Grand Finale at The Loft Maidstone, 30th April

On Sunday 30th April we said farewell to an iconic club in Kent, The Loft. Home to many underground techno events in the past the intimate event space was reopened for a series of final one off events before being taken over by property developers; something which is happening far too much in the nightclub scene.

The last event on their books was called the Grand Finale with headliners staying close Maidstone's roots comprising of local boys Nic Fanciulli and Mark Knight. Both who are now worldwide giants in the scene were supported by other local heroes and upcoming talent including Rob Cockerton, Tristan Ingram, Simon Davis, Paul Johnson, James Galloway and Dan Price.

Ticket Prices : £10/£15/£20 (£30 on the door)

Venue :

This gem of an event space held on Gabriel's Hill, Maidstone was home to its fair share of big events. Hosting the likes of Pete Tong, Erick Morillo and held nights for Hed Kandi, Club Class as well as various underground local events just to name a few. Since reopening its shown why it was a leading venue in the area with two low ceiling rooms that provide a medium sized floor space fitting around 800 people, creating a perfect setting for techno/tech house events. 

Bar Staff - Everyone from the bar to the floor staff were in high spirits here, polite, friendly and smiling. Queues at the bar took no longer than a couple of minutes so we certainly approve here. 

Drinks - Standard to the area and event type drink prices for a beer/mixer were around £5 and waters £3 which is what we would expect. The venue could have easily racked up prices for the final event but chose not to which was a nice touch.

Heat - The space is dated and with it being on its last run of events it was unlikely they were going to install any high tech air conditioning, however despite this the heat wasn't unbearable and the odd fan and ventilation were placed around the venue to provide some form of temperature control. 

Crowd - A mixed crowd of all ages and faces, it felt like a long overdue reunion for many from the previous days of The Loft and for others an insight into what was a brilliant venue back in its day, smiles all round and a positive atmosphere with nothing but good vibes all night. A great example of how music can bring all walks of life together. 

Production/Sound :

Production - One of our favourite parts of the night. Production makes a huge difference to the ambience of a venue and they nailed it. With a front and backdrop around the DJ booth which then continued along one side of the walls providing extended visuals this really did set the mood. Each DJ had their own colourful and vibrant visuals which alternated to strobe lights at key points in the sets. This combined with various spotlights and well placed can lights around the room left no expense spared which really did pay off. 

Sound - The venue owners Source Bar are no beginners in providing top quality sound and this was evident in The Loft. A big bassy sound system placed around the venue which provided a well evened 360 experience. 

DJ Sets : 

As soon as we arrived the music was pumping with house veteran Paul Johnson dropping a mixture of big techno hard hitters as well as some house classics such as an edit of Gusto - "Disco's Revenge". This solid set was then taken over by Tristan Ingram who is no stranger to big events. Dropping bangers such as "Strings of Life" which really got the crowd going before closing his set to Alan Fitzpatrick's iconic track "We Do What We Want". 

This made way for Toolroom Records's main man, Mark Knight. A truly blinding set which had the crowd hyped through every second. Mark played various influential tracks from over the years as well as some of his own signature remixes such as "You've Got The Love",  "Shake That" and "Your Love". 

Finally Nic Fanciulli and Rob Cockerton joined us for a b2b "Classic" set which was destined to be something special. They took us through a ride of emotions with some uplifting high tempo house all the way down to some underground techno that shook the walls of what was once their regular stomping ground. 

Overall :

A truly fitting end to a venue that will certainly be missed. Everything from the production to the DJ sets was spot on and you could tell by the smiles all round that The Loft went out in style. 4.5/5