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Jan 24, 2025 - New releases

UNDER THE FIG TREE

A Day at Zenhouse’s Zenergy Brunch

About

Contact

Join Newsletter

Jan 24, 2025 - New releases

UNDER THE FIG TREE

A Day at Zenhouse’s Zenergy Brunch

Jan 24, 2025 - New releases

UNDER THE FIG TREE

A Day at Zenhouse’s Zenergy Brunch

Jan 24, 2025 - New releases

UNDER THE FIG TREE

A Day at Zenhouse’s Zenergy Brunch

Jan 24, 2025 - Written by Israel Ajayi

On one of those slow days, we sat on boulders just outside his hotel gate watching vehicles speed past and people confused to see us seated by the roadside. We talked.

For our first rave of the year, we didn’t go indoors.

Instead, we found ourselves on Lagos Island, under the wide canopy of a fig tree. At Zenhouse’s Zenergy Brunch,an open-air gathering that sits somewhere between a party and a community ritual.

Zenergy Brunch doesn’t operate with the urgency most Lagos nightlife events rely on. There are no long queues outside a dark room waiting to burst open, no immediate rush toward a dancefloor. Instead, the day unfolds slowly.

Open air. Plant life. A light ocean breeze drifting through space. People are arriving gradually and settling in.

Nothing about it feels rushed.

Jan 24, 2025 - Written by Israel Ajayi

For our first rave of the year, we didn’t go indoors.

Instead, we found ourselves on Lagos Island, under the wide canopy of a fig tree. At Zenhouse’s Zenergy Brunch,an open-air gathering that sits somewhere between a party and a community ritual.

Zenergy Brunch doesn’t operate with the urgency most Lagos nightlife events rely on. There are no long queues outside a dark room waiting to burst open, no immediate rush toward a dancefloor. Instead, the day unfolds slowly.

Open air. Plant life. A light ocean breeze drifting through space. People are arriving gradually and settling in.

Nothing about it feels rushed.

Zenhouse itself already carries a certain atmosphere. Nestled among trees and foliage, the venue feels more like a hidden courtyard than a typical nightlife location. The large fig tree at its center becomes both a natural canopy and the unofficial heart of the gathering.

By early afternoon, people had begun to trickle in, small groups arriving, greeting friends, claiming tables, ordering drinks. Conversations start first, before the music fully takes over.

Zenergy Brunch sits somewhere between a rave and a social gathering, and that balance is what gives it its character.

Unlike the intensity of late-night warehouse parties, the energy here grows organically. Friends greet friends, strangers fold into the same conversations, and slowly the gravitational pull of the speakers begins to take shape.

By late afternoon, the space had filled out naturally.

People drifted between the dancefloor and the grass, laughing, resting, returning. Some moved toward the DJ booth as the music deepened, others leaned against tree trunks or gathered around tables, watching the scene unfold.

The dancefloor didn’t appear suddenly.

It formed.

Zenhouse itself already carries a certain atmosphere. Nestled among trees and foliage, the venue feels more like a hidden courtyard than a typical nightlife location. The large fig tree at its center becomes both a natural canopy and the unofficial heart of the gathering.

By early afternoon, people had begun to trickle in, small groups arriving, greeting friends, claiming tables, ordering drinks. Conversations start first, before the music fully takes over.

Zenergy Brunch sits somewhere between a rave and a social gathering, and that balance is what gives it its character.

Unlike the intensity of late-night warehouse parties, the energy here grows organically. Friends greet friends, strangers fold into the same conversations, and slowly the gravitational pull of the speakers begins to take shape.

By late afternoon, the space had filled out naturally.

People drifted between the dancefloor and the grass, laughing, resting, returning. Some moved toward the DJ booth as the music deepened, others leaned against tree trunks or gathered around tables, watching the scene unfold.

The dancefloor didn’t appear suddenly.

It formed.

Zenergy Brunch

Zenergy Brunch

Pasta

Under the shade of the fig tree, the speakers became the center of gravity. The day’s soundtrack was shaped by sets from Banz, Earthsurfing, and Yuri the Kitty, each bringing their own interpretation of the room.

Their selections felt perfectly calibrated to the setting.

Nothing felt forced or overly performative. Instead, the DJs seemed to move with the space itself letting the crowd build naturally, responding to its mood rather than trying to control it.

Both Banz and Yuri’s sets in particular felt effortless and intentional. The kind of DJing that doesn’t demand attention but quietly holds it.

Both understood the room. And that’s usually all you need.

Under the shade of the fig tree, the speakers became the center of gravity. The day’s soundtrack was shaped by sets from Banz, Earthsurfing, and Yuri the Kitty, each bringing their own interpretation of the room.

Their selections felt perfectly calibrated to the setting.

