25th April 2009, Flush @ Public Life, Shoreditch, London

Flush could be best described as a jewel in the rough, and the night is as quaint as the venue itself. The aptly-named Flush takes place in East London at Public Life - what used to be an underground public toilets for the ladies and gentlemen of ye old Victorian London. The whole place has been refurbished, but there's still very much the feeling that where you were Words: Will Poole
Pics used by kind permission of
Arjuna Subanandan arj@MADdancing, not too long ago, a bog was still in action. But anyway... to the night itself.

On entry I was confronted very quickly by how small it was; the venue could fit no more than a couple of hundred heads. The venue consists of one room with a bar to one side and the DJ booth with space to dance at the back - pretty much what I expected for the few quid entry fee. What I wasn't expecting was the brilliant music, brilliant lighting and most importantly, brilliant atmosphere!

Flush was put on by a group of friends, to play the music they love to all their friends and anyone else who is prepared to come down and dare to listen - and it was much like an oversized house party that had broken out into street. This feeling resonated throughout the event and you couldn't help but get caught up by it, often turning to complete strangers and asking who they knew there and how they came to be connected to the event. It also just happens that this group of friends are some of the most talented individuals within the party scene. The artists also played up to scratch, most notably DJ Cell Suicide whose set caused one great big stir and had every person in the room bouncing like their feet were tied to springs.

By midnight the room was jam packed, which meant a quick run upstairs and outside for a cheeky fag was needed from time to time, if only to get a breather. The music of choice at Flush is a mixture of breaks, jungle and drum n' bass, although I'm sure other genres did get fed in from time to time. With the music pumping and the lights flashing overhead, it really did feel like an event many times its size. The only wish I had was for somewhere to sit which you might need, unless you're prepared to go non-stop - which the high-octane music certainly allows for.

The night went on until 4am, but the audience and myself could have gone on much, much longer. Bang for buck, Flush is one of the most well priced shindigs I have been able to exercise my over-sized dancing shoes at. For a whole night of fun, much more than a lot of the higher priced events out there I might add, at a very affordable rate, you can't get much better.

Over the course of the night I felt my dancing was hampered slightly. I determined with all my ingenuity that this was due to the weight of my wallet. It was still pretty much full from entry, an unusual condition, so I decided to take it out on the bar and subject it to a crash course diet of green paper. After this point the night became slightly less vivid. I remember the drip, drip of the condensation dripping on my head from the ceiling. I remember raising my hands to clap the end of one great DJ after another. I also remember being told that this was the last stop and that unless I got off the bus they would get the police to carry me off.

I woke up the next day, at some point in the afternoon, with a banging headache and an empty wallet. Luckily this was all self induced and I was satisfied to know I had finally managed to find a fairly regular night which wouldn't break the bank. With all this extra cash flow who knows what else I could now afford... (a spellchecker?...Ed).