BEYOND – “JUST ANOTHER BIRTHDAY?” – SUNDAY 20TH DECEMBER
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
To reveal or not to reveal? That was the question that we were faced with as just another birthday was looming, although it wasn’t a particularly special date, a landmark anniversary, you know, the sort that would justify shouting it from the rooftops and then spilling the beans on our actual age, after all, our eternal youthful looks (don’t laugh!...well you can a bit) could certainly belie our years. But then we have always been upfront & honest about our age, so thought, what the hell, lets reveal all and then plan a sequence of celebratory events across the whole weekend. However, in doing so, we really wanted to devote the day itself, the 20th, to self indulgent pampering, shopping & then champagne, so had no intention of clubbing, well that was the plan anyway.
But you know what they say about plans? and what was supposed to be a leisurely Saturday night at Profile Bar & then Lo-Profile, hailing the start of our birthday proper in relative calm, ended up being quite a raucous affair with the champagne flowing much earlier than expected and then, rather than sauntering home from Soho, we found ourselves slung into the cut & thrust of an early Sunday morning in Vauxhall. As if Brent Nicholls’ magnificent music at Lo-Profile wasn’t enough, Nick Tcherniak whipped up a veritable storm of a set in BCV (that’s Barcode Vauxhall) to, once again, lead us astray, so before we knew it, 6 a.m. arrived & we found ourselves in the clutches of Beyond, not the plan for our birthday at all, but then were we complaining? no of course not!!
So, joining the queue, the guestlist queue mind, to get into Area, we were first joined by pals Jeremy Precelton & Tim Banham, who had done the sensible thing and come from home, not that they had been to bed, oh no, an all night party, turning into clubbing escapade to keep it all going. Then, we were surprised, not for the first time in 12 hours, to see Paul Heron arrive, with friends in tow , although with his elevated status was immediately whisked to the front of the queue (how rude!), although it wasn’t long before the fabulous Tom Fuller & the charming Naomi Cruz once again treated us like royalty, seeing us into the club right behind Mr D.J. Paul, passed the ever cautious security (they should be used to us now) and in through the entrance. With Tim & Jeremy right behind us, we headed for the coatcheck to deposit our bits & bobs and whilst the queue was already quite long, our wait was short lived and we were released to start yet another Sunday morning (the 4th in a row) at Area in the hands of Beyond.
With Jeremy kindly offering to buy us a birthday drink, we graciously accepted, although quite why we chose to fulfil our thirsty temptations with a “wings” based drink we are not sure, as after the indulgences in Lo-Profile & Barcode we were absolutely flying!! Anyway, it went down extremely well and set us on our way to explore the club proper, leaving Jeremy, Tim & co to their own devices. Wandering into the Terrace Bar, whilst there were a number of people milling around, it already had the feel of being one of those quieter Beyond’s, but in some ways we prefer it when there is plenty of room to dance & move around. Down in the Black Box room, Paul Christian was tempting the faithful with his deep & dirty beats and with the other rooms still gathering themselves for the morning ahead, he had the lion’s share of the crowd, many of whom already looked well into the groove.
Before we could draw further breath, the whole of the Rupert Street gang arrived, Oli, John, Remy, Sylvester, Brad & birthday boy Vlad, who had seemingly been following us around, not just at Lo-Profile, but the Barcode Vauxhall & now Beyond, but it was naturally more coincidence than anything else and anyway, what could be better than two birthday boys together, celebrating their special day’s. It was clear everyone in the group was feeling the strain of hours of partying, but were still up for more, both us & Vlad raising our glasses in toast of our anniversary’s, while Remy & Sylvester were off onto the dancefloor and Oli & John headed in the direction of the outside space to hook up with fellow Beyond buddies.
