SPECIAL REVIEW – RAMON’S 30TH BIRTHDAY PARTY
@ THE APOTHECARY – SUNDAY 23RD NOVEMBER 2008
REVIEW FOR DISCO MATT WEBSITES
Don’t we just adore birthdays and all the celebrations they can bring. With spectacular celebrations over the months, including a superb one at Industri for our friend Chris Wilcox just weeks ago, our weekend was littered with birthday boys, Kieran (aka Sweety Pants), Michael (celebrating 40 years) and Ramon, whom we have known for many years, spanning back to the heady days of Trade.
So with the backdrop of birthdays, mixed in with clubbing on all scales and having been invited to this special bash at Lawrence Malice’s new club space, Apothecary, next to Egg in Kings Cross, we were really looking forward to a great time, with great music and fantastic company and we were not to be disappointed.
Having originally planned our arrival around 6 p.m., the call of our pal & D.J. Lee Yeomans, meant an earlier arrival at 4 p.m. Lee, as we were close to doing, had been partying all night and with text call messages, dragged us out of slumber land to his aid, rushing up to Apothecary in the most inclement of weather, to find him waiting patently for our arrival. Catching up on news of the Egg party we had missed, this was shortly followed by the arrival of birthday boy himself, Ramon (and posse) signalling our entry into the maze that is Apothecary and into the solitary main room, where hurried preparations of the space were being made.
With Ramon’s crew armed with cakes a plenty, which were soon laid out in the corner of the room, we took a moments respite in advance of what was to become a solid celebration of dancing, mingling with beautiful people and having a right old knees up with the assembling crowd & our pal Lee. Looking round the room, which had a great stage space in one corner, a dominating screen in the other, showing “Trade” visuals (so appropriate to Ramon’s recent past) and a magnificent array of lighting across the ceiling, to rival many clubs twice or more the size, we were suitably impressed by Apothecary already.
With most of us gagging for a drink to get the party well and truly underway, we soon found Ramon playing bartender, in an impromptu move that delighted us all, so much so that camera’s clicked catching him in pose behind the bar. The music had started now, supplied by the fabulous D.J. Haden Crockett, who set about delivering a superb mix of commercially (promise we won’t use this word again!) twisted house vibes that got the ever increasing audience moving. Our friend Lee was impressed by Haden’s choices, telling us that the sounds were so reminiscent of Federation, a club he plays for in Manchester.
As more & more people turned up for this special occasion celebration, Haden handed over to D.J. talent, Jonny Evans, who took the music to a new & tougher level, delivering some superb Underground sounds intertwined with techhouse meets disco beats, which had us literally bouncing on our spot. Despite his marathon 16 hours of clubbing & partying, our friend Lee couldn’t resist strutting his stuff, bouncing up and down. It was with this that we chatted and both agreed that the launch of “bouncy house” had arrived, and don’t we just love a bit of trend-setting!
By now, the party was well and truly swinging, made even more exciting by the arrival of D.J’s Malcolm Duffy and the great Guy Williams who (like all the D.J’s) had leant their time free of charge & in aid of celebrating Ramon’s birthday. Guy came over not long after arriving and shared news of recent clubbing escapades with us, refusing the offer of a drink (on the wagon Guy!?!) saying he was taking a rest after a hectic last few months (he is one of the busiest D.J’s we know, you know).
Popping outside for a quick break from proceedings, it wasn’t long before we were back inside as Guy was now behind the decks pumping out his characteristic hard house & diet techno infused sounds, so typical of recent sets we have been privileged to hear him play, at such diverse clubs as Matinee, Trade & Breakfast @ Egg. Despite claims from our pal (told you we wouldn’t mention THAT word again) we were content that Guy’s sound was far from the c word, but most similar to his set in the lite lounge in Trade just weeks ago and a cut above everything we had heard. Actually, he is a huge fan of Guy’s and quite rightly so as the man is “cutting edge” with his music style.
To make the party well and truly complete, Egg & Apothecary owner and creator of one of the worlds most infamous club brands, Trade, the great Laurence Malice, wafted in to a rapturous welcome and it wasn’t long before he grabbed the microphone, interrupting Guy’s set. Having seen him do this so much in Trade (and clearly others in the crowd had too) an immediate roar went up, as he beckoned birthday boy Ramon forward to say a few words, immediately followed by a rendition of “Happy Birthday” in rap style to Guy’s music which had fired up again.
As Guy’s superb set came to an end, for which we had danced to furiously virtually none stop, Trade veteran (well Guy is one too we guess) Malcolm Duffy took over the reigns, taking the music in yet another direction, this time very much more drum & base infused with funky techno. However, by now, as much as we wanted to carry on partying, our energy levels were shot to pieces, so we said our fond farewells to a collection of folk including Lee & birthday boy Ramon and meandered our way out of Apothecary and home to our special Singapore Fried Rice takeaway!
Well, you couldn’t have asked to be in better company on a Sunday afternoon & evening. Ramon is such a lovely guy and his collection of friends are some of the friendliest we have met. No-one was standing on ceremony and we were truly proud to be part of the whole celebration, listening to brilliant music and rubbing shoulders with greats like Laurence, Malcolm & Guy. What an end to the weekend & if only Sunday’s were always like this. We toast Ramon for reaching the “big three O”, happy birthday young man. (DISCO MATT)
Tuesday 25 November 2008
Revolver _ The last Astoria - Club Review
REVOLVER AT THE ASTORIA – SATURDAY 22ND NOVEMBER
REVIEW FOR SEEQUEEN
Since it’s launch back in May, Revolver has been at the forefront of a step change in gay clubbing in London, spearheading the move to superb production, lighting, sparkling stage shows and cutting edge (if sometimes daring) music styles which have set it apart from the “commercial” offerings which have so often had a stranglehold on the scene.
At it’s initial home, Scala in Kings Cross, Revolver proved that spectacular cinema style venues was just what the brand needed and a chain of awesome shows combined with scene favourite & talented D.J’s, drew a fabulous mix of latino’s, scene faces, party boys & girls who (like us) were tempted not just by great music, but by all round entertainment in truly circuit style surroundings. Despite all on offer, it is fair to say that turnout was modest, some pointing the blame at the locale rather than the brand.
With this backdrop, a bold decision was made to move Revolver from Scala to a West End location, choosing The Astoria as its new home. As part of this move, the promotions team opted to go for the daring step and make Revolver a weekly event. The launch was a huge success, with stunning visuals from massive screens, amazing go-go dancers performing, a superb PA on stage, wonderful lighting and a transformation of Astoria never seen before. Evolved Events (the promotion engine for Revolver & Matinee) really put “their money where their mouth was” and expectations already high were certainly met in this launch party.
So, just four weeks after moving to Astoria and having supported each weekly party since hitting the West End, we once again opted to attend Revolver in a the wake of a Saturday offering little or no choice of “big style” clubbing, making our decision very easy indeed. Having warmed ourselves up with a pre-club circuit roving trip to Ku-Klub, Rupert St & Barcode Vauxhall (the latter in the hands of Revolver residents Nick Tcherniak & Brent Nicholls – what a warm up!) we were raring to go upon arriving at Astoria’s steps to the welcoming arms of Minty who was managing to door in her usual fantastic fashion. Now, as you are probably already familiar, the night couldn’t go any further without offering up shots of Sambuca, ideal for chasing away the artic style conditions outside, something that has become a tradition between us & Minty.
