If The Hydra: Bonobo presents OUTLIER at Drumsheds was a Daylist

Did you know there’s a psychological bias that states people who put effort into creating or acquiring something value it more highly?

It’s called the IKEA effect. 

And Drumsheds isn’t short of it. 

First, it’s literally an old IKEA.

But most of all for the long journey you embark upon just to become a part of the experience.

And maybe it works, because when you’re in the stream of 15,000 people pouring into the giant warehouse and you gaze upon the grand structure as you cross the tracks, you feel an undeniable magic and love for the place.

I’ve been to a disco event Drumsheds before and was somehow just ‘doof doof’ all day, so I was sceptical about Bonobo’s curation of DJ sets. 

But I shouldn’t have been. 

Here’s what went down across the day. In Daylist format, because why not?

FOMO mid-day rush energetic Sunday lunch

Living in London means that your day disappears without knowing what you actually did. Travelling from South London means that lost time is multiplied by 10. So when you read ‘last entry at 17:00’, you better start getting ready yesterday.

The anticipation of frantic pummelling by bass drums on entry made me slightly lethargic but Mafro, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and O’Flynn were on 15:00.

We caught the end of them. 

The venue was BUSTLING with Easter Sunday wrong-uns ravers. 

Inspiring float-around adventure Sunday evening

Everyone’s good vibes. 

Must have been the morning egg baskets or something.

There’s enough space in between the two-steppin’ partygoers to weave our way through to wherever we want to go. 

But you never really know where you want to go. 

The expansive area stands as a reminder that humans are mad. 

Then the scattering of light beams and a 48-metre screen there to throw you off the scent that you live in the real world. 

Now, I’ve heard past complaints that the sound system isn’t great in Drumsheds. I’d have agreed ahead of this event. It was loud enough for you not to understand your mate after they’ve shouted something in your ear for the fifth time.

Across each room, our exploration brought us to some incredible sets from Paula Tape, Elkka, Kerri Chandler/DJ Tennis and DJ Koze.

All playing groovy enough music to feel slightly less blasphemous on Easter Sunday. 

Backstage hallucinatory experience bangers Sunday night

In a pinch-yourself-how-the-hell-did-we-get-here moment, we somehow stood directly behind Bonobo for the final set.

Beneath the disco ball. Inches away from the enormous screen that was blinding us all night.

The same point of view as Bonobo himself.

This was the real test of the night.

DJ sets from your favourite artists can be demoralising sometimes. All you want is to hear your favourite songs of theirs and they go off-piste and try out drum ‘n’ bass for the first time ever.

But not tonight.

He taught me the true meaning of the word sensational. Like, I’ve said the word countless times, but nothing has rung truer to its definition than this experience.

We danced in awe for the full duration. Didn’t go for a drink. Didn’t dart off the bathrooms. Just the odd gasp.

It was hard to see how many people were there it went that far back. The flashes previously blinding us now lit up thousands of happy squinting faces and wavey arms. The heat haunted you into uncontrollable sweats. It was so real yet dreamlike.

I’ve always held Bonobo in high regard, most people do. An esteemed figure in the industry and for good reason.

He’ll always be able to capture the adoration of the younger partygoers without taking a wild tangent. 

And the curation of his Outlier event has secured his title.