MATINEE LA LECHE – EASTER SUNDAY 12th APRIL
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
It has been many an Easter weekend since we have seen & been consumed with so much activity in gAylist/land London, with all the big guns laying on parties to celebrate the lengthiest bank holiday break of the year and what a long list of clubbing opportunities there were (well you only had to look at our recommendations to realise), but amidst the wide choice, one name and party really stood out, being the filling in the ménage a trois trio of events, yes it was Matinee and not just Matinee but the infamous Ibiza party La Leche (that’s milk in plain old English!) which took London by storm a year ago.
So we were definitely not going to miss this one (or so we thought!) even with the hectic schedule of up to 11 club events across what was, for us, a five day weekend and five events on Sunday, requiring immense skill and energy to fit in. However, best plans are occasionally laid to waste, but please not at Easter & our first work free one this decade, although an unsuspected bout of illness sidelined us on the Saturday and had every chance of blowing out the rest of the weekend. However, with much encouragement from those close to us, especially from pal Robb who just wasn’t going to let us miss Matinee, we rallied around & pulled ourselves together as best as possible to make the trip up to Camden and the La Leche party, after all, we had lined up a whiter than white outfit, so it would have been rude not to!!
Gingerly arriving at the doors of the magnificent Koko Club, the host venue for this years London La Leche event, at just before 10 p.m., we were warmly greeted by the effervescent Minty, dressed resplendently in a huge white fur coat (blow the activists!!) looking as cool as a cucumber (actually stunning) and just the hostess with the mostest as she always is. Praising us for making it, despite our now widely acknowledged misfortune, it was great to see a friendly face as she waved us through and into the venue. And what an incredible place Koko is, just the sort of inspiring setting to host the most flamboyant of Matinee parties, also having been the venue of choice for other superb events, Rapido being a highlight, so a marvellous choice by the Evolved Events team. If it took our breath away at our last visit, it did more than that this, as we entered at mezzanine level and gazed across the breathtaking expanse. You could see that in its heyday this was the most spectacular of theatres, and with little changed, apart from the seating taken away, to be replaced by bars & spaces to socialise, the huge ground floor space made for the most fantastic dance space. And with a massive spinning glitterball together with sweeping white drapes adorning the venue, not to mention the visuals dotted around, you knew you were at a Matinee party.
As the crowds began to arrive and spill onto the three tiers of balcony’s, most seemingly making the effort to dress in white (well we had, despite our condition), as we were not quite feeling ourselves (stop it!!) we decided on a quieter retreat downstairs, so found a spot at the back of the dancefloor and pondered on an Easter weekend missed. But what a place to ponder, as who was in charge of the decks, but none other than Pier Morrocco, who set about delivering one of the most amazing sets we have heard in a long time. His choice of tracks couldn’t have been more perfect and truly emulated the Matinee style, just the warm up to tempt people into this fabulous space. And tempt he did, as with record after record pounding out highlighted with tunes of the moment, even if the crowd on the dancefloor itself was a little sparse, it was certainly captivating those present, us included. So, as we sat & pondered more, the crowd slowly built and we began to spot familiar faces wandering down, not least our fierce partner in crime, Lexi, who looked in true party mood, here with his posse of DTPM regulars. Had we been on full fettle we would have immediately “got down” (you had to be there!) with him, but we could hardly move from our inherited seat as much as we wanted to rip up the dancefloor to the mystical musical Mr Mororrco.
With thoughts of savouring the atmosphere from one of the balcony’s, we went wandering and bumped into more faces, Lee Yeomans, JC, as well as our knight in shining armour, Robb, who had cajoled and coaxed us into making it to La Leche. He had pulled out all the stops with his outfit and looked wonderful (jealous? of course we were!). It was good to see him, but being the man of the moment, he was soon torn away to duties, leaving us to ascend the full height of the cavernous Koko, where we fell upon Industri pals Chris & Terry, who had the most angelic birds eye view of proceedings and were happy to rest here for a while, but no rest for the wicked, as the stage lights suddenly focussed our attention as the show we had all been waiting for was about to begin.
