Review: Loco Dice & Desolat at Pulse, London

London's new superclub Pulse welcomed Loco Dice's Desolate army last week.

After reports of excessive queuing, no air-con and plumbing problems at the Erick Morillo Grand Opening of Pulse, it had a lot to make right for A Desolat Experience if it was to position itself as London’s new superclub.  The shut down of Matter and SE1 last year left a void in South London’s raving scene with nowhere to rival Fabric north of the river.  Boasting a 3,000 person capacity and a state of the sound system and art lighting, Pulse undoubtedly aims to fill it.  At least they were getting the line up’s right with A Desolat Experience showcasing multiple artists from the renowned techno label and head honchos Dice and Buttrich (photo above) making a rare appearance on the same bill.  With the last minute addition of a late license and extended set times until 10 am, it was set to be a rave of epic proportions.

On arrival it was clear the club and promoter had taken the bad reviews seriously as there was no queuing at the door and the bar and toilet queues weren’t any worse than you would expect for a club of this size.  Sadly just missing tINI’s set, Guti was working the main room with Latino-infused vibes.  Tracks from his new album Patio de Juegos featuring heavily, the African sounding vocals of ‘All the Girls’ and a warm pulsating bass, set the scene nicely before the later sets would pick up a techier pace.

Guti - All The Girls:

To say Room 1 is big would be a bit of an understatement.  Previously a railway station and wine vault, a series of tall arches created a high ceiling of exposed brickwork, with the DJ placed up high at one end looking out over the sea of ravers.  A flashing, light-up DJ booth was accompanied by two large screens that sporadically spelt out the name of who was currently playing or other seemingly unrelated visuals like a spaceman?  Room 2 was much smaller and while still busy there was plenty of space for dancing to the infectious sounds of Hector.  By the time Enzo, resident DJ of Fuse, took over the room was packed out, proving he could hold his own despite being up against Dice back in Room 1.

In contrast to the intimate and happy atmosphere of Room 2, Dice’s hard, techy, quick rolling beats created a more intense experience, which only increased when Buttrich came on deeper and darker.  With the mass of sweaty bodies moving to the booming techno in these cavernous surroundings, you could almost imagine you were in Amnesia Terrace in the early hours of the morning at Cocoon.  By 7.30am the party showed little sign of waning as Livio & Roby took the reins, while Enzo finished up his set on a high with the Hardrive house classic ‘Deep Inside’.

For anyone still standing at 10am the after party was being hosted by Fuse back at their stomping ground in Brick Lane.  Last time Desolat and Fuse teamed up back in November the intimate experience with Dice on a Sunday afternoon was something quite special.  But he has the ability to command the room whether it’s filled with 300 or 3,000 people, and the Desolat team succeeded in creating an electric atmosphere at Pulse that its South London predecessors never quite seemed to manage.