Moving into the club and on the promise of hooking up with friends, Lee Yeomans & Max Sanna (both acclaimed D.J’s/Producers) as well as Industri pals Chris & Stephen, we hit the main room and instantly recognised a change to the layout. The massive stage had been shrunk by a huge black backdrop and with the D.J. booth moved right forward to give the room a more intimate feel. Three dancing podiums were in place on the expanse of the dancefloor and go-go dancers had already assumed position to entertain the crowd, gyrating to the tunes of Oliver M, who was in command of the decks. Immediately spotting him, we ran up to greet him and savoured his usual warm welcome, sharing, momentarily, news before he was torn away back to his D.J. duties.
Retiring through the crowd towards the back of the room, we soon bumped into all our pals, Chris, Stephen & Lee, almost missing our tallest friend Max (how could we not see him!) and caught up on the evening’s events, also spotting other familiar faces who, just like us, were here to support one of our favourite club concepts around. Nevertheless, it was clear that the small crowd was speaking volumes and despite the great music being delivered by Oliver and the go-go dancers making every effort, the atmosphere was nothing like previous parties and the move to make the room more intimate, whilst probably sensible, in some ways took away the whole ethos of Revolver, massive production, superb stage shows & sparkling entertainment.
Being joined by Minty and also spotting and being greeted by Pagano as he arrived for D.J. duties, we continued to dance & socialise with our pals, further added by the arrival of the cute and cuddly Eduardo De La Torre, with whom we are soon to be privileged to share the same birthday week, Eduardo lined up to deliver the last set of the evening. With Oliver handing over to Pagano, the great music continued, although his task was difficult as the dancefloor remained far from full and indeed the crowd was most “un-Revolver” like. Despite all efforts by the team, despite our efforts to inject energy by dancing away, despite the superb company we were holding (Lee, Max, Chris, Stephen, Minty & more) and despite the brilliant music, the atmosphere just wasn’t there and we soon decided our time at Revolver was up.
Leaving our friends behind, shunning a trip to Egg in favour of a return to Barcode Vauxhall, we fell on Evolved Events supremo Oliver M & his boyfriend outside Astoria, both with disappointment written across their faces. We consoled them but given the lack of turnout tonight, claimed that moving to weekly was always going to be tough. We agreed that swapping from Scala to the West End was probably the right move, but with Astoria’s history and reputation, we suspect that choosing the venue was probably the wrong move. Oliver continued to talk about his passion for everything, the music, the shows, the production but mostly putting on a great party and we agreed that he is very much renowned for all of this. There was no doubt that this enthusiasm had shown through in previous Revolver parties and is trademark Matinee London, so typically Evolved Events. Nevertheless, the writing for the immediate future of Revolver was “on the wall” and Oliver confirmed to us that the club would be no more at Astoria. With this stark news on our minds we headed back across south of the river to forget the woeful end to weekly Revolver’s.
So, does this mean the end of this club brand, well definitely not! More likely is that it will take a well deserved break and then come back bigger & better than before. Given the fact that few weekly clubs of this size work, currently, it is doubtful that Revolver will ever be that again, but it is possible that its ties with Matinee (THE most successful club in gay London) will become closer and we can look forward to some amazing parties from a potentially combined effort.
Revolver, on this occasion, sadly fired blanks, but over its short history has been fully loaded & charged and has made a considerable impact on the scene. It our eyes, it changed the whole face of gay clubbing and we will miss it tremendously but hope to see it return soon. (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEEQUEEN
Since it’s launch back in May, Revolver has been at the forefront of a step change in gay clubbing in London, spearheading the move to superb production, lighting, sparkling stage shows and cutting edge (if sometimes daring) music styles which have set it apart from the “commercial” offerings which have so often had a stranglehold on the scene.
At it’s initial home, Scala in Kings Cross, Revolver proved that spectacular cinema style venues was just what the brand needed and a chain of awesome shows combined with scene favourite & talented D.J’s, drew a fabulous mix of latino’s, scene faces, party boys & girls who (like us) were tempted not just by great music, but by all round entertainment in truly circuit style surroundings. Despite all on offer, it is fair to say that turnout was modest, some pointing the blame at the locale rather than the brand.
With this backdrop, a bold decision was made to move Revolver from Scala to a West End location, choosing The Astoria as its new home. As part of this move, the promotions team opted to go for the daring step and make Revolver a weekly event. The launch was a huge success, with stunning visuals from massive screens, amazing go-go dancers performing, a superb PA on stage, wonderful lighting and a transformation of Astoria never seen before. Evolved Events (the promotion engine for Revolver & Matinee) really put “their money where their mouth was” and expectations already high were certainly met in this launch party.
So, just four weeks after moving to Astoria and having supported each weekly party since hitting the West End, we once again opted to attend Revolver in a the wake of a Saturday offering little or no choice of “big style” clubbing, making our decision very easy indeed. Having warmed ourselves up with a pre-club circuit roving trip to Ku-Klub, Rupert St & Barcode Vauxhall (the latter in the hands of Revolver residents Nick Tcherniak & Brent Nicholls – what a warm up!) we were raring to go upon arriving at Astoria’s steps to the welcoming arms of Minty who was managing to door in her usual fantastic fashion. Now, as you are probably already familiar, the night couldn’t go any further without offering up shots of Sambuca, ideal for chasing away the artic style conditions outside, something that has become a tradition between us & Minty.
Moving into the club and on the promise of hooking up with friends, Lee Yeomans & Max Sanna (both acclaimed D.J’s/Producers) as well as Industri pals Chris & Stephen, we hit the main room and instantly recognised a change to the layout. The massive stage had been shrunk by a huge black backdrop and with the D.J. booth moved right forward to give the room a more intimate feel. Three dancing podiums were in place on the expanse of the dancefloor and go-go dancers had already assumed position to entertain the crowd, gyrating to the tunes of Oliver M, who was in command of the decks. Immediately spotting him, we ran up to greet him and savoured his usual warm welcome, sharing, momentarily, news before he was torn away back to his D.J. duties.
Retiring through the crowd towards the back of the room, we soon bumped into all our pals, Chris, Stephen & Lee, almost missing our tallest friend Max (how could we not see him!) and caught up on the evening’s events, also spotting other familiar faces who, just like us, were here to support one of our favourite club concepts around. Nevertheless, it was clear that the small crowd was speaking volumes and despite the great music being delivered by Oliver and the go-go dancers making every effort, the atmosphere was nothing like previous parties and the move to make the room more intimate, whilst probably sensible, in some ways took away the whole ethos of Revolver, massive production, superb stage shows & sparkling entertainment.
Being joined by Minty and also spotting and being greeted by Pagano as he arrived for D.J. duties, we continued to dance & socialise with our pals, further added by the arrival of the cute and cuddly Eduardo De La Torre, with whom we are soon to be privileged to share the same birthday week, Eduardo lined up to deliver the last set of the evening. With Oliver handing over to Pagano, the great music continued, although his task was difficult as the dancefloor remained far from full and indeed the crowd was most “un-Revolver” like. Despite all efforts by the team, despite our efforts to inject energy by dancing away, despite the superb company we were holding (Lee, Max, Chris, Stephen, Minty & more) and despite the brilliant music, the atmosphere just wasn’t there and we soon decided our time at Revolver was up.
