Review: Glasshouse, Loco Klub – ‘a modern take on the spacey, floaty trance of the 90s’

My bike sustained a puncture on the way to Loco Klub on Friday evening, so needless to say I wasn’t in the best of moods by the time I’d arrived. Alas, the night ahead looked promising.

The promoters, Glasshouse, had proven their worth over the last year with a string of well curated parties at Stokes Croft’s Attic Bar, inviting down some of the most exciting names of the moment in left of centre club music.

After a successful outing at Old Market’s Exchange around a month ago with sets from Bristol stalwarts Danielle and Yushh alongside Scottish label head Craigie Knowes, it’s become apparent that any line-up with the word Glasshouse at the top of the poster always promises to be big.

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This one was no different. With sets from house/techno heroes Rudolf C and Adam Pits respectively, alongside one of the other larger club nights in Bristol having to be cancelled due to two of the DJs getting COVID, the night was set to be a sellout. And that’s without even mentioning the bank holiday.

The venue matched the vibe nicely. The spacey, trancey techno and electro kept you fixated on the DJs, and the acoustics inside those underground tunnels at Loco are always an added bonus, whenever the soundsystem is in check (which it was).

Rudolf C’s set spanned the depths of stormy techno and trance, with the occasional progressive breakbeat track thrown in for good measure. Progressive was the word of the evening, as there were times when it felt as though we’d been listening to the same track (or combination of tracks) for upwards of ten minutes. There was even a moment where I went out for a cigarette, came back, and I could’ve sworn the same break was still playing.

Progressiveness of the blends aside, though, the night created an atmosphere unlike your standard house/techno party. It was dark, introspective. A single red light bathing the stage, it felt as if we were on a spaceship that had just lost power and was drifting through the cosmos.

The headliner, Adam Pits, has become renowned in recent years for his modern take on spacey, floaty trance of the 90s, paired with the new breakbeat/garage wave sweeping the underground. His set was dreamlike, ethereal, and bass-heavy. The room felt as though it could have been pulsating in time with the thumping kick drums, but that could have just been the club’s own exclusive Loco Lager talking – it’s good, by the way.

I left the venue feeling perhaps more contemplative than you’d expect after leaving a night out. The music was so dream-like, I felt as though I’d been transported to another realm for the last 3 and a bit hours. I suppose that’s why they call it trance. Unlocking my punctured bike, I began the long walk home.

Main Photo: Miles Arnold

Read more: Review: Outer Town Festival – ‘It felt like this festival should have existed for years’

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