KONEKTED LAUNCH PARTY – SUNDAY 18TH OCTOBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Now, don’t we just love the launch of something new on a gAylist London scene that can sometimes be dominated by just a few large brands, you know them all, Matinee, SuperMartXe, Salvation & Beyond, often sidelining other events and even stifling new ventures. Add to that, the inevitability that clubbers are being a lot more choosy about where & when to spend their hard earned pink pounds and any new club launch can expect a rocky ride, unless it is one that truly captures the imagination. However looking across the scene, it is evident that Sunday night seems to be a little barren of offerings, especially a hard hitting club, so when news came through of the launch of “Konekted” we were very excited indeed.
So, why the name “Konekted”? And who was the brainchild behind this new club launch? Well, the idea with the name is a twist on the word connected (no surprise there) but the whole ethos is (as it say’s on the box) to connect a wide range of people, through a variety of music styles across three rooms of fun, giving the clubber a genuinely distinct choice. Then, looking at the man behind it all, well it is Wayne Shires of course, someone that has been doing just that for all of his clubbing promotional career with great effect, you only have to look at the huge success of the phenomenon that was Crash, which effectively revolutionised the clubbing landscape, not just in Vauxhall, but across London, spurning what is today, one of the U.K’s best afterhours club, Beyond. Add to that his involvement with outside event Summer Rites, which gelled the entire top clubbing brands into one massive party and you can see why “Konekted” is a natural of his, as has been Guru Guru, which in itself has caused, or at least been part of, the new wave of clubbing out in Shoreditch.
Naturally, being a working gal, going out late on a Sunday into Monday morning tends now to be reserved only for special occasions, or more obviously on Bank Holidays (and we have had some special parties to savour this year for sure), but “Konekted” was on such special occasion we couldn’t miss out on, so made plans well in advance to attend, our friend and clubbing pal Joel also organising his life to make sure he could be there with us. With warm up drinks in Rupert Street over, we, along with Joel & D.J. Alessandro (& posse) made a speedy chase down to London Bridge arriving at Cable’s doors at not long after 11 p.m., our entrance into the club managed very efficiently by the friendly door staff, who directed us through to the reception area where we dropped off our belongings before entering the club itself, through what we discovered is the regular passage way into this amazing venue, albeit a different route to our previous Matinee visits.
Finding ourselves in Room 3 (or was it Room 1? -the room numbers we have to say are quite confusing!) well the one with the V.I.P. area anyway, there were a smattering of people wandering through, although the music was set to kick off here, so we headed into the Bar room, where the unmistakable face & features of Tasty Tim were behind the D.J. decks, already churning out trademark “tasty” sounds to a respectable crowd of hopefuls, scene faces & off duty D.J.’s, who, like us, has come down to see what “Konekted” was all about. Naturally the figure of Wayne Shires caught our eye immediately and with Joel off to powder his nose, Wayne bounded up giving us a gripping hug and then introducing us to “the boys”, Tom Stephan & Antoine 909, both looking just as gorge as we remember them from Crash days of old, feeling equally at home in this new setting at Cable, which we have to say is without doubt THE most spectacular new venue we have seen in a long time, the bar room especially having an amazing atmosphere, feel & presence, mixing socialising & dancing to perfection.
With Joel, back, we charged our glasses, courtesy of complimentary drinks vouchers (we love that) and were then pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Nick Tcherniak & boyf Tom, whom we had not expected to see, but nevertheless were very pleased to do so. Now Mr Nick can sometimes spell disaster for our sensibility, being responsible in the recent past (along with another well known D.J. pal of ours) for leading us well and truly astray (not that we need help, moreover someone to blame!), not only with amazing & top notch music, but then adding to an exuberant evening of partying excess leaving us with a sore head the following day. But in the case of “Konekted” we didn’t need much encouragement as Joel was already concocting some wicked drinks combo’s to add a real kick to the evening as we caught up on news with Nick & Tom, with more & more people beginning to arrive as we did so, some spilling into the main room in anticipation of Pagano’s set, others heading off into Room 3 (we think we have got the number right!!) to savour the underground house & hard hitting hits that Tom Stephan was delivering.
We decided to continue our frivolous antics in the Bar room for a while, enjoying the company of Joel, Nick & Tom, then greeting the likes of Stevie B, then Pagano himself, who was now actually speaking to us after the cold shoulder treatment at Trade’s Birthday party (well she is Sicilian after all!!), we also spotting Big Brother winner Pete, who was hosting the evening in his unique style. With Alessandro popping in to check on our activity, we felt very comfortable in our surroundings, with a whole collection of special people around, still delighting in the musical machinations of Tasty Tim and hopeful of even better music to come. But, we wanted to add some fuel to our party fire and in the hands of Joel we can never be disappointed on that front, so indulged (as you do) lifting our already excitable mood to dizzy heights, spelling a trip into the main room, where Pagano had started his set. With the smoke effects & the lasers doing the talking and Pagano stirring up some sordid sounds from his hard hitting collection of deep tech infused house, shutting our eyes for a moment, we could have been standing in a Matinee party, but it was “Konekted” we were at, not that the production deluded so, although in reality it didn’t really need to, as the music & the people were speaking plenty of volumes alone.
