REVOLVER – RE-LAUNCH AT THE FRIDGE
SATURDAY 31ST JANUARY 2009
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Since this clubbing concept was conceived, back in May last year, it has attracted much attention, with a reputation for pulling out all the stops, creating an electric atmosphere at all it’s parties, through exceptional production (unrivalled in ANY club), superb hard edged music, breathtaking shows accompanied by headline P.A’s and the kind of euro style circuit feel that London rarely sees.
It’s short history at Scala, a venue we thought was impressive and the epitomy of Revolver, was followed by the urge to move more centrally and with lots of juggling in the West End, the Evolved events team secured The Astoria, deciding, bravely, to go weekly, where many had failed before. Yes it was the West End, but it’s time at Astoria was always going to be limited with the demolition timebomb looming and as much as the first couple of parties were successful, faithful followers just couldn’t get used to their new home. Then, when plans for a NYE party were scuppered, the brand went “underground”.
However, you can never keep a good thing down and we were thrilled to hear of a further metamorphosis with the news that The Fridge in Brixton was to host this party extraordinaire, a venue synonymous with scene clubbing throughout the nineties, with Love Muscle taking centre stage. In recent times however, gay parties at this iconic location have been few and far between, Vauxhall steeling the show, so it was a bold move, verging on a gamble, to opt for this south London destination, albeit a mere 20 minutes from Soho. Mind you, for us, it is just a hop, skip & jump from home, so good in our books.
Arriving at the Fridge’s doors at just after 11.30, we were greeted by the familiar & friendly faces of Marky B and Minty, with a queue of people already building. With our wrist pass clutched in our hand, Marky waved us straight through (don’t we just love special treatment) and were handled efficiently by security (and what friendly security they were too) and then quickly past the door staff (even more friendly), all of which couldn’t have made for a more welcoming and smooth entry.
Needing directions up to the coatcheck, we soon found our bearings and when we found ourselves in the main room, the memories came flooding back, as the venue looked much unchanged from all those years ago. However, Oliver Mohn’s and his team had spared no expense to adorn the venue with Revolver production, a massive “floating” Revolver emblem dominating above the stage, which had a suitably decorated D.J. booth and screen visuals to each side. What really made the feel though, was the incredible lighting, which simply took our breath away and it was no surprise as scene legend “Bubbles” was in charge behind the massive bank of controls opposite the stage, inviting us in to view his domain (happy birthday by the way) and there we had the perfect view of the brilliant effects his dazzling computerised compilations were having on a main room building in atmosphere by the minute.
With some major chunky and tough tech house sounds pumping out across the dancefloor, from the brand new sound system, who else could it have been behind the decks, but D.J. maestro Paul Heron, who was in complete command, enticing the growing crowd into the amphitheatre style space to soak up his tunes in adoration. Moving across towards him, we decided to risk the approaches by security (this has happened at Revolver events in the past) and head right up behind the booth, where we were greeted with a hug and kiss, not that we could then converse much, yes the music was loud, impressively so from the huge speakers, but moreover that we had a failing voice and spookily, so did Paul. In a blink, the man himself, Evolved events supremo Oliver Mohns appeared and gave us a welcome so warm that we instantly felt special and at ease.
Our pal, D.J. Alessandro was setting up in the V.I.P. room next to the main space and we popped our head in as he warmed up the equipment, but it was clear that the action was concentrating in the main room, so we soon returned back through and across the back of the main room dance space, which was now full of Revolver revellers. There, a series of people came up to say hello (well our online messages had prompted them to do so) and a whole host of familiar faces were around, from clubbing days of old and more recently, giving the crowd a super friendly feel. And there were off duty D.J’s a plenty too, including Joel Antunes, Lee Yeomans, Max Sanna, but especially Gabriele Cutrano, who made the effort and point of saying hello spotting us at the bar, so we thought it only fair to indulge him in refreshments too and catch up on news (it had been a while since we had seen him) although our failing voice wasn’t helping with the flow of conversation.
Then, with a superb flash of fire spurting from four turrets around the edge of the dancefloor, Mark M Forms’ Fierce International crew of dancers arrived and consumed the podiums and spaces on the massive stage, dressed in an eclectic mix of sultry and seductive costumes and making a considerable impact on the space and the atmosphere. As the musical reigns were handed over from Paul Heron to Spanish Heaven & Matinee resident D.J. Luque, the pace and style changed in preparation for the P.A. performance we, and many around us, had been waiting for.
