On Wednesday evening at six o'clock, St Paul's, a recognisable feature of the London skyline for centuries, finished its customary choral evensong service. The roughly 350-year-old Church of England cathedral was prepared to host its first techno night an hour later.
Numerous significant events have taken place in front of the iconic location. the commemorations of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, the funerals of Winston Churchill and Admiral Lord Nelson in 1965 and 1981, and the union of King Charles III and Diana. However, as a result of a partnership between the City of London Corporation and the Fabric nightclub, Ry Cuming, better known by their stage name Ry X, and the London Contemporary Orchestra performed there this week.
Just hours before the event, Jorge Nieto, the creative director of Fabric, said, "We wanted to bring people back to the City." According to Nieto, the neighbourhood around St. Paul's has somewhat lost appeal due to the overabundance of office buildings and business lunch restaurants. Reconnecting younger audiences with the city and reimagining spaces are the goals.
The event received a massive amount of popular response. The church's 2,000 seating capacity reportedly sold 95% of the tickets through a pre-sale register in three hours (the remaining tickets selling out minutes after general release), resulting in a waiting list of nearly 4,000 individuals.
On this particular night, a distinctly young throng watched in secular amazement as the 17th-century domes filled with the sounds of electric guitars, drum kick machines, and synthesisers. The event was overseen by the cathedral's regular ushers—who regularly oversee services like Eucharist, Mass, and Holy Communion—dressed in their religious regalia, no less—aside from the exterior security. There was no bar, unlike a usual techno performance. Despite being the location of the concert, the stage felt almost insignificant; rather, it was the intricate stained glass windows or the blue, red, and orange lighting reflecting off the gold leaf frescoes that captured your attention as the music grew louder.
The correct venue can make or break a show for Ry X, a 35-year-old Grammy-nominated producer and singer who travelled from California particularly for the gig. He said that St. Paul's was a no-brainer. In an interview with CNN before his performance, he said, "There aren't many things you drop everything for. "When people enter a location that already exudes reverence, beauty, and majesty, they are already transformed by it. then the work is halfway finished.
Regarding course, there are difficulties involved with holding a techno-rock event inside a site that is under protection. Ry found the cathedral's distinctive design and a lot of empty space to be particularly difficult. He remarked, "I don't believe a synthesiser has ever been performed in this building. "So I started to wonder, 'How's this going to go? Is there going to be a rattle? He also took into account the space's significant reverberation, which causes every sound to cause a series of echoes that linger for 11 seconds if played too quickly. He declared, "Right for this room, I'm going to play in a way that I wouldn't anywhere else." "I'm almost making the music fit (St. Paul's) specifically."
Ry and Nieto's crews only had one soundcheck the previous evening to get everything absolutely right because the cathedral was still in use an hour before the concert. Nieto stated, "We just went with our best guess." We worked on perfecting the sound till two in the morning.
Apparently it was the overwhelming iconography of the church or just the force of live music, but there was a particular fervour to the performance. We stood up when Ry asked us to during his final performance, screaming and hollering far louder than the ordinary congregation. Some attendees stood up from their chairs as they made their way to the pulpit. Who said techno wasn't allowed in churches? In the midst of the boisterous cheers, Ry yelled to the audience.
