Cardiff rave brand CYNT’s first major shindig since the new year took off with a startling bang, due in part to the sheer audacity of Cardiff’s newest clubbers’ venue, District. Underneath the plummeting lights, brothers Tom and Ed Russell – who previously recorded as Truss and Tessela respectively, to successes in both cases – came together as Overmono to provide some of the very best in 90s-esque pounding dancefloor heaters.

Separately, the brothers had explored different sounds. Raised together between the wild hills of Wales and the roaring nightlife of Bristol, Truss was a stern lesson in trancey, hard techno; whilst Tessela was much looser, more versatile; a more playful mash of bass, beats and footwork, and my personal favourite of the two. Overmono are something different; something uniting. Together the brothers made a powerful impression on the largely young crowd, easily hypnotising them with smooth transitions between new takes on old flavours: house, techno, hardcore, breakbeat. In Overmono’s rise to the top of the pack in UK electronic music, nothing has been sacred.

The packed and rowdy venue remained at capacity all night, doing what many Cardiff ravers feared was a phenomenon killed off not only by COVID, but the broader evisceration of dance music culture in the city. Events like this one give this (now slightly weathered) raver a glimpse of hope at what may lie in the future. Bigger, more exciting acts, lively and diverse crowds, more homegrown artists – the likes of which used to be inconceivable in our venue-deprived, backwater town.

District itself has massive promise, from its size and décor to an obviously willing clientele and sheer draw. I remember thinking, whilst shuffling across the floor like a madman, that the space had obviously been a massive waste as Glam. This is just what we’ve always needed. CYNT’s upcoming date with legend Sherelle (who, like Overmono, was last in Cardiff for April’s 6 Music Festival) will doubtless be another, even bigger landmark in the changing make-up of the city – and its rising place in the world of music post-11pm.

Overmono, District, Cardiff, Sat 4 Feb

words JASON MACHLAB