WANG - Less of a club, more of a party!
Underground party people WANG have been causing chaos in the capital for the past twenty five years. With our 'Less of a club, more of a party' ethos still firmly intact, WANG never play the brand building game, preferring to stay lurking in the shadows far away from the limelight, and our parties have become the stuff of legend.
Over the years WANG have thrown parties in disused warehouses, studios, railway arches and dungeons as well as plenty of infamous free outdoor parties in woods, beaches, forests and fields.
WANG have programmed the Temple Stage at Glastonbury Festival and hosted Room 2 takeovers at the mighty Fabric, we straddle the divide between the free-party scene and London club culture. - Less of a club, more of a party!
OMG it's 25 Years Of WANG!
WANG return to celebrate 25 years in the game - Just don't call it a comeback!
We are throwing an extra special one off party at The Cause, expect full on rave mayhem and the friendliest, most up for it crowd of WANGers you've ever had the pleasure to party with.
Our full CRT Video Wall (as seen at Houghton Festival) will be in operation with special AV live shows from Radioactive Man and Plaid. With a line-up comprised of WANG regulars and cutting edge acts, WANG continue to push things forward with future facing sounds:
Radioactive Man - Live AV show
Keith Tenniswood performed his first ever Radioactive Man live set at WANG back in the day and has been part of the family ever since. This will be his debut Live A/V show and a preview of his forthcoming new album.
Simian Mobile Disco - exclusive ultra rare DJ set
Longtime WANG collaborators, SMD take a break from producing platinum albums for a plethora of global superstars, and come out of rave retirement for one night only - for a party they simply couldn't miss
Plaid - Full Live AV show
WARP Records mainstays and electronica pioneers Plaid continue to push boundaries and have just returned from a north American tour. This is a rare chance to experience the beauty of their music in a rave enviroment.
Mark Broom
UK techno don and Beardman Records head honcho, Broomy's WANG sets are the stuff of legend - he will Roku ;-)
Scott Fraser and Joe Hart (B2B Bodyhammer set)
Their Bodyhammer nights are in-part inspired by WANG and are always a right ol' knees-up..
Hooverian Blur aka Warlock
Yet another WANG regular, Jason Warlock's releases as Hooverian Blur are perfect for the WANG dance floor. Jason has a weekly show on Kool FM and continues to be a the forefront of bass music
Katya
WANG has always been known for pushing electro sounds and as soon as Lula and Elvis heard Katya DJing, we knew we had to have her play at WANG
Ben Pest - Live
Ben performs cutting edge live electronics on a hardware based setup without the aid of a safety net, once he's started there's no knowing where he will take you with his freestyle live improvisations
ARA-U
No Static / Automatic (NS/A) records boss Ara-U is innovating electro both with the music he releases and his DJ sets
Electro Elvis
WANG resident and party promoter, his weekly radio show on Origin UK showcases his own unique mix of musical styles
Lula
WANG and Rocketscience Media boss, Lula is the one who keeps the show on the road, when she's not DJing, you can catch her down the front of the dance floor, absolutely 'avin it!
More acts TBC
what's it all ABOUT
WANG is all about creating a unique party experience for everyone. We believe in bringing people together through music, dance, and good vibes. Our parties are not just about the music but also about the people. We strive to create an inclusive and safe environment for everyone to express themselves and have fun.
With a hugely varied music policy ranging from bangin techno, to chicago house, from dub reggae to driving electro, we have always pushed the less commercial, more cutting edge end of the dance music spectrum, whilst still tipping a nod to past underground music masters.
WANG were instrumental in the re-emergence of a london electro scene in the early naughties, and have always shied away from too much publicity or trendy musical fashions.
ethos
WANG parties are unlike any other. Here are some of the features that set us apart:
01
Unforgettable Music
Over the years we've been blessed to have the support of so many amazing artists. We try and strike a balance between certified legends and up and coming new blood, and have never been afraid to take risks with our programming
02
Unique Venues
We are always on the lookout for new and exciting venues to host our parties. From abandoned warehouses to world famous mega-clubs, we take pride in finding the perfect location for each event
03
Visionary Visuals
Pioneering use of video at time when cranking up the visual mayhem meant VHS tapes rather than laptops, we always go all out with our production to deliver a future retro techno aesthetic. Our CRT Videowall is a sight to behold
04
Good Vibes Only
At WANG, we believe that the party is only as good as the people. That's why we make sure to create a safe and inclusive environment where everyone can let loose and have fun.
'You're all a bunch of WANGers' - P.L.U.R.