By now the crowd was huge and only a smattering of non white garbed (no racialist comments intended!) folk around, all assembling on the ground floor space to watch in marvel the spectacular show that was to come, with dancer after dancer assembling on the stage, all dressed impeccably & in white of course, a truly metrosexual bevy of beauties, plenty of muscle, plenty of glamour & plenty of eye candy, as the music pace changed to compliment the dancers moves, orchestrated in sound by Matinee superstar resident G Martin but orchestrated in choreography and dressed by the talented & brilliant dream team of Mark M Form & Nik Ripley of Fierce International, the most professional of dance companies we have come across. There must have been up to forty performers on stage, all individually dressed & looking impeccable, all moving in motion, but creating their own statement. You could see that that crowd were mesmerised, as were we and it is fair to say we have never seen a better show in London, ever!!, as the display went on and on but never boringly so, more excitingly so, even with the diva in the front throwing a tantrum, resulting in the dipping of some of the lighting (well they are artists afterall!!).
The atmosphere by now was electric and the crowd intent on really succumbing to the whole La Leche experience that is magical Matinee, and why not, it was Easter and no need to get up for work the following day. We really wanted to succumb too, but our body just wasn’t playing ball and when we bumped into Brent Nicholls, who, in a clear moment of caring, asked about our well being and finding us far from full fettle spoke the words of wisdom (we hate it when he does that!!) and told us what we really didn’t want to hear, but was the sensible choice, rest, relaxation & recuperation required. He was right ofcourse, so it wasn’t too much longer before mind over body or was it body over mind (oh its confusing being ill) saw us slumping home to sleep off whatever was besieging us, leaving a massive Matinee Easter party to remember. And with the continuing shows by the Fierce crew, the mesmeric music played out by G Martin then scene fave Paul Heron, spellbinding lighting displays masterminded by the brilliant Bubbles & all in the awesome venue that is Koko in Camden, what more could you want?
So, what of the main event of the ménage a trois weekend, Matinee La Leche. Well, it certainly lived up to being just that and we were impressed from start to finish, impressed by the venue which was breathtaking, impressed by Pier Morrocco’s set which was phenomenal, impressed by the crowd who had made such an effort to appear in white, impressed by the lighting, visuals & décor which for such a huge venue was fabulous, but we were well and truly in awe of the stage show. Words cannot describe how good it was, well actually they can so forgive our superlatives rendition but it was amazing, brilliant, epic, impressive, magnificent, powerful, scintillating & wonderful, a dancing delight of a display that we will remember for a long time. Hats off to Mark, Nik & the whole Fierce International crew for making La Leche live in our minds. Evolved events can be proud for having this team on board and for putting on yet another marvellous Matinee party. (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
It has been many an Easter weekend since we have seen & been consumed with so much activity in gAylist/land London, with all the big guns laying on parties to celebrate the lengthiest bank holiday break of the year and what a long list of clubbing opportunities there were (well you only had to look at our recommendations to realise), but amidst the wide choice, one name and party really stood out, being the filling in the ménage a trois trio of events, yes it was Matinee and not just Matinee but the infamous Ibiza party La Leche (that’s milk in plain old English!) which took London by storm a year ago.
So we were definitely not going to miss this one (or so we thought!) even with the hectic schedule of up to 11 club events across what was, for us, a five day weekend and five events on Sunday, requiring immense skill and energy to fit in. However, best plans are occasionally laid to waste, but please not at Easter & our first work free one this decade, although an unsuspected bout of illness sidelined us on the Saturday and had every chance of blowing out the rest of the weekend. However, with much encouragement from those close to us, especially from pal Robb who just wasn’t going to let us miss Matinee, we rallied around & pulled ourselves together as best as possible to make the trip up to Camden and the La Leche party, after all, we had lined up a whiter than white outfit, so it would have been rude not to!!
Gingerly arriving at the doors of the magnificent Koko Club, the host venue for this years London La Leche event, at just before 10 p.m., we were warmly greeted by the effervescent Minty, dressed resplendently in a huge white fur coat (blow the activists!!) looking as cool as a cucumber (actually stunning) and just the hostess with the mostest as she always is. Praising us for making it, despite our now widely acknowledged misfortune, it was great to see a friendly face as she waved us through and into the venue. And what an incredible place Koko is, just the sort of inspiring setting to host the most flamboyant of Matinee parties, also having been the venue of choice for other superb events, Rapido being a highlight, so a marvellous choice by the Evolved Events team. If it took our breath away at our last visit, it did more than that this, as we entered at mezzanine level and gazed across the breathtaking expanse. You could see that in its heyday this was the most spectacular of theatres, and with little changed, apart from the seating taken away, to be replaced by bars & spaces to socialise, the huge ground floor space made for the most fantastic dance space. And with a massive spinning glitterball together with sweeping white drapes adorning the venue, not to mention the visuals dotted around, you knew you were at a Matinee party.
