“STUMPED IN SELECTING SUNDAY AFTERHOURS OFFERINGS”
LOGAN PRESENTS’ M.O.S.T. & ORANGE GROUP’S BEYOND –
SUNDAY 29TH AUGUST
SPECIAL REVIEW/REFLECTION
Never in our time in clubbing has one particular slot in the calendar held such reverence as a Sunday morning and indeed in using such a word, in times of old this slot in the week would only ever be considered as a time for attending church for those with religious intent, while those not quite so disposed would be sitting at home, maybe reading the Sunday papers & relaxing on what was always know as “the day of rest”. But Sunday’s very much changed in our lives with the advent of Trade, which for many was seen as their trip to church, or so it was affectionately known, this legendary afterhours going on to dominate the nineties like no other club we know. But as the nineties changed to the noughties, new kid on the block Beyond began to dominate and went on to commit weekly Trade parties to the clubbing compost heap, very much being the new dream ticket, especially as gay village Vauxhall was the place to club, booze & cruise. However, as much as Beyond has very much gripped the Sunday morning afterhours slot, and in doing so seeing off many pretenders to the crown who have fallen at the first hurdle, as good as the club is and as much of a favourite it has become, we get the sense that there is a desire for something new, something fresh & something a little different. Or is there?
Well, there is one man in clubland that definitely thinks so and in launching his own home-grown brand M.O.S.T. was very much looking to the concept as “...an opportunity to shed more light on London daytime clubbing...” Matinee & SuperMartXe London promoter Logan Schmitz going boldly where others have gone before in squaring up against the might of Beyond, although in this case the inside track on M.O.S.T. seemed to be suggesting that this new kid on the block is aiming itself at a slightly different market to Beyond, the event being lined up more as an afterparty rather than a full-on afterhours, this first launch outing also very much reliant on reasonable weather, given its “Ibiza Terrace” style, not to mention being fed from the likes of SuperMartXe or , in this case, Hype. However, given the line-up of D.J.’s which included our longstanding Italian friend Danny Verde, a man whose career has ballooned in the last 18 months, as well as Sicilian Pagano, Spanish D.J. guest of Hype, Carlos Gallardo, as well as Brazil’s Leonardo Kloppel & Israeli Michel Mizrahi, would this totally international line-up stand up to the more familiar feel of Beyond’s with the might of Steve Pitron, Mikey D, Alan K, Jamie Head, Hifi Sean & co? And would we be able to fit both neatly into our already hectic Sunday schedule?
In truth, the answer to the last question was always going to be no, although making the choice that we were faced with, whilst at first seemed pretty straight forward, actually ended up as one of the most difficult we have ever made. However, with pal Danny flying in from Italy to play especially for M.O.S.T., the decision at the outset was relatively clear and with the events credentials looking pretty strong, we were hopeful of a party at MOS that would carry us through to our next scheduled engagement at amazing amalgamation, As One, on Sunday afternoon. So, with our mindset clear & the weekend upon us, we headed to Elephant & Castle for the second clubbing instalment on our Bank Holiday calendar, safe in the knowledge that M.O.S.T. would be our next port of call and our rendezvous with Danny one of the highlights of our weekend. But as much as we love our new piece of technology, it has already proven a dangerous tool, especially when factoring in our favourite social networking site and before we had even stepped into the Coronet’s doors, messages were flowing in tempting us to head for the “Super Size” party taking place in Vauxhall, although with friends Michelle Thornber & Clayton Wright on hand, our resolve was strong & our intent clear that M.O.S.T. would be our port of call on Sunday morning and a meet up with Danny to see him perform and then party with us afterwards.
Arriving at MOS’s doors at not long gone 6 a.m., it was clear the venue were still clearing out the previous event, an extra special post afterparty for the SW4 music festival, but despite this, we were keen for our own afterparty to swing into action, a healthy queue had formed for this inaugural M.O.S.T. outing, all very much braving the chilly conditions (well cold for August at least) But despite the delay & the cold compounded by many peeling off & heading for Vauxhall, we persevered and were soon to be rewarded with entry into the venue. Dropping our bits & bobs off in the coatcheck, rather than heading back into MOS’s main room, where Leonardo Kloppel was stoking up the atmosphere with some tough, chunky & funky wholes house tunes, we headed out onto the terrace expecting to see friend Danny preparing to kick start the Ibiza style proceedings, although it was clear that the late running of the previous party had left the venue’s organisers woefully behind in preparing from Logan’s event. With the wind very much picking up, making the space chilly to say the least and with no sign of Mr Verde, we beat a hasty retreat inside to soak up the energy on the main dancefloor.
