“BRILLIANT BEATS AT BOILING POINT”
BEYOND GAY PRIDE – SUNDAY 4TH JULY
CLUB REVIEW
There seems to be hardly a week that goes by these days when we fail to find ourselves being sucked into the temptations of a Sunday morning of audacious dancefloor activity, generally either bouncing across to the cause of all this mayhem from previous club events, either close by or further afield. Indeed no weekend ever seems complete without a trip to Beyond and in some ways prior parties sometimes simply feel like an overture, a prelude or a curtain raiser to what was born as a mere afterhours gathering but has grown into a full-on club in its own right, not just a reason to continue the weekend fun, but more the pinnacle of partying that many other clubs can only dream of achieving. But add in the extra element of a Bank Holiday or a special celebration, like in this case Gay Pride, and you can pretty much guarantee that Beyond, like the M25 on a Friday, will be a complete roadblock, although even this inevitability wasn’t going to put us off, meaning that wild horses weren’t going to keep us away this Sunday.
With well over 12 hours of partying already under our belt, we were still raring to go as we approached the borders of Area in Vauxhall, having hot footed it from SuperMartXe’s “Wizard of Oz” fabulous fantasy, coming a little bit back to clubbing basics but very much looking forward to our next gay pride club outing in the hands of Beyond. Not surprisingly, the queue was already considerable, although our arrival couldn’t have been timed any better as we came across pal Benoit waiting patiently, ticket in hand. With so many people assembling to get their slice of this afterhours magic, it was clear inside was going to be jam packed and a usually chatty Tom very much had his hands full orchestrating everyone’s smooth entry into the club. So, we left him to his devices, rather taking our place in the small but none moving guest list queue, while ticket holders & paying party goers filed into Area, much to our friends dismay, although it wasn’t long before we too were inside Beyond’s doors, ready to dig deep & delve into the delights of this exuberant event.
Yet another brilliant piece of timing saw us grab some refreshments at the bar literally as the main room dancefloor was opened, masses of cavorters pouring into the space to soak up the bountiful beats from Beyond occasional The Oli, his rousing yet funky filled set of sounds immediate striking a chord with us and many around and having quickly found our usual spot next the D.J. booth, we were soon surrounded by a swarm of club kids, muscled latino’s and their female admirers. With the temperature in Area’s main room already soaring, not least for the hot house sounds The Oli was serving up, his choices very much more uplifting than those we had left behind in SuperMartXe and all going down an absolute treat, making for the best start to a Beyond we can remember, our friend sought space further round to find his own stride in amongst the sea of half naked bodies moving & grooving yet clearly melting in the searing heat, while Area’s magnificent lighting, pyrotechnics & effects were at full tilt already, making for one of the best starts to a Beyond party we have savoured in long time.
Given the amount of people now in the club and the gold mine status of our little spot at the end of the main room, we were reluctant to leave our space for anything, although a brief call of nature then refreshment refuelling found us checking out the Chapel space which was well and truly pumping to the tech & electro beats of guest D.J. Ariel, while Paul, Christian was holding sway in the Blacbox, his harder hedged house finding favour with enough revellers to fill out the space. Further up in the Terrace room, we came across D’Johnny, pumping out some pulsating funky chunky tunes and with a little more room to gyrate than in our squeeze spot on the main room, so we decided to soak up his sounds for a while, the doors from the terrace room to the outside space swung open & hoards of revellers seeking solace from the mercury bursting temperatures inside. Johnny was really into his stride, hitting plenty of our musical sweet spots, one track after the next seeing us spin in a delightful dancing dervish, our painful back distant from our thoughts and the sweat shimmering on our shitless torso evidence of our extravert activity.