Leaving our friends behind, shunning a trip to Egg in favour of a return to Barcode Vauxhall, we fell on Evolved Events supremo Oliver M & his boyfriend outside Astoria, both with disappointment written across their faces. We consoled them but given the lack of turnout tonight, claimed that moving to weekly was always going to be tough. We agreed that swapping from Scala to the West End was probably the right move, but with Astoria’s history and reputation, we suspect that choosing the venue was probably the wrong move. Oliver continued to talk about his passion for everything, the music, the shows, the production but mostly putting on a great party and we agreed that he is very much renowned for all of this. There was no doubt that this enthusiasm had shown through in previous Revolver parties and is trademark Matinee London, so typically Evolved Events. Nevertheless, the writing for the immediate future of Revolver was “on the wall” and Oliver confirmed to us that the club would be no more at Astoria. With this stark news on our minds we headed back across south of the river to forget the woeful end to weekly Revolver’s.
So, does this mean the end of this club brand, well definitely not! More likely is that it will take a well deserved break and then come back bigger & better than before. Given the fact that few weekly clubs of this size work, currently, it is doubtful that Revolver will ever be that again, but it is possible that its ties with Matinee (THE most successful club in gay London) will become closer and we can look forward to some amazing parties from a potentially combined effort.
Revolver, on this occasion, sadly fired blanks, but over its short history has been fully loaded & charged and has made a considerable impact on the scene. It our eyes, it changed the whole face of gay clubbing and we will miss it tremendously but hope to see it return soon. (DISCO MATT)
Tuesday 18 November 2008
"Sundays" at Barcode Vauxhall - Club Review
“SUNDAYS” AT BARCODE VAUXHALL – SUNDAY 16TH NOVEMBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
When the Barcode expansion machine hit Vauxhall just over two years ago, we were delighted to see one of our favourite bar brands make an impact change on the gay village south of the river. It immediately became popular both with clubbers using it as a warm up to the likes of Crash, Matinee, Juicy & other clubbing nights and soon established itself as a popular clubbing venue itself, particularly on a Friday & Saturday.
Sunday’s were also very popular from the outset, with both the front bar and the club behind being open & busy, attracting a gorgeous mix of Latino’s, scene faces & party goers either finishing off their weekends or re-launching their night out before trips to late night Sunday clubs. With a rotating D.J. line up, including Gonzalo, Alan X, Luke Hope & Brent Nicholls in the club & Stewart Who taking care of proceedings in the front room, Sunday’s at Barcode Vauxhall became unmissable for us.
But times they changed and soon the popularity of clubbing on Sunday waned, which affected many venues, Barcode Vauxhall not being alone in feeling the pinch. As a result, the closure of the club space soon followed, with energies then being directed to the front bar and the dream team of Stewart Who and Brent Nicholls reigned supreme every Sunday, with special nights like Balearic & Diablo amongst others to keep up interest and in an attempt to continue to secure Barcode’s Sunday’s. But when Stewart Who & Brent Nicholls became just Brent Nicholls and then no D.J. at all, the bottom fell out of the weekender and subsequent attempts to re-launch the night failed (we won’t mention the disastrous themes or D.J. choices), resulting on Sunday at our favourite local coming to a halt.
Fortunately for us, Sunday’s were soon replaced by Thursday’s, in the form of the brilliant social soiree, Industri, although it is fair to say the last day of the weekend still has a special place in our heart. So, were we excited or what!? when news of the return of Sundays at Barcode Vauxhall was announced. Pioneered by the enigmatic and popular Faye Lanson, a name synonymous with Barcode, the night, aptly named “Sundays” promised fresh new D.J. talent, superb music, great drinks offers and most importantly both rooms open. Well, we simply couldn’t miss out on this one could we?
So, arriving at just turned 8.30 p.m., we were greeted on the door by a smiling Emilio who waved us straight through into the front room, which was pleasantly full of a truly eclectic mix of people, clubbers, scene faces, bears & off duty D.J’s, all intent on savouring the return of Sundays to Barcode Vauxhall. Depositing our bits & bobs into the coatcheck, we advanced further into the club space, finding a smattering of cutie’s dancing away to the sounds of Faye herself, who had assumed control of the decks before the arrival of Hi-Fi Sean, swapping places with Tony Junior, who had the front room captivated with a truly commercial & upbeat set of tunes.
We paused briefly, catching up with new D.J. talent, Astroboy, who was clearly excited about the launch of “Sundays” and is one of a few new names/faces gracing Barcode Vauxhall’s doors, others including Emma Miswhite and Steven Artis, both accomplished talents in their own right. The line up genuinely seemed to be all about showcasing something different and we were very much looking forward to seeing Hi-Fi Sean in action, having only savoured his musical mixes at Hard On!.
Wandering back up into the front room, we fell on Industri pal Ian (with friend) and chatted away about the merits of Sundays as well as catching up on the weekend & other bits of news. In amidst our conversation, lots of familiar faces appeared, including D.J.’s Paul Coles & Tim Mclone and for a while the crowd seemed like a mini “Tonker” gathering. This was much to the delight of the cute and sexy Hugh Stevenson, who soon arrived and joined us to recollect on the fabulous time we had together on the Matinee dancefloor just over a week ago. We go back a few years with Hugh and it was great to catch up with him and learn of his latest exploits, although sadly little or no D.J.’ing for him at the moment.
When Hugh got distracted, we wandered back down into the club space, to find proceedings had been wound down and hugged a disappointed Faye, who was clearly expecting a much bigger turnout. Consoling her and together with Astroboy, we discussed the need to persevere as it was clear the front room was quite popular, so with a few tweaks here & there, the club space would work too.
We left Faye to pack up and with just the front room now open, Tony Junior continued to push out a collection of commercial & up to date tracks to keep the atmosphere buoyant. We carried on socialising with familiar faces and Barcode regulars, although we were ever conscious of our early start to work the following day. So, at an uncharacteristic early departure just over a couple of hours after arriving, we headed home to reflect on a night which sadly didn’t quite deliver to expectations, but resplendent in the thought that Sundays at Barcode Vauxhall may yet still be back on the agenda. According to reliable sources, not long after we left, there was some sort of security alert at MI5 across the road (or was it a certain club promoter putting the boot in,!?!) which halted the whole of Albert Embankment, effectively killing off any further “Sundays” activity, not the start (or was it end!) the night really needed.
There is no doubt that “Sundays” as a venture faces an up hill battle. There is stiff local competition in the form of both the R.V.T and Eagle Bar, who have established & popular nights (S.LA.G.S. & Horse Meat Disco), but also with the Embankment bar steeling BCV custom (albeit it was closed tonight) and with generally difficult trading conditions, there may need to be much gritting of teeth to see it become a success. We genuinely believe the introduction of some “heavyweight” D.J. talent is the way to go and linking in with a later running club might also be an idea. Whatever happens, we hope our Sundays are back, we hope that this new night gets the support it deserves (it has ours) but only time (if they let it) will tell. (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
When the Barcode expansion machine hit Vauxhall just over two years ago, we were delighted to see one of our favourite bar brands make an impact change on the gay village south of the river. It immediately became popular both with clubbers using it as a warm up to the likes of Crash, Matinee, Juicy & other clubbing nights and soon established itself as a popular clubbing venue itself, particularly on a Friday & Saturday.
