“BULLISH BEHAVIOUR AT BARCODE”
MATADOR LAUNCH - FRIDAY 5TH MARCH
CLUB REVIEW
There is little doubt that when it comes to prolific club events, the Spanish seem to have it down to a fine art, with some of the most amazing brands of anywhere we know, our favourite mecca metropolis in Spain, Barcelona, being just one of many hot beds of activity across this sun drenched & sex filled southern Europe splendour. Indeed the Spanish club exports that have hit gAylist/land London have made an incredible impact and can rank as the most successful of any seen in the capital both “Matinee” & “SuperMartXe” creating waves from the moment they launched themselves onto the scene, even “Space” attracting lots of interest. But with plenty more where they came from, it seems that we just can’t get enough of these espaniol extravaganza events, so it came as little surprise that another new venture would make its attempt to wave its big red cape across London, attracting a similarly red hot crowd.
Matador is the brainchild of D.J/club promoter Oliver Mohns, also of Evolved Events, the team behind Matinee London until January this year and Manu Garcia, best known as club promoter of Ursus Planet events & parties, who have joined forces to bring a fresh new clubbing experience to the capital. Fusing elements of Spanish & balearic beats with more than a hint of a sexy & masculine edge, from the outset it promised plenty of glamour & glitz, drag queens & hot go-go dancers entertaining to enthral, prestigious production, not to mention a whole host of the best of London’s D.J’s, joining guests brought in across Europe to inject extra passion to this octane fuelled event. Well, that was the promise, the team taking the decision to start small, choosing Barcode Vauxhall as host for the night, although with both promoters having strong links with the venue, it seemed a wise choice, even if it was amongst plenty of competitve activity, with one of 2009 most successful clubs running just next door. So, how did Matador’s launch fare? And did it live up to all these expectations?
Still nursing a sore back from our exploits at Gay City Rollers just two days previously, as well as a sore head from a brilliant session at Industri not 24 hours gone, Brent Nicholls treating us to some spot on new funky house sounds, we once again found ourselves in the grip of Barcode Vauxhall, arriving at just turned 9 p.m. for the VIP reception, an invited guest of Matador man Oliver Mohns. Ascending the stairs to the exclusive space, we found Oliver and a collection of others, including Barcode’s G.M. Kerry, web designer & club promoter Andrew Harris, dancefloor dish Tim Banham, Salvation’s very own Steve Elliot & brilliant bello D.J. Alessandro, all sipping champagne, which seemed the perfect start to the evening’s entertainment. And sitting down with some of France’s best export soothing our throat was just what the doctor ordered, Oliver catching up on news with us, then giving us a glimpse of the club space from this elevated space. We also got the chance to meet guest D.J. Andrei, a cute yet unassuming young man, who would turn out to be the star of the show.
Back downstairs, GaydarNation’s Jonny M, an accomplished D.J. that had entertained us superbly during Trade’s first outing at MOS, as well as some pulsating performances at Matinee, was in charge of proceedings in the front room, which was conservatively decked out with just a small collection of Spanish flags, but with plenty of Barcode’s impressive lighting to inject into the room some of that red passion we had been promised. We caught up with fellow Industri regular & close pal Stephen, who had a sexy looking young man connected to his side but was eager to chat about the fortunes of the evening, while the bar continued to fill with a varied collection of people, some familiar to us as regulars of this south of the river hotspot, others faces from Matinee events in the past, all eager to see what Matador had to offer. Leaving Stephen behind for a while, he clearly busy with his young man, we headed off, first saying our hello’s to Jonny M who was injecting some real punch in this passionate club night launch with some hard hitting yet uplifting house tunes, then made our way down into the club space where Oliver M was kicking off proceedings in a room that rapidly filled with eager party goers looking for their slice of the Matador melodies. Pausing for a moment at the bar, we caught the attention Evolved Events’ Robb Williams, whom we hadn’t seen for ages, the man ringing out the tones of our name like no other. And it seemed much of London’s glitterati were out in support, Clone Zone’s retired top cheese Mike McCann there, club promoter Patrick Lilley soaking up the atmosphere, the effervescent Clington Forbes gracing us this his presence. Even D.J. Pier Morrocco & boyf made an appearance, as did one & only Romano Hendry arriving and immediately grabbing us in a whirlwind embrace, spinning us round in dancing delight.
