TRADE 19TH BIRTHDAY - “A FESTIVAL OF COLOURS”
SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
These days in gAylist London we are very lucky to have so many choices of clubs, with so much diversity, catering for all sorts of tastes and yet for all the fabulous clubbing experiences we enjoy now & have savoured in the past, there are only a few for which we can use the words, legendary, iconic, & classic, using as we do, these words very sparingly, thus reflecting the mere handful that deserve this right. Sadly, most of the clubs we refer to in this way are no more, having either been laid to rest, been superseded by other more popular brands or have run the course of their time. However, there is one club brand that will simply not be allowed to throw in the towel, give up the ghost or be consigned to the history books (well not yet anyway) and whenever the now occasional events arise, it attracts amazing attention & frenzied furore, especially when it comes to their birthday celebration.
So who are we talking about? Well Trade of course, the club that has formed a major part of our lives, the club that brought afterhours & decadent Sunday morning clubbing to the fore, the club that has recently been copied but never equalled and one that has made the biggest impact of any club we know. Even since the heady days of Turnmills, Trade continues to attract incredible interest whenever it plans an event and its more recent outings have proven just as much a success as in the past, whether it be at The Arches, where it celebrated 18 glorious years on the planet, at Fire collaborating with Orange and even over at The Egg, which has hosted some cracking Christmas day events. But the biggest news of late has been the joining of forces with another clubbing icon, Ministry Of Sound, which The Trade Collective are keen to make their permanent home, although its first outing was only modestly supported raising questions about the reputation of the venue. So, with its 19th birthday planned to go ahead at Ministry of Sound (what a mouthfull!?!), how would it far this time round? And would it live up to previous parties, especially the last birthday bash?
Well, leaving what simply became as a prelude the THE party of the year so far, we took the small few steps from the Coronet to find ourselves at the revised entrance for Trade at Ministry of Sound (we will hence refer to it as MOS, it’s much easier!) and what a better entrance it was, as with three separate queues to get in, we were handled not only efficiently but friendly by the staff who were clearly well versed in this sort of thing. So much so, we were in the club in a trice, which was already buzzing and brimming with a bucket load of serious clubbers, Trade babies of old and others that knew this was the place to be as Stevie T, got proceedings off to a rapturous start with some hard hitting, uplifting yet down & dirty house mixes that had the “Bar” room well & truly pumping right from the word go. The usual Trade visuals across three massive screens helped to encourage to vibe and we already knew we were in for another classic Trade birthday celebration.
Arming ourselves with refreshments, we sought to find the whereabouts of our friend & clubbing partner (no nothing else, dare you ask!) Joel, who had hinted on a 7 a.m. arrival, but with no sign of him and Miss Romano working us with her comments about SuperMartXe, we let our inhibitions go and really got into the feel of MOS, so much more than our last visit back in July, safe in the knowledge that the D.J. line up was stellar to say the least and the resultant sounds would be the best we had heard for ages. And they were, as Stevie B handed over to D.J. Jonny M, who took the sexy house filled sounds to extended heights, especially when he digged out some real classics which had us in mesmeric mood in an instant. Not that wan't plenty of action happening across the other four rooms (yes four and no, a fifth with the terrace now in full swing), so in tune Disco Matt fashion, we spread ourselves around (no Hard On innuendo’s please!), sampling a bit of Harry Lloyd in the Trade test lounge (great!), the massive combo of Nick Tcherniak & Steve (Janet to his friends) Thomas in the Box Room (brilliant!) and the gorge Gabriele Cutrano, who was seriously mashing it up out on the terrace (awesome!). What more of an amazing choicecould you ask for? and our allegiances were well and truly torn, as you can imagine.