Sunday’s were also very popular from the outset, with both the front bar and the club behind being open & busy, attracting a gorgeous mix of Latino’s, scene faces & party goers either finishing off their weekends or re-launching their night out before trips to late night Sunday clubs. With a rotating D.J. line up, including Gonzalo, Alan X, Luke Hope & Brent Nicholls in the club & Stewart Who taking care of proceedings in the front room, Sunday’s at Barcode Vauxhall became unmissable for us.
But times they changed and soon the popularity of clubbing on Sunday waned, which affected many venues, Barcode Vauxhall not being alone in feeling the pinch. As a result, the closure of the club space soon followed, with energies then being directed to the front bar and the dream team of Stewart Who and Brent Nicholls reigned supreme every Sunday, with special nights like Balearic & Diablo amongst others to keep up interest and in an attempt to continue to secure Barcode’s Sunday’s. But when Stewart Who & Brent Nicholls became just Brent Nicholls and then no D.J. at all, the bottom fell out of the weekender and subsequent attempts to re-launch the night failed (we won’t mention the disastrous themes or D.J. choices), resulting on Sunday at our favourite local coming to a halt.
Fortunately for us, Sunday’s were soon replaced by Thursday’s, in the form of the brilliant social soiree, Industri, although it is fair to say the last day of the weekend still has a special place in our heart. So, were we excited or what!? when news of the return of Sundays at Barcode Vauxhall was announced. Pioneered by the enigmatic and popular Faye Lanson, a name synonymous with Barcode, the night, aptly named “Sundays” promised fresh new D.J. talent, superb music, great drinks offers and most importantly both rooms open. Well, we simply couldn’t miss out on this one could we?
So, arriving at just turned 8.30 p.m., we were greeted on the door by a smiling Emilio who waved us straight through into the front room, which was pleasantly full of a truly eclectic mix of people, clubbers, scene faces, bears & off duty D.J’s, all intent on savouring the return of Sundays to Barcode Vauxhall. Depositing our bits & bobs into the coatcheck, we advanced further into the club space, finding a smattering of cutie’s dancing away to the sounds of Faye herself, who had assumed control of the decks before the arrival of Hi-Fi Sean, swapping places with Tony Junior, who had the front room captivated with a truly commercial & upbeat set of tunes.
We paused briefly, catching up with new D.J. talent, Astroboy, who was clearly excited about the launch of “Sundays” and is one of a few new names/faces gracing Barcode Vauxhall’s doors, others including Emma Miswhite and Steven Artis, both accomplished talents in their own right. The line up genuinely seemed to be all about showcasing something different and we were very much looking forward to seeing Hi-Fi Sean in action, having only savoured his musical mixes at Hard On!.
Wandering back up into the front room, we fell on Industri pal Ian (with friend) and chatted away about the merits of Sundays as well as catching up on the weekend & other bits of news. In amidst our conversation, lots of familiar faces appeared, including D.J.’s Paul Coles & Tim Mclone and for a while the crowd seemed like a mini “Tonker” gathering. This was much to the delight of the cute and sexy Hugh Stevenson, who soon arrived and joined us to recollect on the fabulous time we had together on the Matinee dancefloor just over a week ago. We go back a few years with Hugh and it was great to catch up with him and learn of his latest exploits, although sadly little or no D.J.’ing for him at the moment.
When Hugh got distracted, we wandered back down into the club space, to find proceedings had been wound down and hugged a disappointed Faye, who was clearly expecting a much bigger turnout. Consoling her and together with Astroboy, we discussed the need to persevere as it was clear the front room was quite popular, so with a few tweaks here & there, the club space would work too.
We left Faye to pack up and with just the front room now open, Tony Junior continued to push out a collection of commercial & up to date tracks to keep the atmosphere buoyant. We carried on socialising with familiar faces and Barcode regulars, although we were ever conscious of our early start to work the following day. So, at an uncharacteristic early departure just over a couple of hours after arriving, we headed home to reflect on a night which sadly didn’t quite deliver to expectations, but resplendent in the thought that Sundays at Barcode Vauxhall may yet still be back on the agenda. According to reliable sources, not long after we left, there was some sort of security alert at MI5 across the road (or was it a certain club promoter putting the boot in,!?!) which halted the whole of Albert Embankment, effectively killing off any further “Sundays” activity, not the start (or was it end!) the night really needed.
There is no doubt that “Sundays” as a venture faces an up hill battle. There is stiff local competition in the form of both the R.V.T and Eagle Bar, who have established & popular nights (S.LA.G.S. & Horse Meat Disco), but also with the Embankment bar steeling BCV custom (albeit it was closed tonight) and with generally difficult trading conditions, there may need to be much gritting of teeth to see it become a success. We genuinely believe the introduction of some “heavyweight” D.J. talent is the way to go and linking in with a later running club might also be an idea. Whatever happens, we hope our Sundays are back, we hope that this new night gets the support it deserves (it has ours) but only time (if they let it) will tell. (DISCO MATT)
Tuesday 11 November 2008
Matinee Space Invaders - Club Review
MATINEE SPACE INVADERS – SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Well it is fair to say that this monthly clubbing event has become like a religious homage for us, with hardly anything stopping us from attending. And this month was no exception, despite a gruelling work schedule, lack of sleep and no real time to ourselves, but then we are extremely obliging with our commitments to others, just look at our five club reviews in one night last weekend.
So, amidst the kind of weather that would keep most people firmly indoors, we headed off to Vauxhall and the temptations of this Spanish influenced phononemum of a party. With expectations for a high turnout and with thoughts that sister club Revolver, also running on the same night, would suffer dramatically, we opted to go south of the river calling in at Barcode Vauxhall, both to meet up with friends also going to Matinee and as, has been proven in the past, an ideal warm up to the main event itself.
On this occasion, however, we couldn’t have been more wrong, as we struggled to get into the bar to begin with, then drama’s ensued on the coat check and the club, in general, was filled with the most bizarre mix of people, (definately not those off to Matinee!). We desperately looked for our friends, soon realising that they had done what we were resigned to do, just aimed for Colosseum instead.
Leaving Barcode behind, we arrived at Matinee’s doors at just turned midnight to find only a smattering of people waiting in the guest list queue and armed with a ticket we had no wait at all, clearly the earlier arrival time being the reason. Saying hello briefly to Minty, who was busy sorting out her list, we got inside and joined what seemed a massive line of people waiting to put their bits & bobs into the coatcheck, After a frustrating 20 minutes to get our bags in, the service at the bar when ordering Sambuca for Minty & us, was simply appaling (we won’t bore you with the story!), all of which was enough to push us over the edge. So, in some “hissy queeny” fit we proceeded to lay into poor old Oliver M outside the club (it wasn’t his fault) and the club owner (who’s fault it definitely was) who just making matters worse with excuse after excuse.
