With the End gone and London's venue situation looking a little thin on the ground - raving eyes turn expectantly to clubs such as Matter to trail-blaze and fly the flag for the UK club scene. A reasonable amount rested on this night - Sven's first return to the UK since his December bash at the End - and this, the club's first serious techno night and Cocoon world tour party. The line up was fairly solid - Chris Tietjen - Vath's wonderkid and Cocoon rookie who was discovered by Sven, spinning tracks at an Ibiza afterhours villa party - Extrawelt - space-tech duo, Ozer (replaced by the solid Jamie Jones) and of course a marathon set split into two parts from the Techno-titan himself.

The first problem with Matter is getting there: - nestled under a flap of the roof of the O2 Dome - this first ever purpose-built UK club can snare 2,600 and should be an electro remedy for those worried by a seemingly bleak end to 2008 for UK clubbing. The club itself feels and looks like the bastard child of Ibiza's Amnesia getting into bed with Guantanamo Bay - tons of austere concrete and metal - already heaving at 12:00, confused inmates swirling around the floor attempting the locate the best spot to set up shop for the night. On the floor itself, the monstrous system was not being pushed at all - it sounded deep and crisp - only to get slightly louder later on during the night.
From the first level of 360 degree mezzanine, you got a good feel for the club and for the vibe of the night. The crowd were keen - and seemed to be gearing up nicely for Sven. Extrawelt live took the the stage across from the booth and were flanked by the two light saber wielding Disco Invaders dancers that headed up the Cocoon dance troupe of the legendary Monday nights at Amnesia throughout the 2008 season. Alongside them were two suitably good looking podium girls - the whole show looked slightly out of place in London - however they were received well: - Techno in the UK rarely gets close to camp (outside of Vauxhall) and it was good to see the Cocoon crew bringing their own take on performance, and injecting it into a London club night. Extrawelt played a tight live set covering their respective must-have bases, crescendoing with their massive 'Titelheld' which made good use of the 6 bass transducers embedded into the floor of the main room.

By the time Papa Sven manned the helm, the floor had settled in and were ready. Not so much of a big room atmosphere, however he did what he does best - pull out new cuts from all types of producers - hard, grafting minimal pounders such as Dubfire's recent mix of Paul Ritch's 'Split the Line' through to the more user-friendly, uplifting and Cocoon crafted 'Timing' by Guy Gerber. Shock record of the night was an appearance of Aphex Twin's 'Window Licker' which was received well however perhaps this was not the time or the place for such inclusions.

On paper this was an excellent night - however the shortcomings become fairly obvious as soon as you step outside and leave this electro cathedral - you are back in a genetically modified docklands. A super long taxi queue deterred those who were in two minds about getting one home: leaving the frugal a clockwise trek around a quarter of the way of the dome to find the boats out of action. Another 90 degrees traipse to be greeted by a barking voice from the train station louspeaker, ordering the bewildered stragglers to 'turn around' as the underground was also shut . Whilst all greatly appreciate Sven bringing the Cocoon sound and an attempt to bring some of the big-show vibes of Ibiza to London - this is something that in reality is perhaps too much to ask for.

Sven Väth & Miss Kittin, VA - Amore09 Festival Rom Italy 31-12-2008
Sven Väth - Live at Skynet Groove City brüssel 29-11-2008
Sven Väth - Live at MY Bel Dance Arena Exit Festival 10-07-2008 (Part1)
Sven Väth - Live at MY Bel Dance Arena Exit Festival 10-07-2008 (Part2)