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PAST PARTIES
Here are flyers from some of our past parties. It is an incomplete collection, as many have been lost to the sands of time, such as Squarepusher's first set at The Premises, the last WANG party at The Premises, The WANG 11th birthday party, etc.... If you have any flyers which are not shown, please drop us a message...
a list of acts that have played at wang
Here is a list of most of the acts we have been lucky enough to have had perform for us in the past (sorry to anybody we missed - drop us an email):
[snyzch] (seed) - LIVE
2 bad mice
7 hurtz (output) - LIVE
a guy called gerrald - LIVE & DJ
abe duque
abe duque & blake baxter - LIVE
abstrakt knights (erratica/colony)
adj (pyramid transmissions)
agt rave cru - LIVE
al waxman (process)
alek
alexander robotnick
alison marks (the laundry)
andrew weatherall
ardison (seed) - LIVE
ashley marlowe (conemelt)
aux 88 - LIVE
bad danny walter
bass junkie - LIVE & DJ
battant - LIVE
ben lyford
ben sims (theory)
basenji (wang trax)
benjy williams
big daddy (phonography)
billy nasty (tortured)
bionic man (molecular breakdown)
blake baxter
bnjmn (rush hour) - LIVE
boardroom (klang electronic) - LIVE
bolz bolz (world electric) - LIVE
brain splitters (unbearable recordings) - LIVE
brett youngs RIP (audio illusions/dead silence)
bruce (seed records supremo)
ceephax acid crew(rephlex) - LIVE
charlie hall (drum club)
chris clark (warp) - LIVE
chris marshall RIP
chris moodi
chris rotta (tokyo windbag)
claire pudney
cocadisco djs
commander m popov (pmg/macadonia)
controlled weirdness (control tower)
craig walsh (primevil)
cursor minor (uncharted audio) - LIVE & DJ
dan con #1 (moonpalace)
dangermouse (lex)
danny bee
d'archangelo (rephlex) - LIVE
datatheif (device) - LIVE
dave mothersole (swag)
dbridge (exit records)
dee patten (who's the badman)
detroit grand pubahs - LIVE
dexorcist (control tower)
dextor
disco dave
dj 3000 (underground resistance/motech)
dmx krew (breakin' records) - LIVE
don williams (pure plastic
downshifter (skud/civil)
dr vice (blasé)
drums of death (grecoroman) - LIVE
dub kult (arcola records)
duncan parks (le chunk)
ed chaimberlain - LIVE & DJ
ed dmx (breakin records)
eon RIP (ifach)
Electro Elvis (wang)
eric (molotov)
fred (gmt)
george hull
goodiepal (V/Vm) - LIVE
grunter synapse
hardway brothers
harrynjane
heartbreak - LIVE
hefty
hick nurdman - LIVE
IG-88 (rephlex)
j saul kane
j stretch
jackal & hyde - LIVE
jake one - LIVE & DJ
jamie ball (turning point)
jerome hill (uglyfunk)
jim masters (hi tek soul)
joel (koobla)
jon reynolds (smallfish)
juergen junker (neurythmics) - LIVE
julian fairshare RIP
k rock (rephlex)
kansas city prophets (control tower) - LIVE
keith tenniswood (two lone swordsmen)
kid acne (lex)
kirsti weir (null and void)
knightpaws (process) - LIVE
kone-r (uncharted audio)
kris krause/jeff nagle (outside recordings)
krude (control tower) - LIVE
kruton (pure plastic)
kschzt - audio visual set (blasé) - LIVE
lale pavic (happy people of belgrade)
langer (uncharted audio) - LIVE
lee graves (dedbeat)
lektrogirl (rephlex)
lets go outside (soma) - LIVE
lewis (warp)
lex (metropolis)
little witch (breakin')
lone (r&s records)
lone shark (sabbath)
louis digital (arcola records)
luke vibert (warp)
lukey roots (goodvibes)
lula (wang)
mad dog wallice (rephlex)
magda (final scratch set)
mainpal inv (V/Vm)
mark archer (altern 8)
mark broom (pure plastic)
mark e (merc)
mary anne hobbs (bbc radio 1)
masse - LIVE
matkore
mat carter (dedbeat)
mat chester (11th hour technology)
matt thompson (output)
matt walsh (clouded vision)
melchior (ifach)
metronomy (sabbath)
mike da hat (blasé)
mike dred (rephlex)
mike wallace (crunch/colony)
milanese (warp/arcola) - LIVE
mira calix RIP (warp)
miz licious (koobla)
motorboy
mr six (sabbath)
neotek (uncharted audio)
neil trix
nick.k (lex)