But the inevitable opening of the main room caused a surge of bodies into the space and, no surprise, as when we headed passed the D.J. booth, none other than Beyond god Steve Pitron was behind the decks, admittedly at an earlier slot than we are used to, but what a way to kick start the party and indeed re-charge our birthday celebrations. What happened over the next couple of hours was nothing short of stupendous as Steve set about playing some of our favourite uplifting yet hard hitting house tracks, which saw the dancefloor, literally swell with body’s right before our eyes. We cannot begin to describe our elated feelings and being right in the thick of our favourite club of now (possibly of all time) as looking around everything was wonderful and just as it should be with an afterhours club, the music magnificent, the lasers & lighting luxuriously luminescent, the production precision perfect & the atmosphere amazing. And we may have said this before, but it is clear Steve Pitron is in his element at Beyond, always seeming to play at his absolute best, this time round being no exception, in fact we may go as far to say his best of the year!
With Paul Heron in close attention to our dancing diva spot by the D.J. booth on the main floor, we were now going nowhere and all plans for a self indulgent birthday shopping & pampering were long gone from our minds, as prodigy Pitron gave way to the delectable Dower, as D.J. Mikey D took to the decks (all those D’s!!) and like his protégé before him, delivered a peach of a set, a little more harder edged, but nevertheless hitting our musical sweet spot with each & every track, leaving us dancing deliriously on our spot. As if he wasn’t doing enough, when he pulled out & played our track of the moment, Erik Morillo’s “Get Lifted”, we were more than lifted but sent into heavenly hedonism, working the dance space around us and competing moves with the gorgeous go-go’s that had ascended the podiums in front of us. Now, nothing was going to wedge us off & move us away from our position in the main room and when the amazing Alan K arrived, popping over the D.J. booth to say hello, we knew that our special day of celebrations wasn’t going to be just another birthday, but something to treasure & remember for a long time.
Taking a brief respite away from the action, we headed to the middle bar for some refreshments and bumped into Naomi Cruz, who kindly offered to oblige, seemingly eager for a review of the night, but that was already a given, not least for the kind hospitality we have received in recent visits, virtually unparalled with any club & making our visits all the more special for it. As good as the antics in the main room were, we had to take a little further respite, so swinging into the Terrace Bar, we caught The Sharp Boys who were toughing it out with an instinctively harder edged set, akin to many we have heard when they are at their best at Trade, but as much as we wanted to dance, our legs were beginning to fail us, so we headed back to our favourite space on the main dancefloor, to level out a little, bumping into plenty of familiar faces as we did, including High Stevenson, who wished us happy birthday & the remnants of the Rupert Street gang, just Oli & John still standing, the rest of the bunch having called it a day a while before. Then, as we found our spot, the one man that has led us into our Beyond bandwagon of weeks, nay moths, Jamie Head appeared, greeting us in usual friendly fashion and trading notes on a mere 7 days of activity since we had last seen him. We cannot begin to tell you how much it means to us to have this superb D.J. as a pal & every time we catch up with him, it makes our day, re-kindling so many memories of great times we have had with him in charge of the D.J. decks, not just here at Beyond but especially at Crash, when we first got to know the fella, fab!!
However, as great it was to catch up with Jamie, indeed with everyone we had at Beyond, with an eye on the time & with our champagne soiree later at Rupert Street in the back of our minds, the one sensible strand in our head tugged us away from, first the sounds of Mikey D (what another superb set he had played) and then the awesome Alan K who was yet again making our exit from this beautiful Beyond birthday bash of ours defyingly difficult. Indeed, we attempted to grab our coat four times, on each trip changing our minds at the last minute, heading back into the main space to dance more. However, with a foot firmly down (well as firm as we could manage), we took our leave of Area, heading home to recuperate& take stock before our next audacious outing of the day.
