Ten Walls

XOYO, London (28th November)

Last week saw (friend of the blog) Catriona and I looking to relive some memories by going to see Ten Walls play a live set at XOYO London. Revisiting the moment the crowd carried out a sit down during Walking With Elephants at Unknown never fails to make me go a bit tingly (I love that I got to be part of that!), but was he going to live up to the memories back in the confines of a club venue in the UK? I would say he did, but in different ways.

Marijus Adomaitis had kept his identity secret for much of the early months of his new project under pseudonym Ten Walls. Although his secret is now out, his ever expanding army of fans will likely know him only as the latter and his brand continues to grow based on this. Armed with his soundboard and accompanying visuals, he had the audience captivated from the moment he hit the stage.

Visually, you could compare his set to the likes of a Jon Hopkins set, although in sound they are quite different; while Hopkins opts for a more upbeat and electronic sound, Ten Walls leans towards horn and strings-based deep house.

The night saw all Ten Walls’ big hits feature – Gotham (2013’s huge Ibiza anthem released on the Innervisions label), Nochnoy Dozor (my personal favourite) and the mighty Walking with Elephants – seamlessly weaved into part of a grander experimentation of sounds.

Truthfully, I could not tell you if he played track for track the same set he played at Unknown. My gut feel says no. I do feel it worked better in the club venue and I for one felt more engaged. As much as I had enjoyed his set in Rovinj, I had come away from it thinking that I enjoyed his music more when heard dropped as part of someone else’s set – this time however it really worked for me. It was also good to get closer to the stage and see up close the concentration he pours into crafting his sound.

It’s very rare that all elements of a night are perfect and, unfortunately, the venue was extremely busy – it was almost impossible to get from one side to another, let alone stand comfortably in one position. We did however manage to carve out a little spot for ourselves in front of the centre of the stage and, with elbows shunting us back and forward and drinks flying all over the place, I would say we had a pretty good vantage point! I can’t say having a venue this busy makes for the best experience…I love XOYO as a venue but there is a lot to be said for managing that fine line between creating atmosphere from getting a good crowd in and killing it by letting too many (dare I say it, of a certain type) in…

Before I sign off, I feel it is only fair to give credit to the other DJs who played that night. Kris Davis complemented Ten Walls’ sound perfectly and set the scene of what was to come while Lemmy Ashton provided the ideal soundtrack to continue our night into the early hours. I couldn’t keep still as they broke out Chesus’ Special. What a track!

Ten Walls has announced that he will next play in London at Village Underground on February 6^th 2015. This warehouse-based venue should be a great setting to see him in action and I would highly recommend you head down. If you can’t make it to Village Underground or don’t manage to get tickets, Ten Walls seems to be a popular feature on many of the festival line ups next year and is already confirmed for We Are Fstvl, Field Day, Sonar, and (sold out) Hideout.

Visit our Flickr page to see photo highlights and our YouTube channel where you can watch extracts from other shows.
You can also check out our Past Events page to see our music archives.

 

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