With further flashes of fire around the room and then a burst of pyrotechnics from behind the D.J. booth, Giovanna entered the fray, centre stage, greeting the crowd and then emanating those tongue tingling words “Sunday’s at Heaven”. And so, THE anthem of 2008 was played out through a sound system just perfect for the job, with the lady herself adding the inimitable vocals, with the crowd going absolutely wild and with the Fridge’s roof erupting with thunderous pleasure. Now, we have seen some big P.A.’s in our time, but this has to rank as one of the best and Giovanna didn’t stop there, performing yet more and what else but her twist on Toca’s Miracle, just fantastic.
Now the Revolver machine had clearly aimed fired and hit all the right spots and the dancefloor was awash with a gorgeous mix of latino’s muscle queens, scene faces and metrosexual beauties funking away to the melodic euro styled tunes of the handsome Luque. However, we had to hold back, our voice now in tatters after singing along to the P.A., but were then joined by Oliver, Minty, Paul and Gabriele to view the dancefloor pulsating away, our evening’s pleasure increasing as suddenly, with a tap on our shoulders, Italian Stallion Pagano, who was due to play out the final set at this massive re-launch party, appeared joining the elite crowd before disappearing to set up.
As much as we wanted to see out the rest of the party, with no voice and sapping energy levels we decided to call it a day, not long after Pagano took the D.J. booth by storm, slipping out into the cold of the advancing winter Sunday morning and negotiating the short walk home to dwell on a Revolver experience not to forget.
So, what of Revolver’s re-launch. Well it would be fair to say that we were not sure about The Fridge as a venue choice, but you know, it actually worked. The brilliant sound system was a triumph, the lighting & pyrotechnic effects were truly awesome and the music of an impressive quality so trademark Revolver. It is fair to say that the numbers were not as big as they could have been, but the crowd that was there stayed and clearly had an amazing time. The success of the night was the P.A. which proves that when you put on a great show it makes all the difference and it certainly did. Bring on the next instalment. (DISCO MATT)
SATURDAY 31ST JANUARY 2009
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Since this clubbing concept was conceived, back in May last year, it has attracted much attention, with a reputation for pulling out all the stops, creating an electric atmosphere at all it’s parties, through exceptional production (unrivalled in ANY club), superb hard edged music, breathtaking shows accompanied by headline P.A’s and the kind of euro style circuit feel that London rarely sees.
It’s short history at Scala, a venue we thought was impressive and the epitomy of Revolver, was followed by the urge to move more centrally and with lots of juggling in the West End, the Evolved events team secured The Astoria, deciding, bravely, to go weekly, where many had failed before. Yes it was the West End, but it’s time at Astoria was always going to be limited with the demolition timebomb looming and as much as the first couple of parties were successful, faithful followers just couldn’t get used to their new home. Then, when plans for a NYE party were scuppered, the brand went “underground”.
However, you can never keep a good thing down and we were thrilled to hear of a further metamorphosis with the news that The Fridge in Brixton was to host this party extraordinaire, a venue synonymous with scene clubbing throughout the nineties, with Love Muscle taking centre stage. In recent times however, gay parties at this iconic location have been few and far between, Vauxhall steeling the show, so it was a bold move, verging on a gamble, to opt for this south London destination, albeit a mere 20 minutes from Soho. Mind you, for us, it is just a hop, skip & jump from home, so good in our books.
Arriving at the Fridge’s doors at just after 11.30, we were greeted by the familiar & friendly faces of Marky B and Minty, with a queue of people already building. With our wrist pass clutched in our hand, Marky waved us straight through (don’t we just love special treatment) and were handled efficiently by security (and what friendly security they were too) and then quickly past the door staff (even more friendly), all of which couldn’t have made for a more welcoming and smooth entry.
