Matter
22.01.10
Having only ever been to the O2 a couple of times before, once when it was the ill-fated Millenium Dome and the other to see Beyonce, it was always going to be an interesting night rolling up at Matter for Pendulum‘s Earstorm night. The queues were massive for the sold-out event and it wasn’t until around 1.30am that I managed to get into the venue itself, as Zane Lowe dropped random track after random track.
Still, the crowd were loving it and were well and truyl bubbling for the main set of the night. A DJ preview set of their upcoming Immersion album was the order of the day for Pendulum with Rob, Gareth, Hornet and MC Verse taking to the stage and immediately throwing the crowd into a frenzy.
The soundsystem at Matter really is something and as the bass thumped into my ears, no doubt shortening my hearing’s life-span, pits were circling in the middle of the dance floor, pogoing was happening at the front and those fans right at the very top of the venue, on the third floor gangway were doing their best to rattle their appreciation. The new songs, which ranged from D&B to dubstep to electro, went down a storm [should that be Earstorm?] and the classics like Tarantula got as good a reaction as ever.
Next up was Sub Focus who, ably assisted by MC ID, had the unenviable task of following the main event. However, he didn’t let it get to him and when he dropped his own remix of ridiculously catchy new single Could This Be Real, the crowd went off once more. His ability to switch sounds up whilst keeping the crowd constantly interested was brilliant and it was a shame when his set finished.
However, that sadness was shortlived as Noisia rounded the night up with breathless bassline wobble and heavy hitting rhythms which will surely be blown apart by their incoming Split The Atom album. As the clock ticked towards 6am, those still left in the crowd were going hell-for-leather, giving back to one third of the Dutch group what he was giving them. It was a full-on sonic assault and not one person left the O2 without sweat dripping and limbs aching.
Earstorm was an undeniable success and there will be hoardes of people demanding a repeat after this.
Abjekt.
Photo by Nick Hughes