This was undoubtedly the best night out I’ve had since the January INSEKT, the most danceable night of our lives. This was a total EVENT. A fantastic light show, INSEKT and Storm décor, massive INSEKT TV screens (some of the viewing a bit rude actually – oo-er, missus!), sexy Twisted Bliss stage dancers, a quality massage, and a lovely mental up-for-it crowd of friendly hyped up clubbers (the INSEKT swarm) who know good music when they hear it…


But the best thing of all of course, and what made the crowd so excited, was the DJs and their music. With the decks on the stage again, it was a great chance to see and interact with them, and for them to get off on the crowd as much as we got off on them…

Musically it was quality ALL THE WAY; every DJ really hit the spot, each with their different styles, but all HARD and nearly all fresh and new. The 8 hours just flew by, leaving us begging for more.

I simply cannot choose between the DJs, there were so many of my favourites playing at their best; so here’s a potted account of each in order of appearance…

COMBATive ;o) Chris Comben kicked us off, with some hard hitters to get us in the mood, including his own ‘There it is’ (‘There it is, Jim, there it is, baby…’). This one’s getting played out a lot now in all sorts of places.

Next up was one DJ I have wanted to see for a very long time, the super-talented young prodigy Tom Basquil, who is clearly destined for the top. Tom’s got a reputation for being pretty damn hard and would have filled the end of night slot quite comfortably, but is also versatile enough to play a warm up. His ‘Monsters’ is such a wonderful driving TUNE; but he followed that and ended his set with a newer and even better one of his own compositions, 'Move along': a super-sexy punchy groover that had me yelling with pleasure!

I knew little about Garbo but was blown away by his relentlessly driving hard set – totally banging! Here’s another DJ I’d love to see again!

By the time superstar guest and Trade/Superfish legend, pioneer of hard house, Steve Thomas, took to the decks, the place was rammed.



Everyone was excited about this rare appearance. This was a set of the best classics (no, not ‘the Dawn’!) but including the joyful ‘Music is moving’, and one of my highlights ‘Where are you’ (the Captain and Steve’s fantastic remix of the early Glaz hoover tune).

Ilogic, the other Storm guest, was another DJ I hadn’t seen play before (though I’ve got plenty of his stuff on CDs, of course). A technical wizard, he delivered an extremely powerful, hard and impressive set, including his (and Paul Janes’s) stomping remix of Paul King’s ‘Odyssey’. A top quality set again!

James Nardi often plays earlier at these nights, but was well suited to banging out a close-to-end-of-night stormer, with his trademark dirty growl and plenty of that wonderful acid sound. One his crowd pleasers was ‘Evil genius’ (did we really take all those drugs back in the day? Surely not!) but my own favourite was the deeply funky sexy ‘Flux’ by Curve Pusher. Phwoar!!!!

Marc Johnson was up next, the classic end-of-night deck-master and perhaps the hardest man on the scene (despite his friendly, smiley face!) He blasted us through such recent hard rockers as ‘Reactivate’ (with Ben Stevens), his turbo-charged remix of the clubber’s favourite, Frank Farrell’s ‘Etherwave’, and, topping that, a right hands-in-the-air moment, his own rave-echoing ‘Rapido’ – you know the one: push the tempo, push the tempo!

Who could possibly follow this but the unique and legendary hoover king and pioneer of hard house, a man who has stuck to his guns for over ten years and is now perhaps more in fashion than ever, judging by his legion of fanatical fans (like me!) and loyal imitators – Karim.



Starting as he meant to go on Karim kicked off with one of the greatest tunes of all time, ‘Rock da spot’, by his old mate RR Fierce and DMF. Other highlights included the following: the new limited edition ‘Music power’ a tuneful funkster with a fierce fierce sheer hoover madness break; the other side of the same record, the hugely popular ‘Rampage’; the spine-tingling classic ‘Dreams’ - this time Karim's own rmx rather than the Glaz one someone dropped earlier. (Thank you, Tom! x ;o) The encore was ‘Cheap rent’, but was unfortunately cut short by the management… Karim is a true clubber and music lover and is loved by his fans not only for his musical talent but for his passion, and enthusiasm, which shows in the way he interacts with the crowd like no other DJ. He’s having a great time just like we are!

The INSEKT swarm was a massive, enthusiastic, friendly crowd that night, and I want to finish by mentioning just some of the lovely folk that contributed to my enjoyment and for making such a great atmosphere (sorry for missing anyone out!): Jane Celica Girl, for being a loyal clubbing buddy and listening to me talking non-stop about music all the way to the Fridge and back! Brighton-Phil for being an outstanding clubber, incredibly together and reliable, and one of the nicest clubbing buddies we’ve met.




Paul ‘Durty Den’ Dennis for being such a good mate, my musical oracle and a future DJ hero; lovely friendly FoxyRox (Georgie to her mates) – great taste and a music-making star of the future; Frantik Dan – always warm and friendly, topping the night off in the Funk Deluxe room, and already on the road to DJ stardom; gorgeous Cheeky Cara – sorry we didn’t see you play after all, but look forward to seeing you back in Brighton; Scorchio Helen (‘best hardhouse DJ in Dublin) and her partner from Ireland, a lovely warm couple who know the names of all Karim’s tracks! (You’re my mates for life!!!) Roy (‘the legend that is’) for being a distinctive part of the ambience for this and many hardhouse nights I’ve attended over the years….. And not forgetting OF COURSE the ‘spawn of the devil’ (in the best possible sense), the most friendly, dynamic, passionate, thoughtful and creative promoters (and DJ-producers!) of quality filth in the known universe, and who made all this fun possible: Marc, James and Chris.
So many more lovely people but I’ve run out of space and time now!

