Hijacked: Breakbeats and Electro at Certificate 18, 10/11/07

Hijacked, a breakbeat and electro night happening on the second Saturday of every month at Certificate 18 makes for a rather strange, but abundantly dance filled evening. There are several reasons to explain this strangeness.

Dance music in York?! With the city’s larger night spots offering their student and hen party clientele a diet largely limited to cheese and morsels of indie, Hijacked was, according to the night’s myspace, “dreamt up to fill an over-sized hole in the York clubbing scene”. Organisers Andy Kidd and Dave Budgen are both prominent in the northern club scene, with the latter gaining notable success as a member of breaks act “The Freestylers”.

Second strangeness: the venue. Certificate 18 on Gillygate is essentially a pub at the front, and a club at the back. And so on Saturday, having twisted past bar and toilets, and through an unmarked door into the club area, I was happily confronted with a swift change from pub atmosphere to darkness, UV lighting, camouflaged netting and the thud of a more than adequate sound system. There was even a little raised platform perfect for bare foot dancing!

All was well so far, and about to be boosted by the final strangeness: the crowd! The eclectic mix of ravers (young and old), students and even a few rockers gave the night that authentic, friendly vibe only found in the more underground sections of clubland. A night when you can end up discussing décor with the organiser is a long way from the more familiar and overly commercialised rave scene.

Most important of course is the music, and Hijacked did not disappoint, with headline DJ Jason Laidback delivering a storming set. Playing for the majority of the evening Laidback leant mainly toward the breaks style of his previous work as one half of dance outfit “Slyde”, whilst still finding time to drop a few electro gems such as Nancy Whang’s massive track E Talking. Although the night ended relatively early for these types of events (2am), a packed dance floor at the end is still a good sign. The obligatory calls for one more tune were answered with well received hybrid mix of The Killers and The Prodigy’s classic Smack My Bitch Up.

So, excellent music, a friendly crowd, and a curious little venue. Now York just needs an after party!

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