There's A New Trend In Town...

Whilst wandering in Halifax on Thursday night, I ventured into Lush in order to photograph the proceedings of an event for a friend, so they could add the images to their promotional material for the venue and maybe capture some of the atmosphere a little.

I doing so, I spent the good part of 5 hours wandering round the place, snapping clubbers, grabbing the usual crowd shots and getting the odd group here and there when I noticed a bizarre, yet alternative trend in dance music.

The music played was a very heavy, almost dub-like continuous selection of dance tracks which featured an extremely warpy and wobbily bassline, but unlike bassline music itself - the streetlike gangster references, rap bootlegs and rnb acapellas were nonexistent.

Some would say it's electro, others would say it's bassline, but I beg to differ, as unlike bassline, the whole ethos seemed more welcoming.

The girls were into it, and the lads were loving it, there was none of the apparent rivalry seen at some bassline events, and the sinister air of gang culture did'nt exist.

Along with the music came an unusual trend that seemed to expand throughout it's captive audience. Over the top haircuts were the order of the day, along with excessive use of the oversize string vest, odd yet seemingly practical in this hot, sweaty environment. The girls were dressed to kill and the guys were out for a good time. Yeah there were some wierd hand gestures, unexplainable fashion disasters and a creative use for glowing accessories, but the tongue in cheek approach was quite entertaining to experience.

The clientele appeared to be young, hip & trendy teenagers, twentysomethings and the kind of people you'd see nursing a hangover the next day behind a formica desk in an office, or a counter in your local garage, and unlike it's darker, urban counterpart, the somewhat expected whole chav culture was'nt there. The attitude was left at the door, and there was'nt a tracksuit or stripy sweater in sight.

I did'nt see a single incident all evening, and believe me, I covered every square foot in that building for the whole 5 hours, and despite the 'all inclusive' offer that was in place - they weren't there for the beer. When that door opened at 9pm until the lights went up at 2 in the morning, that dancefloor was rammed all night.

I could'nt see this working in many other places in Halifax because the music is way too deep for a lot of people to handle, I myself was'nt too keen on it myself (maybe I'm just getting old!) but I could'nt help but enjoy the atmoshpere.

This ladies and gentlemen will be the musical genre of the Summer, and I dunno what it is, but to me it's kinda like a 'White Mans Bassline'

It's deep, it's different, and you'll get very sweaty, so enjoy it while it lasts!