ONYX AFTERHOURS – SATURDAY 2ND JANUARY
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
As much as we love our clubbing and everything that goes with it, following routine can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to being out there swinging our pants in what would be considered by most as “the time to club”, we cannot deny that this has always been a little alien to us. Yes, we do it, well if we didn’t there wouldn’t be much for us to report on, would there, but, sorry folks, we just love the decadent feel that clubbing deep into a morning (with any luck an afternoon) gives us. Trade started it all off and since those heady days of the nineties, we have adored being out in a club when the sun comes up, our love of this pseudo nocturnal activity (a dark club on a bright day) being our highlight of any weekend out. Since its demise at Turnmills, Trade’s boots have been filled by the brilliant Beyond, first at Coliseum & now at Area, although, when we heard that Onyx, the new conqueror of Friday nights, was going all afterhours on us, we simply couldn’t resist.
Now, with much prodding & poking from many around us, we have been aiming to get down to the new Friday fancy, Onyx, for some time, being apparently slack, considering it launched back in July last year, although our excuse is that Friday clubbing presents lots of difficulties for us (where do we start), well that’s our excuse anyway and we are sticking to it!! But having failed to hit Area on 18th December, as planned, missing out (supposedly) on a brilliant set by guest Paul Heron, we would have be ashamed to show our face if we missed the “Afterhours” event the promoter Steven Gellar had lined up to follow on from “As One” the massive collaboration event at Fire on NYD, even a badly twisted ankle not sufficient to be the blame on the shame of our absence. Add to that, Onyx’s morning affair was to be held at Area, the mecca of Beyond, which grabbed our favourite club of 2009 award, so with that said, it was a foregone conclusion we would be there.
So, dragging ourselves away from a stupendous set by Alan K in the (you guessed it) Beyond room at “As One”, we hit the doors of Area just before 9 a.m., finding only a small queue to negotiate, but having found the guestlist girl (or was she a boy?!) who couldn’t find us, on the list we mean, a mere £6 entry seemed the bargain of the new decade and when the man himself, Steven, forced himself through the bamboo netting separating the entrance from the outside terrace, thrusting plenty of drinkies vouchers in our hands, we were hardly going to complain. Entering what is probably the most familiar of club foyers (five times in December!!) we floated through and depositing our bits in the upstairs coatcheck, were into the club before you could say Onyx Afterhours, first sampling the Terrace Bar to see what was going down, we finding a smatter of socialites grabbing drinks & sorting themselves for a morning of audacious action. Wandering into the (can they find a better name, pleeaase?!) Black room, Jamie Hammond, or was it Tuomo Fox (confused!) was commanding the musical attention behind the decks, a healthy crowd boogying to what we can only describe as retro pop meets handbag house, nice if you like that sort of thing, but not our thang.
Gratefully, the main room opened and like many, we burst onto the scene to find an energetic Steven Gellar behind the decks, infusing all encompassing atmosphere into Area’s main space with a string of scorching sounds which had the main arch filled out before we knew it. Looking around, the crowd was predominantly a younger type, disco boys, muscle queens, latino lovelies & hedonistic party goers, all mixed into the impending hedonistic heaven that was to erupt before our eyes, some faces recognisable from the “As One” party just gone, others, like Emma “Mis-White” White, from DTPM’s party over at The Roof Gardens, maybe some resting from SuperMartXe’s “Alice” explosive event (we heard it was fab!), others probably just Onyx lovers looking to start their New Year, where they left 2009 behind. Regardless of who was who, the crowd was probably one of the friendliest we have seen, no GHB causalities, no trashy relics from clubs gone beforehand, just a charismatic collection of people wanting to either continue their clubbing indulgencies or savour Onyx in its afterhours form.
So, the scene was set for one of the most amazing experiences we have encountered in Area for a long time. Yes, we hear you cry, Beyond is the ruler of this world, but not so, this Saturday morning on 2nd January 2010 proving otherwise, as we were to be treated to something really special. First came the emergence of Onyx’s dazzling dancers, dressed raunchily in black leather & silver accessories, ascended the three podiums set aside for them, two giving us the usual go-go posing & prancing, but the third fiddling with electrical connections and then entertaining us with the most awesome angle grind saw show we have seen, sparks flying way out in front & to the sides, making for a truly superb spectacle. Mind you, the smell of metal on metal was unique to say the least, but just added to the enigmatic atmosphere.
Then, with the first round of shows over, we were slipping very much into afterhours decadency, as little known talent (to us you understand), Phil Marriot ascended the decks and began to send us on a magnificent musical journey with his terrifically selected tunes, a tad harder than those Steven had played, but with each and every record he chose, we became more & more enchanted by his choices. Having said that, we were in our favoured spot on the dancefloor, just shy of the D.J. booth and were surrounded by a bevy of beauties, which probably influenced our mood, but the music was the dominating feature of our enjoyment, Phil hitting every single sweet spot with his scintillating sounds which kept us asking ourselves (inwardly of course), where had his man been hiding from our life on the dancefloor, but regardless of what we may have missed, we were loving what we were experiencing, mesmerisation in the hands of Mr Marriot.
