LOVECHILD – SUNDAY 29TH MARCH
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Now, T-dance clubbing of late always seems to be a tricky affair, unless it is on a Bank Holiday weekend, although for some reason, we really adore the feel of hedonistic activities on an early Sunday evening, so the prospect of a second party at Pacha in Victoria (famed for massive Hed Kandi parties), a most glamorous venue, which attracted a crowd to match on Lovechild’s London launch in February, was to tempting to resist and with friends making the trip for the first time, one still celebrating his birthday, how could we say no?, especially as this was going to be no regular outing, rather more a definitive gAylist party, just what we like!
So, fighting off a heavy cough & cold, we made our excuses from our extended lunch date in the East End and sped across the city, landing in Victoria, admittedly late at 8.30 p.m. (over 2 hours after the club had opened) although, fortunately, were not too late to be greeted by the marvellous Marky B, door host extraordinaire, who gave us a huge hug & kiss (well we returned the favour ofcourse) and we briefly caught up on news, before being released into the club. With tight (and it has to be said, unfriendly) security, we had a full search and also had to I.D. ourselves, but all was soon forgotten as we entered the club, feeling the quality and glamour immediately (and we were only in the foyer!!).
Stopping at the coatcheck, we couldn’t help hearing the familiar music sounds emanating from the main room, as D.J./Producer friend Danny Verde’s new track, “open your heart” was blasting out. As we entered the space, the lights were blazing, the smoke was filling the room and the stage was full of sensational looking dancers, acrobatically waving huge red feather fans and performing an impressive routine that was certainly making a statement. Looking around there was a reasonable crowd in attendance, although it was fair to say the room was far from full, but it was still relatively early and we wandered, had everyone remembered to put their clocks forward?!?
When the show finished, we headed to the bar for refreshments, but spotted Minty & friend Jeremy (birthday boy) in the crowd, so bounded up to say hello, apologising for our late arrival. Their reactions were the same, both staring at their watches, but they greeted us warmly and were clearly soaking up the atmosphere of their first Lovechild visit. Looking over to the D.J. booth in anticipation of seeing Brent Nicholls behind the decks, we suddenly realised we had missed his set (oops!) as the sexy Leomeo was in situ. Having not heard him play before, we were pleasantly surprised with his deliverance of progressive tech & euro house, very Matinee-esque, although possibly a little on the heavy side for a T-dance party.
With refreshments in hand, it was evident that, once again, Lovechild had attracted a handsome, hunky & hip crowd, a lovely mix of scene faces, glamour boys & girls, off duty D.J.’s & promoters, not to mention many friends whom we had seen at the first party. So we assumed our spot, along with Jeremy & co, by the D.J. booth as the music, the lighting, the dancers & the crowd contributed to an ever building atmosphere, a great one at that. A sudden flash of a camera, signalled the arrival of Chris Jepson, who caught Minty & friend in pose, then we stood back as a dancefloor casualty was carried away. Then, the faces kept appearing, first Stewart Who?, who was supposed to be playing out in the VIP area, although with the small(ish) numbers was resigned to enjoying himself on the dancefloor, then the lovely Tamsin Roberts, followed by Jamie Head (looking as gorgeous as ever), our sexy Brazilian barman from Barcode (what is his name?!?!) and then the man himself, Lovechild promoter Alex Erfan, resplendent in a black suit but missing the trademark trilby.
Back and holding court with Minty, Lovechild was feeling more like a social soiree than a dance club and we were delighted when muscle man Chris Geary, who was the exemplary organiser of the troupe of dancers & the shows, bounded up, said hello and then clicked his camera on Minty & us. Familiar faces kept coming, Marky B, who was done on the door, Mark Williams, one of the busiest club workers we know, but the biggest thrill was the appearance of Oliver Mohns, (how many more gAylisters could we bump into?!). It was great to see Oliver after being lifted off the floor (quite literally) only a week ago and we were keen to find out how his skiing trip had gone, as well talking about plans for Easter & then the Circuit Festival in Barcelona.
With more refreshments in hand and having soon lost Oliver in the crowd, we swung round the side of the D.J. booth, where headliners The Hoxton Whores were now on duty and finally bumped into Brent Nicholls, explaining away missing his set, before moving onto the dancefloor with Jeremy to trade moves. However, the music the Hoxton Whore duo were delivering was , shall we say, disjointed, dysfunctional and disappointing, given their billing, with only a smattering of tunes hitting the spot. For us, their set kept sending the club’s atmosphere on an erratic rollercoaster of a ride that was only rescued by Chris Geary’s boys & girls performances which were real attention grabbers. So, we went back into social soiree mood spotting yet more faces, including Stevie B, Logan Schmitz & Steven (React) Sharp, before being drawn back to the D.J. booth by the arrival of the always energetic Per Q.X., who was, on this occasion, in need of an energy boost, so we had to oblige (don’t ask!).