Whilst this was not the start we had planned to our evening, we retreated into the club, up the stairs and into the main room, hotly pursued by an apologetic Oliver, but by now we had calmed down and repeated our claim that it wasn’t his fault. Looking around room 1, it was filling nicely with a much friendlier and gorgeous looking collection of latino’s, scene faces, and muscle queens, all soaking up the building atmosphere, masterfully orchestrated by the man on the decks, Guy Williams, who was pumping out some amazing hard edged diet techno infused house tracks mixed in with what can only be described as future disco tunes. This had us captivated for much of his set and with memories of our arrival long gone, we mingled with Industri friends on the dancefloor bumping into more familiar faces, including our friends lost in Barcode, as we settled on out spot by the backstage, next to the D.J. booth. The troupe of infamous Matinee dancers were out in force, suitably dressed in superb “starship trouper” headgear, amongst them, the lovely Dilmar, performing brilliantly as the dancers found positions across the dancefloor, to delight the crowd. The usual Matinee magic production was present, if a little understated than usual. Space ship mobiles were hanging from the ceiling and the fabulous wall of neon lights behind the D.J. booth served as the focal point, a unique touch that Matinee is becoming famous for.
So good had been the music, the atmosphere and the company we had enjoyed, under the control of the magnificent Guy Williams, we had hardly noticed the time as he handed over to Spanish superstar & Matinee Barcelona resident, Enrico Argentini. However, something seemed to be drawing us to room 2, albeit a long jaunt downstairs. Leaving our friends behind, we ventured off the hot & packed main floor and down the stairs into second space. That had been the draw, as we found Brent Nicholls behind the decks delivering an altogether faster paced chunky, funky, latino twisted bunch of tunes to a room that was sadly far from full. We were mystified when the team had decided to use this room last time and the small crowd once again proved that this space just doesn’t work. D.J. Alessandro was present, due to follow on after Brent but the look on his face said it all!! Despite great efforts with the lighting and the brilliant set delivered by Brent, which had us furiously dancing, (brought memories of his set in Trade’s lite lounge two weeks ago flooding back) room 2 just lacked the bodies to make it special, like the VIP room had done at Matinee Viva. Bring back the VIP room we cry (the D.J’s want it too!!).
Back in the main room, we caught the tail end of Enrico Argentini’s set, wedging our way past a brimming to capacity crowd and finding a small spot right next to the D.J. booth and the huge smoke cannon. With Pagano moving into position, what then ensued was simply amazing, as he set about taking the adorning Matinee party goers on a journey of exquisite music choices, one track after the next making us draw breath in amazement. The atmosphere took on a new direction and it was clear room 1 was the place to be as it continued to fill with more & more people, we spotting the likes of our pals Lee Yeomans & Max Sanna, as well as Hugh Stevenson, the lovely Paul Heron and even Brent Nicholls, who was determined to soak up the delights of the room, having finished his D.J. duties downstairs (and they all looked like they were enjoying it!). Like Guy’s set, we were so enthralled by Pagano’s music, that time literally flew and when the cute & lovely Eduardo De La Torre was set ready to take over, we knew night had turned into day.
By now our energy levels were sapping, although a few of our friends had already fallen by the wayside, and we retired to the bar to attempt to recover from the hours of magnificent music in the hands of Guy, Brent & Pagano. Yet as much as we tried, we couldn’t step up to the plate any longer and with work looming, we soon hung up our boots and retired home.
So, how do we rate this latest Matinee instalment, Space Invaders? Well, looking at the various elements, actually very well. Despite the shambolic coatcheck organisation (we waited 15 minutes when leaving!), the dreadful first experience at the bar and the poor choice of a second room (this must change for next time!), Matinee Space Invaders for us was all about the music. And what brilliant music it was. Our hats go off to ALL the D.J’s, Nathan 6, Alessandro, Enrico Argentini & Eduardo De La Torre (all four names so characteristic to Matinee line ups who never fail to disappoint) but we were simply bowled over by first Guy Willams, then Brent Nicholls and finally by Pagano, absolutely awesome were these guys’ performances.
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Well it is fair to say that this monthly clubbing event has become like a religious homage for us, with hardly anything stopping us from attending. And this month was no exception, despite a gruelling work schedule, lack of sleep and no real time to ourselves, but then we are extremely obliging with our commitments to others, just look at our five club reviews in one night last weekend.
So, amidst the kind of weather that would keep most people firmly indoors, we headed off to Vauxhall and the temptations of this Spanish influenced phononemum of a party. With expectations for a high turnout and with thoughts that sister club Revolver, also running on the same night, would suffer dramatically, we opted to go south of the river calling in at Barcode Vauxhall, both to meet up with friends also going to Matinee and as, has been proven in the past, an ideal warm up to the main event itself.
On this occasion, however, we couldn’t have been more wrong, as we struggled to get into the bar to begin with, then drama’s ensued on the coat check and the club, in general, was filled with the most bizarre mix of people, (definately not those off to Matinee!). We desperately looked for our friends, soon realising that they had done what we were resigned to do, just aimed for Colosseum instead.
Leaving Barcode behind, we arrived at Matinee’s doors at just turned midnight to find only a smattering of people waiting in the guest list queue and armed with a ticket we had no wait at all, clearly the earlier arrival time being the reason. Saying hello briefly to Minty, who was busy sorting out her list, we got inside and joined what seemed a massive line of people waiting to put their bits & bobs into the coatcheck, After a frustrating 20 minutes to get our bags in, the service at the bar when ordering Sambuca for Minty & us, was simply appaling (we won’t bore you with the story!), all of which was enough to push us over the edge. So, in some “hissy queeny” fit we proceeded to lay into poor old Oliver M outside the club (it wasn’t his fault) and the club owner (who’s fault it definitely was) who just making matters worse with excuse after excuse.
Whilst this was not the start we had planned to our evening, we retreated into the club, up the stairs and into the main room, hotly pursued by an apologetic Oliver, but by now we had calmed down and repeated our claim that it wasn’t his fault. Looking around room 1, it was filling nicely with a much friendlier and gorgeous looking collection of latino’s, scene faces, and muscle queens, all soaking up the building atmosphere, masterfully orchestrated by the man on the decks, Guy Williams, who was pumping out some amazing hard edged diet techno infused house tracks mixed in with what can only be described as future disco tunes. This had us captivated for much of his set and with memories of our arrival long gone, we mingled with Industri friends on the dancefloor bumping into more familiar faces, including our friends lost in Barcode, as we settled on out spot by the backstage, next to the D.J. booth. The troupe of infamous Matinee dancers were out in force, suitably dressed in superb “starship trouper” headgear, amongst them, the lovely Dilmar, performing brilliantly as the dancers found positions across the dancefloor, to delight the crowd. The usual Matinee magic production was present, if a little understated than usual. Space ship mobiles were hanging from the ceiling and the fabulous wall of neon lights behind the D.J. booth served as the focal point, a unique touch that Matinee is becoming famous for.
