Soulwaxmas at the O2 Academy Brixton on December 12th was an incredible gig, which either caused, or contributed to a muscle strain in my leg which hasn't quite gone away yet. Given the shenanigans I'd gotten up to the week after at my company party, it's no wonder why, but I digress.

I got to the venue at 9 pm to find that Soulwax were due to come on at 11 pm. We went off to grab a bite to eat and returned at 10.30 pm only to get caught in the queue for the cloakroom for over half an hour. And that was just the first of many queues for the night. I was rather upset at the thought of missing Soulwax's opening number, but, as it turned out, we caught the tail-end of supporting act Mixhell's set, and managed to catch the whole of Soulwax, which, to be perfectly honest, wasn't all that great, but I seriously doubt anyone who goes to one of these events goes because of the rock band portion of the night.

After Soulwax's set, Erol Alkan came on. I'd been looking forward to listening to him spin ever since, well, 2002 when I discovered this intriguing night called Trash at The End which, among other things, refused to let anyone wearing suits enter. However, it was time to get drinks, and, as with all things, there was a long queue. There was also a really long line for the restrooms and I decided to ration my water so that I wouldn't have to go. So I only really managed to catch the last 20 minutes of Erol's set, and while what I heard sounded good, I can't really say that I heard enough to judge for myself whether I like his work. I definitely rated Waves though. An awesome tune and one hell of a way to end a set.

And at 1 am, the main act everybody had been waiting for came on: 2ManyDJs. And it was well worth the cold weather, the long queues and everything else. It was one huge mash-up fest, with the Dewaele brothers segueing from one song into another with great aplomb. To top that off, it was accompanied by a video mash-up too. I was in awe at how well the songs went together, and how 2ManyDJs had linked up each song. Their knowledge of music must be phenomenal.

And they really knew how to entertain a crowd as well. I seriously doubt any of us who hadn't been to any of their other shows this year expected to hear Major Lazer - Pon de Floor being remixed with Aphex Twin - Windowlicker, and, even better, Richard D. James in a bikini! The visual for Justice - Phantom (Part II) was really cool as well. Though, for me, the best part of the night was when they dropped KLF - What Time Is Love?. It's the ultimate dance floor anthem and I'd been dying to hear it dropped in a big room. It made my night. And probably resulted in the leg injury too! Heh. All I know was that I'd had one hell of a workout. I was completely drenched in sweat by the time their set ended at 2.20 am.

And while I don't usually like leaving before a concert ends, this time, I made an exception. Much to my delight, I managed to get home less than an hour later, and promptly dropped into bed to get some much-needed rest before the following night out for David Mancuso's Journey through the Light party the day after.