no yeah no (rag and bone)
octad (rough) - LIVE
orson (transparent sounds)
paul b davis - 8 bit construction set - LIVE
paul mac
percy x (soma)
peter ford (ifach)
phil casbah
phil klein (battle trax)
phil summit (moon palace)
phiorio (click/kss)
phtomshch (moon palace)
plaid (warp) - LIVE
po-ski (werk/groovetech)
posthuman (seed) - LIVE
pp wok (uncharted audio)
propane (moon palace)
psi spy (antzen/colony)
pure science - LIVE
rad rice
radioactive man (1st ever live set) - LIVE
raw (rough)
rebuild - a guy called gerrald and graham massey (808 state) - LIVE
reso (skud/civil)
reynock (singularity) - LIVE
richard (koobla)
richard sen (bronx dogs)
richard thair (red snapper)
rob hall (skam records)
rob smut
robin ball (groovepressure)
roshan thompson
roysten vasey (control tower)
rue east (pure plastic) - LIVE
sam a(colony)
sam reid (dedbeat)
scanone - audio visual set (blasé) - LIVE
sean johnston aka Hardway Bothers
seed djs
sevenark (colony) - LIVE
sherman (electrocuted)
shut up and dance
si begg
sidney le sarge (haywire)
simian mobile disco - LIVE & DJ
skein (process)
skein (process) - LIVE
slongfinger
sons of slough - LIVE
spaceship god (process)
spring mind disaster (blasé)
spyboy (blasé)
squarepusher
squarepusher (warp) - LIVE
steve glencross (penalty)
steve gray
stormfield (fuel recs)
strayfe (process)
studio one collectors sellectors (goodvibes)
symmetrik (hyponik)
talvin singh
terry mitchell (dark house music)
the boardroom
the committee - LIVE
the others (dub police)
tim hablin (insert)
tim taylor (missile)
tokyo windbag (control tower) - LIVE
tom middleton (global communication)
tom p (warp djs)
tomm (lex)
tordis berstrand (V/Vm)
touch one (tiamat)
tranparents sounds - LIVE
truck pitch (process)
truckpitch (process) - LIVE
uberdog
uncle buck
uncle jeff (koobla)
vee (koobla)
victorville
warlock (rag and bone)
warp dj's (warp)
world krak cartel
zion bru (goodvibes)
Back in the 90s, before starting WANG, Lula had been involved in running The Drome under London Bridge (which later became SE1) and had previously worked at various record distribution companies. She was actively involved in the London squat party scene DJing with the Tiamat crew.
Electro Elvis had previously been the main protagonist behind Electrophonic, which came into being when Electro Elvis and Disco Dave purchased Kingsize Records old JBL Soundsystem (which was used at WANG for many many years) and much inspired by Brett Youngs (RIP) began throwing a series of illegal outdoor allnight rave parties in collaboration with The Fear Teachers, at lots of weird and wonderful sites, including in a valley, on a beach, in the woods, and in a field right next to the M25 motorway overlooking a huge lake.
a flyer for an electrophonic free outdoor rave party
Inspired by seeing Hex at The Big Chill, in 1997 Electro Elvis began experimenting with live video mixing, using nothing more than couple of consumer VHS VCRs and a cheap second-hand video mixer. As time went on, he added old video games consoles, CCTV cameras and primitive laptops running DOS visualisers into the mix. In addition to providing visuals for every Electrophonic party, he also VJ'd for Warp Record's Two Lone Swordsmen UK tour and at various club nights including Sonic Mook Experiment and Haywire in London and Voodoo in Liverpool, The Custard Factory in Birmingham, and at festivals such as The Dedbeat Weekender, Megadog and The Lizard Eclipse.
When Lula and Electro Elvis got together, Electrophonic and Tiamat teamed up, and were some of the first people to play the new wave sounds of Detroit Electro on the 90s London squat party scene, which at the time was dominated by acid techno, drum&bass and gabba. They also threw another series of outdoor parties (including taking their rig to the travellers' field at Glastonbury festival for over a week in 2001).
