Well, in terms of size it's probably got about the same floor-space as 12 Dalston Ln. The Jungle room's nicely done out with a carpet and sofas. One of the things about the D&B room in Roseberry Pl. that always made a "dark"impression on me was the tone of the lighting in there. The new room however has a distinctly "orange" ambience, and this seems to have a big affect on the vibe (IMO). When I first went in there I was surprised to see Ruff on the mike, and (I think - but don't quote me on this,) was that JJ on the 1s & 2s?

As per usual, Kenny Ken rinsed it. And there was some *mad* dancers in there, too. Overall, I'd say the vibe in here was excited, happy, and a bit off-the-wall. The best D&B I've enjoyed since a SV @ Bagleys a few months back. It was far from packed, but everyone made good use of the space.

As for the Hardcore room, one of the first things that struck me was that the (stone?) floor was soaked. As a result, by about 1am many people (myself included) had given up stomping in favour of a sort of slidey-feet shuffle. Heck, I just copied everyone else - but it was actually quite groovy, and didn't detract from the fun at all.........

Ratpack were blindin', but (and maybe this was just me,) half the sets in here seemed a tad slow? Slam did the biz though. Apart from a few cheesy deliveries from Surge, it was solid anthems all night! A low stage in the centre of the floor was packed with dancers, and I think there were others at the sides of the room, although these were unusable due to crews of lightweights sitting on them the whole time. And there were a fair few people crashed out in here, too - maybe because of the low tempo? Again, at least there was room to flail ;)

Licenced bars in both rooms, and rubbish/bottle patrols were a nice touch. Light FX were minimal (but yeah, who needs 'em?), however the one and only negative thing I could complain about was the sound system...... dissapointing for Lab. Volume was so low you could have a chat right next to the speakers. Clarity/definition was poor, there was a noticible hissing (esp. in the HH), and this all conspired to make it difficult to hear the tune at times. At one point the HH whistles and horns were far louder than the music! Of course, this was less of a problem in the D&B, though.

(Blokes) toilets were in good order. Couldn't find the chill-out, but didn't really want to anyway. All the familiar faces were in attendance, and the vibe throughout was excellent. At the end (4am sharp) the lights came on, and five minutes noise for "one more" was duly ignored. Still, licencing and all that, eh?

Don't know why the systems were so crap, but I think it was the equipment rather than noise restrictions. If they sort this out, then this place could easily recreate the old Dalston vibe.......

So make a date in your diaries, peeps - things are looking up!!!

I don't normally like this expression, but as I'm still loved-up from last night.......

PLUR an' all dat. :)

- Simon Faux (Si) (sfx@2fx.u-net.com)