Carl Cox in Leeds

Carl Cox & friends at Vox, Leeds | Photo Report

With the Ibiza season looming clear on the horizon, many a promoter from the White Isle has booked in a number of events on English turf as they make an effort to generate the hype and excitement that will guarantee a capacity turn-out each week in the Balearic sunshine. Tonight at the Vox Warehouse it was the turn of Carl Cox’s ever popular ‘The Revolution Continues’ – after a blistering 8 Tuesdays at Space last summer that confirmed its place for another year as one of the best parties on the island, the enigmatic techno star arrived in Leeds on Good Friday, bringing with him Circus resident Yousef in the main arena and Parisian house producer Chris Carrier to head things up in the second room.

Arriving at the venue around half past midnight it was a surprise to find no queue on the door, but after navigating the entrance and sliding left into the main room it was relieving to find a fairly healthy crowd bustling around to the chunky house and techno being set down by Yousef. First thing of notice upon entering the room was the immense heat radiating throughout – condensation was dripping down from the pipes running across the ceiling and many of the male section of the crowd had removed their tops and were dancing around bare chested amongst an already very sweaty crowd. Looking around amongst those in the venue, it was clear it was a very Yorkshire based crowd tonight, and the event seemed almost devoid of any students or international types that can normally be found lurking in the house and techno clubs in and around Leeds. Whoever they were, the crowd was one that was making the most of the second night of the four day weekend, and every big drop engineered by Yousef was greeted with cheers and screams as he continued to ply the room with his big room house sound.

By around 1.30 it was clear that everyone who was coming to witness the ‘revolution’ tonight had already done so, and although there was perhaps a crowd of 800 plus people dotted around, some areas of the club did look a little bare. The knock on effect of the slightly under capacity crowd and the pulling effect of the artists in the main warehouse was the Modern Amusement room never really got going and Chris Carrier found himself cueing up his first record to only a handful of people. As 2.30 rolled around and Carl Cox began his showmanship routine in the opposite room there was not a soul to be seen, which was a shame given the French maestro’s dj’ing and production credentials.



It was a very different story just across the corridor as almost every single person in the venue took a standing position to witness Cox’s first visit back to Leeds in a rather long while. Despite his long absence from these parts, it was clear not much had changed and his unabashed and energetic style of main room techno that he has become so famous for served to further stoke up the rave-like atmosphere in the warehouse. Mixing on four CDJ’s and layering percussive techno on top of percussive techno, his constant spin backs on the decks and regular use of the microphone to gee the crowd up might get dissed by the purists, but there didn’t seem to be many of them in the venue tonight as the crowd cheered and raised their hands aloft every time he pulled off such a manoeuvre.

Twenty minutes was all that was bearable in the main room before the heat became too much and judging by the number of people outside most of the crowd had the same idea and the smoking area was clearly being used as much for some fresh air and cooling down as it was for its original purpose. Venturing back into the main room around 3.30 it was apparent that the crowd was starting to dwindle and it was possible to appreciate the warehouse in all it’s true splendour; the designers really have managed to recreate that 80’s warehouse vibe whilst implementing enough modern elements to bring it up to scratch for the 21st century. With it’s raw brick walls, exposed pipes, metal sheeted roof, booming sound system and impressive lightshow, Vox brings something to Leeds which has been lacking in recent years, and with the quality of events taking place on a regular basis here it has to be considered as one of the best venues in these parts.

As for Mr Cox, the revolution continues to roll on, and the DJ’s, music and branding of the event tonight all gave the people of Yorkshire a small taster of what to expect should they venture out to Ibiza over the summer. They even managed to get the temperature just about right.

Adam Daniels