As the crowds began to arrive and spill onto the three tiers of balcony’s, most seemingly making the effort to dress in white (well we had, despite our condition), as we were not quite feeling ourselves (stop it!!) we decided on a quieter retreat downstairs, so found a spot at the back of the dancefloor and pondered on an Easter weekend missed. But what a place to ponder, as who was in charge of the decks, but none other than Pier Morrocco, who set about delivering one of the most amazing sets we have heard in a long time. His choice of tracks couldn’t have been more perfect and truly emulated the Matinee style, just the warm up to tempt people into this fabulous space. And tempt he did, as with record after record pounding out highlighted with tunes of the moment, even if the crowd on the dancefloor itself was a little sparse, it was certainly captivating those present, us included. So, as we sat & pondered more, the crowd slowly built and we began to spot familiar faces wandering down, not least our fierce partner in crime, Lexi, who looked in true party mood, here with his posse of DTPM regulars. Had we been on full fettle we would have immediately “got down” (you had to be there!) with him, but we could hardly move from our inherited seat as much as we wanted to rip up the dancefloor to the mystical musical Mr Mororrco.
With thoughts of savouring the atmosphere from one of the balcony’s, we went wandering and bumped into more faces, Lee Yeomans, JC, as well as our knight in shining armour, Robb, who had cajoled and coaxed us into making it to La Leche. He had pulled out all the stops with his outfit and looked wonderful (jealous? of course we were!). It was good to see him, but being the man of the moment, he was soon torn away to duties, leaving us to ascend the full height of the cavernous Koko, where we fell upon Industri pals Chris & Terry, who had the most angelic birds eye view of proceedings and were happy to rest here for a while, but no rest for the wicked, as the stage lights suddenly focussed our attention as the show we had all been waiting for was about to begin.
By now the crowd was huge and only a smattering of non white garbed (no racialist comments intended!) folk around, all assembling on the ground floor space to watch in marvel the spectacular show that was to come, with dancer after dancer assembling on the stage, all dressed impeccably & in white of course, a truly metrosexual bevy of beauties, plenty of muscle, plenty of glamour & plenty of eye candy, as the music pace changed to compliment the dancers moves, orchestrated in sound by Matinee superstar resident G Martin but orchestrated in choreography and dressed by the talented & brilliant dream team of Mark M Form & Nik Ripley of Fierce International, the most professional of dance companies we have come across. There must have been up to forty performers on stage, all individually dressed & looking impeccable, all moving in motion, but creating their own statement. You could see that that crowd were mesmerised, as were we and it is fair to say we have never seen a better show in London, ever!!, as the display went on and on but never boringly so, more excitingly so, even with the diva in the front throwing a tantrum, resulting in the dipping of some of the lighting (well they are artists afterall!!).
The atmosphere by now was electric and the crowd intent on really succumbing to the whole La Leche experience that is magical Matinee, and why not, it was Easter and no need to get up for work the following day. We really wanted to succumb too, but our body just wasn’t playing ball and when we bumped into Brent Nicholls, who, in a clear moment of caring, asked about our well being and finding us far from full fettle spoke the words of wisdom (we hate it when he does that!!) and told us what we really didn’t want to hear, but was the sensible choice, rest, relaxation & recuperation required. He was right ofcourse, so it wasn’t too much longer before mind over body or was it body over mind (oh its confusing being ill) saw us slumping home to sleep off whatever was besieging us, leaving a massive Matinee Easter party to remember. And with the continuing shows by the Fierce crew, the mesmeric music played out by G Martin then scene fave Paul Heron, spellbinding lighting displays masterminded by the brilliant Bubbles & all in the awesome venue that is Koko in Camden, what more could you want?
So, what of the main event of the ménage a trois weekend, Matinee La Leche. Well, it certainly lived up to being just that and we were impressed from start to finish, impressed by the venue which was breathtaking, impressed by Pier Morrocco’s set which was phenomenal, impressed by the crowd who had made such an effort to appear in white, impressed by the lighting, visuals & décor which for such a huge venue was fabulous, but we were well and truly in awe of the stage show. Words cannot describe how good it was, well actually they can so forgive our superlatives rendition but it was amazing, brilliant, epic, impressive, magnificent, powerful, scintillating & wonderful, a dancing delight of a display that we will remember for a long time. Hats off to Mark, Nik & the whole Fierce International crew for making La Leche live in our minds. Evolved events can be proud for having this team on board and for putting on yet another marvellous Matinee party. (DISCO MATT)
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