(pic courtesy of tillate.com)
" Fatboy Slim once famously chimed ‘We’ve come a long long way together’ and although Cognosco may not quite yet have hit the heady heights that Norman Cook did during the late nineties, they’re certainly getting there. What started out as a free party at the Hyde Park Social in May 2009 has quickly developed into one of the ‘must go to’ nights on the house and techno circuit in Leeds. You need look no further than the queue outside The Loft at just past midnight for proof of that: it seems Florian Kruse has attracted the biggest Cognosco crowd to date.
Each time this team has held an event at both the Loft and The Oracle, I have been impressed with their attention to detail; it would be impossible to accuse them of simply sticking a pair of speakers in the corner of a room and calling it a club night. The usual ‘Punch and Judy-esque’ DJ booth at the far end of the club has been tucked away and, in its place, is a large table that allows much more of a focus on the DJ. Long black drapes hang along the length of the ceiling on the left hand side, giving the effect of a much more intimate room and providing easy walking access both to the toilet and the bar. Sadly, rumoured noise complaints from the neighbouring flats forced an early closure of the courtyard as a smoking area, but we’re lucky to be here at all after the furore surrounding it’s closure as The Northern Light a few short years ago, again due to sound issues.
Deep house is very much the order of the night back inside, and as Brad Mercer polishes off an impressive set and hands over to German DJ and producer Florian Kruse for his Leeds debut, the downstairs area of the Loft was packed out from the DJ booth to the back of the bar. It is fair to say that Cognosco always attract a crowd that have an ear on the DJ rather than an eye on the cameraman; a steady mix of glammed up girls mix with guys in t-shirts and trainers but the emphasis is always very much on having a party and tonight is definitely no different.
Kruse may not be a name on the tip of everyone’s tongues at the moment but the previous bookings of Giles Smith and Alex Niggemann have proved that Cognosco have a knack of snaring high calibre guests that are a little off the beaten track of the tried and tested house/techno route. DJ’ing off a laptop with an impressive looking Vestax midi controller, Florian plays for the best part of two hours with a very steady and levelled mix of deep 4/4. Resident Marsden ups the pace a little with some jackin’ grooves and, when he drops the Frankie J remix of Bryan Jones – ‘Body Move,’ can’t help a cheeky grin creeping out the side of his face as it’s met with a more than enthusiastic response.
We leave The Loft a little after 4am, just as David Hulme is cueing up his second or third record to a crowd of people that had barely diminished in numbers since the night had reached its peak; indeed, the day after, tales crept back to us that the after-party in a secret Hyde Park location rolled on until gone 10am. And, it seems, with Liebe*Detail’s Matthias Meyer lined up to headline the next event, Cognosco itself will keep rolling onwards and upwards… "
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