The beginning of October heralded a new start for the Capital’s clubbing landscape, as the city’s newest warehouse space, The Beams, opened its doors. A sprawling, 4000-capacity raver’s dream situated at the heart of the Royal Docks area, the space has been hotly anticipated since it was announced earlier this year and did not disappoint. 

Michael Bibi brought his esteemed ELOVATE concept to the space, delivering the goods as usual with his trademark blend of grooving tech-house. There were classics, unreleased gems and edits galore, in a varied set that had the dancefloor moving from start to finish. 

Alongside the maestro in Space1 were Locky, Layla Benitez and Hot Since 82. Each provided the perfect set for the timings, steadily moving through the gears to allow the headliner to truly shine. HotSince82’s set of driving tech-house rhythms was a particular highlight, with his more heads-down, rolling style getting the crowd perfectly ready for 4 hours of fun-loving and uninhibited mixing from Bibi. 

Meanwhile, Space2 saw the likes of Max Dean, DELASFLORES and Subb-an take control. Slick minimal jams filled the air, with throbbing basslines, eerie vocals and clinical drums providing endlessly revolving rhythms. This was the perfect complement to the main room, allowing dancers to lose themselves in the more sub-heavy sound favoured by the DJs. 

A new space, within an area of rich historical significance, made this feel like a landmark night for London. Punters could be heard stating that they’d witnessed “history in the making” as the lights came up, and it really felt like they were right. It was fresh, exciting, and held the promise of many, many more days to build on this potential. Seeing the unique space become transformed as it transitioned from night to day was also a special experience, as the sun-kissed rays pouring through the windows were swapped for cutting-edge night-time production.

Looking forward now, The Beams has an unusually varied host of events in the coming weeks and months, ranging from techno to acid house to melodic. Next up, however, is the inimitable combination of Patrick Topping and Denis Sulta, who play All Day Long next Saturday. This promises to be another evening of floor-filling house euphoria, and you could not be in better hands than with these two. Room 2 sees a takeover by Ritmo with Hearthug’s UK debut amongst many more exciting names.