Believe it or not, our writer Annelies travelled all the way from Belgium for this one.
On April the 2nd it was time to head over to London, as Metrik would bring his Ex Machina album to life for a second time. After a sold out edition at Colours Hoxton, this time it was The Steel Yard‘s turn to be turned into a rave temple. With Ruth Royall, Etherwood, gyrofield and special guest MUZZ, it was bound to be a great night.
Building a vibe
When we arrived at the venue, there was already a big line waiting, the people were ready for Metrik! Props to the staff, though, as it went very smooth. Once inside, it was a maze of stairs, bars, more stairs, the cloackroom and even more stairs. Finally, we found the main room, where Ruth Royall was playing her tunes. Playing tunes like ‘Forget The Rain’ with Paper Dragon supporting her next to the stage, to belting the vocals of ‘Like The Sun’ with Grafix watching, she didn’t disappoint. She ended on a high with her brand-new tune ‘New Ride’, during which she left her DJ-booth for a minute to come dance on stage.
Next up: Etherwood. Doing what he does best, Etherwood brought his best liquid and deep tunes with him and sent it. The soundguys definitely turned the sound up a notch during his set, because we could feel the bass pumping down to our very souls. Our ears were grateful we brought earplugs, that’s for sure. But other than Etherwood’s set being loud and soulful, it sure was a trip. Liquid tunes turning into rollers turning into jungle, he went from one side of the spectrum to the other. Highlight of his set? The Whiney Remix of ‘Begin By Letting Go’. What a tune.
Time for the bossman
The energy was there, everyone was vibing, time for Metrik. We said it once, and we’ll say it again, the Ex Machina album might be our favourite release of 2020 (hell, it might be thé good thing happening that year??). Building the vibe up to a high with ‘We Are The Energy’, creating the perfect atmosphere with ‘Time To Let Go’, or allowing us to breathe for a minute to ‘Shadows’. What can’t this man do, honestly. Perfect time to tease some new tracks, he must have thought, because in the middle of his set, we got to hear a new collaboration with Grafix. Coming up on the album in May? We’ll have to wait and see.
Other than his ‘Ex Machina’ album, he also played out his other bangers like the ‘Parallel VIP’, ‘Cadence VIP’ and ‘Overdrive’. But our favourite moment of his entire set has to be when he pressed play on ‘Dawnbreaker’ and ‘Utopia’. Man, we were on another planet for a second! Big up Metrik!
Tuning out? Think again.
Those who thought that after his set, the night would be over, were wrong, oh so wrong. Next up was gyrofield, doing her own thing, executed perfectly. Going from 120bpm, to 140, she built up the tension and finally landed on our favourite number 174, while playing out her own beautiful ‘Because You Are You’. Personally, we couldn’t wait for her ‘All The Things She Said’ bootleg, and we were over the moon when it was played out. One of the best bootlegs to exist, don’t come at me.
Closing down The Steel Yard, it was time to welcome MUZZ to the stage. For it having been quiet around him for a while, he sure made one hell of an entry. The first couple of minutes of his set were the most energetic thing we have ever witnessed. It was the graveyard set of graveyard sets, one big send-off. From A.M.C.’s ‘Squid Edit’, to DJ Fresh & Buunshin’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ and Noisia’s ‘Dead Limit’, he had all the bangers, all the tunes.
Unfortunately we had to miss the last hour of the rave, as we had to catch our train and go back to Belgium. We never wanted to stay in London so bad. We’ll be back.
To relive the night and all of the vibes, check out more pictures here.
