As soon as we entered Stylus room of the Union, Filthy Dukes’ synth lead electro beats immediately drew us bopping to the front of the crowd. Their renowned remixes were similar to the 2 many DJs style, constantly teasing us with the famous beats of songs such as the 1980s classic Funkytown, before dropping into the main tune. They continued their eclectic set with this infectiously catchy mix of nostalgic electro while carefully slipping in their own hit records such as ‘This Rhythm’ to ensure an unfailing originality throughout.
Up in the Pulse room the renowned dupstep DJs Caspa and Joker took centre stage. While Joker impressed the crowd with his bass heavy and intrinsically melodic remix of Major Lazer and Simian Mobile Disco’s ‘Cruel Intentions’, Caspa’s set was far more predictable. Instead of carefully crafting a fluid mix of songs, the 26 year old London DJ seemed to perform a dubstep-by-numbers routine, with hardly any remixes smoothing over the cracks of separate songs. Apart from his classic remix of Rusko’s ‘Cockney Thug’, he pumped the crowd with typical floor fillers such as the XX remix of Florence and the Machine. Even Sidney Samson’s overplayed ‘Riverside’ had to be endured as it scorched our ears with its insistent high pitched squawk.
Luckily all was not lost as the head line act ended the night on a high. Erol Alkan demonstrated why he deserved the top spot as his energetic, trashy disco merged with hard hitting electro gave the night a new lease of life. His most memorable tracks such as his remix of Justice’s ‘Waters of Nazareth’ demonstrated a creative, refreshing sound that the crowds flocked to. Danceable, vigorous and surprising: his two hour set flew by and by the end of it we could all see why Alkan has been named the next Fat Boy Slim.