With the “Super Size” badgering continuing and the relatively healthy main room crowd thinning before our eyes, our grip on reality and our focus on the liaison with our friend all but disappeared in the tide of dutiful thoughts & confused messages that saw our mind focus on heading to Beyond to continue our weekend reporting, leaving M.O.S.T. behind, without having really given the club a chance. With the brief hello with Danny over, Michele, Clayton & co chaperoned us out of the club and onto the crazy journey to Vauxhall and into the grip of Beyond, which, from the outside at least seemed to be rocking Area’s walls to their foundations. Indeed an emerging Chris Jepson confirmed the place was jam packed, no surprise really as all previous Bank Holiday’s have proven to be the same and even with the changes to Area, the extra space on the main room, the extended Blackbox space & the clearing of podiums on the respective dancefloors were still not going to be enough to cope with the sheer numbers through the doors, such was the wave of enthusiasm for Beyond on a Bank Holiday.
And entering the club ahead of Michelle & Clayton, our guide Romain Lopez led us into the Terrace room and towards the bar where we landed in the grip of Craig Elder, Tom Fuller & Dorin Andrei, all whom had grabbed a moment away from the mayhem to take stock on this, their biggest Beyond yet, the main room a sea of sweaty torso’s pumping to the beats of a Steve Pitron & a Mikey D back-to-back set, the second space awash with clubbers soaking up the sounds of German club, Sexy, here in the hands of resident D.J. Roni, and the Terrace room, where we found ourselves wedged, packed out & hooked to the heavenly house hits from Hifi Sean. In toasting Mr Elder on his birthday with shocking shots of Sambuca & Tequila, he led us into the main room to cast our eyes on proceedings, although the call of duty released us to squirm & squeeze our way down to the D.J. both to wave hello to one of the main protagonists in craving for our attendance at this “Super Size” party, Mr Pitron concentrating in the job in hand, but briefly popping his head up to smile & wave in our direction.
But in truth, as good as the main room felt, as gay as the crowd seemed and as pleasing it was to see hoards of fellow clubbing friends, not to mention the likes of Steve, Mikey, Alan, Jamie, Sean & Johnny, we were far from comfortable with our lot and our minds were cast back to Danny Verde, who we just couldn’t clear from our thoughts. Moving into the second room we spotted Oliver Mohns behind the decks, as well as the cute & cuddly Andrei 1, but even these two could not raise our deteriorating mood, all thoughts of our reporting duties now pushed to very back of our mind, rather Mr Verde planted right in the front and our concentration on the job in hand, reviewing what looked like becoming the success story of the Bank Holiday, completely lost. So, with our focus on all things afterhours now gone, it was down to liege Alex Erfan to pick up our dishevelled state & mood, plucking us out of Beyond as he did, taking us into the normality (if there is one) of a Vauxhall late morning to look forward to the next party on our schedule, rather than look back at the events of the last few hours, knowing that the arrival of one Javier Medina would most likely be the remedy to our woes. So that was our afterhours Bank Holiday experience in the hands of M.O.S.T. & Beyond, less than two hours spent in each club and our weekend hanging precariously in the balance
Now you may ask, what is the point of this review, or as we prefer to call it, reflection? Well, for us it has multiple meanings, first and foremost that business & pleasure rarely mix in complete harmony and trying to do so can be fraught with danger. However, our reflection has also shown how easy it can be for us to be swept away in the tide of emotion, confusing duty with loyalty, friendships with acquaintances and rhyme with reason, also highlighting that is it very difficult, especially in our position, to please everyone all of the time. There comes a point when decisions, whether right or wrong, have to be made and in the heat of the moment & in this case, we probably made the wrong one. In leaving our friend as we did, we may well have lost that friend, but in reflecting as we have, our only hope is that he comes to some understanding of the why in all of this, as well as our heartfelt desire to please wherever possible and our aim to strike that difficult balance between work & play. To summarise this as our own "afterhours horribilis" of an outing is to hope that we can forget this, our Bank Holiday Sunday morning experience as soon as we stop remembering it, and in doing so, move forward & not back.
