When we got to Home on Saturday night the first noticeable thing was the fifty metre line at the entrance. I thought we would be alright because we were put on the press guestlist. That was until we found the guestlist line, which was a solid 20 metres itself. But security controlled the entrance well and it all moved very quickly.

When we walked inside, we were greeted by the sounds of Bob Sinclar’s ‘Love Generation’ and the D.O.N.S remix of ‘Pump up the Jam’. Although I had heard these songs many times before, the sound given out by the JBL Vertec system meant that it was like I was hearing everything for the first time. The dance floor downstairs had a good vibe to it, but after punishing my ears for a while I ventured upstairs to hear what the fellas from Bang Gang were spinning. Their music choice was exactly what we are used to from them – rock-infused electro with inspiration from almost all other genres, mashed up to meet their style. The Icon room that they were housed in felt a little small as people began to pack in there like sardines. Most places that these boys play these days end up like that, though, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. We then continued on up to the Terrace to kick back for a while.

Popping in on the Potbelleez for a minute, the music was good but the whole room was like a sweatbox with a low ceiling and a high concentration of guys. It was a relief to finally get outside on the balcony up top where it was a lot more relaxed and the music could still be heard clearly. After a few drinks we went back to the main room just as Tom Novy was taking to the decks. He was greeted by a loud cheer as he excited the crowd by opening with the vocals from his most famous track – ‘Your Body’. I did notice, however, that he was not wearing one of his trademark singlets saying ‘F*ckUall’ or ‘F*ckUtoo’. He seemed a little more conservative than I expected, although his behaviour began to meet my expectations. Standing in the middle of the main floor at Home to the sounds of mind-grating bass tracks, with a thousand people bouncing away around you, it’s not hard to see why people keep going back week after week. It is a real club for the music lovers.

As Tom Novy’s set progressed, he even found the time to pour a glass of champagne for a lucky lady and himself, as a remix of Mylo’s ‘In My Arms’ pumped out of the speakers – the incredible breakdowns matched with the incredible lighting meant it was likely the best track of his set. Tom did his best to fire up the crowd as he got on the mic between tracks. Other track choices such as ‘Work’ by Masters at Work and Axwell’s remix of ‘Sweet Dreams’ towards the end of his set made sure that he kept the attention of the punters and kept them on the floor until he finally left the decks at around 4am. One last memorable track was ‘Bitch’ by Dave MacCallam – a track that gets a great reaction anywhere it’s played, but especially at Home.

My overall opinion on Tom Novy’s set was that it started well, became a little tedious before picking up strength within the last hour to make sure that he departed with a bang. I am sure Tom must have pre-planned this. A memorable set that most people I saw seem to enjoy as much as I did – even the ones that weren’t dancing but rather just watching from the balcony. We left at around 4.30, and couldn’t help but notice advertisements for the follow-up party for Ministry of Sound – Axwell in February. This will be off the hook and I suggest that everybody makes it down as the man will give that system a workout like no one before him.