ORANGE SUMMER OF LOVE PT 3 THE RESSURECTION –
MONDAY 25TH MAY
REVIEW
Now history tells us that we love to be decidedly decadent, as over the years we have been bowled over by the brashness of Beyond, corrupted in the clasp of Crash & tantalised by the temptations of Trade, three iconic clubs that have formed a major clubbing life. However, there is another club, which, while not a weekly event in our calendar, has nevertheless been one of those outings which has continued to draw us in from time to time, exploiting everything hedonistic in our hearts and sinful in our souls, although in more recent times with Fire falling out of our favour, Orange has faded into the limelight.
However, with the sequence of Summer of Love parties, seeing Orange evolve into segments at Area, we were (it has to be said, purely by chance for part one) drawn into one of our most favoured club spaces of all time, a venue originally in the hands of fab promoter Wayne Shires, but now firmly controlled by the “All Things Orange” group (sharp intake of breath – no pun intended), although with the phrase ringing through our heads “its only a disco” and having had so many good parties in Area throughout its various incarnations, we simply couldn’t resist.
With a major party brewing in Barcode and Brent Nicholls stirring up a storm (in a musical way of course) in the front room, we didn’t really wanted to leave, although despite work commitments, our friend Joel seemed intent on throwing caution to the wind (a man after our own heart!) and as we were taking a moments respite outside, spotting Steven Sharp at Area’s door clutching a clipboard seemed the only prompt we needed to head round and into Summer of Love Part 3. Mind you, by now it was well turned 1 a.m. and with our free ticket entry down the drain (not another missing guestlist slot – how many more times?) we had to cough up the full price to gain entry, but then with a bucket load of booze on top of other pleasures inside us, the £18 charge seemed a small price to play to extend the happy mood well into Monday morning.
So we were in and dropping our bits off in the coatcheck upstairs, then headed into the embankment bar (that’s the one by the outside terrace for those of you uninitiated) which was alive with action, pulsating with people and with Terry Bryan behind the decks, churning out a succession of disco tipped dancefloor fillers, the atmosphere was at fever pitch. Looking around it was very much a typical Vauxhall like crowd (get our drift?), some that had probably been partying since Saturday night, but then with only a shortish break between SuperMartXe & Lovechild, we had been at it nearly as long although still raring to go (funny that), as Joel’s pal Jason, who was still part of the threesome (not like that naughty!) guided us through and into the second “RAW” room, where David Jiminez was playing out a much tougher trail of tunes, catering to a more select crowd of hardcore hedonists. Had it been Hi-Fi Sean, one of Joel’s & our more favoured D.J’s, we may well have stopped off, but it seemed we were main room bound.
And it was through the arched entrance and into the main space, where we found ourselves, squeezing into a slot close to the D.J. booth and spotting the other half of the Sharp Boy duo, George, behind the decks, his massive hands in the air commercial house music clearly going down with a packed dancefloor brimming with a colourful collection of Latino lovelies, muscle queens, club kids, party girls and a smattering of scene figures as well as some familiar faces. These included D.J. Mis-White (can we call her Emma here?) who seemed ever so grateful for our praiseworthy review of her set at Famous, then enquiring whether we would be at Salvation next weekend (well what do you think the answer to that one is?!), Jay Sharp Vokins who gave us a peck on the cheek, Paul Coles who had finished D.J.ing duties next door in Barcode, Lee Yeomans & partner Max Sanna in close quarters, Alessandro & mates getting up to no good, even Minty & her crew who seemed to be following us from club to club (or was it the other way around?).
But it was Joel that was receiving our attentions who was well and truly in the party mood, but then he was hardly dragging us kicking and screaming was he? as we were intent on making the most of this Bank Holiday Orange outing ourselves. With George Sharp giving way to The Oli behind the D.J. booth, who set about laying down a superb string of sounds much more akin to our funky, chunky, tech & latino infused house, the already electric atmosphere in the main room rose to stratospheric heights. But then with our clubbing companion deciding to go down the hedonist route & us following his lead, the night took a on a whole new meaning in more ways than one, as Joel & us, now stripped down to our waists, swapped main room dancing with outside terrace exploits, often squeezing past the packed second & third space, sometimes hand in had so as not to lose eachother in the crowd, intermixing everything with trips to refuel our fancies.