So good had been the music, the atmosphere and the company we had enjoyed, under the control of the magnificent Guy Williams, we had hardly noticed the time as he handed over to Spanish superstar & Matinee Barcelona resident, Enrico Argentini. However, something seemed to be drawing us to room 2, albeit a long jaunt downstairs. Leaving our friends behind, we ventured off the hot & packed main floor and down the stairs into second space. That had been the draw, as we found Brent Nicholls behind the decks delivering an altogether faster paced chunky, funky, latino twisted bunch of tunes to a room that was sadly far from full. We were mystified when the team had decided to use this room last time and the small crowd once again proved that this space just doesn’t work. D.J. Alessandro was present, due to follow on after Brent but the look on his face said it all!! Despite great efforts with the lighting and the brilliant set delivered by Brent, which had us furiously dancing, (brought memories of his set in Trade’s lite lounge two weeks ago flooding back) room 2 just lacked the bodies to make it special, like the VIP room had done at Matinee Viva. Bring back the VIP room we cry (the D.J’s want it too!!).
Back in the main room, we caught the tail end of Enrico Argentini’s set, wedging our way past a brimming to capacity crowd and finding a small spot right next to the D.J. booth and the huge smoke cannon. With Pagano moving into position, what then ensued was simply amazing, as he set about taking the adorning Matinee party goers on a journey of exquisite music choices, one track after the next making us draw breath in amazement. The atmosphere took on a new direction and it was clear room 1 was the place to be as it continued to fill with more & more people, we spotting the likes of our pals Lee Yeomans & Max Sanna, as well as Hugh Stevenson, the lovely Paul Heron and even Brent Nicholls, who was determined to soak up the delights of the room, having finished his D.J. duties downstairs (and they all looked like they were enjoying it!). Like Guy’s set, we were so enthralled by Pagano’s music, that time literally flew and when the cute & lovely Eduardo De La Torre was set ready to take over, we knew night had turned into day.
By now our energy levels were sapping, although a few of our friends had already fallen by the wayside, and we retired to the bar to attempt to recover from the hours of magnificent music in the hands of Guy, Brent & Pagano. Yet as much as we tried, we couldn’t step up to the plate any longer and with work looming, we soon hung up our boots and retired home.
So, how do we rate this latest Matinee instalment, Space Invaders? Well, looking at the various elements, actually very well. Despite the shambolic coatcheck organisation (we waited 15 minutes when leaving!), the dreadful first experience at the bar and the poor choice of a second room (this must change for next time!), Matinee Space Invaders for us was all about the music. And what brilliant music it was. Our hats go off to ALL the D.J’s, Nathan 6, Alessandro, Enrico Argentini & Eduardo De La Torre (all four names so characteristic to Matinee line ups who never fail to disappoint) but we were simply bowled over by first Guy Willams, then Brent Nicholls and finally by Pagano, absolutely awesome were these guys’ performances.
A Great clubbing experience is not always about the music, but if it was, then Matinee would be streets ahead of any other club (actually it is anyway!). Well done Oliver & the Evolved Events team, you have done it again!! (DISCO MATT)
Thursday 6 November 2008
Soho Saturday - Five Clubs in one night - Special review
“SOHO SATURDAY”
RUPERT ST, KU-KLUB, BARCODE SOHO, REVOLVER, LO PROFILE
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
We love a challenge and when the call of a handful of club promoters and D.J.’s beckoned our presence, we simply couldn’t say no to the prospect of fitting in 5 venues in one night into a Saturday in Soho. Did we have the stamina? Well, it seems we had, as the temptations of this gayest of areas in the gay capital of the world (well we think London is!) were too much to resist.
Familiarity breeds discontent, in this case, most definitely not, as we landed at Barcode in Archer Street, which was to form our base for further launch onto two well known venues, hosting special nights. So, dropping our heavies (bags not bouncers!) into the coatcheck and popping, briefly, downstairs to wave at D.J. Brent Nicholls, we made our way around to our first venue, the ever popular Rupert St. bar in, yes you guessed it, Rupert Street. Wedging our way through the door, the space inside was packed full of a stylish & cosmopolitan mix of boys & girls, intent on having a good time, and for good reason, as Manager Cathy & her team had put on some extra special entertainment in the form of some gorgeously sexy go-go dancers, all in aid of showing of a new range of “police” styled underwear from top smalls designer Andrew Christian.
Well, apart from being extremely scantly dressed (brave, given the wintry & wet conditions outside) in New York Style Cop caps and aptly badged ties, the boys gyrated up and down the bar, dodging pints of beer, bottles of champagne & cocktails (stop it!) a plenty, to the fabulous sounds emanating from the decks under the control of Rupert St resident, D.J. Alessandro. As if these stunning go-go’s weren’t enough to pop out our eyes, the staff had also joined in, and beefy good lookers they were too, doing their best to trade poses with the dancers, sporting complimentary Andrew Christian necklaces (thanks for mine Vlad x) to compliment the underwear peeping out from under their jeans. Whilst we only caught the tail end of the show, it was enough to send our pulses racing and got us well into the mood for our sprint venue marathon around Soho.
So, all too soon, waving goodbye to Cathy, her boys & Alessandro with his moreish house/electro tunes playing in our ears, we headed off across China Town to make our first visitation to Ku Bar’s underground venue, Ku-Klub, and the special night, Surge. Hosted by the enigmatic Lee Yeomans, we had promised a trip here for a while, and a review to boot! Paying our way and clambering down into the Tardis like club space, we immediately spotted Lee by the D.J. booth, with our newbie pal, J.C., in control of the music, playing out to a pop/indie crowd who were lapping up his dance rich tunes, clearly having fun, fun & more fun. Lee greeted us with open arms and immediately introduced us to family friends, who had also made the special trip. Where Rupert St had given us “raunch” Surge at Ku-Klub gave us downright dance, meets camp, meets vamp, the space being adorned with Halloween décor to give it a extra special feel. Despite the space being quite small, the best was made of it, with sound quality which would put some bigger venues to shame & lighting to match.
Stepping outside briefly, we caught up with Lee, who made an attempt to secure our company at Breakfast @ Egg, but with three more venues to go yet, we resisted his kind guest list offer, rather dragging him back into Surge and plying him with lager to keep him happy (it doesn’t take much you know!). J.C. was well into his stride and whilst not to our usual music taste, had us swinging our pants, but we did want to get a piece of Lee’s up-coming set, he also itching to get behind the decks. However, time was moving on in our limited & tight schedule, so we had to say farewell to the boys and head back across Soho. With planned improvements to Ku-Klub on the cards, Surge is set to go from strength to strength and is well worth a visit. We will certainly go again, different to our usual haunts, but then we like to be different!
By now Saturday had turned into Sunday and we found ourselves back at base camp Barcode and the delights of the club space downstairs. After a disspointingly quiet start (probably due to the filthy weather) the room was now packed, helped along in big portions & dollops of funky electro beats combined with happy house mixes from the man behind the decks, Brent Nicholls. An altogether different atmosphere to Surge, Barcode’s club in his hands is guaranteed to get us dancing and smiling from cheek to cheek (yes face cheeks!). Plus, with the odd slip into camp & hands in the air tunes, we find Brent’s influence on the feel, vibe and resultant success of the night out in Barcode Soho, truly satisfying, as we are sure do the Barcode team.