By now the critical mass of scene faces, party lovers & clubbing extroverts were holding their own, although it was fair to say the venue was far from full, but Pagano soldiered on, eventually handing over to the lovely Paul Heron, fresh from his exploits in Oz, who injected his own enthusiasm into the night, but not before coming over and saying his hello’s, embracing us in Industri style tradition (bless him!). But then talking of enthusiasm, with the cocktail of consumptions we had taken with our friend Joel, they began to take their toll and in an unnerving case of de-ja-vous we had to console our clubbing pal out in the Bar room for a good while, although fortunately not ending up as it did for us at Salvation back in May. Mind you it did take an edge off the evening, but then he is our friend and we certainly weren’t going to dessert him in his hour of need and the night was soon back on track as we gathered momentum for one final last piece of “Koneckted” indulgement in the hands of Paul Heron in the main room, finding ourselves gyrating with Wayne Shires, Joel & even Pagano, who had stayed on to show his support.
But, with night turning into morning and Joel craving for some fresh air, it was time to say our farewells, catching a last minute chat with Wayne, before heading off in the London Bridge dawn, contemplating whether to continue our clubbing exploits across in Vauxhall, or head home to rest our now weary legs & reflect on a “Konketed” party that certainly connected, certainly made a statement and was certainly a bundle of fun, although not before navigating our friend Joel in the direction of Orange, who was by now in a boisterous & naughty mood.
So, what did we think of “Konekted”? Did it work for us? And will it survive to fight another day? Well, there was no doubt that it had all the right ingredients to make it one very special club event and with a D.J. line up including Tasty Tim, Tom Stephan, Antoine 909, Paul Heron & Pagano, musically, you couldn’t have asked for more. We were lucky that we had a whole bunch of familiar faces around us, especially Nick & Tom who are always great fun to be with and two people we can call real friends. Then, of course there was Joel, and never a dull day with our clubbing pal, although in reflection we wouldn’t have changed a thing about that part of our night. For those reasons alone, “Konekted” worked for us, but the turnout was quite low, begging the question, is the Sunday clubbing market dead & buried? Well, we think not, but it may take perseverance & effort to ensure that any venture in this now tricky timeslot will work. Whether “Konekted” it one such event, only time will tell, but we had a fab time and that’s all that counts in our books and all we can say is, Wayne, keep up the good work! (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
Now, don’t we just love the launch of something new on a gAylist London scene that can sometimes be dominated by just a few large brands, you know them all, Matinee, SuperMartXe, Salvation & Beyond, often sidelining other events and even stifling new ventures. Add to that, the inevitability that clubbers are being a lot more choosy about where & when to spend their hard earned pink pounds and any new club launch can expect a rocky ride, unless it is one that truly captures the imagination. However looking across the scene, it is evident that Sunday night seems to be a little barren of offerings, especially a hard hitting club, so when news came through of the launch of “Konekted” we were very excited indeed.
So, why the name “Konekted”? And who was the brainchild behind this new club launch? Well, the idea with the name is a twist on the word connected (no surprise there) but the whole ethos is (as it say’s on the box) to connect a wide range of people, through a variety of music styles across three rooms of fun, giving the clubber a genuinely distinct choice. Then, looking at the man behind it all, well it is Wayne Shires of course, someone that has been doing just that for all of his clubbing promotional career with great effect, you only have to look at the huge success of the phenomenon that was Crash, which effectively revolutionised the clubbing landscape, not just in Vauxhall, but across London, spurning what is today, one of the U.K’s best afterhours club, Beyond. Add to that his involvement with outside event Summer Rites, which gelled the entire top clubbing brands into one massive party and you can see why “Konekted” is a natural of his, as has been Guru Guru, which in itself has caused, or at least been part of, the new wave of clubbing out in Shoreditch.
Naturally, being a working gal, going out late on a Sunday into Monday morning tends now to be reserved only for special occasions, or more obviously on Bank Holidays (and we have had some special parties to savour this year for sure), but “Konekted” was on such special occasion we couldn’t miss out on, so made plans well in advance to attend, our friend and clubbing pal Joel also organising his life to make sure he could be there with us. With warm up drinks in Rupert Street over, we, along with Joel & D.J. Alessandro (& posse) made a speedy chase down to London Bridge arriving at Cable’s doors at not long after 11 p.m., our entrance into the club managed very efficiently by the friendly door staff, who directed us through to the reception area where we dropped off our belongings before entering the club itself, through what we discovered is the regular passage way into this amazing venue, albeit a different route to our previous Matinee visits.
