Patchwork and Next of Kin, have both begun to start throwing their own parties across Leeds for while now. But the nights where they have joined forces are where their biggest impact may be found. At the end of last year, they brought in Pablo Valentino, someone I personally hadn’t heard of and he produced a night of funk and entertainment. Esa (Esa Williams) was the man chosen to entertain this time, a London-based South African who is rising to prominence. Multi-talented Williams also helps run Glaswegian based Highlife record label with Auntie Flo, and leads a popular Ghanian dance-rap group, Ata Kak.

Blueberry Hill Studios is a venue still fairly unexplored amongst many, although the event space has hosted parties before for On Rotation and Broken Mechanics. It is a two story unit within Kirkstall industrial park, operating with a bar downstairs and a dance floor upstairs in an open story complex. The venue itself is out on it’s own a little, as it sits within a retail park containing KFC, Laser Quest, and Kirkstall Recycling Park. However, the guys at Patchwork and Next of Kin produced a very warm welcome, one you may find at events likes of Cosmic Slop. At the news that people had been getting in for free, due to overly-relaxed door staff, they shrugged their shoulders and gave the rhetoric of the more the merrier.

The party began with Slim Fin & Tom Pork, who bounced the night off to Boney M’s ‘Sunny’. Esa then carried on this escalation of funk, while introducing some of the world sounds he is known for with Concept Neuf’s number – ‘The Path‘. Before acquainting the crowd with elements of his heavier Dekmantel set with tracks such as ‘Dambefoli’ produced by Luka Productions and his own work of ‘Blast’. The number of people left over at the end is credit to how much a fun party it was, as people exited back out to face the beast from the east, you definitely noticed the warm feeling that had been inflamed.

Owen Ellicott

Image credits: Patchwork x Next of Kin