Masked faces would appear then disappear next to you as you danced as the strobe lights flitted across the crowd.
He Said: "Adam Beyer's Drumcode Halloween shows have become a firm favourite on the London club scene, this year back at Wapping's Tobacco Dock for three rooms of house and techno. The day party sold out weeks in advance, and blood-covered ravers were spilling out of the overground station when I reached the vicinty to head to the cavernous venue. A quick drink in a nearby pub decked out for the occasion later, and we were on our way to Tobacco Dock passing all manner of zombies, vampires, demons, skeletons and even some ninja turtles on the way in.
"The decor inside was like being in a rave dungeon. In the ghoulish atrium actors dressed as mad lab professors inviting us to try their electric chair while a crazy woman looked on from behind bars. A mini cursed chapel was passed on the way to the Little Gallery where special guests announced on the day - Gerd Jason and Paul Woolford - were going back-to-back with a funky blend of house. A well-received surprise for the Drumcode crowd, it was a shame the room wasn't busier but Alan Fitzpatrick was so popular he'd drawn such an audience in the car park there was a massive queue to get in.
"We took a look in the expansive Great Hall for Ida Engberg before heading to the car park ourselves for Boddika then Dense & Pika's tough tech reverberating down the low-ceilinged concrete space. The car park had a crazy atmosphere with a tracksuited raver going for it at the front while masked faces would appear then disappear next to you as you danced as the strobe lights flitted across the crowd - perfect to help forget it was just 5pm. We took a pause in the smoking area to chat to some of the friendly fright fans, including an amusing bunch from the Netherlands counting a Saw puppet, joker and fellow Jason Voorhees among them.
"We'd finish up Drumcode Halloween in the Great Hall for Maceo Plex playing under his Maetrik alias then label head honcho Adam Beyer closing with a two hour set. The vast main space was alive with blue lasers from floor to ceiling and wall to wall creating a grid-effect while skeletons and eyeballs popped up on the many LED screens. The ghouls, ghosts and monsters were loving the beefy techno right up until the close, when we spilled out onto the streets of Wapping fast approaching 11pm.
"Our pit stop ahead of the Found Horror Series was at Drumcode After Dark at Studio spaces as part of The Hydra series. Checking my plastic machete at the door, we caught Reset Robot warming up the main room before a sorrowful goodbye and Uber to the O2 for Maya Jane Coles and Friends at Found. O2 security didn't think much to my machete either, confiscating it on the way through to Building Six, then when we got into the heaving club disappointed not to see more people dressed up and little in the way of Halloween decoration - perhaps the Millennium Dome attracts killjoys.
"Still, all three floors of Building Six's main space plus room two and even the smoking terrace were packed generating a positive energy throughout - on nights like this you wondered why matter didn't work. Feeling the effects of more than 12 hours of solid clubbing we stuck to the top floor with its bridge over the dancefloor and comfy seats or lurking in the shadows of the stage as Maya Jane Coles, Damian Lazaurus and Happa ramped up the sounds from underground tech house to powerful techno. Emerging into a dark morning with no sign of sun at 6am we scuttled off home, but the star of the show had been another raucous Drumcode Halloween at Tobacco Dock."
Ghouls would occasionally be released to prey on passers-by and concoct potions.
She Said: "Tickets selling out long in advance with minimal PR, Drumcode proved it had cemented its staple place in London’s party calendar with its Halloween day party at Tobacco Dock. This year saw the former shopping centre up its game substantially in capturing the Halloween spirit. This included a troop of actors posing as ghouls caged in the central stairway who would occasionally be released to prey on passers-by and concoct potions plus a sacrificial (fake) sheep carcass laid out in a candle-lit shrine.
"Assessing the line-up, it was clear that effort had been made to divert all the excitement from the car park, which had hosted the hardest techno sets from the most highly acclaimed DJs in recent events. Last minute additions Gerd Jansen playing B2B with Paul Woolford in the Little Gallery was already getting some love as both played melodic bouncy techno to warm the crowd up. Meanwhile Ida Engberg’s deeper beats enticed a large crowd to the Main Gallery.
"One thing that stood out throughout the day was how friendly everyone was. Whether it was the costumes that provided ice-breakers or the fact everyone was generally having such a blast, we engaged in conversation with someone new everywhere we went. The smooth running of every aspect of the event allowing seamlessly navigation throughout the event also kept spirits up, although it did mean running into anyone twice was very unlikely.
"Our beloved Car Park did not fail to meet expectations, the deeper, darker beats hitting us with force immediately, courtesy of Boddika. Dense & Pika followed, offering a very focused set backed with a thudding bassline before the decks were passed on to see a thundering set from Scuba. Maetrik hammered out a range of sounds that raised the energy of the crowd to a new high, before making way for Drumcode’s founder and the biggest name of the day, Adam Beyer. With Beyer’s set drawing the biggest crowd (contending with Nicole Moudaber closing the car park, and a lighter tech-house set from Will Saul in the Little Gallery), having his set upstairs ensured there was room for everyone to get active to a constantly evolving set that finished the event on a massive high.
"Keen for even more techno, we dotted round the corner to Studio Spaces where The Hydra were hosting the official after party Drumcode After Dark. Portsmouth's Reset Robot ensured the venue transition was by no means a cause for drop in energy levels, welcoming the party with an up-tempo tech house set.
"Last stop was Found Series’ party at Building Six, where Maya Jane Coles was playing a punchy deep house set with the fabulous company of an elegant dark drag angel, who strutted her stuff and kept the crowd going all night. Damian Lazarus took over dressed in a techni-coloured cloak, playing a set with sounds inspired by Far Eastern and African sounds, making for a very interesting set. Serious energy was required to keep us going by the time Happa took the decks for the final set of the night and he blew everyone away. With a very teasing minimal build up, he dropped a few spiky numbers from the latest Bromance album, alternating with tracks from Dusky and deeper tech house tracks. From start to finish it was a very intelligent set that called for a greater following as Leeds boy Happa begins to make his mark on the wider techno circuit."
She Said by Ann McManus. Republished 07/07/2026.