by Sam Horsfield
Tucked away on former Victorian dockland, overlooked by old tobacco warehouses, Kapsule is a smaller events venue, attached to the better-known Invisible Wind Factory. Despite its size, the venue is equipped with some heavy duty machinery: a four-point, high-fidelity sound system quite literally engulfing the room in music, and a dedicated sub stack, thrumming within us those deeper bass tones. On Saturday night, it was RAW’s turn to host the venue. Grassroots promotion company and events brand, RAW are still relatively young. Nevertheless, they are the heavy-swinging underdogs of the underground electronic scene, collecting accolades with each event they host.
Their Kapsule event saw acclaimed DJ Truly Madly take the headline spot for a special four-hour set, but only before a back to back set by RAW’s resident DJs Oli Williams and Cody Roberts. A colder, and darker October night, as soon as their sets began to play on the hazy dancefloor, illuminated by deep reds and purples from dim neon lights, one soon forgot about outside completely. The entrancing pumps of house music, and the surrounding sound system were intoxicating, and as Kapsule busied up, I found myself almost hypnotised. The dancefloor was foggy; shadowy hordes of excited party-people danced together in clumps. Though faces were difficult to make out, everyone’s enjoyment was made obvious by their physical movement.
Truly Madly took to the booth at midnight, behind a cage wall at the front of the room. In the queue into the event, many had been chattering of him as their favourite DJ, one they had seen many times, and were excited to see again. His set had not the ego of a rock gig, where the star demands attention song by song on centre stage. Rather, almost hidden in a caged booth, Truly Madly spoke to the crowd through his music, persistent and enticing, ramping up in energy as the night grew.
The headline set was four-hours. As the night gave way to the morning, Truly Madly expertly controlled the momentum, the air seeming to electrify as the energy rose. A vinyl DJ, his set was constructed from his extensive record collection of rarities and underground sounds, a true guru of a dying art. He blended genres, bouncing from house, to garage, fusing minimalist sounds with classic electro tones, all singing beautifully from the immersive sound system: a master of his craft, equipped with the best tools.
The diverse crowd came from all walks of life. Students, locals, fans from afar, all gathered in the centre of Kapsule’s smoky sound system to come together as one dancing hive mind. The night proved yet another success for RAW, another blend of grassroots level DJs and established artists. Only formed in 2025, the collective have begun to take the underground electronic scene of Liverpool by storm, and they will no doubt continue to do so at their next event.
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