Once again Treatment comes round for another Friday night dose, and thousands of young ravers flock to Cardiff University’s Y Plas to rave to the finest house music around.
Halloween’s event was extremely successful, with Bondax, Shadow Child and Eli & Fur pulling out all the stops to do the business. This time round, Annie Mac made the trip across the Severn to curate her own night alongside the Treatment crew. Included were the likes of Hannah Wants, Lxury, Blonde and Bodhi, who have all visited Cardiff before and left after extremely successful sets.
On entry, High For This are just finishing up and passing matters over to lovable duo Blonde in Room 2. Playing a variety of genres, one of the highlights comes when Stardust’s ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ is mixed. Swiftly the pair move on to a selection of French house tracks, before an assortment of their own material makes an appearance. The funk-blasts of the re-worked ‘I Loved You’ blend easily with their remix of The Magician’s ‘Sunlight’, packing deeper drops into the end of their set. It’s obvious what they’re planning on finishing with, and the crowd’s prediction is confirmed once a classic vocal rinses the speakers. Their ‘Rhythm Of The Night’ remix has reached the dizzy heights of Soundcloud fame for a reason, and this reason is plain to see when hundreds of people go wild when the bass reaches its climax.
Over in the Main Room, Annie Mac is exploding some of the biggest tunes of the night. First Watermät’s ‘Bullit’ is played out, before GotSome’s ‘Bassline’ is unleashed upon the masses. Although there is a slight hiccup in the transition to SecondCity’s ‘I Wanna Feel’, most of the crowd are too messed up to notice and go nuts for the drop. The tropical steel drum sample of ‘Finder’ by Ninetoes takes us back to the realms of 2013, when house was bang in the middle of its massive modern day resurgence. “I think you’ll know this one Cardiff” declares Annie, before Ten Walls ‘Walking With Elephants’ results in the whole room frantically busting whatever moves they can vaguely recall.I ask myself: “Surely there is no way ol’ Annie can finish on anything bigger than that?” However I am fully mistaken, as the Radio One legend finishes on two MK remixes back to back. ‘My Head Is A Jungle’ is the first, its memorable piano being the perfect bed for its striking vocal. Then the ‘EyYo’ remix is banged out and she leaves to a ruckus of swaying bodies, fully connected with each closing beat. Hannah Wants then takes hold of the reigns. Her set courses through a lot of her heavier material, interspersing it with pulsing interludes like Doorly’s dub of Steve “Silk” Hurley’s ‘Jack Your Body’. Come 4am Y Plas is a sweaty mess, but everyone faces the cold night with a wide smile. The next instalment is in February, and it’s going to be a very long wait.
John Kuzara
