#UpcomingGigs Mala in Dublin ~ Lurid House Live

The dubstep king returns to Ireland.

Mala in Dublin As Dublin clubs close and licensing laws continue to hamper the city's creative growth, Christmas is a rare time when many of the capital's most lateral-thinking minds come home to party. Add the swathes of locals who are also raring to get loose, and you've got the ingredients for a great night out. Among those capitalising on this in the run-up to Christmas was Wigwam, who invited Mala for his first set at the storied Abbey Street venue since 2011. In a city as house and techno obsessed as Dublin, dubstep parties are often only for the diehards, but this was different.

Upstairs at Wigwam is a café, bar and smoking area, and on Friday night it was soundtracked by vintage Italo and disco courtesy of the Bodytonic DJs and, later on, Raphaël Top Secret. Cries of "Ah howiyas" from groups of friends who hadn't reconvened since last Christmas bellowed through the space. There weren't many people there early on, though the sounds coming from the basement, powered by Rub A Dub's HI-FI soundsystem, suggested things were getting going down below.

Downstairs, a mosh pit was steadily gathering steam, lit up by a glaring red light facing the booth. Mala's opening tracks quickly built momentum. Trips to the smoking area became less frequent as gaps in the cramped dance floor disappeared. The motley crew of ponytails and Palace T-shirts, many of them seemingly unsure how to dance to dubstep, jerked and swayed unpredictably, though there was a certain togetherness to the dysfunction.

The cool introduction of Sir Spyro's unmistakable "Sounds Of The Sir" ident took the mosh pit to boiling point, and an every-man-for-themselves mentality took over. Once the track—Sir Spyro's "Topper Top"—properly dropped, a sea of dreadlocks, Ralph Lauren tops and tote bags were immediately soaked in beer. Mala's "Changes" only ramped up the intensity. Bang on 3 AM, the crowd were led like cattle out of the club and into the brisk winter air. All the empty promises of future catch-ups were soon drowned out by firmer assertions that the night had been, in the words of one partygoer, "fucking lethal." </span>

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from RA - Event Reviews Resident Advisor