eliphino, but the night at Warehouse was for those of a less housey disposition. They adorned the rooms with cool cerulean neon lighting, purveying ‘Freedom for the taking’, and gave the club’s rarely seen second downstairs room, The Garage, an outing. And this was an apt name for the room since established garage DJ Matt Jam Lamont took to the decks for a fiercely groovy set with a strong whiff of the old skool. Eton Messy’s Kry Wolf, who clearly owes something to this world of old skool garage, provided a bit of summery deep house, interspersed with silky smooth drops, before El-B played a dirty set of garagey dub.

In main room, as E-Cig vapour filled the air, Boyson played a set of thunderous grime, including a spin of All-Star’s remix of ‘That’s Not Me’ – a song that sounds ever-increasingly like one of the anthems of 2014. He was followed by headliner, Zinc, whose set, despite his status, was the weakest of the night. It was just cheap deep house, an unwelcome departure from the grimier pursuits of the night. Overall, too, there was an air of disappointment. The influence of garage and grime in recent years is indisputable, but the sound actually felt awkwardly outdated as the crowd slumped and dwindled. Just like an e-cigarette, the night (which was more an act of salesmanship than a musical event) did not provide the satisfaction that a real tobacco ciggy might.

[Oliver Walkden]

Photography: Origins Photos