Nothing felt forced or overly performative. Instead, the DJs seemed to move with the space itself letting the crowd build naturally, responding to its mood rather than trying to control it.

Both Banz and Yuri’s sets in particular felt effortless and intentional. The kind of DJing that doesn’t demand attention but quietly holds it.

Both understood the room. And that’s usually all you need.

It wasn’t a strict dress code, but there was a shared sensibility

The earthcore aesthetic didn’t feel styled for the camera. It felt lived in.

That’s often what distinguishes gatherings like Zenergy Brunch from more commercial nightlife spaces. There’s less emphasis on spectacle and more emphasis on atmosphere.

People drifted easily between different modes of being, dancing for a while, sitting on the grass, reconnecting with friends, or stepping away briefly before returning to the speakers.

Movement felt fluid. There was no pressure to stay in one place.

In many ways, the experience reflected the kind of rave culture that is slowly taking root in Lagos’ underground electronic scene, one where community, environment, and music exist in conversation with each other.

Where the dancefloor is just one part of a larger ecosystem.

It wasn’t a strict dress code, but there was a shared sensibility

The earthcore aesthetic didn’t feel styled for the camera. It felt lived in.

That’s often what distinguishes gatherings like Zenergy Brunch from more commercial nightlife spaces. There’s less emphasis on spectacle and more emphasis on atmosphere.

People drifted easily between different modes of being, dancing for a while, sitting on the grass, reconnecting with friends, or stepping away briefly before returning to the speakers.

Movement felt fluid. There was no pressure to stay in one place.

In many ways, the experience reflected the kind of rave culture that is slowly taking root in Lagos’ underground electronic scene, one where community, environment, and music exist in conversation with each other.

Where the dancefloor is just one part of a larger ecosystem.

Events like Zenergy Brunch are becoming quiet anchors within that ecosystem. Not necessarily because they aim to dominate the scene, but because they provide a consistent space for people to gather around the music.

A place where the atmosphere feels intentional but never overproduced.

Where the crowd can arrive slowly, stay for hours, and leave feeling like they participated in something communal rather than simply attended an event.

People drifted easily between different modes of being, dancing for a while, sitting on the grass, reconnecting with friends, or stepping away briefly before returning to the speakers.

By the time the sun began to dip lower in the sky, the rhythm of the day had fully settled in.

In many ways, the experience reflected the kind of rave culture that is slowly taking root in Lagos’ underground electronic scene, one where community, environment, and music exist in conversation with each other.

Events like Zenergy Brunch are becoming quiet anchors within that ecosystem. Not necessarily because they aim to dominate the scene, but because they provide a consistent space for people to gather around the music.

A place where the atmosphere feels intentional but never overproduced.

Where the crowd can arrive slowly, stay for hours, and leave feeling like they participated in something communal rather than simply attended an event.

People drifted easily between different modes of being, dancing for a while, sitting on the grass, reconnecting with friends, or stepping away briefly before returning to the speakers.

By the time the sun began to dip lower in the sky, the rhythm of the day had fully settled in.

In many ways, the experience reflected the kind of rave culture that is slowly taking root in Lagos’ underground electronic scene, one where community, environment, and music exist in conversation with each other.

Zenergy Brunch

Where the dancefloor is just one part of a larger ecosystem.

Events like Zenergy Brunch are becoming quiet anchors within that ecosystem. Not necessarily because they aim to dominate the scene, but because they provide a consistent space for people to gather around the music.

A place where the atmosphere feels intentional but never overproduced.

Where the crowd can arrive slowly, stay for hours, and leave feeling like they participated in something communal rather than simply attended an event.

Where the dancefloor is just one part of a larger ecosystem.

Events like Zenergy Brunch are becoming quiet anchors within that ecosystem. Not necessarily because they aim to dominate the scene, but because they provide a consistent space for people to gather around the music.

A place where the atmosphere feels intentional but never overproduced.

Where the crowd can arrive slowly, stay for hours, and leave feeling like they participated in something communal rather than simply attended an event.

By the time the sun began to dip lower in the sky, the rhythm of the day had fully settled in.

People continued drifting between the speakers and the grass.

Laughing. Resting. Returning.

No one guarding the space.

No one performing for it.

Just people, music, and a fig tree holding the whole thing together.

And sometimes, that’s all you really need.

By the time the sun began to dip lower in the sky, the rhythm of the day had fully settled in.

People continued drifting between the speakers and the grass.

Laughing. Resting. Returning.

No one guarding the space.

No one performing for it.

Just people, music, and a fig tree holding the whole thing together.

And sometimes, that’s all you really need.

Black Noise Mag

Black Noise Mag

Black Noise Mag

Zenergy Brunch

Zenergy Brunch