Since it’s revamp back in May, this West End gay mainstay venue has captured the imagination of many newcomers as well as old regulars and the space downstairs is dramatically better than the old, with much more space, better lighting (the lasers are amazing) and an overall more glamorous look, so much so, that it feels like a club destination in its own right. We count it as one of our favourites and recommend that if late night clubbing is not your thing, then you can do far more wrong than making Barcode your destination. We often see the 1 a.m. close time, and with superb music & company to match, tonight was no exception, so why not?
With our agenda well underway, Brent joined us for our jaunt back over gay-land Soho to the now weekly outing, Revolver, at The Astoria on Charing Cross Road. Catching up on gossip and discussing the merits of the re-focussing of this once monthly event, we soon arrived at Revolver’s doors and were greeted by the effervescent Minty, who beckoned us up past the VIP queue an up to her host station just inside the club. It immediately seemed like a “mini” Industri reunion, with just Paul Heron missing from our clan, so this alone started our visit to Astoria off on the right foot. With Minty doing the biz, we skipped up the steps and with Brent courteously waiting while we dropped our bags into the check, more stairwell steps lead us into the massive main room, which was reasonably filled out with ardent clubbers, who had clearly been there a while.
We left Brent to make his way to behind the D.J. booth afar, to drop off his records (well music C.D.'s, etc, you know what we mean!) by ascending the stage and being subjected to the same advances by the overzealous security guard that had tripped us up two weeks before (what is wrong with that man, does he not know who we are!?) while we headed for the front of the stage, joining our Matinee pals who had come along to support the cute & sexy Beppe (Craig in English), who was part of the dance troupe performing on stage. With Pagano behind the decks, we knew we were in for a great time and before we knew it, we dancing merrily on our spot, although, again, in just the blink of an eye, the show began. With a dramatic huge red draped infused acrobatic introduction & decent from the ceiling, two lithe & toned gymnasts captured the, by now, huge crowd’s attention, with one entertaining us to an energetic floor routine to marvel. The newly formed Revolver dance team were soon out on stage and we spotted the lovely Beppe who was, like the others, aptly garbed for the “Twisted Circus”/Halloween theme, giving us the look from his spot on the stage. With the now characteristically amazing visuals matching the dancers costume theme, & the space around them dominated by a massive scary clown face as well as plenty of other production touches, it was clear that no expense had been spared, so typical of the effort always put into Revolver, by organiser Oliver Mohns & his Evolved Events team. The show was spectacular and it was clear our Matinee posse were all enjoying it too, not to mention Minty, who had joined us from her door duties. Her arrival signalled the inevitable dice of death with the Sambuca bottle as we traded glass after glass enforcing back & forth trips to the bar.
With the show over and Pagano arresting control and commencing delivery of some mind blowing tracks (he is in a music purple patch at the moment), the man himself Oliver, found us at the front of the stage and gave us his usual heart warming collection of hugs & kisses. Not long after that, Brent, having taken plenty of video & picture shots joined us at our newly assumed rest spot at the back of the main room, to compare notes on the night so far, the venue, the show & moreover the people, before taking his leave, to retire home to his man. This also signalled our retreat, conscious that our final venue visit beckoned, so we slipped quietly out to zig zag back over Soho to Lo-Profile.
Despite initial reservations, we were pleasantly surprised by how busy Revolver was and with reports coming in that G.A.Y. was quiet and many other venues in a similar boat, Oliver should be pleased with the turnout he was graced with, albeit that he admitted to us that the event had been an expensive one for him. Bringing fresh, cutting edge club experiences to the West End comes at a cost, but this man is not scared to do it and we take our hat off to him for that.
It was now our final destination of the night, but the vagaries of the Sambuca burst were telling as we arrived on Wardour Street, fortunately meeting D,J, Alessandro outside Lo-Profile (he had popped out for a sneaky one!) which was a blessing in disguise. With our aide by our side we weaved down the brightly lit corridor and down into the club to find a select bunch of well dressed, good looking and sophisticated clubbers, so different to the, dare I say it (no I won’t) previously experienced lot (phew!, I managed to avoid the C.H. phrase! – Brent please note). Alessandro’s tunes kind of brought us full circle from our first venture, Rupert St. Bar, although his selection was slightly harder than before, and rightly so, we loved it (get his new C.D., it’s great!).
With our previous two experiences of Lo-Profile looming heavy in our minds, we are pleasantly surprised to say that we actually enjoyed this one much more. For all the reservations we had before, we decided to dispel them in favour of a good time, and that we had. It has to be said however, for us, it is no Barcode, no Surge, especially no Revolver, clearly set apart from Rupert St., but it has a rightful place in any “potential” Soho circuit and we are pleased we included it in our list of visiting venues on this Saturday night outing.
Well, were we proud of our feat of fitting in 5 venues in one night? Yes Indeed, and five more individual places you couldn’t have chosen. With elements of the great pretender to the gay village phenomenon, Vauxhall, struggling, the West End seems to be coming back into its own. So, if it is circuit style club/pub/bar hopping you want from your free Saturday night, look no further than Soho. The five we made, represent only a handful of what’s on offer, but they rank as our top choices. If you haven’t done so already, try them out, we pretty much guarantee you won’t be disappointed. (DISCO MATT)
RUPERT ST, KU-KLUB, BARCODE SOHO, REVOLVER, LO PROFILE
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
We love a challenge and when the call of a handful of club promoters and D.J.’s beckoned our presence, we simply couldn’t say no to the prospect of fitting in 5 venues in one night into a Saturday in Soho. Did we have the stamina? Well, it seems we had, as the temptations of this gayest of areas in the gay capital of the world (well we think London is!) were too much to resist.
Familiarity breeds discontent, in this case, most definitely not, as we landed at Barcode in Archer Street, which was to form our base for further launch onto two well known venues, hosting special nights. So, dropping our heavies (bags not bouncers!) into the coatcheck and popping, briefly, downstairs to wave at D.J. Brent Nicholls, we made our way around to our first venue, the ever popular Rupert St. bar in, yes you guessed it, Rupert Street. Wedging our way through the door, the space inside was packed full of a stylish & cosmopolitan mix of boys & girls, intent on having a good time, and for good reason, as Manager Cathy & her team had put on some extra special entertainment in the form of some gorgeously sexy go-go dancers, all in aid of showing of a new range of “police” styled underwear from top smalls designer Andrew Christian.
Well, apart from being extremely scantly dressed (brave, given the wintry & wet conditions outside) in New York Style Cop caps and aptly badged ties, the boys gyrated up and down the bar, dodging pints of beer, bottles of champagne & cocktails (stop it!) a plenty, to the fabulous sounds emanating from the decks under the control of Rupert St resident, D.J. Alessandro. As if these stunning go-go’s weren’t enough to pop out our eyes, the staff had also joined in, and beefy good lookers they were too, doing their best to trade poses with the dancers, sporting complimentary Andrew Christian necklaces (thanks for mine Vlad x) to compliment the underwear peeping out from under their jeans. Whilst we only caught the tail end of the show, it was enough to send our pulses racing and got us well into the mood for our sprint venue marathon around Soho.
