5 Greatest Boiler Room Moments Of All Time
Boiler Room stands as one of the most culturally significant media giants in the internet age. From its humble beginnings in actual boiler rooms with webcams and a Ustream account, to now broadcasting to over 100 countries with more than 4 billion minutes worth of music watched, the meteoric rise of the platform has made for some incredible moments along the way. Here are our five favourite clips ever…
Sherelle dropping the Fixate ‘RIP Groove’ refix (2019)
Friend of S&C Festival and Reprezent Radio stalwart Sherelle has had nothing short of an incredible year in 2019, culminating in a glorious Boiler Room set broadcast from their HQ. This particular moment went viral and quickly stoked the already alight flames accompanying the young selector. The veracity in the reload says it all - pure unadulterated joy.
Newham Generals (D Double E & Footsie) live and direct (2012)
E-N-E-R-G-Y. The way Grime music should be enjoyed. In a tiny, dark room with a few speaker stacks reverberating the bass in your rib cage. The genre was bubbling massively in the underground at this time, and this entire Newham Generals set is a beautiful trip down memory lane. But the best bit is obviously D Double’s “OOOOH OOOOH” - commanding an instant rewind back in 2012 as it still does today (check THIS beauty out). Will that ad lib ever got old? We don’t think so.
Motor City Drum Ensemble from Dekmantel Festival (2014)
The second Boiler Room from Germany’s ultra smooth king of cool Motor City Drum Ensemble features a characteristically eclectic mixture of forgotten disco gems and straight up techno stompers. If you’re looking for a soulful house-inclined set that is both vibesy and packs a punch, this is the BR for you. But whilst the music is absolutely spot on, it’s the moment between DJ and MC at the start that makes us laugh every time. Almost straight after apologising for his unprovoked wheel-up during MCDE’s previous performance, the host promptly bangs into the deck to provide another unwanted intervention. The pure frustration of a man whose vinyl has just been skipped out of time is a feeling any selector can relate to…
Skream & Disclosure start a pillow fight in the Presidential Suite (2012)
This one is less a specific moment and more a series of increasingly hilarious interactions between DJ, MCs and a raucous crowd - which culminate in an actual pillow fight live on BR TV. Two of dance music’s biggest names go back to back, giving us a relentlessly banging mix of tunes from beginning to glorious end. But gradually, a kind of teenage house party chaos descends in the W Hotel Presidential Suite - and after the feathers start flying, it’s all Arctic Monkeys and Prince singalongs and endearingly slapdash mixing from anthem to anthem. Only Skream could reload ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ and still somehow make it look cool, clever and entirely reasonable. Hats off, gents - one of our all time favourites.
DJ EZ’s unreal mixing of ‘Battle’ into ‘All I Do’ [Bump & Flex Mix] (2012)
Is this the greatest bit of DJing ever? The indisputable master of UK Garage mixing and blending DJ EZ always serves up something special when he takes to the decks (remember when he outdid even himself with a marathon 24 hour set?!) - but this Boiler Room is a standout stone cold classic from our baseball-capped hero. There’s a million moments we could’ve picked from it’s rip roaring journey through 2-step riddims, but it has to be this sensational mix. Arguably one of the most satisfying drops you’ll ever hear, delivered with the kind of guile and dexterity only EZ is capable of. We dare you not to pull this one up, several times - outrageous stuff.