The Hoxton Whores “long” set was now nearly at an end and with the remaining crowd holding station, the decision to allow D.J. Mattias & Per Q.X. to go back-to-back was inspired, as they both set about to lay down a collection of truly uplifting funky and chunky dancefloor delights that really got the crowd moving. You could really feel the energy of these two coming through and they seemed like naturals mixing together. We were now in musical heaven and despite our dwindled posse, the atmosphere for us remained electric, with the dancers still performing (such hard workers), the lighting superbly setting off the main room & stage and the magical mastery of the duo in charge of the decks was awesome.
However, with the witching hour fast approaching coupled with the need to be fresh for meetings the following morning, we slipped out of the club and saying our thanks & goodbye’s to Alex Erfan at the door, also resisting the request to appear at the afterparty, sauntered home to reflect on a Lovechild party that was great in lots of ways, but missed the mark in others.
So, why this reaction? Well, the early Sunday night format obviously remains a difficult draw and this was evident in the footfall through the club. The fact that the V.I.P. area wasn’t opened shouted one statement & with the main floor not much more than half full, proves our point, but also that maybe with a massive Easter weekend on the horizon, party goers may have been saving themselves. Moreover for us however, was the lack of a P.A. on the billing, the link up with Orange for the afterparty, which may have put some people off the event as a whole, and then, on the night itself, the performance of the Hoxton Whores who failed wow like their headlining opportunity should have delivered.
That said, what made the night for us, was the superb atmosphere, the exhilarating dancers, the brilliant collaboration of Mattias & Per Q.X., but mostly the people. Yes, there were tinges of Fire clubbers there (we suspect down to the Orange connection) but quality & familiar faces came through to make it feel quite special. Despite the low numbers, we really hope Lovechild will survive and with a nip here & a tuck there, it has every chance of working. (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Now, T-dance clubbing of late always seems to be a tricky affair, unless it is on a Bank Holiday weekend, although for some reason, we really adore the feel of hedonistic activities on an early Sunday evening, so the prospect of a second party at Pacha in Victoria (famed for massive Hed Kandi parties), a most glamorous venue, which attracted a crowd to match on Lovechild’s London launch in February, was to tempting to resist and with friends making the trip for the first time, one still celebrating his birthday, how could we say no?, especially as this was going to be no regular outing, rather more a definitive gAylist party, just what we like!
So, fighting off a heavy cough & cold, we made our excuses from our extended lunch date in the East End and sped across the city, landing in Victoria, admittedly late at 8.30 p.m. (over 2 hours after the club had opened) although, fortunately, were not too late to be greeted by the marvellous Marky B, door host extraordinaire, who gave us a huge hug & kiss (well we returned the favour ofcourse) and we briefly caught up on news, before being released into the club. With tight (and it has to be said, unfriendly) security, we had a full search and also had to I.D. ourselves, but all was soon forgotten as we entered the club, feeling the quality and glamour immediately (and we were only in the foyer!!).
Stopping at the coatcheck, we couldn’t help hearing the familiar music sounds emanating from the main room, as D.J./Producer friend Danny Verde’s new track, “open your heart” was blasting out. As we entered the space, the lights were blazing, the smoke was filling the room and the stage was full of sensational looking dancers, acrobatically waving huge red feather fans and performing an impressive routine that was certainly making a statement. Looking around there was a reasonable crowd in attendance, although it was fair to say the room was far from full, but it was still relatively early and we wandered, had everyone remembered to put their clocks forward?!?
When the show finished, we headed to the bar for refreshments, but spotted Minty & friend Jeremy (birthday boy) in the crowd, so bounded up to say hello, apologising for our late arrival. Their reactions were the same, both staring at their watches, but they greeted us warmly and were clearly soaking up the atmosphere of their first Lovechild visit. Looking over to the D.J. booth in anticipation of seeing Brent Nicholls behind the decks, we suddenly realised we had missed his set (oops!) as the sexy Leomeo was in situ. Having not heard him play before, we were pleasantly surprised with his deliverance of progressive tech & euro house, very Matinee-esque, although possibly a little on the heavy side for a T-dance party.
