MOTIVE at The Source Bar Maidstone, 10th June

On Saturday 10th June we visited the familiar Source Bar, Maidstone. It was the opening party for MOTIVE, formerly "Part-A". This is one of the most exciting brands Kent has to offer at this moment in time. Starting off in Room 3 of The Source Bar back in the tail end of 2016, they then started hosting the infamous courtyard for Source Anthems and now under the new name of "MOTIVE" they have taken over the entire club.

MOTIVE bringing together local talent and give them their chance to shine. From this event we can tell you the local talent they bring sure do take the opportunity well  This time round they also had Jimmy Switch (Abode) and Glen Coombes (Elrow) as their two headliners.


For this event we will be focusing on the Djs and event, for more detailed reviews about the venue take a look at our other reviews at The Source Bar.

Lighting/Production : 

Aside from the standard equipment already at the venue which serves as an ideal base for any event some bespoke additional lighting and decor was dotted around the venue including a nice touch in the courtyard which featured a "MOTIVE" branded LED screen. This gave the event an ideal setting for the night's proceedings.

DJ Sets

The DJs we managed to catch Saturday were as follows:

Vincent Mackay B2B Wwiley - Opening the infamous courtyard is always a big responsibility as it sets the tone for many people's favourite  part of the venue. Starting off with a selection of uplifting tracks, it was the perfect way to get the crowd going. Sooner rather than later the courtyard started to pack out with a crowd of both new and familiar faces. The crowd's energy already high from the pumping beats and grooved on into the next set. 

Hesmer - Next up was Hesmer, bringing his upbeat tech house vibe to the decks. The sort of vibe that suits The Source Bar so well. Hesmer is the type of DJ that gets the crowd really feeling his sets, with some bass heavy tech house beats bringing rapturous applauses throughout. Hesmer blended his vast selection of tracks effortlessly and kept a good solid tempo throughout. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if we were to see Hesmer back gracing the decks of the courtyard very soon.

Chris Nottingham -  Fresh off the back of his closing set at We Are FSTVL in the Cocoon Arena and also being a regular at The Source Bar having featured for many events there, including his own charity event Dance For Meg, the crowd knew they would be in for a treat. With his blend of vocal and heavy tech house, it went down perfectly. Chris kept the courtyard packed out from start to finish, whether they were singing along or dancing, not one person wasn't enjoying themselves. Our personal highlight of his set has to be when he dropped the huge track from GW Harrison, "When House Takes A Journey".

Jimmy Switch - Abode Resident and Manchester born headliner of the night and boy did he give us a show. Jimmy brought his high energy and thumping sounds to the bassy main room of The Source Bar rocking the venue's walls and proving why he has come into the spotlight in the past few years on the scene. Despite his new found fame he was still seen at the venue hours before his set showing his passion and love for the music and promoters. After this set he would then fly back to Ibiza for the opening of ABODE at Sankeys. 

Overall 

A strong opening night from MOTIVE. We can already tell they have a big local following by the club being busy even from early on and this following will only continue to grow.  The night itself did not disappoint with a great selection of local DJs and headliners, we are definitely excited to see what's next from the MOTIVE boys. 4/5