Concrete Lates Review - Southbank Centre
Concrete Lates: Discwoman presents Umfang, Shyboi, Peach & Kamixlo
30th August 2018 - Typically at the end of each month
Standard: £10
Concessions: 25% off
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a hazy concrete block with a 180-degree skyline of the Thames lit by gigantic syncopating triangle LED acid lights. There isn't anything quite like this in London. The crowd is composed of a mixture of ages and styles; from gender blended shoreditch kids to flat-capped art students, Concrete Lates is a place for everyone to come and get lost in the best electronic music has to offer.
The entrance wafts out plumes of smoke and in entering, you notice that the music merges the crowd together in a wave amongst those clouds, everyone shaking and flowing with the music changes that night opener Kamixlo brings. The night continues with a mixture of styles from Peach, Shyboi and Umfang, all of which blend and drop sounds with the guided crowd.
Sounds settle to a hum in the smoking area. It’s the calmest part of the venue for sure, where you can enjoy a view of the Thames’ shoreline and eye-up the edgy crowd. You can’t help but feel for some alienated by the scene: jeans and a jumper just doesn’t cut it for a man dancing awkwardly with his date in a plush white full bodysuit.
This has not been around for long. Many of Southbank's brutalist concrete venues have been in renovation since 2015 with The Queen Elizabeth Hall having only recently reopened along with the long-awaited Hayward Gallery. Though the 1,000 capacity venue only recently reopened in April, this has already been the 8th instalment of Concrete Lates which has previously featured shows from Boiler Room, Hyperdub Records, Eat Static, Kiasmos, Vessels and many others. MORE
In short, Lates is phenomenal. It dances in a second-story venue that actually feels like its underneath the city itself and all the while it highlights the best that electronic music has to offer. Come expecting a vibrance of sound and people that will wash late into the night and you will not be disappointed.
The next Concrete Lates:
Concrete Lates x Spiritland: Jane Fitz & Lovefingers
27th September 2018
Standard: £12.50
Concessions: 25% off
