Coastal jewel and day club O Beach has come roaring back to life in 2022. Attracting thousands of visitors every day throughout summer, to say the venue has had a successful year would be an understatement.
While its programme is a combination of weekly events, promoters on rotation and one-off parties, what's consistent, is that little is tweaked day to day. A winning formula doesn't need fixing.
That said, it still has a habit of throwing up pleasant surprises and one of them manifests in the form of Soultown Garden Party. The outfit known for throwing House and Disco shindigs at London's Studio 338 and hosting the hospitality area at Creamfields North and South is back.
Returning on Sunday 9 October, Soultown immediately stands out with its line-up packed with goodies. Let's take a closer inspection.
Secondcity
Best known for his 2014 crossover hit, I Wanna Feel, Secondcity has released on decorated labels such as Toolroom, Circus and dirtybird. He's also collaborated with the likes of Paul Woolford, George Smeddles and Mark Fanciulli in the studio, showing his pedigree.
Being born in the UK, but spending his formative years growing up in the home of House music, Chicago, Secondcity is international in the truest sense of the word. His pan-Atlantic upbringing has given him a unique outlook on electronic music.
Artists of his stature rarely play O Beach, so 9 October is a golden opportunity for O Beach's clientele to enjoy the table service product as well as being exposed to some incredible dance music.
This precedence might see O Beach look towards more daring bookings in the future?
No Artificial Colours
Around a similar time as I Wanna Feel was shooting up the charts, No Artificial Colours were on the brink of blowing up. It was the era of Deep House, which dominated London's party scene and mix tapes.
NAC joined names like Alexis Raphael, Wildkats, Lee Brinx and Mark Radford in propping up London's clubland. It was also the time where DJ duos started to come into the fore. Dusky, Blonde, Tough Love, Tech Twins and Toyboy & Robin all started to break through.
It was cool to a twosome.
No Artificial Colours looked destined to hit the big time... and then seemingly went of hiatus.
But who doesn't enjoy a comeback?
After several years in the wilderness, it would appear as if Lewis Wright and Ryan Ellis are back working together and have their sights set on reestablishing the project. Not only have they started reappearing back on line-ups in the UK, but will be supporting Secondcity at Soultown on 9 October. Welcome to Ibiza, boys!
We've these two acts alone, we're guaranteed to hear some great House music at Soultown Garden Party. The period of 2012 to 2014 was a golden age for the genre. This overlaps with the height of both their careers.
That was ten years ago now - coincidentally, the same number of years that O Beach recently celebrated. So when this oasis on the shoreline of San Antonio opened its doors in 2012, it was surely the music of Secondcity and No Artificial Colours that soundtracked it. Quite poetic.
Let's get deep! Let's get soulful. Let's mosey on down to Soultown - the town that's big enough for all of us.
€25 tickets can be picked up at the bottom of this page. We'll see you there!