With yet more delightfully debauchery dance displays from the go-go’s, one entertaining us with a fire eating performance, the night was going better than we could have ever imagined, the crowd far from waning, as Saturday morning became Saturday afternoon, chalking up probably our longest stay at an afterhours event within Area ever. We really didn’t want the night, the day (whatever it was) to end and with the crowd as friendly at the end as it was at the beginning, Rob Ferguson present & coming over on a couple of occasions to say hello, the 2nd time giving us a massive hug to end all hugs, even sexy Latino muscle boys turning to wish us happy new year, we couldn’t have asked to be in better company & in such an angelic atmosphere, dancing away as we did, all memories of our twisted ankle completely faded away.
But like they say (and a friend reminded us), what goes up, has to come down and the fateful end of 2 p.m. was on us, conscious by the fact with a text from our clubbing pal Joel, who was shocked we were still out clubbing, in fact clubbing at all, being the first glance at any sort of clock we had made. That’s how good the party was! So, when the inevitable lights went up, we weren’t the only ones to call for an encore and Philly (cute) didn’t disappoint, as Mr Marriot revved up the D.J. decks for a couple of extra tunes to see us through to the outrageous end of 2.30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon!! (please). Most people would be doing their grocery shopping, washing the car, having lunch (who knows what our straight compatriots get on to), but we were doing none of that, we were dancing in the darkness of Area and loving every minute of it.
So, what did we think of our first excursion out to Onyx? Did it fulfil our expectations? And will we be back? Well, without a doubt, what we had in our minds to expect of this futuristic Friday night outing in its “afterhours” form, was not only matched but exceeded in every way. We thought it was going to feel like a Beyond event, but it didn’t. We thought, after all the NYD activity, it would be a bit lack lustre, but it wasn’t. What it was ended up being a display of exactly how an afterhours party should be, a gorgeous crowd, enjoying a decadent daytime frolic expanding the boundaries of normalism, entering another world of wonderful clubbing. We absolutely loved every bit of Onyx Afterhours, not least the perfectly precise & massively magnificent performance of Phil Marriot. For us, he made the party and we cannot wait to savour another Onyx in his hands. Where else does he play? (DISCO MATT)
REVIEW FOR SEENQUEEN
As much as we love our clubbing and everything that goes with it, following routine can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to being out there swinging our pants in what would be considered by most as “the time to club”, we cannot deny that this has always been a little alien to us. Yes, we do it, well if we didn’t there wouldn’t be much for us to report on, would there, but, sorry folks, we just love the decadent feel that clubbing deep into a morning (with any luck an afternoon) gives us. Trade started it all off and since those heady days of the nineties, we have adored being out in a club when the sun comes up, our love of this pseudo nocturnal activity (a dark club on a bright day) being our highlight of any weekend out. Since its demise at Turnmills, Trade’s boots have been filled by the brilliant Beyond, first at Coliseum & now at Area, although, when we heard that Onyx, the new conqueror of Friday nights, was going all afterhours on us, we simply couldn’t resist.
Now, with much prodding & poking from many around us, we have been aiming to get down to the new Friday fancy, Onyx, for some time, being apparently slack, considering it launched back in July last year, although our excuse is that Friday clubbing presents lots of difficulties for us (where do we start), well that’s our excuse anyway and we are sticking to it!! But having failed to hit Area on 18th December, as planned, missing out (supposedly) on a brilliant set by guest Paul Heron, we would have be ashamed to show our face if we missed the “Afterhours” event the promoter Steven Gellar had lined up to follow on from “As One” the massive collaboration event at Fire on NYD, even a badly twisted ankle not sufficient to be the blame on the shame of our absence. Add to that, Onyx’s morning affair was to be held at Area, the mecca of Beyond, which grabbed our favourite club of 2009 award, so with that said, it was a foregone conclusion we would be there.
So, dragging ourselves away from a stupendous set by Alan K in the (you guessed it) Beyond room at “As One”, we hit the doors of Area just before 9 a.m., finding only a small queue to negotiate, but having found the guestlist girl (or was she a boy?!) who couldn’t find us, on the list we mean, a mere £6 entry seemed the bargain of the new decade and when the man himself, Steven, forced himself through the bamboo netting separating the entrance from the outside terrace, thrusting plenty of drinkies vouchers in our hands, we were hardly going to complain. Entering what is probably the most familiar of club foyers (five times in December!!) we floated through and depositing our bits in the upstairs coatcheck, were into the club before you could say Onyx Afterhours, first sampling the Terrace Bar to see what was going down, we finding a smatter of socialites grabbing drinks & sorting themselves for a morning of audacious action. Wandering into the (can they find a better name, pleeaase?!) Black room, Jamie Hammond, or was it Tuomo Fox (confused!) was commanding the musical attention behind the decks, a healthy crowd boogying to what we can only describe as retro pop meets handbag house, nice if you like that sort of thing, but not our thang.
