Rock Review – Suddenly Funk: The Love Shack

The club night at Old Fire Station integrated genres to provide clubbers with a rousing journey across the dance music spectrum.

Valentines vibes were in the air. Walking through the doors into the side room, booming house music was the order of the night. Tunes from artists such as Daft Punk and more underground house cuts were mixed crisply and the transitions between each track were seamless.

Clubbers were more than pleased that music was not left to linger for too long. There were very few, if any, disappointed faces throughout. Venturing into the main room, funky basslines an 800-strong crowd shaking and moving with smiles on their faces drove the night forward.

Here, things hotted up a  bit. One mix that stood out, began with Biggie’s classic “Juicy” and then eventually transitioned into Floorplan’s disco-influenced banger “Tell You No Lie“. The genre fusion here was something that set the tone for the whole night.

Despite this, the decor was a little basic. Snowflakes, perhaps a leftover from Christmas, dangled from the ceiling alongside a few balls bouncing about, left the room feeling like it lacked immersion. Not that this detracted from the overall night experience too much, but maybe a couple of disco balls wouldn’t have gone amiss especially considering the musical context of the event.

The lighting was on point, whoever was on top of this seemed to have a good understanding of when the music was going to drop and certainly made up for the somewhat limited decorations. This was supplemented by the rather amusing loop of an Austin Powers clip, that definitely fit the Valentine theme.

The dancefloor was packed. Not many were leaving, even for a fag, with punters glued, hanging on to the DJ’s every whim.

In the closing stages, the 90s big gun vocal house records began to play out. Armand Van Helden’s unmistakable remix of Tori Amos’ “Professional Widow” with its infectious bassline, alongside his most popular work such as the timeless classic “U Don’t Know Me” had the crowd singing and cheering the entire mix.

The event ending an hour before the billed time, which left many wanting more. You could tell that no one really wanted to leave, having danced their socks off all night.

All in all, this is not one for house heads to miss. Especially when you consider that pickings are rather slim for house, alongside funk/disco in Bournemouth. Suddenly Funk is certainly enhancing the nightlife culture and certainly one to keep an eye out for in the future.