Lula and Hardcore dancing in front of the rig and video screen at Glastonbury Festival 2001
The first ever WANG was held on the 27th November 1999 above a restaurant in London's Chinatown. The entrance was an anonymous black door with a small sign saying 'The Clinic'. DJs on the night included Charlie Hall from The Drum Club / Spiral Tribe (who played UR's Nights of the Jaguar, despite a sign banning the record, which had crossed over into the mainstream dance scene) and John Reynolds (who's probably played more WANGs than anybody except Elvis and Lula). Elvis spent the entire night sat on a set of stairs projecting kitsch 60s and 70s Super-8 porn films over the top of the DJs. The venue was full to capacity by 12 o'clock and people danced and were merry. When the club shut at 4am, nobody wanted to stop, so Lula and Elvis invited the entire club back to their infamous Swallowfield Road home, and carried on partying for two whole days!
flyer for the first ever WANG
It was decided that a bigger venue was needed and so Lula searched high and low across the whole of London to find somewhere suitable, until she discovered The Premises recording/rehearsal studios on Hackney Road (just down the road from Shoreditch/Old Street). It was a very intimate venue with a very friendly/up for it crowd. There were three rooms of music, a bar area and an internal open air courtyard. There was no back stage/VIP areas (it really felt like a big house party).The first party was held on Saturday 8th April 2000, and the full WANG experience was unleashed on the world for the very first time. DJs included Keith Tenniswood as well as Jeff Nagle & Kris Krause from Outside Recordings in the USA. Electrophonic supplied full-on video visual mayhem, and Process Records jammed for eight hours non-stop in what became the chillout room. Again nobody wanted to leave and the party ran over by several hours, WANG had found it's spiritual home and The Premises didn't know what had hit them!
flyer for the second WANG (first at The Premises)
The party at The Premises was such a success that it was decided to make WANG a monthly event. For the next FOUR years WANG was held on the first Saturday of EVERY month at The Premises on Hackney Road, and boy were they some crazy crazy parties...
WANG was initially started as a laugh and a bit of a joke (some might say it still is), but we felt that dance music had been 'clubbed to death' with extortionate bar prices, totalitarian security, and heartless, soulless corporate super clubs, and so we tried in our own small way to make a change. In London, the free party scene had in our opinion, been pushed so far underground by the criminal justice bill, that parties seemed to take on a dark scary atmosphere. We grew up in an era when raving was a way of life as opposed to just another weekend leisure activity, but were just a bit too young to have experienced the now legendary acid house raves such as Biology, or clubs such as Shoom, so we tried to take on board the ethos of these pioneering parties, as well as the best elements of the club and free party scenes. We have tried really hard to keep an underground scene alive, initially pushing the underground sound of electro before any of the dance press decided it was trendy again, and also keeping a different side of techno alive in the capital, as all the big techno clubs shut down or put less and less events as techno's popularity declined along with press interest. We try to combine the latest cutting edge sounds with great music from the past, combining legendary DJs with totally unknown stars of the future.
On Saturday 1st May 2004, after partying at The Premises on the first Saturday of each month for over four years, WANG held it's last party at The Premises. This was due to a combination of the fact that we had simply grown too big to fit into the space anymore, and the owners desire to cash in on the gentrification of Shoreditch and redevelop the site. To say we enjoyed our time there is a huge understatement and it will forever hold a special place in our hearts. The leaving party was more than we could have ever hoped for, going out in style with a huge party, and the most amazing atmosphere we've ever experienced.
In the morning when the party finally ended, amid much chaos and confusion, we tried to get as many people as possible outside to take some photos. Here is the first of the photos taken (We'll get the rest of the photos up eventually)
This may have been the end of an era, but was certainly not the end of WANG. With all the support we received over the years, WANG had grown so strong and really taken up a life of it's own.
That New Years Eve, we put on our biggest party yet, for over 1400 people at a disused warehouse at Cable Street Studios in Limehouse, and the full force of the Fairshare Unity Soundsystem had the very foundations of the building shaking. Many many years after the event, we found out that in a random act of synchronicity this very same building had been used for Spiral Tribe's last party in London before heading out for a life on the road.
During the following summer months WANG took to the road, galavanting around the country, annoying the locals with our sound-system turned up to eleven.
Over the intervening years WANG put on events in various random venues in and around London, including The Lord Napier, at that time a derelict disused pub, in Hackney Wick (long before the Olympics bought gentrification and hipsters), under railway arches in Brixton (hastily arranged after getting thrown out of a mansion house in the west end on the afternoon of an event) and the legendary Dungeons original acid-house rave cave.
In 2007 WANG's next move was to Corsica Studios in Elephant and Castle, which was a departure in that it was the first venue where we didn't take our own sound system. We put on regular parties for a year and a half, including getting A Guy Called Gerald and Graham Massey (two of the founder members of 808 State and true pioneers of the UK dance music scene) to perform together on stage for the first time in eighteen years for a one off exclusive show with an all analog hardware live set, as they would have had done all those years ago.
We enjoyed our time at Corsica greatly, the whole crew there are great, and after soo many years of carrying back breaking speakers and amp racks, it was nice to have a bit of a rest, if you can ever really call putting on parties for hundreds of people a rest. Our parties at Corsica culminated in one of our legendary NYE parties, where our new military grade 1980's videowall made it's first appearance.