However, the main room was calling and for good reason as we were once again to be treated to a terrific back-to-back performance behind the decks from stellar Beyond residents Mikey D and Steve Pitron, both arriving simultaneously to take over from The Oli, sending the atmosphere skyward and the beats to boiling point with one classic Beyond tune after the next, each four to five minute stint between the two seeing huge house hits being traded and anthems a plenty pouring out to an adoring audience, packing out the podiums, craving for every last inch of space to soak up the scintillating set by both Steve & Mikey. Returning from his foray in the middle of the dancefloor, Benoit joined us for a while, although the heat was clearly too much for him, others continually passing us by in search of some cooling air in the new outside area behind, even promoter James Brewer, the delectable Dorin & a melting Mikey remarking to us how hot it was.
But the heat was going to be turned up further, as special PA guest Kaysee took to the stage, not once but twice, injecting her unstoppable energy on proceedings, certainly making an impact, although for us, interrupted our momentum somewhat, Steve restoring the stratospheric status quo with one of our favourite tracks of now “Stereo Love” as well as turning out what is very much a Pitron anthem “Here Comes The Rain”. Add to that the ticker tape explosions & pyrotechnic rockets as well as the unrivalled Area lighting and there was no doubting the magical feel of this truly incredible afterhours experience. So good was the main room, only short dives for refreshments were distractions, although once again the Terrace room grabbed our attention for a while, this time Jamie Head taking his turn to tempt us with some tremendous turbocharged tech fuelled tunes, the space pumping & pulsating to his mesmeric music, although thoughts were turning to the arrival of final main room resident Alan K and his promise to treat us to two very special dance devotions.
So braving the heat, we dived back into Area’s main space, just in time to see Alan arrive, his cheeky grin hinting towards the massive multi mixing magical music to come and within seconds we were back in full flow as he turned out his latest rendition of “Release Me”, the inclusion of percussion & tribal beats adding extra strands of dynamic dimension to this amazing dance track that, over fifteen months after first being played, still gets the same explosive reaction. But is wasn’t going to stop there, as this incredible D.J. had, since his Leicester Square stormer of a set, worked on a specially commissioned mix of Kelis’s “Acapella”, soon sharing the fruits of his labour with us and a still packed main room, his prolific production getting a similar reaction to Zoe Baldwin’s classic, hands shooting into the air in sheer delight, we tearing up our spot in adoration of this amazing version and touched that he had gone to so much trouble to deliver on our request.
Now our Beyond pride experience was now pretty much complete, although there was yet more magical minutes & moments to come from Alan, but by now the boiling heat was getting a little too much and we needed to beat a retreat outside, bumping into a boisterous Tom along the way who was now thoroughly enjoying his own Beyond experience and well deservedly so, having worked so hard to make sure everyone got into the club smoothly & safely. With the sun shining bright and the fresh air cooling our overheated body, friend Benoit found us and hinted towards a move to our next pride clubbing instalment, Later’s Funfair party across Vauxhall at Fire, a final foray first into the Terrace bar and then on to the main room signalling an end to our stay at Area. So, grabbing our belongs we waved goodbye to an amazingly brilliant Beyond, our stay from start to finish filled with magnificent music, delightful dancing & all in an awesome atmosphere that once again confirmed this afterhours outing’s award winning status.