Finding ourselves in Room 3 (or was it Room 1? -the room numbers we have to say are quite confusing!) well the one with the V.I.P. area anyway, there were a smattering of people wandering through, although the music was set to kick off here, so we headed into the Bar room, where the unmistakable face & features of Tasty Tim were behind the D.J. decks, already churning out trademark “tasty” sounds to a respectable crowd of hopefuls, scene faces & off duty D.J.’s, who, like us, has come down to see what “Konekted” was all about. Naturally the figure of Wayne Shires caught our eye immediately and with Joel off to powder his nose, Wayne bounded up giving us a gripping hug and then introducing us to “the boys”, Tom Stephan & Antoine 909, both looking just as gorge as we remember them from Crash days of old, feeling equally at home in this new setting at Cable, which we have to say is without doubt THE most spectacular new venue we have seen in a long time, the bar room especially having an amazing atmosphere, feel & presence, mixing socialising & dancing to perfection.
With Joel, back, we charged our glasses, courtesy of complimentary drinks vouchers (we love that) and were then pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Nick Tcherniak & boyf Tom, whom we had not expected to see, but nevertheless were very pleased to do so. Now Mr Nick can sometimes spell disaster for our sensibility, being responsible in the recent past (along with another well known D.J. pal of ours) for leading us well and truly astray (not that we need help, moreover someone to blame!), not only with amazing & top notch music, but then adding to an exuberant evening of partying excess leaving us with a sore head the following day. But in the case of “Konekted” we didn’t need much encouragement as Joel was already concocting some wicked drinks combo’s to add a real kick to the evening as we caught up on news with Nick & Tom, with more & more people beginning to arrive as we did so, some spilling into the main room in anticipation of Pagano’s set, others heading off into Room 3 (we think we have got the number right!!) to savour the underground house & hard hitting hits that Tom Stephan was delivering.
We decided to continue our frivolous antics in the Bar room for a while, enjoying the company of Joel, Nick & Tom, then greeting the likes of Stevie B, then Pagano himself, who was now actually speaking to us after the cold shoulder treatment at Trade’s Birthday party (well she is Sicilian after all!!), we also spotting Big Brother winner Pete, who was hosting the evening in his unique style. With Alessandro popping in to check on our activity, we felt very comfortable in our surroundings, with a whole collection of special people around, still delighting in the musical machinations of Tasty Tim and hopeful of even better music to come. But, we wanted to add some fuel to our party fire and in the hands of Joel we can never be disappointed on that front, so indulged (as you do) lifting our already excitable mood to dizzy heights, spelling a trip into the main room, where Pagano had started his set. With the smoke effects & the lasers doing the talking and Pagano stirring up some sordid sounds from his hard hitting collection of deep tech infused house, shutting our eyes for a moment, we could have been standing in a Matinee party, but it was “Konekted” we were at, not that the production deluded so, although in reality it didn’t really need to, as the music & the people were speaking plenty of volumes alone.
By now the critical mass of scene faces, party lovers & clubbing extroverts were holding their own, although it was fair to say the venue was far from full, but Pagano soldiered on, eventually handing over to the lovely Paul Heron, fresh from his exploits in Oz, who injected his own enthusiasm into the night, but not before coming over and saying his hello’s, embracing us in Industri style tradition (bless him!). But then talking of enthusiasm, with the cocktail of consumptions we had taken with our friend Joel, they began to take their toll and in an unnerving case of de-ja-vous we had to console our clubbing pal out in the Bar room for a good while, although fortunately not ending up as it did for us at Salvation back in May. Mind you it did take an edge off the evening, but then he is our friend and we certainly weren’t going to dessert him in his hour of need and the night was soon back on track as we gathered momentum for one final last piece of “Koneckted” indulgement in the hands of Paul Heron in the main room, finding ourselves gyrating with Wayne Shires, Joel & even Pagano, who had stayed on to show his support.
But, with night turning into morning and Joel craving for some fresh air, it was time to say our farewells, catching a last minute chat with Wayne, before heading off in the London Bridge dawn, contemplating whether to continue our clubbing exploits across in Vauxhall, or head home to rest our now weary legs & reflect on a “Konketed” party that certainly connected, certainly made a statement and was certainly a bundle of fun, although not before navigating our friend Joel in the direction of Orange, who was by now in a boisterous & naughty mood.
So, what did we think of “Konekted”? Did it work for us? And will it survive to fight another day? Well, there was no doubt that it had all the right ingredients to make it one very special club event and with a D.J. line up including Tasty Tim, Tom Stephan, Antoine 909, Paul Heron & Pagano, musically, you couldn’t have asked for more. We were lucky that we had a whole bunch of familiar faces around us, especially Nick & Tom who are always great fun to be with and two people we can call real friends. Then, of course there was Joel, and never a dull day with our clubbing pal, although in reflection we wouldn’t have changed a thing about that part of our night. For those reasons alone, “Konekted” worked for us, but the turnout was quite low, begging the question, is the Sunday clubbing market dead & buried? Well, we think not, but it may take perseverance & effort to ensure that any venture in this now tricky timeslot will work. Whether “Konekted” it one such event, only time will tell, but we had a fab time and that’s all that counts in our books and all we can say is, Wayne, keep up the good work! (DISCO MATT)
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