Making our way up the stairs of the Mercat just before midnight, the mood is relaxed and the drinks flowing freely and you get the sense everyone is ready for a party. It’s not every night you are treated to a DJ set by one of London’s most interesting and talented dubstep producers after all. The dancefloor is sparsely populated for the first half of local support Kuya’s set, but slowly fills and is energetic by the end. He plays a great mix of wonky, hip hop and futurebeat, moving to dubstep towards the end of his set with Joker’s banger Tron delighting the crowd.

Sydney’s Dizz1 takes to the stage, announcing that he will be playing mainly his own material, with some other tracks thrown in to the mix. Playing semi-live, his hands are a flurry of movement as he feverishly hits the pads on his midi controller, as well as tending to his laptop and decks. His brand of quirky instrumental hip hop and dubstep keeps the crowd enthused for the duration of the set. And you get the sense people really enjoy being able to see his hand movements and hear the corresponding sounds emanating from the speakers. Finishing with some fast, pounding beats, Dizz1 stands and accepts the applause of the crowd before introducing the man we’ve all been waiting for – Ramadanman.

A diminutive figure behind the decks, the sound Ramadanman produces is anything but small. Opening with a grime tune, the Hessle Audio co-founder soon moves into some house-leaning tracks before dropping Mount Kimbie’s Mayor, from their recently released LP Crooks and Lovers. His set is characterised by an exciting mix of dubstep and UK funky, with a distinct house vibe influencing the mix. Tracks from Roska and Floating Points keep the dancefloor moving, but it is Ramadanman’s recently released track Work Them that gets the biggest response from the crowd.

The addition of MC Lowqui and a whole bunch of lasers gives the performance a very UK feel – but one that strikes me as forced and cheesy. Despite the great track selection and mixing, it is hard to fully appreciate Ramadanman’s set with Lowqui doing his thing over the top. He moves between grimey rapping and inane hypeman shouts – “Get yer groove on, get yer swerve on…Ramadanman, ready to deploy” – distracting heavily from the music. It’s not that Lowqui isn’t good at what he does. In fact, he’s great at it. But it isn’t the right context for his skills and cheapens the experience of seeing such an exciting DJ – one who can definitely let the music do the talking for him.

As Mark Pritchard comes to the decks with Lowqui still at the microphone, we decide it’s time to call it a night and leave the venue with tired bodies and mixed feelings. It’s been a night that whilst showcasing the talents of some very exciting DJs, didn’t end up quite living up to our expectations.