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Go BackSoul Clap @ The Final T Bar Extravaganza

Posted: 3/8/10 14:50

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Soul Clap presents the Final T Bar ExtravaganzaBefore arriving at the Scrutton Street warehouse, the link between T Bar and tonight seemed far too strenuous for the night to be billed as the Final T Bar Extravaganza. The infamous East London venue had already been shut for a few weeks and the lineup had no real ties with T Bar. Where were the likes of Damian Lazarus, Michael Mayer and Andrew Weatherall for this epic final blowout? But in fact, the theory behind the bookings was immediately obvious upon arrival. Even to the last, T Bar was representing fresh, young talent as Flying Lotus, Nicolas Jaar and Soul Clap played the clubbing institution out for one last time. Dedicated to up and coming talent, they were determined to prove that although T Bar has come to an end, the scene has a bright future ahead. Added to that, the headline performance from Boston's Soul Clap came with the kind of heart and spirit that always went hand in hand with T Bar as we knew it.

Reaching the downstairs dancefloor, you were hit by an almost visible wall of heat whilst simultaneously being plunged into a thick smog of red light, creating a real sense of a true rave atmosphere. With the sweaty crowd clearly in the mood, by the time Nicolas Jaar took to the decks the party was in full swing. The young producer turned in a fine performance, slowing the tempo right down in his typical fashion but keeping the power and groove locked in at all times. When hearing Jaar talk about his music you get the sense that he is keen to distance himself from the traditional notion of a dance producer. Yet as a DJ, it is hard to see him as anything but a dance artist; of course he is far too innovative to be lumbered in with a somewhat limiting traditional tag, but the way he uses bass to get a crowd moving to his seductively slow style of playing is most definitely dance. His combination of sex, soul, heart and drive made his one hour set one full of focus and intensity without ever becoming too over-powering. A cheeky edit that saw the Beastie Boys provide the accapella over his own Time For Us was a particular highlight.

Soul Clap were up next and wasted no time in getting deeper, fun kier and even sexier. With their endearing disregard of genre discipline, the dynamic duo skipped between house, techno, R&B, funk, soul and pop. As ever, the bass was in control as the charismatic Americans produced hands in the air moments on an almost track by track basis. Their sublime edit of Jamie Foxx's Extravaganza had the entire crowd (and the DJs themselves) in full voice whilst in the next instance had them bopping in the hypnotism of Tiger & Wood's Love In Cambodiga. They played rap vocals over house music, added breaks to pop and injected a serious bout of funk into everything. With their innate understanding of the party, Eli and Charlie were the perfect choice to give T Bar their final farewell . Despite having never played the venue, they were fully aware of what it stood for and what it meant to the people that went there. So, just as it came into this world, T Bar went out with a positive and future-focused celebration of music and clubbing.

www.tbarlondon.com

 Words by Tom Jones

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