Page 53 - DemoZone Magazine Issue 003

CLUB REVIEW [U.K.]
Venue: Lush! Portrush, Northern Ireland – www.kellysportrush.com Doors: 9pm-2am - Saturdays. Acts: Sander Van Doorn, W&W, Junior J, Paul Woods.
Date: 07-02-15
Lush! Celebrates in spectacular fashion!
Lush! Portrush – A premier club in Ireland and one of the reasons so many of us witness the biggest acts in the world come to such a small country. Celebrating not only 19 years of fantastic memories for clubbers across Ireland, Lush! prides itself as a club that will always be a part of what music means to Northern Ireland. This is backed up by many years of hosting events that pulled crowds from all over the country and further. Events dating back to the 90s, when the first boom of dance music was in full swing, to the current dance music takeover where ravers will see the club securing two of the most sought after acts of 2015, Oliver Heldens and Ummet Ozcan, gracing the Lush! decks on Easter Monday.
I was excited to be a part of the madness as people celebrated the club’s big birthday bash. Making my way to the front doors of this legendary club was pleasing to the eye as I watched the massive line of clubbers swap stories of previous ‘Lush! antics’ and getting more pumped the closer they got to the door. Once escorted through by the friendly security I felt as if I had walked into a bangin’ warehouse rave at peak time! Everything from the sound, to the lights, pyrotechnics and a dancefloor full of ravers from all walks of life not caring about tomorrow, it was all about tonight, the 19th year of Lush! being a credit to Ireland’s music industry.
Setting the mood was local up & coming DJ Paul Woods, a regular behind the Lush! turntables.
Paul is known for hard hitting peak time slots, but being taken out of his comfort zone to jump on warm up duties, he excelled in setting the right tone for the crowd to be on their feet and fired up for the first headliner to grace the stage – W&W.
In 2007, Willem van Hanegem & Ward van der Harst came together to form W&W and haven’t looked back since. The past seven years have seen the Dutch DJ/Producer duo continually push the boundaries of their music. Currently on tour showcasing their talents with fans, they’ve played in some of the best clubs and festivals across the world, proving themselves as worthy DJs last year when they announced their residency at Las Vegas club - Hakkasan (named one of “America’s Best New Club’s” by Rolling Stone) and coming in at #14 in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll.
Signing new music to their ‘Mainstage Music’ digital label and introducing it weekly on their ‘Mainstage’ podcast, the pair set the bar high making this a superb booking for Lush! Being booked to play the closing set at ‘Colours’ 20th birthday in The Arches, Glasgow, W&W dropped into the Portrush club for a quick taste of what it’s like to party with the Irish first! They played a blinder set and had the crowd ecstatic for the next DJ ready to up the ante. Ready to do so was Lush!’s very own - Junior J.
DJ and producer, Junior J, who has already supported artists such as Fatboy Slim and MK, is no stranger to hopping onto the decks and taking the roof off. Playing in the Albert Hall, Manchester, not even 24 hours before this with Steve Aoki, Junior J was back home at Lush! Portrush. In his element and creating havoc with his original tracks belting through the massive sound system, Junior hyped everyone for the part of the night they’d been waiting for - Sander Van
Door, please stand up.
Sander Van Doorn has cranked out more dance floor destroyers, sold-out gigs, number one records, and awards than most artists do in a lifetime, not to mention his success in creating a platform for introducing new music to the world via his ‘Identity’ Radio Show, SanderVanDoornTV YouTube channel and record label, ‘DOORN’, a sub-label of Spinnin’ Records.
With a tour diary that sees the superstar play to more than a million fans each year, there’s no doubt that Sander van Doorn is one of dance music’s favourite sons. Within just a few years, he has blasted his way to the top and intended to show Lush! he meant business!
Sander Van Doorn took to the stage, loudly welcomed by an electric response from screaming fans. The Dutch-born artist delivered an unreal set, filled with releases from his DOORN label and more. As the crowd partied hard, Sander took them on a musical journey playing tracks from times past and also some of his biggest tracks at present including ‘THIS’, a collaboration with Lush!’s Easter Monday headliner, Oliver Heldens.
It was hard to keep this article brief so to summarise this night, speaking on behalf of veteran ‘Lush! goers’ I spoke with that night, it was one of the best birthdays Lush! has ever had and for a club that’s edging on 20, that’s high praise indeed. Cheers, to another two decades...
I caught up with Sander Van Doorn for a quick chat before his set. You can catch up on everything we talked about on page....
Words By Brett Kydd Pics By