Live review: Metropolis and WAH Birthday at Mayfield Depot

The culmination of Metropolis and Worried About Henry promised a spectacular night at the Warehouse Project, bringing in huge names from across the drum and bass genre.

To start things off, legendary DJ, David Rodigan, and Darkzy each took to the decks. The former played tracks from a large range of styles ranging from old school reggae to disco, all with a bassline twist, along with a large number of Shy FX hits due to his long running relationship with his fellow DJ.

Darkzy mostly played drum and bass classics, with notable exceptions for his remixes of ‘Angels’ and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, which was fun, if not a little cliched.

By far, the standout performance of the night was Holy Goof, who graced the Depot with his set just after midnight. His set was different from the others due to bassline remixes of more popular rap songs from artists such as Drake and Stormzy. This allowed the crowd to feel more included during the set while breaking up the skanking with a sing along.

Chase and Status closed the night out with their hour-and-a-half Return II Jungle set. Opening with arguably their most popular song, ‘No Problem’, they whipped the crowd up into a frenzy of excitement. The light shows married with their classic drum and bass style effortlessly, with wide green beams stretching right to the edge of the room allowing the people on the outskirts to feel more involved.

The set was definitely entertaining as could be seen by the number of people up on their friends’ shoulders. However, it was nothing ground-breaking and was noticeably similar to their sets at festivals like Parklife and SW4 over the summer.

The only real downside to the night came from particular songs like Maccy Gee’s iconic ‘Tour’ feeling a little overplayed. Not that this tune isn’t a great one, but, once you’re hearing for the sixth time, it can get a bit repetitive.

The highlight of the other stages was by far Hybrid Minds at the concourse. This stage has an interesting feature, where a separate raised part surrounds the DJ allowing for people to dance close enough to hear the DJs’ conversations. This original idea made the experience feel much more personal, and connected the DJs and ravers in a way that has rarely been seen before. Although most of the big names will be playing in the Depot itself, the concourse is definitely a stage worth visiting.

An extra £10 on top of an already pricey ticket will gain you VIP admission to the Depot. This allows for faster entry into the venue via a separate queue and access to the VIP section. However, the area itself was very disappointing: it consisted of a small bar with a higher up viewing point over the concourse. While it does offer a good view of the stage, it was quite far from the DJ and lacked the personal experience of being right by them. Overall, VIP does not give good value for money as it gave very little extras over regular admission.

8/10