On Friday Mawi took West London by storm, invading the 17th century mansion Il Bottaccio, http://www.bottaccio.co.uk/ , in Hyde Park for a hedonistic celebration of our greatest season yet. Hundreds queued outside well into the night just to play a part in the festivities unfolding above them. After a weeklong build up our door men were inundated with most of London’s social elite, all wanting to make the short journey up the marble staircase into our Mawi world.
Cocktails and champagne flowed freely, as heavy baselines vibrated through the towering speakers enticing many to writhe together on the hard wood dance floor in wild mass of bodies. Rooms and corridors were lit only by hundreds of candles as party goers explored the mansion’s many levels and alcoves experiencing the unexpected.
As always Mawi’s signature style could be felt throughout as Paula Goldstein https://twitter.com/askgirlfriday , Faris Badwan http://thehorrors.co.uk/ and Yasmina Dexter http://pandoras-jukebox.blogspot.co.uk/ created the soundtrack for the evening from their DJ booth.
With three incredible acts lined up to perform Paula wrapped up her set of killer party classics and Whistle Jacket http://www.musicborn.com/profile.php?id=15284 took to kick things off. Enraptured by their 90’s nostalgia vibe they captured the mood perfectly as women dressed in lace coiled themselves around men sipping imported beer from the bottle while listening to their soft guitar work.
As Whistle Jacket wrapped up their set, Faris the legendary lead singer of The Horrors, http://thehorrors.co.uk/ , took to the decks slowly raising the tempo ready for Haymoonshaker http://heymoonshaker.com/BethanyDarling/ to rock the crowds with their distinctive rock dubstep mix. The base line rumbled our spine as their front man Dave Crowe beat boxed the crowd into a fever pitch, the twosome’s distinctive cool was infectious.
As the lights dimmed in anticipation it was time for our final act to perform. The critically acclaimed singer songwriter Gabriel Bruce http://www.gabrielbruce.com/ took to the stage and the crowd fell silent, waiting for his cool indie melodies to take them on his distinctive journey that won him a place on the NME Field day lineup http://www.nme.com/news/gabriel-bruce/68941 . His debut single ‘Cars not leaving’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1r9cIKIC4g swept the crowd away and his musicality enthralling the packed ballroom, compelling them to do nothing but listen.
With the final chords fading out the crowd favorite Yasmina was given the task to finish the night. Her DJ sets are a marvel of musical prowess and without missing a moment she envelops the crowd with a musical mix that’s too cool for many to handle.
After finally drinking the bar dry it was time for our guests to move on and as we cast our mind over what had been our most astounding party ever we wonder; how the hell can we top this next time?
For more images of the Mawi mansion party visit Christopher James amazing photography blog, www.weknowwhatyoudidlastnight.com/