Well, it goes without saying that this was yet another bountifully brilliant Beyond, yes a quieter affair than our visits in the last three weeks, but better for it. Our recent favoured spot in The Terrace Bar hardly got a look in this time, but that was no surprise as the performances of Steve Pitron & Mikey D were outstanding to say the least. Looking back & reflecting as we often do, these two have given us hours of pleasurable enjoyment, have treated us to some magnificent music, some scintillating sets and once again they proved to be the stars of the show, for us cementing Beyond in its position as our favourite club of 2009 (oops, the secret is out!). And with these two darling D.J’s going back to back for Beyond’s New Years Day party, there will be much dilemma in “Disco Matt land” as to where we will be, helicopter anyone? (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
To reveal or not to reveal? That was the question that we were faced with as just another birthday was looming, although it wasn’t a particularly special date, a landmark anniversary, you know, the sort that would justify shouting it from the rooftops and then spilling the beans on our actual age, after all, our eternal youthful looks (don’t laugh!...well you can a bit) could certainly belie our years. But then we have always been upfront & honest about our age, so thought, what the hell, lets reveal all and then plan a sequence of celebratory events across the whole weekend. However, in doing so, we really wanted to devote the day itself, the 20th, to self indulgent pampering, shopping & then champagne, so had no intention of clubbing, well that was the plan anyway.
But you know what they say about plans? and what was supposed to be a leisurely Saturday night at Profile Bar & then Lo-Profile, hailing the start of our birthday proper in relative calm, ended up being quite a raucous affair with the champagne flowing much earlier than expected and then, rather than sauntering home from Soho, we found ourselves slung into the cut & thrust of an early Sunday morning in Vauxhall. As if Brent Nicholls’ magnificent music at Lo-Profile wasn’t enough, Nick Tcherniak whipped up a veritable storm of a set in BCV (that’s Barcode Vauxhall) to, once again, lead us astray, so before we knew it, 6 a.m. arrived & we found ourselves in the clutches of Beyond, not the plan for our birthday at all, but then were we complaining? no of course not!!
So, joining the queue, the guestlist queue mind, to get into Area, we were first joined by pals Jeremy Precelton & Tim Banham, who had done the sensible thing and come from home, not that they had been to bed, oh no, an all night party, turning into clubbing escapade to keep it all going. Then, we were surprised, not for the first time in 12 hours, to see Paul Heron arrive, with friends in tow , although with his elevated status was immediately whisked to the front of the queue (how rude!), although it wasn’t long before the fabulous Tom Fuller & the charming Naomi Cruz once again treated us like royalty, seeing us into the club right behind Mr D.J. Paul, passed the ever cautious security (they should be used to us now) and in through the entrance. With Tim & Jeremy right behind us, we headed for the coatcheck to deposit our bits & bobs and whilst the queue was already quite long, our wait was short lived and we were released to start yet another Sunday morning (the 4th in a row) at Area in the hands of Beyond.
With Jeremy kindly offering to buy us a birthday drink, we graciously accepted, although quite why we chose to fulfil our thirsty temptations with a “wings” based drink we are not sure, as after the indulgences in Lo-Profile & Barcode we were absolutely flying!! Anyway, it went down extremely well and set us on our way to explore the club proper, leaving Jeremy, Tim & co to their own devices. Wandering into the Terrace Bar, whilst there were a number of people milling around, it already had the feel of being one of those quieter Beyond’s, but in some ways we prefer it when there is plenty of room to dance & move around. Down in the Black Box room, Paul Christian was tempting the faithful with his deep & dirty beats and with the other rooms still gathering themselves for the morning ahead, he had the lion’s share of the crowd, many of whom already looked well into the groove.
Before we could draw further breath, the whole of the Rupert Street gang arrived, Oli, John, Remy, Sylvester, Brad & birthday boy Vlad, who had seemingly been following us around, not just at Lo-Profile, but the Barcode Vauxhall & now Beyond, but it was naturally more coincidence than anything else and anyway, what could be better than two birthday boys together, celebrating their special day’s. It was clear everyone in the group was feeling the strain of hours of partying, but were still up for more, both us & Vlad raising our glasses in toast of our anniversary’s, while Remy & Sylvester were off onto the dancefloor and Oli & John headed in the direction of the outside space to hook up with fellow Beyond buddies.