LOGAN PRESENTS’ M.O.S.T. & ORANGE GROUP’S BEYOND –
SUNDAY 29TH AUGUST
SPECIAL REVIEW/REFLECTION
Never in our time in clubbing has one particular slot in the calendar held such reverence as a Sunday morning and indeed in using such a word, in times of old this slot in the week would only ever be considered as a time for attending church for those with religious intent, while those not quite so disposed would be sitting at home, maybe reading the Sunday papers & relaxing on what was always know as “the day of rest”. But Sunday’s very much changed in our lives with the advent of Trade, which for many was seen as their trip to church, or so it was affectionately known, this legendary afterhours going on to dominate the nineties like no other club we know. But as the nineties changed to the noughties, new kid on the block Beyond began to dominate and went on to commit weekly Trade parties to the clubbing compost heap, very much being the new dream ticket, especially as gay village Vauxhall was the place to club, booze & cruise. However, as much as Beyond has very much gripped the Sunday morning afterhours slot, and in doing so seeing off many pretenders to the crown who have fallen at the first hurdle, as good as the club is and as much of a favourite it has become, we get the sense that there is a desire for something new, something fresh & something a little different. Or is there?
Well, there is one man in clubland that definitely thinks so and in launching his own home-grown brand M.O.S.T. was very much looking to the concept as “...an opportunity to shed more light on London daytime clubbing...” Matinee & SuperMartXe London promoter Logan Schmitz going boldly where others have gone before in squaring up against the might of Beyond, although in this case the inside track on M.O.S.T. seemed to be suggesting that this new kid on the block is aiming itself at a slightly different market to Beyond, the event being lined up more as an afterparty rather than a full-on afterhours, this first launch outing also very much reliant on reasonable weather, given its “Ibiza Terrace” style, not to mention being fed from the likes of SuperMartXe or , in this case, Hype. However, given the line-up of D.J.’s which included our longstanding Italian friend Danny Verde, a man whose career has ballooned in the last 18 months, as well as Sicilian Pagano, Spanish D.J. guest of Hype, Carlos Gallardo, as well as Brazil’s Leonardo Kloppel & Israeli Michel Mizrahi, would this totally international line-up stand up to the more familiar feel of Beyond’s with the might of Steve Pitron, Mikey D, Alan K, Jamie Head, Hifi Sean & co? And would we be able to fit both neatly into our already hectic Sunday schedule?
In truth, the answer to the last question was always going to be no, although making the choice that we were faced with, whilst at first seemed pretty straight forward, actually ended up as one of the most difficult we have ever made. However, with pal Danny flying in from Italy to play especially for M.O.S.T., the decision at the outset was relatively clear and with the events credentials looking pretty strong, we were hopeful of a party at MOS that would carry us through to our next scheduled engagement at amazing amalgamation, As One, on Sunday afternoon. So, with our mindset clear & the weekend upon us, we headed to Elephant & Castle for the second clubbing instalment on our Bank Holiday calendar, safe in the knowledge that M.O.S.T. would be our next port of call and our rendezvous with Danny one of the highlights of our weekend. But as much as we love our new piece of technology, it has already proven a dangerous tool, especially when factoring in our favourite social networking site and before we had even stepped into the Coronet’s doors, messages were flowing in tempting us to head for the “Super Size” party taking place in Vauxhall, although with friends Michelle Thornber & Clayton Wright on hand, our resolve was strong & our intent clear that M.O.S.T. would be our port of call on Sunday morning and a meet up with Danny to see him perform and then party with us afterwards.
Arriving at MOS’s doors at not long gone 6 a.m., it was clear the venue were still clearing out the previous event, an extra special post afterparty for the SW4 music festival, but despite this, we were keen for our own afterparty to swing into action, a healthy queue had formed for this inaugural M.O.S.T. outing, all very much braving the chilly conditions (well cold for August at least) But despite the delay & the cold compounded by many peeling off & heading for Vauxhall, we persevered and were soon to be rewarded with entry into the venue. Dropping our bits & bobs off in the coatcheck, rather than heading back into MOS’s main room, where Leonardo Kloppel was stoking up the atmosphere with some tough, chunky & funky wholes house tunes, we headed out onto the terrace expecting to see friend Danny preparing to kick start the Ibiza style proceedings, although it was clear that the late running of the previous party had left the venue’s organisers woefully behind in preparing from Logan’s event. With the wind very much picking up, making the space chilly to say the least and with no sign of Mr Verde, we beat a hasty retreat inside to soak up the energy on the main dancefloor.
With the “Super Size” badgering continuing and the relatively healthy main room crowd thinning before our eyes, our grip on reality and our focus on the liaison with our friend all but disappeared in the tide of dutiful thoughts & confused messages that saw our mind focus on heading to Beyond to continue our weekend reporting, leaving M.O.S.T. behind, without having really given the club a chance. With the brief hello with Danny over, Michele, Clayton & co chaperoned us out of the club and onto the crazy journey to Vauxhall and into the grip of Beyond, which, from the outside at least seemed to be rocking Area’s walls to their foundations. Indeed an emerging Chris Jepson confirmed the place was jam packed, no surprise really as all previous Bank Holiday’s have proven to be the same and even with the changes to Area, the extra space on the main room, the extended Blackbox space & the clearing of podiums on the respective dancefloors were still not going to be enough to cope with the sheer numbers through the doors, such was the wave of enthusiasm for Beyond on a Bank Holiday.
