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Club Tip CMU Approved
Vigsy’s Club Tip: Notting Hill Carnival 2017
By Paul Vig | Published on Friday 25 August 2017
Yep, it’s that time of year again. Time for the massive West London street party that is the Notting Hill Carnival, taking place this Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
As always, there are multiple elements to London’s big Carnival. There’s the traditional procession of floats playing calypso, soca and reggae from the Caribbean. And alongside the music, you will find lots of hugely detailed costumes, all of it months in the making. The taste of the Caribbean is all round too, with jerk chicken and curried goat on the menu, or saltfish and ackee with rice and peas.
But Carnival also forays into jungle, ragga, hip hop, house and broken beat – giving it a real UK slant – via the numerous soundsystems erected around Notting Hill over the weekend. They’re certainly worth hunting down, though planning ahead as to which sound systems you’re going to sample is definitely worthwhile.
This year my picks of the 37 officially listed soundsystems are as follows…
1. Latin Rave Street Jam for Latin flavours from DJ Sylvester.
2. King Tubbys for some proper reggae.
3. Saxon Sound, where reggae star Tippa Irie cut his teeth.
4. GT Flex crew taking us to pastures UKG.
5. Sir Lloyd, which sees Shy FX take control of the decks no less…wow.
To get the most from Carnival, have Time Out’s map with you. Remember, it can get very crowded, even more so on the Monday – so keep an eye on friends and maybe have a plan for regrouping, because phone networks can slow down and/or fall over once Carnival is at its peak. And the cash machines run out of cash too – be prepared!
There are also the pre and post Carnival parties this weekend that are worth checking out. CMU’s tips in that regard are as follows…
• Friday: the Garage Carnival Warm Up at Egg with Luck and Neat et al.
• Saturday: Mala, Jamie Rodigan and Lady Leshurr at KOKO for a pre-Carnival bash.
• Saturday and Sunday: Big Chill Bar on Brick Lane focusing on reggae, with free entry on both nights.
• Sunday: Metalheadz Carnival After Party at Phonox, with Goldie, Storm and Randall so far confirmed, but more promised.
• Sunday: CoOp heads down to Hoxton for a welcome return with IG Culture and Alex Phountzi (though it only runs 7pm-12pm).
• Sunday: Boiler Room takes on Deviation and heads down to The Loft for their post-Carnival bash.
• Sunday: Norman Jay takes his Good Times party east to Mick’s Garage, with Femi Fem and Manasseh.
• Sunday: Jungle Mania pays homage to Carnival at The Coronet with a huge line up of big hitters including JJ Frost, Dillinja and Kenny Ken .
All in all, it’s a great line up for this too often underrated London event. Let’s just cross fingers that the sun shines in West London this weekend. And if you’re one of those Londoners who has never quite made it to this big bash, then do it, trust me, you’ll love it. Viva Carnival!