There was no doubting that this Beyond was going to be somewhat of a roadblock of an event and in that respect it failed to disappoint, Area being even busier than back at the end of May when we could hardly squeeze onto the main room dancefloor. However, in truth Beyond on this gay pride Sunday failed to disappoint in any respects (well maybe except the PA who was surplus to requirements in our view), the music being majestic, the atmosphere awesome & the people in our company perfect. To see both the Chapel & the Blackbox busy was testament to the numbers taking advantage of this afterhours activity right across the venue, even the Terrace was packed from start to finish and hardly an inch was unoccupied outside. Yes, it was fair to say that it was incredibly hot in the main room and at times we struggled to spread our dancing wings within the confines of our usual spot, but even given this, so good were The Oli Mikey D, Steve Pitron & Alan K, that we managed well enough, walking away to reflect on a morning of brilliant beats at boiling point and asking ourselves, how can this club can get any better?! (DISCO MATT)
BEYOND GAY PRIDE – SUNDAY 4TH JULY
CLUB REVIEW
There seems to be hardly a week that goes by these days when we fail to find ourselves being sucked into the temptations of a Sunday morning of audacious dancefloor activity, generally either bouncing across to the cause of all this mayhem from previous club events, either close by or further afield. Indeed no weekend ever seems complete without a trip to Beyond and in some ways prior parties sometimes simply feel like an overture, a prelude or a curtain raiser to what was born as a mere afterhours gathering but has grown into a full-on club in its own right, not just a reason to continue the weekend fun, but more the pinnacle of partying that many other clubs can only dream of achieving. But add in the extra element of a Bank Holiday or a special celebration, like in this case Gay Pride, and you can pretty much guarantee that Beyond, like the M25 on a Friday, will be a complete roadblock, although even this inevitability wasn’t going to put us off, meaning that wild horses weren’t going to keep us away this Sunday.
With well over 12 hours of partying already under our belt, we were still raring to go as we approached the borders of Area in Vauxhall, having hot footed it from SuperMartXe’s “Wizard of Oz” fabulous fantasy, coming a little bit back to clubbing basics but very much looking forward to our next gay pride club outing in the hands of Beyond. Not surprisingly, the queue was already considerable, although our arrival couldn’t have been timed any better as we came across pal Benoit waiting patiently, ticket in hand. With so many people assembling to get their slice of this afterhours magic, it was clear inside was going to be jam packed and a usually chatty Tom very much had his hands full orchestrating everyone’s smooth entry into the club. So, we left him to his devices, rather taking our place in the small but none moving guest list queue, while ticket holders & paying party goers filed into Area, much to our friends dismay, although it wasn’t long before we too were inside Beyond’s doors, ready to dig deep & delve into the delights of this exuberant event.
Yet another brilliant piece of timing saw us grab some refreshments at the bar literally as the main room dancefloor was opened, masses of cavorters pouring into the space to soak up the bountiful beats from Beyond occasional The Oli, his rousing yet funky filled set of sounds immediate striking a chord with us and many around and having quickly found our usual spot next the D.J. booth, we were soon surrounded by a swarm of club kids, muscled latino’s and their female admirers. With the temperature in Area’s main room already soaring, not least for the hot house sounds The Oli was serving up, his choices very much more uplifting than those we had left behind in SuperMartXe and all going down an absolute treat, making for the best start to a Beyond we can remember, our friend sought space further round to find his own stride in amongst the sea of half naked bodies moving & grooving yet clearly melting in the searing heat, while Area’s magnificent lighting, pyrotechnics & effects were at full tilt already, making for one of the best starts to a Beyond party we have savoured in long time.
Given the amount of people now in the club and the gold mine status of our little spot at the end of the main room, we were reluctant to leave our space for anything, although a brief call of nature then refreshment refuelling found us checking out the Chapel space which was well and truly pumping to the tech & electro beats of guest D.J. Ariel, while Paul, Christian was holding sway in the Blacbox, his harder hedged house finding favour with enough revellers to fill out the space. Further up in the Terrace room, we came across D’Johnny, pumping out some pulsating funky chunky tunes and with a little more room to gyrate than in our squeeze spot on the main room, so we decided to soak up his sounds for a while, the doors from the terrace room to the outside space swung open & hoards of revellers seeking solace from the mercury bursting temperatures inside. Johnny was really into his stride, hitting plenty of our musical sweet spots, one track after the next seeing us spin in a delightful dancing dervish, our painful back distant from our thoughts and the sweat shimmering on our shitless torso evidence of our extravert activity.