Many of those who were there will tell you that INSEKT is just the best big hard house party in London/ the UK/ the World! (just check the message boards if you don’t believe me!) Next stop, then, is INSEKT with Innovate at Heaven (22/6/07), INSEKT (with an international line up) outdoors at the massive Anti-world festival (7/7/7), then the final INSEKT of the year, 15th Sept, back at the Fridge, I believe… BE THERE!!!

If you like hard house, you will LOVE INSEKT!! Take it from me – I’m still on a high 48 hours later!!!

:o) x

PS any comments and corrections welcome!!!!

lol dan i shal be spankin u wen see ya, im guessin u dont like him
x

OI! YOU NUTTER! C U SOON!!!! ANTIWORLD....YAY! XX

LOL!!! Whitby or Condon at Insekt???
HELL NO!!!! Would def not fit the perfect music policy
Insekt has built it's name to represent :)

love insekt but i'd like advise the promoter not to put on this wikkid event in fridge which is clearly becomming china town!

would have to agree .... i have never felt comfortable at the fridge

Firstly - thanks John for the mention. It's always a pleasure and glad I managed to drag your sorry carcass down to Twist for at least a few hours afterwards ;0) Your company is always a pleasure although I think I might just have to hold your hand next time we cross the road leaving the Fridge - it took you about half an hour !!!!!

AS for INSEKT - HUJE. Absolutely amazing and as a loyal follower, will be there for every one.

AS for the FRIDGE - I have to agree with a lot of people. GREAT VENUE but the atmosphere can be odd. If you're dancing in the middle with all the up-for-it crowd- it's great. The moment you hit the edges or the bar area - it's all lost !! CLUB COLOSSEUM would be an execellent alternative (was there for Frantic's TIMELESS and recently for Nu-Religion's 1st Birthday) and I reckon you'd pick up so many more people by NOT being at the Fridge - I know loads of people that just WON'T go there on principle.

Anyway guys, thanks for a wicked night - you had me rocking so that I ended up not coming off the dancefloor all night :0)

Awesome review, great night, fantastic production and legendry promoters!!

OI! YOU NUTTER! C U SOON!!!! ANTIWORLD....YAY! XX

Hi Georgie
Fraid I won't be at anti-world! Work commitments are taking me to boring Brussels!

See you in cyber-space... and get ready for one of my cheeky interviews!!

xx ;o)

i shal be spankin u wen see ya

Is that a promise, lol!


im guessin u dont like him

Its not so much that i dont like him but he's a cheesy hard bounce dj & wouldnt go down well at Insekt. :)

Is that a promise, lol!

hehehe yeah if ya ask nicely
x

Thanks for once again putting on a wicked night, this was my 4th Insekt & still totally impressed!

clouds of chinesse everywhere
Afraid I have to agree with this being a big problem.......but can't help thinking that if it is moved from the Fridge some of the experience that is Insekt would be lost - guess I'll find out at Heaven on 22nd June! :0)

another top review john!! such a shame i didnt play, lack of cdj's at the beggining of the night!! well done 2 james for tracking somedown eventually!!

thanks 2 james, marc, chris & vince for another top night!! (i blame u all for another dodgy monday ;) i didnt roll in until 6pm sunday!)

& to all djs on the night, didnt hear one bad set!! had very sore feet in the morning from dancing all night in high heels!! i will never learn!!

and finally to the twisted bliss girls who entertained all night!! excellent as always!! u made me tired just watching u!!

im off 2 ibiza for 4 months next week so gna miss the next couple of insekts :( but i will be back at the fridge in nov!!! :)

and finally to the twisted bliss girls who entertained all night!! excellent as always!! u made me tired just watching u!!

hehehe thanks babes yeah it was tireing but a wicked night i had wicked time!! give me a pm with ya number or email so can get in touch when i come over with the funk deluxe event.
good talking to ya hun.
xx

Fantastic review Mr N, thanks to everyone that came down it was a wicked night I thought! :) Roll on Innovate and 777, the only way is up in the Summer and then the MASSIVE lineup we have for September! :D

Superb night dancing around Nutter many a times...He is proper hardcore...old school...loving it...:-) ... thanks for the mention...and see you very soon...

i loved this,,, my first gig in london since i got bk from ibiza,. an wat a night. i gave it my best and .WOW ! ///....., even tho i was a little scared by the lackin in cdjs!
lol
cheers to all of u that were bouncing away to my set in the bk room.
cant wait to get bk to you on nov 17th.
xxxx
weyhey!!!!!
(",)

cant wait to get bk to you on nov 17th.

is that when coming bk from ibiza hun?Im hopeing to stay out there with ya if thats ok?could do wit chat to if ya about hun? you done well sat babe keep it up, was great to hear ya.
xx

Looking good.Thank you for the mention.

I have to agree with jef on this, even though i love james and whitby with all my heart i dont think they would be suitable for insekt. Even though they could dj for Twisted Bliss in our changing room if they want too lol

ummmm hehehe nice dirty thought hehehe
xx