Dance/Electronic DJ Danny Howard came down to Stealth on Saturday as part of his ‘Nothing Else Matters’ tour – Nothing Else Matters is a new project owned by Danny, which seeks to showcase up and coming musicians in the dance music genre, including his support acts.
Howard is a well-established BBC Radio 1 presenter who hosts a weekly Friday night show, alongside other popular DJ’s Annie Mac & Pete Tong. As well as hosting a radio show, Danny Is also an influential club DJ and producer, making him a well known and appreciated figure in the world of electronic music.
Danny Howard’s popularity can be seen by his previous shows, including sets at some of the world’s leading festivals, clubs and event, also playing alongside other well-established DJ’s such as duo CamelPhat – you can check out their Ibiza Café Mambo b2b set from this summer here.
Doors for Danny Howard’s show on Saturday opened at 10pm, with his first support act D’lex starting at 10:15 and playing until 12am. D’lex is one of Stealth’s resident DJ’s, who has previously played alongside an array of popular DJ’s including Denis Sulta and Mall Grab. Next up was Mr H, whose set was from 12am until 1am. After this it was time for Danny Howard, followed by D’lex who played another set until close (5am).
“Despite his set finish time being 3am, he continued playing afterwards for as long as he could to please the crowd, which he was certainly successful in doing”
Danny’s set started at 1am but despite his set finish time being 3am, he continued playing afterwards for as long as he could to please the crowd, which he was certainly successful in doing. The set was great in its variety of music, playing both popular music that I knew and could sing and dance along to, as well as music that was brand new to me. Among popular songs that set the atmosphere were remixes of classics including Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ and Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise you’.
“There was no need for a hype-man or constant crowd interaction to pump the crowd up – the music did this job itself”
Danny Howard got progressively better as the music became more energetic throughout the set, meaning there was no need for a hype-man or constant crowd interaction to pump the crowd up – the music did this job itself. Shouting out to the crowd a few times at the beginning and end of the set was enough to feel as if we were being interacted with and acknowledged, as well as the fact that it was easy to physically see Danny and be fairly close to him from most points in the room.
“Guests at the venue were able to move amongst different rooms between sets or when they fancied a change”
Aside from the main room that Danny was playing in, there were also 4 other rooms of music in which Stealth’s resident DJ’s were playing. In Stealth room 2, Danny P was playing Hip Hop & R&B from 23:00-close, and the Rescue Rooms venue featured Rescued DJs playing a mixture of Indie, Pop & Alt anthems from 22:00-close. Human Jukebox was in Rescue Rooms main bar from 22:00-close and 80’s/90’s Throw Back was being played in Rescue Rooms red bar from 22:00-close. This meant that guests at the venue were able to move amongst different rooms between sets or when they fancied a change, and this also spread people out across the whole venue, meaning it never felt too busy. The venue, and amount of people there, was ideal as it was full enough to ensure a great atmosphere, but not so full that there wasn’t enough room to dance, meaning there was also enough space so that you could easily weave your way to the front if you wished to.
Whilst I had an amazing night, the combination of the late start and finish time and lack of ‘sing-along’ music that most people enjoy on a night out might not be for everyone. However, if this is the kind of music you’re into, I’d definitely recommend seeing Danny Howard. You can find tickets to his other shows here.
7.5/10
Alana McKenna
Featured Image courtesy of Alana McKenna.
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