Needing directions up to the coatcheck, we soon found our bearings and when we found ourselves in the main room, the memories came flooding back, as the venue looked much unchanged from all those years ago. However, Oliver Mohn’s and his team had spared no expense to adorn the venue with Revolver production, a massive “floating” Revolver emblem dominating above the stage, which had a suitably decorated D.J. booth and screen visuals to each side. What really made the feel though, was the incredible lighting, which simply took our breath away and it was no surprise as scene legend “Bubbles” was in charge behind the massive bank of controls opposite the stage, inviting us in to view his domain (happy birthday by the way) and there we had the perfect view of the brilliant effects his dazzling computerised compilations were having on a main room building in atmosphere by the minute.
With some major chunky and tough tech house sounds pumping out across the dancefloor, from the brand new sound system, who else could it have been behind the decks, but D.J. maestro Paul Heron, who was in complete command, enticing the growing crowd into the amphitheatre style space to soak up his tunes in adoration. Moving across towards him, we decided to risk the approaches by security (this has happened at Revolver events in the past) and head right up behind the booth, where we were greeted with a hug and kiss, not that we could then converse much, yes the music was loud, impressively so from the huge speakers, but moreover that we had a failing voice and spookily, so did Paul. In a blink, the man himself, Evolved events supremo Oliver Mohns appeared and gave us a welcome so warm that we instantly felt special and at ease.
Our pal, D.J. Alessandro was setting up in the V.I.P. room next to the main space and we popped our head in as he warmed up the equipment, but it was clear that the action was concentrating in the main room, so we soon returned back through and across the back of the main room dance space, which was now full of Revolver revellers. There, a series of people came up to say hello (well our online messages had prompted them to do so) and a whole host of familiar faces were around, from clubbing days of old and more recently, giving the crowd a super friendly feel. And there were off duty D.J’s a plenty too, including Joel Antunes, Lee Yeomans, Max Sanna, but especially Gabriele Cutrano, who made the effort and point of saying hello spotting us at the bar, so we thought it only fair to indulge him in refreshments too and catch up on news (it had been a while since we had seen him) although our failing voice wasn’t helping with the flow of conversation.
Then, with a superb flash of fire spurting from four turrets around the edge of the dancefloor, Mark M Forms’ Fierce International crew of dancers arrived and consumed the podiums and spaces on the massive stage, dressed in an eclectic mix of sultry and seductive costumes and making a considerable impact on the space and the atmosphere. As the musical reigns were handed over from Paul Heron to Spanish Heaven & Matinee resident D.J. Luque, the pace and style changed in preparation for the P.A. performance we, and many around us, had been waiting for.
With further flashes of fire around the room and then a burst of pyrotechnics from behind the D.J. booth, Giovanna entered the fray, centre stage, greeting the crowd and then emanating those tongue tingling words “Sunday’s at Heaven”. And so, THE anthem of 2008 was played out through a sound system just perfect for the job, with the lady herself adding the inimitable vocals, with the crowd going absolutely wild and with the Fridge’s roof erupting with thunderous pleasure. Now, we have seen some big P.A.’s in our time, but this has to rank as one of the best and Giovanna didn’t stop there, performing yet more and what else but her twist on Toca’s Miracle, just fantastic.
Now the Revolver machine had clearly aimed fired and hit all the right spots and the dancefloor was awash with a gorgeous mix of latino’s muscle queens, scene faces and metrosexual beauties funking away to the melodic euro styled tunes of the handsome Luque. However, we had to hold back, our voice now in tatters after singing along to the P.A., but were then joined by Oliver, Minty, Paul and Gabriele to view the dancefloor pulsating away, our evening’s pleasure increasing as suddenly, with a tap on our shoulders, Italian Stallion Pagano, who was due to play out the final set at this massive re-launch party, appeared joining the elite crowd before disappearing to set up.
As much as we wanted to see out the rest of the party, with no voice and sapping energy levels we decided to call it a day, not long after Pagano took the D.J. booth by storm, slipping out into the cold of the advancing winter Sunday morning and negotiating the short walk home to dwell on a Revolver experience not to forget.
So, what of Revolver’s re-launch. Well it would be fair to say that we were not sure about The Fridge as a venue choice, but you know, it actually worked. The brilliant sound system was a triumph, the lighting & pyrotechnic effects were truly awesome and the music of an impressive quality so trademark Revolver. It is fair to say that the numbers were not as big as they could have been, but the crowd that was there stayed and clearly had an amazing time. The success of the night was the P.A. which proves that when you put on a great show it makes all the difference and it certainly did. Bring on the next instalment. (DISCO MATT)
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