With refreshments in hand, it was evident that, once again, Lovechild had attracted a handsome, hunky & hip crowd, a lovely mix of scene faces, glamour boys & girls, off duty D.J.’s & promoters, not to mention many friends whom we had seen at the first party. So we assumed our spot, along with Jeremy & co, by the D.J. booth as the music, the lighting, the dancers & the crowd contributed to an ever building atmosphere, a great one at that. A sudden flash of a camera, signalled the arrival of Chris Jepson, who caught Minty & friend in pose, then we stood back as a dancefloor casualty was carried away. Then, the faces kept appearing, first Stewart Who?, who was supposed to be playing out in the VIP area, although with the small(ish) numbers was resigned to enjoying himself on the dancefloor, then the lovely Tamsin Roberts, followed by Jamie Head (looking as gorgeous as ever), our sexy Brazilian barman from Barcode (what is his name?!?!) and then the man himself, Lovechild promoter Alex Erfan, resplendent in a black suit but missing the trademark trilby.
Back and holding court with Minty, Lovechild was feeling more like a social soiree than a dance club and we were delighted when muscle man Chris Geary, who was the exemplary organiser of the troupe of dancers & the shows, bounded up, said hello and then clicked his camera on Minty & us. Familiar faces kept coming, Marky B, who was done on the door, Mark Williams, one of the busiest club workers we know, but the biggest thrill was the appearance of Oliver Mohns, (how many more gAylisters could we bump into?!). It was great to see Oliver after being lifted off the floor (quite literally) only a week ago and we were keen to find out how his skiing trip had gone, as well talking about plans for Easter & then the Circuit Festival in Barcelona.
With more refreshments in hand and having soon lost Oliver in the crowd, we swung round the side of the D.J. booth, where headliners The Hoxton Whores were now on duty and finally bumped into Brent Nicholls, explaining away missing his set, before moving onto the dancefloor with Jeremy to trade moves. However, the music the Hoxton Whore duo were delivering was , shall we say, disjointed, dysfunctional and disappointing, given their billing, with only a smattering of tunes hitting the spot. For us, their set kept sending the club’s atmosphere on an erratic rollercoaster of a ride that was only rescued by Chris Geary’s boys & girls performances which were real attention grabbers. So, we went back into social soiree mood spotting yet more faces, including Stevie B, Logan Schmitz & Steven (React) Sharp, before being drawn back to the D.J. booth by the arrival of the always energetic Per Q.X., who was, on this occasion, in need of an energy boost, so we had to oblige (don’t ask!).
The Hoxton Whores “long” set was now nearly at an end and with the remaining crowd holding station, the decision to allow D.J. Mattias & Per Q.X. to go back-to-back was inspired, as they both set about to lay down a collection of truly uplifting funky and chunky dancefloor delights that really got the crowd moving. You could really feel the energy of these two coming through and they seemed like naturals mixing together. We were now in musical heaven and despite our dwindled posse, the atmosphere for us remained electric, with the dancers still performing (such hard workers), the lighting superbly setting off the main room & stage and the magical mastery of the duo in charge of the decks was awesome.
However, with the witching hour fast approaching coupled with the need to be fresh for meetings the following morning, we slipped out of the club and saying our thanks & goodbye’s to Alex Erfan at the door, also resisting the request to appear at the afterparty, sauntered home to reflect on a Lovechild party that was great in lots of ways, but missed the mark in others.
So, why this reaction? Well, the early Sunday night format obviously remains a difficult draw and this was evident in the footfall through the club. The fact that the V.I.P. area wasn’t opened shouted one statement & with the main floor not much more than half full, proves our point, but also that maybe with a massive Easter weekend on the horizon, party goers may have been saving themselves. Moreover for us however, was the lack of a P.A. on the billing, the link up with Orange for the afterparty, which may have put some people off the event as a whole, and then, on the night itself, the performance of the Hoxton Whores who failed wow like their headlining opportunity should have delivered.
That said, what made the night for us, was the superb atmosphere, the exhilarating dancers, the brilliant collaboration of Mattias & Per Q.X., but mostly the people. Yes, there were tinges of Fire clubbers there (we suspect down to the Orange connection) but quality & familiar faces came through to make it feel quite special. Despite the low numbers, we really hope Lovechild will survive and with a nip here & a tuck there, it has every chance of working. (DISCO MATT)
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