The Vaults, Cardiff Bay
Sat 1 Dec
Steve Lawler is one of those fairytale origin stories that budding young DJs tell each other in enchanted tones over pints in pub corners, to stoke the fires in their bellies and bring stars to their eyes. Discovering house at 16 through Brum’s pirate radio stations, within a year young Steve was running his own illegal underpass parties on the M42 with turnouts of over 500. Snapped up for the Ibiza circuit and eventually even a full residency at the legendary Cream venue in Liverpool, the Lawler of today has long been a global name all to himself and a truly hyper-functioning unit on the decks.
If there’s a Lawler style – and there certainly is; the self-proclaimed “darker” edge to his classic house tendencies being peppy, stripped-out tracks with tribal-inspired drums, underlit with moody bass – it’s because he regularly mixes his own edits for most of the tracks he plays. Stepping straight off the main stages at the heaving outdoor summer festivals of the world’s romance cities, Lawler sets his sights on something more intimate and closer to home for the cold, dark winter.
Come December, the Vaults down on Cardiff’s Bute Street are to host a solid techy-housey palaver as Lawler headlines alongside some other (at the time of writing) TBA DJs and intense Manc groover Jimmy Switch – another one that should be recognisable to anyone keeping an eye on who’s been hogging the controllers down in Ibiza this year, particularly at Amnesia. Punchy, restless, dirty, his moderner, urban style won’t disappoint dancers lured beyond the vault door by Lawler’s name, and together with the yet to be confirmed should keep the sweat pouring down those walls straight through to 5am. Venturing out in their hats and scarves this year, tech ravers ready to brace the wind down the Bay might think to warm their dance shoes up with a bit of a treat, replete with all the satisfaction that comes from knowing it will still be dark enough out for a guilt-free afters. JASON MACHLAB
Tickets: £14. Info: www.vaultspresents.com