Then, after many texts & phone calls, our pal Joel arrived, signalling a new step in our Trade birthday extravaganza and just in time for the legendary Sharp Boys, who grabbed the Bar Room by the balls, shook them & delivered what can only be described as the set of the night (well morning by now), track after track sending us wild, resulting in us playing with our braces (our new look) and showing off our dancing skills (we have been told we cut a stride on the dancefloor) for a virtually uninterrupted two hours (well apart from a sniff here, a blow there & a suck..don’t start!). It was so good that we missed out on our mega fave D.J. star Pagano, who was ripping up the Box room with some serious sounds, and was he upset that we missed out or what?!? giving us a earful when he finished, but we will be there next time bello!!
Now Trade at MOS was into full swing and so comfortable with it, maybe not quite the decadent feel of Turnmills, not the raunchy & sweaty mass of The Arches, but this was turning out to be a brilliant party to remember and never to forget, as we traded moves on the floor with Joel, who hardly strayed from our side (apart from the usual excuses) and when Fat Tony took to the decks, we knew we would stay the distance, even if we had been out for nearly 24 hours (yes we know, dirty stop out you say!?) but we were feeling great and with energy in our legs that would prove to last a whole lot longer. By now the atmosphere was incredible and akin to the heady days of Turnmills, so there was only two things that would elevate it more, dancers & Laurence, so did it happen? Well what do you think?
Of course it did, as in a rapturous welcome a whole parade of stunning, gorgeous, extrovert and splendid bodies of boys & girls took to the bar, yes the bar in the bar room, some covered in florescent paint in perfect symmetry, others outrageously dressed, but all of them befitting the theme of a “Festival Of Colours”, giving a new dimension to Trade parties we have not seen before and all courtesy of Mark M Forns Fierce International crew who looked the best we have ever seen them, not the Matinee pretty boy style, but hard hitting & so appropriate to the Trade ethos (that man is so clever & good at what he does), whispers coming through that the Box Room was also full of equally amazing dancers (how does he do it?). That signalled the gay paparazzi to come out & click, especially that naughty boy Chris Jepson, who was clearly revelling in it all (where was my pic mister?!?) being just another magical ingredient to that massive hash cake of an experience.
But it didn’t stop there, as Pete Wardman then decided to play out a historic set, evoking Trade Turmills days off old, sticking us to a spot (well as massive space) in the Box Room, sinking into the supersonic tempo which many were struggling to keep up with, especially our friend Joel, who eventually dragged us off into the Bar Room, then the Terrace & back again, while we contemplated whether we would make it until the 4 p.m. (yes you heard us right) finish. But we made it, we are proud to say, with the superb vocals of Tonnic ending our escapades as the curtain was drawn on yet another classic Trade party, Joel dragging us to Vauxhall for further clubbing excitement.
So, if you are, for some reason, in any doubt about what we thought about or experience of Trade’s 19th birthday celebration, let us make it very clear!!, this was, for us, the party top end all parties. Firstly, there is something truly magical about anything connected to Trade for us, they have looked after us & formed so much of our life as we have said & the whole set up is head & shoulders above any other club. Then you look at the D.J. line up and performances meaning there is no other club where you can be sooo spoilt for choice as you were tonight (this morning) at MOS. Every D.J. performed superbly, played their part and made this a memorable event that still lives in our minds as we sahare our experience with you. Plus, no problems with G heads, gutter trash, hideous reprobates and everything that haunts other afterhour’s ventures, it was quality clubbing excellence at its best crowd and an event that we have enjoyed over any for such a long time.