In 2009 we put on a new night called Balance, in conjunction with two other promoters Base and Split, this was the first dip of our toes into ‘mainstream’ clubbing. These events we’re a huge success, garnering loads of press interest and rave reviews from the people who attended. The launch night was one of the most successful events ever to be held at the long lost Cable club under London bridge.
2009 culminated in WANG - 10 Years Of.... Defending The Dance Underground
Our biggest and most ambitious event yet. We transformed six railway arches into a rave wonderland for nearly 2000 ravers, with the highest production standard we’ve ever achieved. This party was beyond our wildest dreams and a culmination of everything we had been striving to achieve over the previous ten years. Honourable mention must go to Steve, Bart, Seain and the whole Noise Control Audio crew, who provided two monstrous sound-systems which would put any superclub or festival to shame, and to Twan whose lighting design transformed the venue from a dark dank decrepit space into a rave wonderland, and to Lukey Roots for making sure the Goodvibes we’re in the place, as well as all the acts and most importantly all the ravers who blew our minds...
In 2010 we hosted our first party at Fabric. We took over Room Two for the night, installing the WANG video wall and we got the opportunity to put on an act that had been at the top of our wishlist for many years, Abe Duque and Blake Baxter - Live. We had been a bit apprehensive about how WANG would work in such a big club, but we needn’t have worried, so many friendly faces came down to support us and the vibe was amazing, with lots of smiling happy people and a beach ball getting thrown around by the crowd! Big up to Lady Judy for making it all happen, and here’s to many more in the future!
After hosting WANG at Fabric on the Saturday night, we then threw an after party on the Sunday at the Dalston Superstore, a great little venue on Kingsland road with the dancefloor down in the basement. Chris Rotter had the honour of being the first ever straight person to do the door, at what is normally a gay bar. WANG has always been about inclusivity, between performer and audience, and from race, gender and sexuality, so we felt very at home and everybody had a really great night.
In the following years WANG returned to Fabric, held more underground raves and teamed up with Simian Mobile Disco to put on a night as part of the Fire ‘In Sessions’ season...
In 2014 WANG had the privilege of programming the Saturday night of The Temple Stage at Glastonbury Festival, and after pulling some big favours had a not so secret, secret DJ set from Aphex Twin, which turned out to be just weeks before the announcement of Syro, his first album in over 13 years.
At this point Lula and Elvis had pretty much ticked off their entire rave party organiser bucket list, and weren't really sure of where to go from there. How do you top performing alongside Aphex Twin inside a giant projection mapped Aztek head overlooking a crowd of 1000s at Glastonbury? With two young additions to their WANG family, 'everyday' life got much busier, and holding down full time jobs whilst organising raves (as they had always done) got much harder, and without really making a conscious decision WANG went on an extended hiatus.
Lula and Electro Elvis always vowed we hadn't hung up our dancing shoes for good and that one day WANG would return, and now that time has come, just don't call it a comeback!
WANG! - Less of a club, more of a party!
outdoor parties
During the summer months we at WANG like to get out on the road and take our sound system to party outdoors. We put a huge amount of effort into these events, which are totally free to attend, as we think they have the most amazing vibe of all the parties we put on.
We feel nothing beats the excitement of phoning up and getting the directions and driving off into the night, not quite sure where you will end up, the anticipation starting to grow in your belly.
Usually you end up getting completely lost, out in the middle of nowhere, down a pitch black country lane, until you are almost ready to give up and turn back, and just then you go round a corner and join up to a big convoy of cars, hoping that the people at the front know where they are going, the excitement levels start to rise and your heart starts thumping.
As you finally get closer to the site, the car stereo is turned off and you open the windows and strain to listen, and then you hear the distant thud of repetitive beats and know that your almost there...
The energy levels going through the roof as you finally arrive into the clearing with hundreds and hundreds of other like-minded party people who have travelled from miles around for exactly the same reason as you....
To dance under the stars and have a good time.
We always make an effort to try and use really beautiful sites that are far enough from anything so as not to upset anybody. We always try to leave the sites as close to the state we found them as we possibly can, picking up all the inevitable litter, etc.
It has been a few years since we have put on any out door parties, partly due to the crap english summers we have had recently, but just when you are least expecting it, watch this space............
Below are some pictures of an outdoor event we put on in August 2003, that were taken by Ashley and Becks (who used to have the unenviable task of sorting out the cloak-room at WANG at The Premises). They got married and moved to Australia.
Electro Elvis DJing
The car park!
Becky with Disco Dave
Electro Elvis DJing