Mind you, as they always say, good things have to come to an end (why do they?) and with the hours seemingly passing away in a blink, it was 5 a.m. when Joel finally called it a day, heading home to sleep off his own excesses in advance of work later in the morning, leaving us alone (well not quite) to continue to soak up the overt Orange Summer of Love experience. With our clubbing pal departed, it didn’t quite feel the same for us, somehow as though a link was missing, although the party was far from over as scene legend Steve Pitron was now in charge in the main room and Hi-Fi Sean had arrived in room two to offer up some alternative audio audacities to Steve’s more mainstream musical mixes. Deciding between the two was a difficult choice so rather than doing so, we continued to trade trips between each of the two rooms, only occasionally venturing onto the terrace for respite, spotting buddy Benoit & friend, who had not long arrived from the Freemasons at XXL (we were uninvited – an in house joke).
With the planned P.A. of Peyton packing a real punch in the main room, we finally settled on our favourite spot right next to D.J. booth behind the podiums, bumping into yet more familiar faces, including D.J. Mikey D who had entertained us so well at our last Beyond outing, as well another clubbing companion Denival, who was nearly as excited to see us, as we were he. Then, with the P.A. over the man behind the decks, Steve, spotting us, waving and exchanging comments (we cannot repeat) bringing an instant smile to our faces, this sealed our fate as we saw out the rest of the evening soaking up his scintillating sounds and magical mixes virtually through until the 8 a.m. finish, when our excesses with Joel finally took their toll and we had to pave a weary route out of Area and home to shake off, what turned out to be our end to a weekend packed with partying.
So, what was our verdict on the second of our Summer of Love trips to Area? Well, it was certainly different to the first, not least that we were fully aware it was an Orange event, but also that the timings were different to the first , resulting in a very different vibe which didn’t quite evoke that true afterhours feeling we have come to enjoy and love at Area. However, it was certainly a popular choice of many, with all three rooms buzzing well past dawn and with some sparkling performances from Terry Bryan, Hi-Fi Sean, but especially Steve Pitron, once again it proved to us that music is definitely the answer.
But what really did make it for us? Yes the P.A. was terrific and the plethora of people we bumped into gave the party a wonderful feel, but it was our new found friend Joel who, despite work pressures and deciding to make the most of it all, involving us all along the way, really made it an extra special outing, giving us a mindblowingly ecstatic experience, taking us to places we hadn’t been in a good while & ensuring that this night will be one we certainly won’t forget for a very long time. What more can we say? (DISCO MATT)
MONDAY 25TH MAY
REVIEW
Now history tells us that we love to be decidedly decadent, as over the years we have been bowled over by the brashness of Beyond, corrupted in the clasp of Crash & tantalised by the temptations of Trade, three iconic clubs that have formed a major clubbing life. However, there is another club, which, while not a weekly event in our calendar, has nevertheless been one of those outings which has continued to draw us in from time to time, exploiting everything hedonistic in our hearts and sinful in our souls, although in more recent times with Fire falling out of our favour, Orange has faded into the limelight.
However, with the sequence of Summer of Love parties, seeing Orange evolve into segments at Area, we were (it has to be said, purely by chance for part one) drawn into one of our most favoured club spaces of all time, a venue originally in the hands of fab promoter Wayne Shires, but now firmly controlled by the “All Things Orange” group (sharp intake of breath – no pun intended), although with the phrase ringing through our heads “its only a disco” and having had so many good parties in Area throughout its various incarnations, we simply couldn’t resist.
With a major party brewing in Barcode and Brent Nicholls stirring up a storm (in a musical way of course) in the front room, we didn’t really wanted to leave, although despite work commitments, our friend Joel seemed intent on throwing caution to the wind (a man after our own heart!) and as we were taking a moments respite outside, spotting Steven Sharp at Area’s door clutching a clipboard seemed the only prompt we needed to head round and into Summer of Love Part 3. Mind you, by now it was well turned 1 a.m. and with our free ticket entry down the drain (not another missing guestlist slot – how many more times?) we had to cough up the full price to gain entry, but then with a bucket load of booze on top of other pleasures inside us, the £18 charge seemed a small price to play to extend the happy mood well into Monday morning.
So we were in and dropping our bits off in the coatcheck upstairs, then headed into the embankment bar (that’s the one by the outside terrace for those of you uninitiated) which was alive with action, pulsating with people and with Terry Bryan behind the decks, churning out a succession of disco tipped dancefloor fillers, the atmosphere was at fever pitch. Looking around it was very much a typical Vauxhall like crowd (get our drift?), some that had probably been partying since Saturday night, but then with only a shortish break between SuperMartXe & Lovechild, we had been at it nearly as long although still raring to go (funny that), as Joel’s pal Jason, who was still part of the threesome (not like that naughty!) guided us through and into the second “RAW” room, where David Jiminez was playing out a much tougher trail of tunes, catering to a more select crowd of hardcore hedonists. Had it been Hi-Fi Sean, one of Joel’s & our more favoured D.J’s, we may well have stopped off, but it seemed we were main room bound.