Trade, with all its history has gone boldly where many clubs have feared to tread, but in doing so remains cutting edge, evolutionary, all encompassing and in step with what its customers, admirers, enthusiasts & devotees. Moving to MOS was always going to be a difficult one, the London Pride party proved that, but the 19th birthday celebration has cemented the venue as a place where true Trade babies feel comfortable and we are sure that with everyone talking about this event, that the take up next time will be mega. When the next time is remains debatable, but given this amazing, fantastic, incredible, magnificent, superb & wicked outing, we will not be missing out, moreover being in the very front of the ticket queue for the next one and so should you. (DISCO MATT)
SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
These days in gAylist London we are very lucky to have so many choices of clubs, with so much diversity, catering for all sorts of tastes and yet for all the fabulous clubbing experiences we enjoy now & have savoured in the past, there are only a few for which we can use the words, legendary, iconic, & classic, using as we do, these words very sparingly, thus reflecting the mere handful that deserve this right. Sadly, most of the clubs we refer to in this way are no more, having either been laid to rest, been superseded by other more popular brands or have run the course of their time. However, there is one club brand that will simply not be allowed to throw in the towel, give up the ghost or be consigned to the history books (well not yet anyway) and whenever the now occasional events arise, it attracts amazing attention & frenzied furore, especially when it comes to their birthday celebration.
So who are we talking about? Well Trade of course, the club that has formed a major part of our lives, the club that brought afterhours & decadent Sunday morning clubbing to the fore, the club that has recently been copied but never equalled and one that has made the biggest impact of any club we know. Even since the heady days of Turnmills, Trade continues to attract incredible interest whenever it plans an event and its more recent outings have proven just as much a success as in the past, whether it be at The Arches, where it celebrated 18 glorious years on the planet, at Fire collaborating with Orange and even over at The Egg, which has hosted some cracking Christmas day events. But the biggest news of late has been the joining of forces with another clubbing icon, Ministry Of Sound, which The Trade Collective are keen to make their permanent home, although its first outing was only modestly supported raising questions about the reputation of the venue. So, with its 19th birthday planned to go ahead at Ministry of Sound (what a mouthfull!?!), how would it far this time round? And would it live up to previous parties, especially the last birthday bash?
Well, leaving what simply became as a prelude the THE party of the year so far, we took the small few steps from the Coronet to find ourselves at the revised entrance for Trade at Ministry of Sound (we will hence refer to it as MOS, it’s much easier!) and what a better entrance it was, as with three separate queues to get in, we were handled not only efficiently but friendly by the staff who were clearly well versed in this sort of thing. So much so, we were in the club in a trice, which was already buzzing and brimming with a bucket load of serious clubbers, Trade babies of old and others that knew this was the place to be as Stevie T, got proceedings off to a rapturous start with some hard hitting, uplifting yet down & dirty house mixes that had the “Bar” room well & truly pumping right from the word go. The usual Trade visuals across three massive screens helped to encourage to vibe and we already knew we were in for another classic Trade birthday celebration.
Arming ourselves with refreshments, we sought to find the whereabouts of our friend & clubbing partner (no nothing else, dare you ask!) Joel, who had hinted on a 7 a.m. arrival, but with no sign of him and Miss Romano working us with her comments about SuperMartXe, we let our inhibitions go and really got into the feel of MOS, so much more than our last visit back in July, safe in the knowledge that the D.J. line up was stellar to say the least and the resultant sounds would be the best we had heard for ages. And they were, as Stevie B handed over to D.J. Jonny M, who took the sexy house filled sounds to extended heights, especially when he digged out some real classics which had us in mesmeric mood in an instant. Not that wan't plenty of action happening across the other four rooms (yes four and no, a fifth with the terrace now in full swing), so in tune Disco Matt fashion, we spread ourselves around (no Hard On innuendo’s please!), sampling a bit of Harry Lloyd in the Trade test lounge (great!), the massive combo of Nick Tcherniak & Steve (Janet to his friends) Thomas in the Box Room (brilliant!) and the gorge Gabriele Cutrano, who was seriously mashing it up out on the terrace (awesome!). What more of an amazing choicecould you ask for? and our allegiances were well and truly torn, as you can imagine.
