Wobble is a monthly event run (by Eden Cubist) on the third Saturday of every month. The Wobble crew claim to run the ‘number one’ monthly event at The Night Owl, which is a big call, but they are not so far off the mark. Certainly, in terms of local Drum ‘n’ Bass, I have heard no better.

Entering off ground level, one descends via concrete stair to a completely underground environment. The ceiling is low, but the space is broken up in to numerous and varied zones, with the well balanced décor and lighting creating a strong atmosphere. Military camouflage material drapes from the ceiling above the dance floor, a timber structure built up a shallow step to create a nice springing surface that plays soft on hard-banging feet. There are an abundance of break-out spaces with genuine retro sofas, table lamps, decorative pendants, tea-light candles, and the odd B&W TV fuzzing still imagery.

Either side of the dance floor are the speaker stacks, by local company Heartical Hi-Fi Outernational, who are also given a plug via a casually slung banner above the DJ desk. The sound was, certainly for this scale of space, full and crisp with excellent clarity and little distortion. The speaker set also makes for an impressive visual array, being a relatively high quantity of smallish units neatly stacked like building blocks. I imagine this system therefore offers a very refined set of options that, in a larger setting, could be quite impressive.

We arrived at the club in full swing; the dancefloor bouncing with sweaty density and humidity. AC23 was pulsing with savvy use of vinyl, playing beats and melodies that gave energetic basis to two MCs, Fraksha and Scotty Hinds. The guys threaded narrative over the travelling tunes, bouncing response off response. The end of the set built up with a sprint to the finish, and then they brought it home to core DnB influence.

Next, Cubist gave off rocketing bass lines, drilling quick, crisp lines through the bodies and space. His hallmark DnB mixes everything from high contrast to hints of house. There were zipping breaks with the fluid MC Wasp, who accompanied all the remaining DJs for the night.

Then came Evil Lex, who spelt darker, heavier and bolder tones. The set felt hard, deep and black, but also with brightness and speed. This was the closest to a journey I came all night. Some of the dancing was super, with ducking, weaving, light-footed skipping, twirling, jogging, jumping, and joy-filled bounces. It was high-energy input and output. And then there were folk who preferred to groove half time, with more lilt, more swerve and intended finesse.

SpinFX took the evening to conclusion with nicely mixed-up beats set at a pace the ‘stayers’ could handle. He read the vibe pretty well and kept the energy flowing, interspersing it with melodic half-tempo sunshine-infused breaks. All the while, Wasp stood strong. I bet he slept well that night, as we all did. A very solid and satisfying event I highly recommend.