But the inevitable opening of the main room caused a surge of bodies into the space and, no surprise, as when we headed passed the D.J. booth, none other than Beyond god Steve Pitron was behind the decks, admittedly at an earlier slot than we are used to, but what a way to kick start the party and indeed re-charge our birthday celebrations. What happened over the next couple of hours was nothing short of stupendous as Steve set about playing some of our favourite uplifting yet hard hitting house tracks, which saw the dancefloor, literally swell with body’s right before our eyes. We cannot begin to describe our elated feelings and being right in the thick of our favourite club of now (possibly of all time) as looking around everything was wonderful and just as it should be with an afterhours club, the music magnificent, the lasers & lighting luxuriously luminescent, the production precision perfect & the atmosphere amazing. And we may have said this before, but it is clear Steve Pitron is in his element at Beyond, always seeming to play at his absolute best, this time round being no exception, in fact we may go as far to say his best of the year!
With Paul Heron in close attention to our dancing diva spot by the D.J. booth on the main floor, we were now going nowhere and all plans for a self indulgent birthday shopping & pampering were long gone from our minds, as prodigy Pitron gave way to the delectable Dower, as D.J. Mikey D took to the decks (all those D’s!!) and like his protégé before him, delivered a peach of a set, a little more harder edged, but nevertheless hitting our musical sweet spot with each & every track, leaving us dancing deliriously on our spot. As if he wasn’t doing enough, when he pulled out & played our track of the moment, Erik Morillo’s “Get Lifted”, we were more than lifted but sent into heavenly hedonism, working the dance space around us and competing moves with the gorgeous go-go’s that had ascended the podiums in front of us. Now, nothing was going to wedge us off & move us away from our position in the main room and when the amazing Alan K arrived, popping over the D.J. booth to say hello, we knew that our special day of celebrations wasn’t going to be just another birthday, but something to treasure & remember for a long time.
Taking a brief respite away from the action, we headed to the middle bar for some refreshments and bumped into Naomi Cruz, who kindly offered to oblige, seemingly eager for a review of the night, but that was already a given, not least for the kind hospitality we have received in recent visits, virtually unparalled with any club & making our visits all the more special for it. As good as the antics in the main room were, we had to take a little further respite, so swinging into the Terrace Bar, we caught The Sharp Boys who were toughing it out with an instinctively harder edged set, akin to many we have heard when they are at their best at Trade, but as much as we wanted to dance, our legs were beginning to fail us, so we headed back to our favourite space on the main dancefloor, to level out a little, bumping into plenty of familiar faces as we did, including High Stevenson, who wished us happy birthday & the remnants of the Rupert Street gang, just Oli & John still standing, the rest of the bunch having called it a day a while before. Then, as we found our spot, the one man that has led us into our Beyond bandwagon of weeks, nay moths, Jamie Head appeared, greeting us in usual friendly fashion and trading notes on a mere 7 days of activity since we had last seen him. We cannot begin to tell you how much it means to us to have this superb D.J. as a pal & every time we catch up with him, it makes our day, re-kindling so many memories of great times we have had with him in charge of the D.J. decks, not just here at Beyond but especially at Crash, when we first got to know the fella, fab!!
However, as great it was to catch up with Jamie, indeed with everyone we had at Beyond, with an eye on the time & with our champagne soiree later at Rupert Street in the back of our minds, the one sensible strand in our head tugged us away from, first the sounds of Mikey D (what another superb set he had played) and then the awesome Alan K who was yet again making our exit from this beautiful Beyond birthday bash of ours defyingly difficult. Indeed, we attempted to grab our coat four times, on each trip changing our minds at the last minute, heading back into the main space to dance more. However, with a foot firmly down (well as firm as we could manage), we took our leave of Area, heading home to recuperate& take stock before our next audacious outing of the day.
Well, it goes without saying that this was yet another bountifully brilliant Beyond, yes a quieter affair than our visits in the last three weeks, but better for it. Our recent favoured spot in The Terrace Bar hardly got a look in this time, but that was no surprise as the performances of Steve Pitron & Mikey D were outstanding to say the least. Looking back & reflecting as we often do, these two have given us hours of pleasurable enjoyment, have treated us to some magnificent music, some scintillating sets and once again they proved to be the stars of the show, for us cementing Beyond in its position as our favourite club of 2009 (oops, the secret is out!). And with these two darling D.J’s going back to back for Beyond’s New Years Day party, there will be much dilemma in “Disco Matt land” as to where we will be, helicopter anyone? (DISCO MATT)
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