MATINEE “EVOLUTION, REVOLUTION” – SATURDAY 25TH JULY
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
With 2009 already proving a difficult year for many clubs in gAYlist/land London, the need to keeps things fresh and excite the offering seems to have become more paramount than ever before. So it came as no surprise to find that one of our most favourite of club brands was certainly ringing the changes with not only a shake up & strengthening of its D.J. line up, but with a re-think around the entertainment & production of its events. However, the biggest news of all was the change of venue, away from the clutches of Colosseum in Vauxhall to uber new club Cable in London Bridge, which signalled the biggest news to hit the scene this year, all meaning that we certainly were not going to miss this latest instalment of Matinee, heralding a real step change it’s is history in London.
So, with plans made well in advance, we made our way to London Bridge, and it was just a short walk down roads familiar to us, which lead us to the entrance to Cable and Matinee’s new home at not long after midnight, where a healthy queue of hopefuls had already built up, efficiently managed by the marvellous Minty who was looking her usual gorgeous self. We were also pleased to see the return of Marky B, whom we had seen just a couple of weeks previously on one of his whistle-stop London breaks (the man is very busy you know) and he bounded up to us, giving us a huge hug & kiss and immediately ticking us off his very extensive list. Main Evolved Events man Oliver Mohns was also present, checking on proceedings and it wasn’t long before partner Robb also appeared to usher us into the club, although not before we had said our hello’s to Pier Morrocco, who had arrived, hunky Russian boyfriend in tow, to play his part in this exciting new direction for Matinee.
With Robb by our side, we were very efficiently and courteously managed through the entrance by the very friendly and relaxed security and with no wait at all soon found ourselves past the welcoming foyer area and into the club itself. Robb was ready to give us a guided tour, but having already seen the club before, we let him go to sort some pressing issues out, and headed into the main room (called room 2!!) where a smattering of party goers had gathered to lap up proceedings. We immediately noticed the huge screen at the far end of the room, displaying Matinee visuals to compliment the superb signage hanging from the ceiling and with the modernistic decor, it really had a great feeling. Looking over to the D.J. booth we spotted Guy Williams, making a welcome return to the fold, although he was struggling somewhat with a less than perfect sound, but as frustrating as it was to him, he stayed professional as always as the crowd began to build nicely,realising this was the main space.
We were keen to explore the rest of the club, so moving into the middle room (called room 1!!...yes its confusing we know), we immediately stopped in our tracks as the space was packed with a pusalating crowd of lovely Latino’s, muscle queens, scene stars, beautiful boys & glorious girls, even with a splashing of a drag queen or two, clearly tuning into the far more funkier house sounds been pumped out by Matinee newbie & guest D.J. Stevie B, who clearly had the lions share of the bunch. Mind you, with a massive bar stretched across one side of the room, then a sweeping staircase on the other, leading to a bountiful balcony with sumptuous seating, where you could relax or oversee the antics below, this space leading to the toilets which we have to say were pretty extensive, albeit very hot!, it was no surprise people had chosen this space over the main room, Stevie benefiting from much better sound.
But there was more, as we continued our self driven tour around Cable and we made it into room 3 where Jon Dennis was in charge of the decks, he having also attracted an equally good looking and considerable crowd, who were lapping up the slightly tougher sounds more akin the labelled “London Underground” sound we were expecting from this space. Wondering into the VIP area, we grabbed some refreshments and decided to check on the outside area quickly, walking past the massive coatcheck area where a lengthy queue had developed, despite the state of the art fingerprinting system, which had left a few a little wary. Not wanting to linger in the outside space, we made our way back in finding Robb to alert him the coatcheck issues and then headed back into the main room and it wasn’t long before we found our stride, soaking up the superb sounds that Mr Williams was stringing together, tough tech house in the euro style, but unmistakably the trademark style of this most talented of D.J’s.
With the room getting busier & busier as well as familiar faces appearing, one after the other, including none other than Stewart Who, arriving to prepare for his fabulous P.A. performance of his “Back to The Future” track collaboration, as well as a new tech version of “Twisted”, we said our hellos and then went wandering again, sliding into room 2/the middle room…whatever!! where we found Industri pals Stephen & Chris, although the space was so crammed & hot, with Fat Tony (yes you heard right) now spinning the tunes, clearly a very popular D.J. choice with the crowd & a fantastic addition to an already strong line up. So, to escape the heat we headed to room 3 again, but were stopped in our tracks first by pal Cliff Jackson with new beau and then by Jon Dennis, whom we had not yet been afforded an introduction. We paused for a while, chatting away with Jon and comparing views on the new venue & home for Matinee, a clear winner in Jon’s & indeed everyone’s views we had spoken to thus far, head & shoulders above Colosseum.
By now the club was pulsating and Room 3, where we now found ourselves in was well & truly kicking to the scintillating sounds of Pier Morrocco, so we were spoilt for choice, with quality music playing out from all three spaces. So good was the offering, that we found it difficult to settle in one spot, the next couple of hours signalling hop, skipping & jumping between the three rooms, the main space, savour the Fabulous Fierce International Dancers displays, followed by Stewart Who’s powerful performance, to Room two where Fat Tony was just amazing with his magical music mixes & even into Room 3, where Alessandro had taken over from Pier Morrocco and was laying down some serious sounds, very much the quality we have come to expect from this talent and, for a while in his set, the best of any we were enjoying. But we really wanted to be in the main room & it was only when Paul Heron took over from Matinee Spanish resident Enrico Argentini, whose performance for us was pretty average, nothing spectacular, that we decided to settle on this space for the rest our stay. Paul’s prolific pick of tracks had us mesmerised on our spot next the D.J. booth & with Bubbles still managing the lighting, exploding pyrotechnics and CO2 cannons, the atmosphere was electric and everything as good as we have seen anywhere, SuperMartXe & Beyond included!!
The excitement & enthrawlment of the main room in the hands of Paul was a real highlight for us and we were hoping this would continue as Brent Nicholls took over, playing his first main room set at Matinee yet (well derserved in our view), but sadly for him, ther crowd was already thinning as we were now into the the last couple of hours of Matinee and past that 6 a.m. timeslot that’s sees many disappear for afterhours clubbing pastures new. Mind you, with Saki now in charge of room 2, this space was still rocking, which had definitely caught the imagination and whilst we decided to soon retire as our energy levels had sapped, Saki played out right through to 8 a.m. keeping the amazing vibe in room 2 well & truly alive.
So, what was our verdict on Matinee at Cable? Well, there is no doubt in our mind that the move was exactly yhe right thing to do. The injection of freshness was exactly what Matinee needed, the addition of Stevie B and Fat Tony to the D.J. line up a real step change and the venue most definately the best home we have seen this clubbing big shot in yet. Yes, there were some teathing problems, in some ways more expected than a surprise, but overall, the night was a huge sucess, atrracting one of the best looking crowds we have seen at Matinee for a long long time.
The break away from Vauxhall was going to be a tricky one, although for us the benefits far outweight the drawbacks. Colosseum as a venue seems to have stood still and with other clubs, including Megawoof, finding pastures new, we are convinced Oliver Mohns & The Evolved Evenets team have made the right decision to move things forward and offer something new. With plans to keep the D.J. line up flexible across the three rooms, including a superb international influence for the next party, planned for the August Bank Holiday, not to mention further great P.A.'s & shows, we are sure Matinee has secured a firm future as the headlining & popular clubbing event on the gAylist London circuit it has always been. We will cetainly be back to Cable for the next instalment and suggest you make 29th August a definate date you your diaries too. (DISCO MATT)