And entering the club ahead of Michelle & Clayton, our guide Romain Lopez led us into the Terrace room and towards the bar where we landed in the grip of Craig Elder, Tom Fuller & Dorin Andrei, all whom had grabbed a moment away from the mayhem to take stock on this, their biggest Beyond yet, the main room a sea of sweaty torso’s pumping to the beats of a Steve Pitron & a Mikey D back-to-back set, the second space awash with clubbers soaking up the sounds of German club, Sexy, here in the hands of resident D.J. Roni, and the Terrace room, where we found ourselves wedged, packed out & hooked to the heavenly house hits from Hifi Sean. In toasting Mr Elder on his birthday with shocking shots of Sambuca & Tequila, he led us into the main room to cast our eyes on proceedings, although the call of duty released us to squirm & squeeze our way down to the D.J. both to wave hello to one of the main protagonists in craving for our attendance at this “Super Size” party, Mr Pitron concentrating in the job in hand, but briefly popping his head up to smile & wave in our direction.
But in truth, as good as the main room felt, as gay as the crowd seemed and as pleasing it was to see hoards of fellow clubbing friends, not to mention the likes of Steve, Mikey, Alan, Jamie, Sean & Johnny, we were far from comfortable with our lot and our minds were cast back to Danny Verde, who we just couldn’t clear from our thoughts. Moving into the second room we spotted Oliver Mohns behind the decks, as well as the cute & cuddly Andrei 1, but even these two could not raise our deteriorating mood, all thoughts of our reporting duties now pushed to very back of our mind, rather Mr Verde planted right in the front and our concentration on the job in hand, reviewing what looked like becoming the success story of the Bank Holiday, completely lost. So, with our focus on all things afterhours now gone, it was down to liege Alex Erfan to pick up our dishevelled state & mood, plucking us out of Beyond as he did, taking us into the normality (if there is one) of a Vauxhall late morning to look forward to the next party on our schedule, rather than look back at the events of the last few hours, knowing that the arrival of one Javier Medina would most likely be the remedy to our woes. So that was our afterhours Bank Holiday experience in the hands of M.O.S.T. & Beyond, less than two hours spent in each club and our weekend hanging precariously in the balance
Now you may ask, what is the point of this review, or as we prefer to call it, reflection? Well, for us it has multiple meanings, first and foremost that business & pleasure rarely mix in complete harmony and trying to do so can be fraught with danger. However, our reflection has also shown how easy it can be for us to be swept away in the tide of emotion, confusing duty with loyalty, friendships with acquaintances and rhyme with reason, also highlighting that is it very difficult, especially in our position, to please everyone all of the time. There comes a point when decisions, whether right or wrong, have to be made and in the heat of the moment & in this case, we probably made the wrong one. In leaving our friend as we did, we may well have lost that friend, but in reflecting as we have, our only hope is that he comes to some understanding of the why in all of this, as well as our heartfelt desire to please wherever possible and our aim to strike that difficult balance between work & play. To summarise this as our own "afterhours horribilis" of an outing is to hope that we can forget this, our Bank Holiday Sunday morning experience as soon as we stop remembering it, and in doing so, move forward & not back.
As for the Sunday afterhours parties themselves, well it was clear that Beyond “Super Size” outperformed all expectations of the team. We have never seen the place so packed, even if it was too hot to bear at times and the winning formula of desirable D.J.’s producing magnificent music as well as exceptional effects creating an amazing atmosphere, together with all the other ingredients that make Beyond the success it is, ended up being the proof in the pudding that made this party rise to the top of the pile once again this weekend. Plus, there is no doubt in our mind that Beyond remains as popular as ever and looks set not just to survive but continue to thrive. As for M.O.S.T., well the concept is a good one and the intent of the promoter we feel to be honourable, plus the pitch of the party means that it should have room to sit alongside Beyond in the afterhours stakes, it was just the timing of this event & a few other unexpected factors that meant it wasn’t the success it set itself out to be, although perseverance is definitely the name of the game. However, what we can say with conviction is that the Sunday mornings afterhours market is as strong as ever and long live this, our favoured clubbing slot. (DISCO MATT)
No comments:
Post a Comment