Students throw party in Southampton vault

A famous man once said “Would you dance, if I asked you to dance?” and with that in mind, a peculiar little invitation popped up on my Facebook feed. An […]


A famous man once said “Would you dance, if I asked you to dance?” and with that in mind, a peculiar little invitation popped up on my Facebook feed. An invitation to an electronic music event being held by a collective formed of current Southampton students. I’ve been to a lot of electronic music events, and I’ve seen a lot of brilliant DJ’s play so this was not exactly a massive change for me, but the reason this night promised to be something a little bit different was that it was held in a very interesting venue, The Southampton Vault for a night that had been given the name Brickwork.


So last Thursday, the most uncool day of the week, I ventured to a quieter part of the city, for the intimate and rather concentrated event which was obviously expected with a capacity under 100 people to work with. The venue was incredible, small, weird, and strangely beautiful and a refreshing break from the regular stomping grounds the city has on offer.

The event itself combined an eclectic mix of electronic music, among brief forays into other genres as the small but intense crowd bopped along approvingly – this seemed to be a theme throughout the night, with large swathes of the crowd staying until the end. A bring your own booze, and laissez-faire door policy seemed to promote the best in people, with not one fight or conflict breaking out the whole night and a general feel good vibe permeating through the entire venue, it was an event that truly felt like something of a by gone era, unofficial, sudden, and completely free from the restraints that some promoters will have.

It is of course rare to see a night avoid the generic nowadays, especially from a group with so few resources at their hands, but the informal atmosphere, combined with the clear enthusiasm of many as well as the intimate and unique venue seemed to be a winning combo. The music being played did not seem like it was overly planned, it followed the crowd and the crowd followed it, the two separate entities seemed to have a link that the distant DJ boxes of other clubs often lack and under the changing lights, with a steady beat, I have to say I was truly impressed by what had been achieved.

 

Speaking to Josh Mulvihill, Adam Richardson and Tom Coleman, three of the boys organising it, at separate points throughout the night, I got a chance to discuss what it was they were trying to do, and why they felt it was something refreshing, and the general consensus was that it was a chance “to do something different” and that they were certainly planning on doing something unique again, very soon.

Josh went into a little more detail stating that “We want to provide people with the opportunity to go out and enjoy themselves within unique and unusual venues. Every night that we will host is individually themed and a lot of effort is put in for a few hours of party. But it is 100% worth as hopefully you saw last Thursday.”

 

It certainly felt worth it, and I have to say I’ll certainly be attending the next event and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone else that likes a good party.