Our House Presents SION, Josh Toogood & More

Prior to my visit on Friday 25th October, Our House had been something of an enigma to the PearShaped team. Since its formation in June 2012, the night has consistently sold well and proved to be a successful part of Exeter’s active House and Bass scene. So, with this in mind, I went down to see what this monthly Cavern Friday was all about, and on the back of a sold-out relaunch in September, Our House delivered an energetic, musically diverse and extremely enjoyable night.

Perhaps the most striking facet to the Our House experience was crossover. There was no prominent, underlying subgenre that acts adhered to, meaning the crowd was treated to a series of hybridist sets. This was perhaps best epitomized by a 10-minute period in Withdrew’s 11-12 set in which the DJ moved from Disco tinged-house, to a grime vocal line before arriving at a deep-house bass line one would expect to hear on a Cellar Door Tuesday. Whilst for the vast majority, each track played had an obvious house backbone, it was good to hear such variety in the genre. The Disco and Funk leaning tracks were especially appreciated, played frequently early on by Tom Deuchars and Ben Smith, the former even mixing Michael Jackson into his set.

By the start of Vandeleur’s slot, the revelers who had earlier been chatting outside or playing drinking games in the Cavern bar had diffused to the dance floor. To correspond to this migration, Vandeleur played a strong set, exuding experience and confidence that justified his residency at Thick As Thieves. You could feel the night progressing further into the realm of deep house, moving steadily from the bright disco-sound of earlier to a vibe more akin to DirtyBird. The night’s headliner, SION, continued this trajectory. I noticed a clear hip-hop influence in his mixes, most notably at the start of his slot, which was defined by prominent drumbeats and vocal sampling. A highlight of his set was the early introduction of What I Might Do by Ben Pearce, a track familiar to all present which unsurprisingly received an emphatic response from the dance floor. Riding the crest of this well-positioned crowd-pleaser, SION went on to deliver a set that emphasized his talent as a DJ. His set was in a continuous state of progression making it an effective unified work. I recommend checking out his Soundcloud to get a sense of how technically good he is.

By the time curfew came, the crowd that spilt out of the Cavern into the street was winding down from their energetic zenith. EXIT Resident Josh Toogood played an excellent set in the late slot, keeping the audience buoyant with the inclusion of well-liked tracks such as Renegade Master and Breach’s Jack, which drew a positive response from both the dance floor and the growing number of Our House representatives behind the DJ. Indeed by this point in the evening, I felt there was a sense of Mission Accomplished amongst the night’s staff. Our House had delivered a vibrant and diverse night to a sell-out crowd. As a first-time visitor, I felt it was a job well done.