Belfast-born DJ duo Bicep wrapped up 2024 with a thumping return to Tottenham’s Ikea-turned-superclub Drumsheds a year on from their last outing at the venue.
The old storage warehouse is massive and uncompromising and, because of this, sound and atmosphere can occasionally suffer. But Bicep’s Chroma DJ set easily filled the space with their trance-inflected tunes and strobe-heavy light show.
This comes after a difficult 12 months for the pair. In August, Matthew McBriar, one of Bicep’s two arms, announced he was recovering from a “large and pretty rare” tumour found in his brain. But fast forward four months and McBriar is finally and thankfully back performing alongside childhood friend Andrew Ferguson like nothing has changed.
Grabbing the baton from jungle and garage DJ Anz at the start of their headline slot, Bicep jumped straight in with two hours of thumping techno, breakbeat and house.
Purple spotlights searched the crowd while intense red beams were lowered on large chains, barely skimming the dancers hoisted onto their friend’s shoulders. The on-screen visuals – a massive part of Bicep’s Chroma set – were similarly hypnotic. At one point contorted faces flashed up so quickly behind the DJs that if I hadn’t managed to watch them back on slow-mo on my iPhone I would have questioned my sanity.
Instead of the usual ethereal sounds of their earlier albums, which can sound a little bit like your vape just found its voice and started talking, the duo dived into a speed garage remix of frequent collaborator Clara la San’s Let You Go before using the singer’s vocals to spruce up fan favourite Opal inside the first half hour.
The show embodied the “acid to alkaline” tagline of Chroma label. The pair told Resident Advisor earlier this year they sensed their DJ sets were becoming a little too “sugary”, and began searching for ways to make their sets more dynamic, and Chroma was the answer.
Fittingly, it has since become a home to their more underground productions, though there were still plenty of fan favourites in there – including new surprises in the form of a possibly unreleased new track, later teased on their Instagram story with the caption “00?”.
Plus, you would struggle to find a more euphoric release than the extended mix of hit track Glue that Bicep end their shows with – made even more intense by revellers rolling out into the rage of Storm Darragh. After being treated to this gun (fingers) show, it’s clear that both biceps are back, and bigger than ever.