So, all too soon, waving goodbye to Cathy, her boys & Alessandro with his moreish house/electro tunes playing in our ears, we headed off across China Town to make our first visitation to Ku Bar’s underground venue, Ku-Klub, and the special night, Surge. Hosted by the enigmatic Lee Yeomans, we had promised a trip here for a while, and a review to boot! Paying our way and clambering down into the Tardis like club space, we immediately spotted Lee by the D.J. booth, with our newbie pal, J.C., in control of the music, playing out to a pop/indie crowd who were lapping up his dance rich tunes, clearly having fun, fun & more fun. Lee greeted us with open arms and immediately introduced us to family friends, who had also made the special trip. Where Rupert St had given us “raunch” Surge at Ku-Klub gave us downright dance, meets camp, meets vamp, the space being adorned with Halloween décor to give it a extra special feel. Despite the space being quite small, the best was made of it, with sound quality which would put some bigger venues to shame & lighting to match.
Stepping outside briefly, we caught up with Lee, who made an attempt to secure our company at Breakfast @ Egg, but with three more venues to go yet, we resisted his kind guest list offer, rather dragging him back into Surge and plying him with lager to keep him happy (it doesn’t take much you know!). J.C. was well into his stride and whilst not to our usual music taste, had us swinging our pants, but we did want to get a piece of Lee’s up-coming set, he also itching to get behind the decks. However, time was moving on in our limited & tight schedule, so we had to say farewell to the boys and head back across Soho. With planned improvements to Ku-Klub on the cards, Surge is set to go from strength to strength and is well worth a visit. We will certainly go again, different to our usual haunts, but then we like to be different!
By now Saturday had turned into Sunday and we found ourselves back at base camp Barcode and the delights of the club space downstairs. After a disspointingly quiet start (probably due to the filthy weather) the room was now packed, helped along in big portions & dollops of funky electro beats combined with happy house mixes from the man behind the decks, Brent Nicholls. An altogether different atmosphere to Surge, Barcode’s club in his hands is guaranteed to get us dancing and smiling from cheek to cheek (yes face cheeks!). Plus, with the odd slip into camp & hands in the air tunes, we find Brent’s influence on the feel, vibe and resultant success of the night out in Barcode Soho, truly satisfying, as we are sure do the Barcode team.
Since it’s revamp back in May, this West End gay mainstay venue has captured the imagination of many newcomers as well as old regulars and the space downstairs is dramatically better than the old, with much more space, better lighting (the lasers are amazing) and an overall more glamorous look, so much so, that it feels like a club destination in its own right. We count it as one of our favourites and recommend that if late night clubbing is not your thing, then you can do far more wrong than making Barcode your destination. We often see the 1 a.m. close time, and with superb music & company to match, tonight was no exception, so why not?
With our agenda well underway, Brent joined us for our jaunt back over gay-land Soho to the now weekly outing, Revolver, at The Astoria on Charing Cross Road. Catching up on gossip and discussing the merits of the re-focussing of this once monthly event, we soon arrived at Revolver’s doors and were greeted by the effervescent Minty, who beckoned us up past the VIP queue an up to her host station just inside the club. It immediately seemed like a “mini” Industri reunion, with just Paul Heron missing from our clan, so this alone started our visit to Astoria off on the right foot. With Minty doing the biz, we skipped up the steps and with Brent courteously waiting while we dropped our bags into the check, more stairwell steps lead us into the massive main room, which was reasonably filled out with ardent clubbers, who had clearly been there a while.
We left Brent to make his way to behind the D.J. booth afar, to drop off his records (well music C.D.'s, etc, you know what we mean!) by ascending the stage and being subjected to the same advances by the overzealous security guard that had tripped us up two weeks before (what is wrong with that man, does he not know who we are!?) while we headed for the front of the stage, joining our Matinee pals who had come along to support the cute & sexy Beppe (Craig in English), who was part of the dance troupe performing on stage. With Pagano behind the decks, we knew we were in for a great time and before we knew it, we dancing merrily on our spot, although, again, in just the blink of an eye, the show began. With a dramatic huge red draped infused acrobatic introduction & decent from the ceiling, two lithe & toned gymnasts captured the, by now, huge crowd’s attention, with one entertaining us to an energetic floor routine to marvel. The newly formed Revolver dance team were soon out on stage and we spotted the lovely Beppe who was, like the others, aptly garbed for the “Twisted Circus”/Halloween theme, giving us the look from his spot on the stage. With the now characteristically amazing visuals matching the dancers costume theme, & the space around them dominated by a massive scary clown face as well as plenty of other production touches, it was clear that no expense had been spared, so typical of the effort always put into Revolver, by organiser Oliver Mohns & his Evolved Events team. The show was spectacular and it was clear our Matinee posse were all enjoying it too, not to mention Minty, who had joined us from her door duties. Her arrival signalled the inevitable dice of death with the Sambuca bottle as we traded glass after glass enforcing back & forth trips to the bar.
With the show over and Pagano arresting control and commencing delivery of some mind blowing tracks (he is in a music purple patch at the moment), the man himself Oliver, found us at the front of the stage and gave us his usual heart warming collection of hugs & kisses. Not long after that, Brent, having taken plenty of video & picture shots joined us at our newly assumed rest spot at the back of the main room, to compare notes on the night so far, the venue, the show & moreover the people, before taking his leave, to retire home to his man. This also signalled our retreat, conscious that our final venue visit beckoned, so we slipped quietly out to zig zag back over Soho to Lo-Profile.
Despite initial reservations, we were pleasantly surprised by how busy Revolver was and with reports coming in that G.A.Y. was quiet and many other venues in a similar boat, Oliver should be pleased with the turnout he was graced with, albeit that he admitted to us that the event had been an expensive one for him. Bringing fresh, cutting edge club experiences to the West End comes at a cost, but this man is not scared to do it and we take our hat off to him for that.
It was now our final destination of the night, but the vagaries of the Sambuca burst were telling as we arrived on Wardour Street, fortunately meeting D,J, Alessandro outside Lo-Profile (he had popped out for a sneaky one!) which was a blessing in disguise. With our aide by our side we weaved down the brightly lit corridor and down into the club to find a select bunch of well dressed, good looking and sophisticated clubbers, so different to the, dare I say it (no I won’t) previously experienced lot (phew!, I managed to avoid the C.H. phrase! – Brent please note). Alessandro’s tunes kind of brought us full circle from our first venture, Rupert St. Bar, although his selection was slightly harder than before, and rightly so, we loved it (get his new C.D., it’s great!).
With our previous two experiences of Lo-Profile looming heavy in our minds, we are pleasantly surprised to say that we actually enjoyed this one much more. For all the reservations we had before, we decided to dispel them in favour of a good time, and that we had. It has to be said however, for us, it is no Barcode, no Surge, especially no Revolver, clearly set apart from Rupert St., but it has a rightful place in any “potential” Soho circuit and we are pleased we included it in our list of visiting venues on this Saturday night outing.
Well, were we proud of our feat of fitting in 5 venues in one night? Yes Indeed, and five more individual places you couldn’t have chosen. With elements of the great pretender to the gay village phenomenon, Vauxhall, struggling, the West End seems to be coming back into its own. So, if it is circuit style club/pub/bar hopping you want from your free Saturday night, look no further than Soho. The five we made, represent only a handful of what’s on offer, but they rank as our top choices. If you haven’t done so already, try them out, we pretty much guarantee you won’t be disappointed. (DISCO MATT)
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