London’s best nightlife this weekend

Mornings have become noticeably colder recently. For me, they’ve been a nostalgic reminder of when London nightlife was a little more simple: when nights crept in promptly and a trip to the local boozer with six carefully curated friends tied to drizzly outdoor seats was more than enough revelry for the week. Just kidding: thank God that shit is over. Here’s our round-up of London’s best nightlife this weekend.

Percolate x Transmissions x E1: Official Waterworks Afterparty

There’s no such thing as an electronic music festival without an equally arousing after party. Following a big day out in west London’s Gunnersbury Park, many of the Waterworks line-up heavyweights will take things east to crank it up another notch. Breakthrough artists OK Williams and Anz will be going B2B for a techno-heavy set, meanwhile L C Y and Tim Reaper are set to showcase some star-studded garage and jungle selections. If you’re feeling a bit wonky, Skee Mask and Zenker Brothers will end the night with some crooked, experimental IDM shit, joined by a whole load of other artists that I don’t have space to write about here.

Percolate x Transmissions with Anz, OK Williams, Leon Vynehall, Zenker Brothers and others. E1, E1W 2BB. Sat Sep 25. 11pm-6am. Tickets £20.

Kettama presents G-Town

You might recognise Kettama’s punchy, underground hit ‘B O D Y’: it’s heavy in chanting vocals, rich in Chicago house-esque piano chords and topped off with lots of rolling percussion and slaps of serotonin. If you’re a fan of his unique, fist-pumping sound, be sure to check out this massive night celebrating his exciting new label, G TOWN. Expect blaring energy and the crowd to match. 

Kettama with Shampain and mixtress. Village Underground, EC2A 3PQ. Fri Sep 24. 10pm-5am. Tickets from £15.

Mungo’s Hi Fi sound system

Time to get your skanking shoes on. Prolific Glaswegian selectors Mungo’s Hi Fi are throwing a full, speaker-stacked party at The Steel Yard this Friday, blasting out the finest in dub, reggae, roots, dancehall, and steppas. Big bass will be matched with equally phat vocals, with Eva Lazarus – the singer who featured heavily on their 2019 LP, ‘More Fyah’ – performing live. Some of the hits are seriously catchy, so be sure to brush up on all of the rumbles and rhythms beforehand to be fully engulfed in the sound-system magic.

Mungo’s Hi Fi with Eva Lazarus, Tom Spirals and others. The Steel Yard, EC4R 3UL. Fri Sep 24. 11pm-6am. Tickets from £25.

Palms Trax: Brand New Feeling

As far as repetitive beats go, Palms Trax’s mixes are just as enticing as his production. Fusing softer techno with blasts of spontaneous melodies, his effortless blurring of Detroit house, world music, harder electro and all sorts of other grooves is testament to his genuine craft in DJing – something which seems harder and harder to come by these days. Luckily for us, the Berlin-based artist is taking over Phonox for the next ten weeks, joined by a bunch of his pals from the clubbing stratosphere. The opening party is the perfect excuse for a Sunday sesh and the promoters are also offering free tickets to NHS, care and hospitality industry workers (conditions apply), to say thanks for the last year and a bit. Not bad. 

Palms Trax. Phonox, SW9 7AY. Sun Sep 26. 4-10pm. Tickets from £20.

Night Tales Day & Night

Dance away your Saturday under the arches of Hackney Central station with a day-and-night party making the most of Night Tales’ massive outdoor terrace (while temperatures are still bearable). There’s a bunch of eclectic and emerging DJs on offer, such as Skatebård, the Norwegian producer who floats through Italo disco, electro, breaks and other spacey sounds; NTS regular Jamie Tiller; and heartwarming groover Ruby Savage. 

Night Tales with Skatebård, Jamie Tiller and Ruby Savage. Night Tales, E8 1DU. Sat Sep 25. 4pm-3am. Tickets from £8.

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