As quickly as the club space had filled, it began to empty, a puzzled Oliver looked across to us, yet the bar area was still rammed, although it seemed that people were possibly migrating next door, as Onyx had not long swung its doors open. So, to see what the opposition were up to we nipped into Area, also a little curious as to quite what lengths the new promotions team had gone to with their “Atlantis” theme, but with the crowd top heavy with a trashy feel, we were back in Barcode in a trice and just in time, as guest Andrei had taken to the D.J. booth. Now, it would be fair to say that we tend to be fairly unimpressed by these overseas imports, most of them missing the mark for us, we tending to prefer the London based D.J.’s to tickle our musical fancies, although we were really impressed with both Steven Redant &, of course, Danny Verde when they graced Matinee’s decks, Hugo Sanchez also doing a superb job at SuperMartXe. But Andrei’s sound selections grabbed us from the minute we returned, the kind of music that had us close to breathlessness, gaping in admiration of his sophisticated style, the man brilliantly combining uplifting & underground to euphoric effect.
So, the scene was now set for Matador to really swing its massive red cape of action into motion, as the dancers & drag queen (singular) squeezed past the incredible amount of party goers that had seemingly appeared (some re-appeared) from nowhere, aiming for the stage area that the back, all three suitably dressed in seductive Spanish customers to delight. Hurried activity to point the lighting & focus toward the performance plinths ensued as the music pace changed & the trio swung into action, delighting the crowd close to the stage, although with the club space overfilling, it was difficult to get the full impact of the show from where we were standing. However, the dancers were definitely hitting the mark, the two hunks gyrating in unison to the banging beats, creating the kind of spectacle that go-go’s tenfold would have found difficult to match.
With the show over what seemed to be a little prematurely, the drag queen struggling with a defective microphone, it was down to Andrei to re-surge the atmosphere and that he did in bucket loads, his terrific tracks packing out the dancefloor and giving a us a real hint of the style of his music, playing out to packed audiences at super club night La Demence in Brussels as he does. But the action wasn’t just confined to the club space, as Jonny M had given over the front room to super sexy Steven Artis, a Barcode regular, yet the perfect choice for infusing this Matador event with his unbounding enthusiasm, just like an excited bull in the ring. His muscular music, funky, chunky & nu style disco really impressed and when he played the track “When I Die” by D.J. Discipline, which really hit our sweet spot, Mr Artis made our night by handing us his copy straight from the decks, once he had mixed into the next record, what a sweetheart!
But glancing at the time, the witching hour was well over three behind us, although the temptations to stay right till the end were sucking us in, despite an early appointment the following day. So we decided on one last foray into the club space & some social schmoozing with Steve Elliot, Robb Williams & a very tipsy Oliver, the atmosphere still electric and Andrei still waving his magical musical wand. With the crowd balanced out between the two rooms but the feel by this time being more like a regular Barcode outing, we sought to retrieve our belongings from behind the D.J. booth, being fortunate not to have fallen prey to the earlier lengthy coatcheck queue, made our excuses to Oliver, Robb & Steve, waved goodbye to the cute Andrei and headed out into a chilly Vauxhall early morning to make our way home and mull over our thoughts on this Matador launch meet.
So what were our thoughts on Matador? Did it conquer the expectations of those bullish critics? Or did it fall foul of the raging rampages of its Vauxhall competitors? Well, true to the style of a champion Spanish senor fighter in the ring, exciting the audience with thrills & spills, dodging the advance of the blood thirsty bull, Matador had its highs & lows. Without question the star of the show was Andrei, whose music was a distinct breath of fresh air to the normality & monotony we can sometimes be succumbed to in London, his euro style upbeat yet hard hitting house perfect for this party. The go-go dancers were another high, the duo performing brilliantly and given the limited space, provided a very eye catching spectacle, however there is no escaping the fact that the promised levels of production were somehow lacking, the expected drag queens mingling with the crowd absent and in reality as a result, it was difficult to distinguish Matador from just another night in Barcode.
