Basslick (featuring Eddy Temple Morris) – The Loft, 26th August 2007
By Leyna Mendham

You would expect a club to be in full swing by midnight but for Basslick it couldn’t have been further from the truth. With The Loft virtually deserted, you could only hope that Eddy Temple Morris would be catching the fast train from Clapham and bringing a load of partying people with him. Unfortunately, only one of those things happened.

The build up to Eddy Temple Morris’ arrival was a blend of some decent tunes, bar staff playing ‘Cocktail’ and a disgruntled smoke machine. You could hardly tell what dj was on the decks due to the outpour of smoke that didn’t cover up the lack of people dancing but gassed more from the floor. Trying to escape the smog by visiting the djs downstairs was pointless though as it seemed to be conveniently forgotten that another room had been advertised.

Luckily Eddy Temple Morris was one of the billed acts who did actually show up. He was announced to a crowd who could hardly make out what was being said (not because they were all wasted, it sounded like Chewbacca had grabbed the mic) and created the only buzz of excitement for the night.

Eddy Temple Morris entered into a set full of enthusiasm and energy but despite playing for a good hour with mixes featuring The Prodigy, Fat Boy Slim and The Chemical Brothers (as well as an evil teaser of the Rage Against The Machine mix that really made his name), the crowd was already lost. Those who had bravely ventured to dance had to really bust a move to avoid a drunken game of old man tag that had broken out. Many just gave up and, for once, the bar actually looked busy.

At 2am we were made to neck our drinks that we should have had another two hours to leisurely drink as we we’re told to move out. Apparently squatters’ rights don’t come into play when a club night doesn’t make its numbers. The organisers offered no explanations and, perhaps more bizarrely, no excuses.

Although this was clearly not the greatest of nights, you can’t help but feel sorry for the djs that played. The sets were good but there were just not enough people there to create a desirable atmosphere, an image summed up by one dj trying to get everyone to clap their hands with a crowd of just three people in front of the decks. One girl commented that it was ‘like a private party’ but that can only make you wonder how private her parties would be.

This Basslick had all the potential of being one to remember, with great djs and some incredible tunes and mixes, but a lack of the cattle prod to round in the crowds was the start of the slippery slope that created a night that not even the legend that is Eddy Temple Morris could save.