Then, after many texts & phone calls, our pal Joel arrived, signalling a new step in our Trade birthday extravaganza and just in time for the legendary Sharp Boys, who grabbed the Bar Room by the balls, shook them & delivered what can only be described as the set of the night (well morning by now), track after track sending us wild, resulting in us playing with our braces (our new look) and showing off our dancing skills (we have been told we cut a stride on the dancefloor) for a virtually uninterrupted two hours (well apart from a sniff here, a blow there & a suck..don’t start!). It was so good that we missed out on our mega fave D.J. star Pagano, who was ripping up the Box room with some serious sounds, and was he upset that we missed out or what?!? giving us a earful when he finished, but we will be there next time bello!!
Now Trade at MOS was into full swing and so comfortable with it, maybe not quite the decadent feel of Turnmills, not the raunchy & sweaty mass of The Arches, but this was turning out to be a brilliant party to remember and never to forget, as we traded moves on the floor with Joel, who hardly strayed from our side (apart from the usual excuses) and when Fat Tony took to the decks, we knew we would stay the distance, even if we had been out for nearly 24 hours (yes we know, dirty stop out you say!?) but we were feeling great and with energy in our legs that would prove to last a whole lot longer. By now the atmosphere was incredible and akin to the heady days of Turnmills, so there was only two things that would elevate it more, dancers & Laurence, so did it happen? Well what do you think?
Of course it did, as in a rapturous welcome a whole parade of stunning, gorgeous, extrovert and splendid bodies of boys & girls took to the bar, yes the bar in the bar room, some covered in florescent paint in perfect symmetry, others outrageously dressed, but all of them befitting the theme of a “Festival Of Colours”, giving a new dimension to Trade parties we have not seen before and all courtesy of Mark M Forns Fierce International crew who looked the best we have ever seen them, not the Matinee pretty boy style, but hard hitting & so appropriate to the Trade ethos (that man is so clever & good at what he does), whispers coming through that the Box Room was also full of equally amazing dancers (how does he do it?). That signalled the gay paparazzi to come out & click, especially that naughty boy Chris Jepson, who was clearly revelling in it all (where was my pic mister?!?) being just another magical ingredient to that massive hash cake of an experience.
But it didn’t stop there, as Pete Wardman then decided to play out a historic set, evoking Trade Turmills days off old, sticking us to a spot (well as massive space) in the Box Room, sinking into the supersonic tempo which many were struggling to keep up with, especially our friend Joel, who eventually dragged us off into the Bar Room, then the Terrace & back again, while we contemplated whether we would make it until the 4 p.m. (yes you heard us right) finish. But we made it, we are proud to say, with the superb vocals of Tonnic ending our escapades as the curtain was drawn on yet another classic Trade party, Joel dragging us to Vauxhall for further clubbing excitement.
So, if you are, for some reason, in any doubt about what we thought about or experience of Trade’s 19th birthday celebration, let us make it very clear!!, this was, for us, the party top end all parties. Firstly, there is something truly magical about anything connected to Trade for us, they have looked after us & formed so much of our life as we have said & the whole set up is head & shoulders above any other club. Then you look at the D.J. line up and performances meaning there is no other club where you can be sooo spoilt for choice as you were tonight (this morning) at MOS. Every D.J. performed superbly, played their part and made this a memorable event that still lives in our minds as we sahare our experience with you. Plus, no problems with G heads, gutter trash, hideous reprobates and everything that haunts other afterhour’s ventures, it was quality clubbing excellence at its best crowd and an event that we have enjoyed over any for such a long time.
Trade, with all its history has gone boldly where many clubs have feared to tread, but in doing so remains cutting edge, evolutionary, all encompassing and in step with what its customers, admirers, enthusiasts & devotees. Moving to MOS was always going to be a difficult one, the London Pride party proved that, but the 19th birthday celebration has cemented the venue as a place where true Trade babies feel comfortable and we are sure that with everyone talking about this event, that the take up next time will be mega. When the next time is remains debatable, but given this amazing, fantastic, incredible, magnificent, superb & wicked outing, we will not be missing out, moreover being in the very front of the ticket queue for the next one and so should you. (DISCO MATT)
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