Gratefully, the main room opened and like many, we burst onto the scene to find an energetic Steven Gellar behind the decks, infusing all encompassing atmosphere into Area’s main space with a string of scorching sounds which had the main arch filled out before we knew it. Looking around, the crowd was predominantly a younger type, disco boys, muscle queens, latino lovelies & hedonistic party goers, all mixed into the impending hedonistic heaven that was to erupt before our eyes, some faces recognisable from the “As One” party just gone, others, like Emma “Mis-White” White, from DTPM’s party over at The Roof Gardens, maybe some resting from SuperMartXe’s “Alice” explosive event (we heard it was fab!), others probably just Onyx lovers looking to start their New Year, where they left 2009 behind. Regardless of who was who, the crowd was probably one of the friendliest we have seen, no GHB causalities, no trashy relics from clubs gone beforehand, just a charismatic collection of people wanting to either continue their clubbing indulgencies or savour Onyx in its afterhours form.
So, the scene was set for one of the most amazing experiences we have encountered in Area for a long time. Yes, we hear you cry, Beyond is the ruler of this world, but not so, this Saturday morning on 2nd January 2010 proving otherwise, as we were to be treated to something really special. First came the emergence of Onyx’s dazzling dancers, dressed raunchily in black leather & silver accessories, ascended the three podiums set aside for them, two giving us the usual go-go posing & prancing, but the third fiddling with electrical connections and then entertaining us with the most awesome angle grind saw show we have seen, sparks flying way out in front & to the sides, making for a truly superb spectacle. Mind you, the smell of metal on metal was unique to say the least, but just added to the enigmatic atmosphere.
Then, with the first round of shows over, we were slipping very much into afterhours decadency, as little known talent (to us you understand), Phil Marriot ascended the decks and began to send us on a magnificent musical journey with his terrifically selected tunes, a tad harder than those Steven had played, but with each and every record he chose, we became more & more enchanted by his choices. Having said that, we were in our favoured spot on the dancefloor, just shy of the D.J. booth and were surrounded by a bevy of beauties, which probably influenced our mood, but the music was the dominating feature of our enjoyment, Phil hitting every single sweet spot with his scintillating sounds which kept us asking ourselves (inwardly of course), where had his man been hiding from our life on the dancefloor, but regardless of what we may have missed, we were loving what we were experiencing, mesmerisation in the hands of Mr Marriot.
With yet more delightfully debauchery dance displays from the go-go’s, one entertaining us with a fire eating performance, the night was going better than we could have ever imagined, the crowd far from waning, as Saturday morning became Saturday afternoon, chalking up probably our longest stay at an afterhours event within Area ever. We really didn’t want the night, the day (whatever it was) to end and with the crowd as friendly at the end as it was at the beginning, Rob Ferguson present & coming over on a couple of occasions to say hello, the 2nd time giving us a massive hug to end all hugs, even sexy Latino muscle boys turning to wish us happy new year, we couldn’t have asked to be in better company & in such an angelic atmosphere, dancing away as we did, all memories of our twisted ankle completely faded away.
But like they say (and a friend reminded us), what goes up, has to come down and the fateful end of 2 p.m. was on us, conscious by the fact with a text from our clubbing pal Joel, who was shocked we were still out clubbing, in fact clubbing at all, being the first glance at any sort of clock we had made. That’s how good the party was! So, when the inevitable lights went up, we weren’t the only ones to call for an encore and Philly (cute) didn’t disappoint, as Mr Marriot revved up the D.J. decks for a couple of extra tunes to see us through to the outrageous end of 2.30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon!! (please). Most people would be doing their grocery shopping, washing the car, having lunch (who knows what our straight compatriots get on to), but we were doing none of that, we were dancing in the darkness of Area and loving every minute of it.
So, what did we think of our first excursion out to Onyx? Did it fulfil our expectations? And will we be back? Well, without a doubt, what we had in our minds to expect of this futuristic Friday night outing in its “afterhours” form, was not only matched but exceeded in every way. We thought it was going to feel like a Beyond event, but it didn’t. We thought, after all the NYD activity, it would be a bit lack lustre, but it wasn’t. What it was ended up being a display of exactly how an afterhours party should be, a gorgeous crowd, enjoying a decadent daytime frolic expanding the boundaries of normalism, entering another world of wonderful clubbing. We absolutely loved every bit of Onyx Afterhours, not least the perfectly precise & massively magnificent performance of Phil Marriot. For us, he made the party and we cannot wait to savour another Onyx in his hands. Where else does he play? (DISCO MATT)
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