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The last Serious at The Cross... reviewed

Reported by josie / Submitted 11-01-06 18:12

Almost a year to the day since our last expedition to Serious saw a repeat visit to north London’s The Cross, for the last Serious ever at this posh venue. Rumours abound as to why Serious is getting the elbow, including the suggestion that The Cross are fed up with trance (boo, hiss), but whatever the reason, the usual high quality line-up was assembled to bid us farewell. And a very lovely venue it is too, full of fairy lights and foliage, each arch like a little grotto of fabulousness. All that’s missing are half-naked flunkeys to bring you chilled booze and distract security… who are vigilant, let’s just say. Which is of course what they’re paid for, and no argument from little me.


Simon Patterson


Even before 1.00am and the biggest of the big names, the place was packed solid, hysterical over-excitement greeting Simon Patterson’s early set. We only managed to catch his last few tracks, but there were screams of joy from the dancefloor at ‘Your Eyes’ and ‘Without You’. Next up was an uncharacteristically tough, but lovely as ever set from Matt Hardwick who played some great tracks as well, including the John O’Callaghan remix of ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’. Eddie Halliwell then went a little more trancey and accessible than usual, although still keeping on the techier edge of things. After the last few times I’ve seen Eddie play, I really have no idea what to expect from him, not that there’s anything wrong with that. He truly does span all genres and keep the dancefloor guessing. The word is that he is leaving the very tough stuff behind, which can only be good news for the trance lover. He was definitely the main draw for the night as well, with a wildly euphoric response from the crowd.


Eddie Halliwell


Last of the headliners was the man we all love to hate — Judge Jules. I’ve seen some pretty rough sets from him… and some really quite cool ones (especially in Ibiza). This was one of the better ones — driving, and pacier than he generally plays. Some great tunes as well, including Darren Tate vs. Blue Amazon — ‘No Other Love’, Marcel Woods — ‘Advanced’, and Marco V — ‘False Light’. That said, he did do that really annoying trick (looping the track towards the end of a breakdown, then bringing the endpoint back until the loop is so short that it is basically just a buzzing sound, as a way of suspending the tune for a bit longer before the beat comes back in… thanks LiquidEyes), which makes me want to hide in the toilets. And I did see people with their hands over their ears during his set.

Oh well, there goes the chance of a job with Serious. Ever.


Judge Jules


The Cross is a truly lovely venue, and it has suited Serious down to the ground. Both times I’ve been there the atmosphere has been faultless — friendly, smiley and despite the glam-ness of the venue compared to some of the more — let’s say — gritty clubs in London, definitely with a very genuine crowd all there for the right reasons. They also did an absolutely top-notch job with Seriousworld at Canvas back in May ’05. As a testament to the popularity of this promotion, and the loyalty of its regulars, this last Serious at The Cross was absolutely packed. In the interests of completeness I even ventured into the house room, but it was even more rammed than the trance room, if that’s possible, so I stayed just long enough to register that everyone was having a darned good time.

And now to something less lighthearted. It appears that The Cross and the other clubs in that complex may be bulldozed next year for the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link service into St Pancras and extension of the existing station. The reports (on the Camden Council website, if you’re interested) are technical and I have a short attention span, so I’m not clear on the detail, but it doesn’t look good for these clubs. One blasé HF member claims, “there’s stories about King's Cross being redeveloped every year, and it's all still there,” so who knows what will happen.

If the demolition goes ahead, this is another step in a worrying course of events — we’ve waved goodbye to Trancegeneration (for now at least), the Soundshaft is closing, Knowwhere is taking a step back from monthly events… where will this end for trance, and what does 2006 hold for the trance lover? One small consolation — Serious is holding 10 events across the capital throughout this year to celebrate 10 years in the business. First up is John 00 Fleming, M.I.K.E. Push and Simon Patterson at Turnmills on 21st January.

Photos courtesy of Eddie Halliwell and Serious.
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Other Features By josie:
It's the Generation game featuring Agnelli & Nelson, The Thrillseekers and Lange
Peach at Heaven: Reviewed
The Gallery at Turnmills: Reviewed
The International Indoor Festival at SeOne: reviewed
The double ender: interview with trance legends Darren Tate and Mike Koglin
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
Comments:

From: Toxic on 11th Jan 2006 23:08.39
Will be a tragedy for London clubbing if The Cross goes Frown

From: Andy Dunford on 12th Jan 2006 09:45.25
Ha! I read the first five lines of this review on the HF newsletter and instantly knew it was a josie review!

From: BrinnO on 13th Jan 2006 12:52.44
noooooo...

Serious is great, and the cross too, what a loss this will be!

From: nrg pitt on 16th Jan 2006 22:39.11
Add your comments here !

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