Matter is the new club from the creators of Fabric, the world famous super club in Farringdon, London. Matter is a purpose built (re-purposed) club and as such it has not got any heritage or ‘unique’ oddities well, other than being in the O2 arena (Millennium Dome) !

So whats the verdict? Well it has a Body Kinetic dance floor. The one in fabric is called a bodysonic – I think this means the new one is infact not powered and is simply suspended so it vibrates as people dance saying that it may have some powered feedback too but it is hard to tell when everyone is jumping about coz that’s what it felt like all it was doing. I say ‘all it was doing’ but that is not dismissive; it feels fantastic and gives everyone a bit of a taste of the bass usually reserved for the ear blowing crew in front of the cabs. Ok so that’s the bass, the mid and treble comes from all around but primarily from a 30ft(?) long rack suspended from the bridge on the top balcony so even shorties on the dancefloor get a well balanced sound- rather than having this range defeated by fellow revelers of which there are many many many. The main room was packed at Hospitality as no doubt all the nights are; dancing is still ‘fabric style’ – 98% of the dance floor(s) are a thoroughfare and if you do get an undisturbed 30 seconds it is strictly vertical space. Looks like if you like dancing you can hang out on a balcony and substitute the bass for space or in room two you [well at hospitality on the 4th] could dance behind the speakers when the temporary stage was removed which they did at about 1400 without stopping anything. Of course, being behind the speakers meant a complete lack of definition in treble, bass and erm, mid; with that you can understand that the room 2 sound is not so ‘built in’ as the main room but is still excellent if you don’t mind being where everyone wants to be and fighting for your right to remain.

Who was there on the 4th? Well it was a Hospitality night which is like the macdonalds of d&b, easy to pallette with mass market appeal; the build ups were cheesy, the breakdowns a bit light hearted and the mc looked like he had a brand new hat on. The crowd it attracted was pretty happy, very clean pretty girls (yes it was a d&b night),  mouse looking boys and a peppering of dudes with neon shades, silly hair and attitude. The funniest thing about the crowd was the collective responses – no joke- when there was a ‘hands in the air’ moment 100% of the crowd appeared to join in! At the end of a set, it was completly gig like with clapping and cheering, not a gun salute in sight and no (positive or otherwise) boooos.

I mentioned room two, it had a pair of movable cab groups which started on either side of the stage which was dismantled during the night. Sadly the cabs were not moved but at least this left room to dance as no one really likes the lack of clarity back there.

That’s it. I can’t be arsed to write more for you other than to paste the lineup of that evening.

Room 1:
High Contrast
London Elektricity
Logistics
Cyantific
Danny Byrd
Nu:Tone
B-Complex
Liane Carrol
Diane Charlamagne
MC Dynamite
Mc Wrec
Sp:MC
MC Rage

Room 2
Mad Professor
Noisia – ENTERTAINING AND DIRTY
Nero – EXCELLENT SET FROM THESE TWO
Silkie
Alexander Nut
Synkro
Stamina MC
Sgt Pokes