And it was through the arched entrance and into the main space, where we found ourselves, squeezing into a slot close to the D.J. booth and spotting the other half of the Sharp Boy duo, George, behind the decks, his massive hands in the air commercial house music clearly going down with a packed dancefloor brimming with a colourful collection of Latino lovelies, muscle queens, club kids, party girls and a smattering of scene figures as well as some familiar faces. These included D.J. Mis-White (can we call her Emma here?) who seemed ever so grateful for our praiseworthy review of her set at Famous, then enquiring whether we would be at Salvation next weekend (well what do you think the answer to that one is?!), Jay Sharp Vokins who gave us a peck on the cheek, Paul Coles who had finished D.J.ing duties next door in Barcode, Lee Yeomans & partner Max Sanna in close quarters, Alessandro & mates getting up to no good, even Minty & her crew who seemed to be following us from club to club (or was it the other way around?).
But it was Joel that was receiving our attentions who was well and truly in the party mood, but then he was hardly dragging us kicking and screaming was he? as we were intent on making the most of this Bank Holiday Orange outing ourselves. With George Sharp giving way to The Oli behind the D.J. booth, who set about laying down a superb string of sounds much more akin to our funky, chunky, tech & latino infused house, the already electric atmosphere in the main room rose to stratospheric heights. But then with our clubbing companion deciding to go down the hedonist route & us following his lead, the night took a on a whole new meaning in more ways than one, as Joel & us, now stripped down to our waists, swapped main room dancing with outside terrace exploits, often squeezing past the packed second & third space, sometimes hand in had so as not to lose eachother in the crowd, intermixing everything with trips to refuel our fancies.
Mind you, as they always say, good things have to come to an end (why do they?) and with the hours seemingly passing away in a blink, it was 5 a.m. when Joel finally called it a day, heading home to sleep off his own excesses in advance of work later in the morning, leaving us alone (well not quite) to continue to soak up the overt Orange Summer of Love experience. With our clubbing pal departed, it didn’t quite feel the same for us, somehow as though a link was missing, although the party was far from over as scene legend Steve Pitron was now in charge in the main room and Hi-Fi Sean had arrived in room two to offer up some alternative audio audacities to Steve’s more mainstream musical mixes. Deciding between the two was a difficult choice so rather than doing so, we continued to trade trips between each of the two rooms, only occasionally venturing onto the terrace for respite, spotting buddy Benoit & friend, who had not long arrived from the Freemasons at XXL (we were uninvited – an in house joke).
With the planned P.A. of Peyton packing a real punch in the main room, we finally settled on our favourite spot right next to D.J. booth behind the podiums, bumping into yet more familiar faces, including D.J. Mikey D who had entertained us so well at our last Beyond outing, as well another clubbing companion Denival, who was nearly as excited to see us, as we were he. Then, with the P.A. over the man behind the decks, Steve, spotting us, waving and exchanging comments (we cannot repeat) bringing an instant smile to our faces, this sealed our fate as we saw out the rest of the evening soaking up his scintillating sounds and magical mixes virtually through until the 8 a.m. finish, when our excesses with Joel finally took their toll and we had to pave a weary route out of Area and home to shake off, what turned out to be our end to a weekend packed with partying.
So, what was our verdict on the second of our Summer of Love trips to Area? Well, it was certainly different to the first, not least that we were fully aware it was an Orange event, but also that the timings were different to the first , resulting in a very different vibe which didn’t quite evoke that true afterhours feeling we have come to enjoy and love at Area. However, it was certainly a popular choice of many, with all three rooms buzzing well past dawn and with some sparkling performances from Terry Bryan, Hi-Fi Sean, but especially Steve Pitron, once again it proved to us that music is definitely the answer.
But what really did make it for us? Yes the P.A. was terrific and the plethora of people we bumped into gave the party a wonderful feel, but it was our new found friend Joel who, despite work pressures and deciding to make the most of it all, involving us all along the way, really made it an extra special outing, giving us a mindblowingly ecstatic experience, taking us to places we hadn’t been in a good while & ensuring that this night will be one we certainly won’t forget for a very long time. What more can we say? (DISCO MATT)
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