// Gilles Peterson, Louie Vega & Havana Cultura Band @ Electric Brixton //

I tell you what I don’t think we have been this excited about going to a club night in the UK in a good few years. We have a few drinks north of the river on Shoreditch High Street, I’m not going to name the bar as I felt like I had walked straight into a scene from the recent Channel 4 drama Top Boy. Anyways, we drop a well dressed shoulder and hit the tube to get down to Gilles Peterson’s night at Electric Brixton for the Havana Cultura Band live showcase and a very special and rare Louie Vega DJ set. We get to Electric Brixton around midnight and are welcomed by friendly and efficient door staff and before we know we’re on the top tier of the venue looking over the balcony to the main dance floor getting down to the Havana Cultura Band. The Havana Club cocktails are flowing and the friendly laid back vibe in the venue is the best we have experienced for a long time, but that’s just how Gilles rolls. The crowd are loving the show and the dance floor is pulsating to the jazzy, salsa and rumba rhythms of the Havana Cultura Band.

After a few more drinks we start feeling loose and head down to the dance floor. The band finish up and Gilles steps up for a brief interlude whilst the technicians are busy hooking up Louie Vega’s 3 X CDJ, mixer and box of sample magic set-up. Mr Peterson plays Lovebirds “Want You In My Soul” featuring Stee Downes from the top and it warms the room instantly and everybody can be seen signing along to the words, amazing stuff.

Louie Vega then embarks on a 3 hour set that is of Champions League calibre. In Louie Vega’s team Ronaldo, Messi, Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta and Van Persie play in telepathic unison. Mr Vega starts in a tough dubby manor with driving percussive deep house rhythms that border the vibe you might hear at Cocoon, Amnesia before transcending to sweeter vocals and Nu Yorican broken beat classics, original bass music.

All in all this was a fantastic event in a cool venue and we’re looking forward to the next Gilles related shindig very much!

Nuyorican Soul x Havana Cultura Mix by Louie Vega by gillespeterson