The penultimate week of term, with its onslaught of coursework deadlines, may not seem like the most obvious time to host a club night. Nonetheless, on the Friday, week 9, Lancaster University Electronic Dance Music Society (LUEDMS) invited up-and-coming DJ SION to headline their event at Glow Rooms. Sion Elliott, a Lancaster alumnus and previous member of the LUEDMS exec, is now a professional producer and DJ who performs under the name of SION, specialising in Deep House music. He is signed to MTA records, owned by Chase & Status, and has such illustrious fans as Annie Mac, who has played his music numerous times on Radio 1. The 21 year old producer has gained widespread popularity, touring internationally as far afield as Brazil!
While I can’t claim to be the world’s biggest Deep House fanatic, I was still sure that LUEDMS’s third and final event of term would be unforgettable. Thankfully, I was proved correct. Arriving a fashionable 2 hours late, thanks to a frantic coursework writing session, I was the last person admitted entrance and on entering the club, I could see why. Glow Rooms was at bursting point. For anyone (un)fortunate enough to visit the establishment for a Freshers’ Week event this year, the sheer volume of sweat drenched people was comparable only to that. Supporting SION were LUEDMS president Joe Harris, Mike LaVercombe – a DJ at SankeysMCR After Dark, and ex LUEDMS president Alex Dunhill – who played the closing set.
This was not an event for those of a more retiring disposition, as at times it was difficult to move through the sea of flailing limbs, and the floor and walls were literally pounding. SION played a fantastic set, accompanied by a montage of sepia video clips projected on the walls and playing in time to the music – an effective detail which made a nice change to the usual drinks offers and sweaty club photos that are plastered over club walls in Lancaster. Despite the enormous speaker, it was still just about possible to maintain a conversation if you stood at the periphery of the room when the crowd started to subside at 4am, enabling a welcome break from dancing, and reducing your chances of wearing your drink if you attempted to carry it onto the dance floor.
While Deep House and Techno music are certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, I can strongly advise that you try out future LUEDMS events, which are held in various locations around Lancaster and feature some amazing talent from Lancaster’s own students, as well as bigger names. I was concerned that the event would be a cliquey gathering of hardcore fans, but I was pleased to see a huge variety of people, leading to a diverse clubbing experience. I highly recommend staying for the entire night if you can battle through the sleep deprivation, as this club ‘night’ finished at 6AM, after a great set by Alex Dunhill, who succeeded in maintaining an electric atmosphere for those determined enough to stay until the very end who could enjoy the benefit of more space in which to dance and socialise.
