"Wait...this can't be it." One of us finally declares as we stare, confused, at the huge and luxurious hotel before us. As we edge closer a smart looking bouncer in a suit looks us up and down. This isn't what we expected.
"Boiler Room?" We hear one of them say. We look at each other and nod. The bouncer guides us into 'The Edition' hotel through an elegant pair of glass doors and into the plaza. What we encounter is something from a scene out of 'Casino Royale'. Gold chandeliers hang from the ceiling and fine paintings decorate the walls. Once again, this is definitely not what we expected when me and my brother decided to take a spontaneous trip to see Masters At Work at one of Britain's most popular underground parties.
We are shown where to go and walk down a set of stairs and into the basement of the hotel. The lights are dimmed and so far I can't hear any music. We look around, puzzled. A single black door at the end of the corridor draws us in.
"Is this it?" I ask as I open it, not sure what to expect. Holy Jesus, we were not prepared. I still don't know how a single door can hide the sound of so much bass.
We are greeted with incredible house music which instantly causes me and my friends to dance to the bar. The bass is flooding through the intimate venue and sending the crowd into a trance. Louie Vega is on the decks and his concentrated face and infamous trilby hat is bent down and close to the cdj as he mixes. He's going in.
Once we buy our costly beers the music carries us round the back of lil' Louie as he does his stuff. I already know it's going to be a legendary night. The music he played was mainly 80s and 90s house classics, with the occasional disco banger that would keep everyone singing along to every word with passion. As the night goes on Kenny "Dope"Gonzalez steps up and takes over the party. He maintains the old school house vibes and keeps the people dancing.
While the house legend slaps out some historical tracks and gets the crowd singing along we venture closer to the decks, our arms in the air as we chant the old school house lyrics that shaped the genre that it is today. This is like something I have only seen only a couple of times in a Boiler Room session before. People are dancing! The crowd are bouncing and the drinks are being passed. Hands are pointing towards the ceiling and the true masters are at work.
'Lil' Louie Vega Steps up into the DJ area once again and for the rest of the night they go in hard and back to back. Thris Tian, a Boiler Room presenter, DJ and just generally nice guy ends up skanking out next to me. I look at my friends who frown with sheer jealousy.
The night was genuinely one of the most incredible and surreal experiences I've ever had. I feel so priveleged to have been able to watch two house DJs, who are true experts in the genre, do their stuff to a high standard in such an intimate and cool venue. It was truly worth the extremely tiring train journeys up from Banbury. Thank you Boiler Room.
P.S. Watch the video in the links below and look out for the absurdly tall teenager in the 'Saints' t shirt who stands out from the London hipsters and claps furiously at almost every break in the music. That's me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwENwGqTukE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfRJhmC-G1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-NYNfJxjz8