However, the main room was calling and for good reason as we were once again to be treated to a terrific back-to-back performance behind the decks from stellar Beyond residents Mikey D and Steve Pitron, both arriving simultaneously to take over from The Oli, sending the atmosphere skyward and the beats to boiling point with one classic Beyond tune after the next, each four to five minute stint between the two seeing huge house hits being traded and anthems a plenty pouring out to an adoring audience, packing out the podiums, craving for every last inch of space to soak up the scintillating set by both Steve & Mikey. Returning from his foray in the middle of the dancefloor, Benoit joined us for a while, although the heat was clearly too much for him, others continually passing us by in search of some cooling air in the new outside area behind, even promoter James Brewer, the delectable Dorin & a melting Mikey remarking to us how hot it was.
But the heat was going to be turned up further, as special PA guest Kaysee took to the stage, not once but twice, injecting her unstoppable energy on proceedings, certainly making an impact, although for us, interrupted our momentum somewhat, Steve restoring the stratospheric status quo with one of our favourite tracks of now “Stereo Love” as well as turning out what is very much a Pitron anthem “Here Comes The Rain”. Add to that the ticker tape explosions & pyrotechnic rockets as well as the unrivalled Area lighting and there was no doubting the magical feel of this truly incredible afterhours experience. So good was the main room, only short dives for refreshments were distractions, although once again the Terrace room grabbed our attention for a while, this time Jamie Head taking his turn to tempt us with some tremendous turbocharged tech fuelled tunes, the space pumping & pulsating to his mesmeric music, although thoughts were turning to the arrival of final main room resident Alan K and his promise to treat us to two very special dance devotions.
So braving the heat, we dived back into Area’s main space, just in time to see Alan arrive, his cheeky grin hinting towards the massive multi mixing magical music to come and within seconds we were back in full flow as he turned out his latest rendition of “Release Me”, the inclusion of percussion & tribal beats adding extra strands of dynamic dimension to this amazing dance track that, over fifteen months after first being played, still gets the same explosive reaction. But is wasn’t going to stop there, as this incredible D.J. had, since his Leicester Square stormer of a set, worked on a specially commissioned mix of Kelis’s “Acapella”, soon sharing the fruits of his labour with us and a still packed main room, his prolific production getting a similar reaction to Zoe Baldwin’s classic, hands shooting into the air in sheer delight, we tearing up our spot in adoration of this amazing version and touched that he had gone to so much trouble to deliver on our request.
Now our Beyond pride experience was now pretty much complete, although there was yet more magical minutes & moments to come from Alan, but by now the boiling heat was getting a little too much and we needed to beat a retreat outside, bumping into a boisterous Tom along the way who was now thoroughly enjoying his own Beyond experience and well deservedly so, having worked so hard to make sure everyone got into the club smoothly & safely. With the sun shining bright and the fresh air cooling our overheated body, friend Benoit found us and hinted towards a move to our next pride clubbing instalment, Later’s Funfair party across Vauxhall at Fire, a final foray first into the Terrace bar and then on to the main room signalling an end to our stay at Area. So, grabbing our belongs we waved goodbye to an amazingly brilliant Beyond, our stay from start to finish filled with magnificent music, delightful dancing & all in an awesome atmosphere that once again confirmed this afterhours outing’s award winning status.
There was no doubting that this Beyond was going to be somewhat of a roadblock of an event and in that respect it failed to disappoint, Area being even busier than back at the end of May when we could hardly squeeze onto the main room dancefloor. However, in truth Beyond on this gay pride Sunday failed to disappoint in any respects (well maybe except the PA who was surplus to requirements in our view), the music being majestic, the atmosphere awesome & the people in our company perfect. To see both the Chapel & the Blackbox busy was testament to the numbers taking advantage of this afterhours activity right across the venue, even the Terrace was packed from start to finish and hardly an inch was unoccupied outside. Yes, it was fair to say that it was incredibly hot in the main room and at times we struggled to spread our dancing wings within the confines of our usual spot, but even given this, so good were The Oli Mikey D, Steve Pitron & Alan K, that we managed well enough, walking away to reflect on a morning of brilliant beats at boiling point and asking ourselves, how can this club can get any better?! (DISCO MATT)
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