It was busy at times, very busy, although in our view there was no way of telling whether Matador’s launch attracted people because it was Matador, or whether Barcode was full because it was Barcode, although in fairness we suspect, there was an element of both. Saying that, we know the promoters wanted to start small, thus gauging the response, so given our observations, maybe keeping it intimate & social is they way to go, but we suspect clubbers expectations were & are very different. Leaving it in Barcode will, without doubt, restrict Matador’s aspirations, only putting it into club style venue will reflect whether there is real desire for another Spanish style venture in gAylist London and if that is the promoter’s aims, then they need to take the plunge. We will be watching developments with interest. (DISCO MATT)
MATADOR LAUNCH - FRIDAY 5TH MARCH
CLUB REVIEW
There is little doubt that when it comes to prolific club events, the Spanish seem to have it down to a fine art, with some of the most amazing brands of anywhere we know, our favourite mecca metropolis in Spain, Barcelona, being just one of many hot beds of activity across this sun drenched & sex filled southern Europe splendour. Indeed the Spanish club exports that have hit gAylist/land London have made an incredible impact and can rank as the most successful of any seen in the capital both “Matinee” & “SuperMartXe” creating waves from the moment they launched themselves onto the scene, even “Space” attracting lots of interest. But with plenty more where they came from, it seems that we just can’t get enough of these espaniol extravaganza events, so it came as little surprise that another new venture would make its attempt to wave its big red cape across London, attracting a similarly red hot crowd.
Matador is the brainchild of D.J/club promoter Oliver Mohns, also of Evolved Events, the team behind Matinee London until January this year and Manu Garcia, best known as club promoter of Ursus Planet events & parties, who have joined forces to bring a fresh new clubbing experience to the capital. Fusing elements of Spanish & balearic beats with more than a hint of a sexy & masculine edge, from the outset it promised plenty of glamour & glitz, drag queens & hot go-go dancers entertaining to enthral, prestigious production, not to mention a whole host of the best of London’s D.J’s, joining guests brought in across Europe to inject extra passion to this octane fuelled event. Well, that was the promise, the team taking the decision to start small, choosing Barcode Vauxhall as host for the night, although with both promoters having strong links with the venue, it seemed a wise choice, even if it was amongst plenty of competitve activity, with one of 2009 most successful clubs running just next door. So, how did Matador’s launch fare? And did it live up to all these expectations?
Still nursing a sore back from our exploits at Gay City Rollers just two days previously, as well as a sore head from a brilliant session at Industri not 24 hours gone, Brent Nicholls treating us to some spot on new funky house sounds, we once again found ourselves in the grip of Barcode Vauxhall, arriving at just turned 9 p.m. for the VIP reception, an invited guest of Matador man Oliver Mohns. Ascending the stairs to the exclusive space, we found Oliver and a collection of others, including Barcode’s G.M. Kerry, web designer & club promoter Andrew Harris, dancefloor dish Tim Banham, Salvation’s very own Steve Elliot & brilliant bello D.J. Alessandro, all sipping champagne, which seemed the perfect start to the evening’s entertainment. And sitting down with some of France’s best export soothing our throat was just what the doctor ordered, Oliver catching up on news with us, then giving us a glimpse of the club space from this elevated space. We also got the chance to meet guest D.J. Andrei, a cute yet unassuming young man, who would turn out to be the star of the show.
Back downstairs, GaydarNation’s Jonny M, an accomplished D.J. that had entertained us superbly during Trade’s first outing at MOS, as well as some pulsating performances at Matinee, was in charge of proceedings in the front room, which was conservatively decked out with just a small collection of Spanish flags, but with plenty of Barcode’s impressive lighting to inject into the room some of that red passion we had been promised. We caught up with fellow Industri regular & close pal Stephen, who had a sexy looking young man connected to his side but was eager to chat about the fortunes of the evening, while the bar continued to fill with a varied collection of people, some familiar to us as regulars of this south of the river hotspot, others faces from Matinee events in the past, all eager to see what Matador had to offer. Leaving Stephen behind for a while, he clearly busy with his young man, we headed off, first saying our hello’s to Jonny M who was injecting some real punch in this passionate club night launch with some hard hitting yet uplifting house tunes, then made our way down into the club space where Oliver M was kicking off proceedings in a room that rapidly filled with eager party goers looking for their slice of the Matador melodies. Pausing for a moment at the bar, we caught the attention Evolved Events’ Robb Williams, whom we hadn’t seen for ages, the man ringing out the tones of our name like no other. And it seemed much of London’s glitterati were out in support, Clone Zone’s retired top cheese Mike McCann there, club promoter Patrick Lilley soaking up the atmosphere, the effervescent Clington Forbes gracing us this his presence. Even D.J. Pier Morrocco & boyf made an appearance, as did one & only Romano Hendry arriving and immediately grabbing us in a whirlwind embrace, spinning us round in dancing delight.
