It was during my Easter holiday in the south of Italy that, scrolling Trommel Instagram feed, I saw for the first time the “Enzo Live In-Store” event at Phonica: a nice two hours take-over of London most infamous record store was just been scheduled for 25th April from 8pm to 10pm, in order to celebrate the forthcoming release of Enzo Siragusa debut album on his own FUSE Records.
Comfy booked between Easter and the first May Bank holiday, and benefiting from an amazing weather and increasingly longer daylight, the night was already very promising; even with all my friends busy at work or on holiday abroad, it was just too good an opportunity to be missed.
I arrived down Poland Street, in the heart of Soho, at around 7pm, and the last late afternoon records shoppers were still inside Phonica digging and selecting their favourite music. I decided to eat something quickly, and by the time I got back there was already a 15 meter queue made of ravers and FUSE fans waiting to see Enzo in Central London.
Once in, the first thing I noticed was that the shop was properly dressed for the occasion, with sealed copies of “A Decade of Rave” LP shining from most of the shelves, as well as FUSE t-shirts and merchandise celebrating 10 years of FUSE hung all behind the decks.
As soon as Enzo Siragusa started, the tone of the night was immediately set. The first records played were, of course, all dedicated to the new album: Enzo gave the crowd what they wanted without any hesitation, delving deep into most of the track of his brand new LP in a straightforward but sincere way. “Beautiful Emi”, “Stromboli” and “Rollin’ Riddim (feat MC Rossko)” found their way into the mixer.
Soon after, the attendees were pleased with a forthcoming mysterious edit, EEE007, characterized by a main trumpet theme that enhanced the energy level of the room to a new high, quickly followed by “Vodoo” from the new LP and some other FUSE old school records.
Later during the night, two of the strongest INFUSE release of the most recent period resonated from the loud speakers of the record store: Rimmel playful loop by Koko was then mixed with Subbconscious by Rossko and Per Hammar. Conscious EP deserved another spin and in fact Enzo flipped the 12″ to play Unconscious, present on rotation in several FUSE residents sets since months (and Trommel premieres from end of March).
The heath inside the shop was real, but this did not stop almost hundreds of music lovers dancing, sweating record after record. The atmosphere was very intimate and the perfect selection between unreleased material and old tracks created a mixed feeling between enthusiasm and melancholy.
After a quick chat with Rossko, who was in town and showed up in the middle of the set just in time to hear his Conscious EP being played, I saw both Seb Zito and East End Dubs chatting together. It was clearly a family thing.
DIGWAH004 was taken from the record bag and spun on the turntable right before the closing track in all its vocal power. Suddenly two young guys in front of me were convinced enough to purchase the record straight away and went to the till with their bank cards on hands – a new level of marketing.
The closing was sublime and alone worth of the whole night: an immaculate copy of FUSE001 12″ was gently placed on the Technics 1210 and the moment the needle dropped and Sagamore was mixed in, the small but authentic and enthusiastic crowd felt a 10-years flashback. Enzo, on his side, was smiling, probably matching the crowd reaction with the explosion that Room Two at 93 Feet East experienced when the same track was played at the 10 Years FUSE afterparty. Pure bliss.
At 10pm sharp, the music went down and the lights up, with Enzo marking some of his brand new albums with few autographs, a nice souvenir for the night for the lucky ravers that made it in the record shop despite the long queue.
With this album to be for the FUSE main-man both a milestone and a perfect way to sum up together 10 years of events, releases and his UK early 90′ influences that forges his background, we can only aim for more to come.
To buy the record you can head over to Phonica Records by clicking here.
More info on Enzo Siragusa
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More info on Fuse London
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More info on Phonica Records
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