Finally Saturday night had arrived! It was time to head into my favourite club to see fRew, my favourite DJ and producer headline the bill at Empire, my favourite club. With my Christmas Vacation having begun only a few hours earlier, I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the silly season.

Strolling into Middle Bar around midnight I was greeted by the sight of a club packed to the rafters with masses of suitably loose patrons thriving to the sounds of the Hump Day Projects unique blend of hip hop infused electro. I was starting to get excited. Time for a drink! Unfortunately this would prove to be the one and only downfall of the evening. Standing in line for close to thirty minutes, I found some of my enthusiasm starting to wain. Although the bar tenders were friendly and mixing great drinks, there simply wasn’t enough staff on the bar to cope with demand.

Poison of choice finally in hand, I spotted fRew surveying the scene from the far side of the club, and being the most approachable DJ I’ve met I went up for a chat. As always, fRew was more than happy to discuss his impending set, past and upcoming releases, work in the studio, life in general and anything else I cared to mention. 1.30am rolled around too quickly and with fRew about to get his set underway, I wriggled my way through a packed out dance floor to get a good position to see him working his magic. The place was pumping.

fRew opened up his account with one of his patent introductions (this time the voice of an Arabian magic lamp salesman begging us to come closer and listen carefully). Having seen fRew play a couple of times before I was curious how he was going to maintain the energy in the club created by the Hump Day Project’s high-attitude set dominated by tracks which were more commercial than I thought he would liked to have played. So his choice of Bart B More’s classic track Finally proved a superb choice, with the masses throwing their hands in the air and singing along to the underpinning piano melody. Fellow Vacation Records stable mate and captain Bass Kleph’s remix of Twocker’s Stitch was a solid follow up and got the crowd well and truly bouncing. Great transition between sets made, the crowd had settled into fRews set nicely.

Chris Lake’s remix of Sia’s track Buttons got the crowd grooving, followed by No Ghosts, an unreleased funky original from fRew. Being a massive fan of his original work, this was one of the highlights of the night for me personally and I found myself bouncing away unable to keep a lid on it. This was, however, nothing compared to the response received by the masses to the Niels van Gogh and Thomas Gold remix of Delerium’s seminal track Silence. The crowd pulsed with the influx of new feet on the dance floor and nobody could resist singing along to the hypnotic vocals and reaching for the lazers. The club was into it so much that when fRew killed the track mid chorus, the roar made by the club singing along was amazing.

Fresh off electro house pin up boy Fedde le Grand’s set list at Mysteryland mainstage was fRew’s brilliant remix of nFas Get Doh, which had everyone jittering, bouncing, rapping and tapping away as if the whole club had somehow caught ADHD. It was simply harder to sit still then get up and get down. This was mixed seamlessley into the unbelievably catchy hooks of Pyramid by John Dahlback.

Needing a break and knowing the fRew wouldnt let me off the hook for long, I retreated to the bar to grab another drink. Lining up at the bar I overheard a guy yell this into his phone ”....nah nah man forget it! You need to get up to Empire, this guy’s killin’ it, the place is going bloody sideways!” Turning around to survey the scene I couldn’t have agreed more. The crowd were simply loving what fRew was doing. In no way was the excitement being contained to the dance floor, with punters dancing on chairs, tables, in the hallway, out on the balcony, in line at the bar, not to mention the dancefloor. Armed with his video camera and brandishing the lamp from the DJ booth like a torch, crew up near the DJ booth were all busting out their freshest and funkiest moves, vying for a spot in the limelight, to the off centre but cool as ice beat of fRews first original release Shake With It. This matched out with another of fRew’s nFa remixes She Rock n Roll.

Just when I thought it was safe, just when I thought the crowd might be showing signs of the thinning that normally accompanies 3am on any dancefloor, fRew once again showed his inept ability to read the crowd and follow up with immaculate track selection. Hearing the melodic bounce of Fragma’s Tocas Miracle in the mix early, I gripped my drink firmly in anticipation of a massive crowd response. Only seconds later I was to be proved right, with the club erupting. I know its cliqued, but the place was going off!!! For a couple of beats I thought the man was going to be mobbed, such was the rush of guys to the DJ booth to show appreciation with a round of consecutive high fives.

The set was rounded out to the tech-electro goodness of another fRew original, Fixed Mind, and his sexy remix of Let Me Love You by Tommy Trash, the ice cream on the cake for a certified fRew addict such as myself.

What I enjoy the most about his sets is that they’re always fun, the crowd is always involved, there is always a fantastic vibe within the club and nobody enjoys themselves more than more than fRew himself. Simply watching him behind the decks is infectious, with everyone in the crowd undoubtedly feeding not just from his music but off the man himself. It’s so refreshing is it to see a DJ who isn’t too cool to have a good time. As it was so aptly put by one of my mates… seeing fRew’s set tonight was like going to an off-the-hook party with a bunch of mates and killer music. We didn’t so much as watch fRew as party with him.

Do yourself a favour and get along to his next gig at all costs. I guarantee you will not regret it!