As quickly as the club space had filled, it began to empty, a puzzled Oliver looked across to us, yet the bar area was still rammed, although it seemed that people were possibly migrating next door, as Onyx had not long swung its doors open. So, to see what the opposition were up to we nipped into Area, also a little curious as to quite what lengths the new promotions team had gone to with their “Atlantis” theme, but with the crowd top heavy with a trashy feel, we were back in Barcode in a trice and just in time, as guest Andrei had taken to the D.J. booth. Now, it would be fair to say that we tend to be fairly unimpressed by these overseas imports, most of them missing the mark for us, we tending to prefer the London based D.J.’s to tickle our musical fancies, although we were really impressed with both Steven Redant &, of course, Danny Verde when they graced Matinee’s decks, Hugo Sanchez also doing a superb job at SuperMartXe. But Andrei’s sound selections grabbed us from the minute we returned, the kind of music that had us close to breathlessness, gaping in admiration of his sophisticated style, the man brilliantly combining uplifting & underground to euphoric effect.
So, the scene was now set for Matador to really swing its massive red cape of action into motion, as the dancers & drag queen (singular) squeezed past the incredible amount of party goers that had seemingly appeared (some re-appeared) from nowhere, aiming for the stage area that the back, all three suitably dressed in seductive Spanish customers to delight. Hurried activity to point the lighting & focus toward the performance plinths ensued as the music pace changed & the trio swung into action, delighting the crowd close to the stage, although with the club space overfilling, it was difficult to get the full impact of the show from where we were standing. However, the dancers were definitely hitting the mark, the two hunks gyrating in unison to the banging beats, creating the kind of spectacle that go-go’s tenfold would have found difficult to match.
With the show over what seemed to be a little prematurely, the drag queen struggling with a defective microphone, it was down to Andrei to re-surge the atmosphere and that he did in bucket loads, his terrific tracks packing out the dancefloor and giving a us a real hint of the style of his music, playing out to packed audiences at super club night La Demence in Brussels as he does. But the action wasn’t just confined to the club space, as Jonny M had given over the front room to super sexy Steven Artis, a Barcode regular, yet the perfect choice for infusing this Matador event with his unbounding enthusiasm, just like an excited bull in the ring. His muscular music, funky, chunky & nu style disco really impressed and when he played the track “When I Die” by D.J. Discipline, which really hit our sweet spot, Mr Artis made our night by handing us his copy straight from the decks, once he had mixed into the next record, what a sweetheart!
But glancing at the time, the witching hour was well over three behind us, although the temptations to stay right till the end were sucking us in, despite an early appointment the following day. So we decided on one last foray into the club space & some social schmoozing with Steve Elliot, Robb Williams & a very tipsy Oliver, the atmosphere still electric and Andrei still waving his magical musical wand. With the crowd balanced out between the two rooms but the feel by this time being more like a regular Barcode outing, we sought to retrieve our belongings from behind the D.J. booth, being fortunate not to have fallen prey to the earlier lengthy coatcheck queue, made our excuses to Oliver, Robb & Steve, waved goodbye to the cute Andrei and headed out into a chilly Vauxhall early morning to make our way home and mull over our thoughts on this Matador launch meet.
So what were our thoughts on Matador? Did it conquer the expectations of those bullish critics? Or did it fall foul of the raging rampages of its Vauxhall competitors? Well, true to the style of a champion Spanish senor fighter in the ring, exciting the audience with thrills & spills, dodging the advance of the blood thirsty bull, Matador had its highs & lows. Without question the star of the show was Andrei, whose music was a distinct breath of fresh air to the normality & monotony we can sometimes be succumbed to in London, his euro style upbeat yet hard hitting house perfect for this party. The go-go dancers were another high, the duo performing brilliantly and given the limited space, provided a very eye catching spectacle, however there is no escaping the fact that the promised levels of production were somehow lacking, the expected drag queens mingling with the crowd absent and in reality as a result, it was difficult to distinguish Matador from just another night in Barcode.
It was busy at times, very busy, although in our view there was no way of telling whether Matador’s launch attracted people because it was Matador, or whether Barcode was full because it was Barcode, although in fairness we suspect, there was an element of both. Saying that, we know the promoters wanted to start small, thus gauging the response, so given our observations, maybe keeping it intimate & social is they way to go, but we suspect clubbers expectations were & are very different. Leaving it in Barcode will, without doubt, restrict Matador’s aspirations, only putting it into club style venue will reflect whether there is real desire for another Spanish style venture in gAylist London and if that is the promoter’s aims, then they need to take the plunge. We will be watching developments with interest. (DISCO MATT)
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