Written by Carl Mumford
Throughout the 2015 season I religiously attended Amnesia every Tuesday for ‘Together’ where I danced through the night to a plethora of DJs who represented the Defected In The House label on the Terrace. So naturally, I was buzzing to visit Motion in Bristol for the first time where Defected presented the enticing line up of Low Steppa, ANOTR, Lee Walker, Sam Divine and the house legend Todd Terry. I was relishing the chance to spend the night with the Defected crew as well as reviewing one of, if not my favourite nights on The White Isle.
I arrived at the venue in the middle of ANOTR’s set where they were laying down some fresh driving tech house with a bouncing crowd who had turned up in force. There was a dark underground feeling in the famous warehouse with just the infamous ‘We Are Defected’ blue letters hovering above the dance floor. The dutch duo who are going from strength to strength were clearly making the most of their experience as they looked full of energy and were pumped to be there. I got chatting to the lads who were appreciative of the opportunities they had been given saying it had been a result of a lot of hard work. Following up from their successful EP ‘Strobe’ they dropped their recent success ‘Mighty Kingdom’ showing the crowd what they have to look forward to in the future as their set gave way to Lee Walker’s first Defected Motion appearance.
The man of the hour and the newly appointed Defected DJ Lee Walker showed us why his career is exploding as he delivered brilliant melodic beats including ‘Eats Everything – Let’s Go Dancing’ which built up to the eagerly awaited track that has launched him to the limelight ‘DJ Deeon – Freak Like Me (Lee Walker Remix)’. It was first heard at the Music On closing party at Amnesia when techno master Marco Carola delivered it and ever since then it has been turning heads and ripping up dance floors. The track recently signed to the Defected record label and now available for purchase did the business and promises to be a huge track for the upcoming season where Lee will be playing at Tribal Sessions at Sankeys. Here’s the video of it going off!
It was then time for the Defected icon Sam Divine who knows how to bring a crowd to take over the reigns and she didn’t disappoint as always. Her set was full of strong vocals including her distinctive ‘Flowers’ remix with Curtis Gabriel which had the audience singing along. Sam who has recently launched her ‘Soul D-Vine’ sister label which represents her love of soulful house played ‘Harry Romero – Tania (Riva Starr Remix)’ and ‘Gershon Jackson – Take It Easy (Sonny Fodera & Mat.Joe Remix)’ and ‘Hardrive – Deep Inside (Gotta Have House Edit)’ to name a few tracks that were well received. I spoke to Sam about her upcoming residency at Sankeys supporting ‘The Redlight’ and she said she was looking forward to playing there for the new season. Sam who is much loved in Bristol had the room rocking before handing over to the legend that is Todd Terry.
Motion was then treated to glimpses of ‘Glitterbox’ the House & Disco night that occupies Space every Friday as Todd Terry delivered a set that ranged from the techno drive of ‘Patrick Topping & Green Velvet – When Is Now’, ’Todd Terry Pres. CLS – Can You Feel It (Prok & Fitch Remix)’ through to classics including ‘Inner City – Big Fun’ and those on his ‘InHouse’ label including ‘Jumpin’ and ‘Everlasting Life’. The American DJ and producer showed the crowd why his house defining music has seen his career span over three decades. Todd was in the mix for two hours closing the night which showed why Defected In The House returns to Motion time and time again. You can catch Todd Terry in Ibiza Summer 2016 playing at ‘Glitterbox’ and ‘The Redlight’ at Sankeys.
If you like your house, tech house and you’re thinking about going to Motion in Bristol, there ain’t no party like a Defected party!