Disco Matt's - Club/Bar/Events Reviews

"Wonderfully Extravagant" - WE Party London Launch - Club Review

2010-12-09T10:21:00.004Z

“WONDERFULLY EXTRAVAGANT”
WE PARTY LONDON LAUNCH – SATURDAY 4TH DECEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

When we talk of the so called “Spanish Armada”, the names that immediately spring to mind are Matinee SuperMartXe & maybe Space, the other protagonist to this crown being La Troya, each one having gained measured success and/or exposure to the tricky & competitive clubbing market that is London. Indeed, whilst the whole fabric of the scene in the capital has changed in recent years, quality crowds having been replaced by a somewhat scruffier element, it has only been the likes of these monthly Spanish imports that have continued to attract the kind of good looking & stylish clubbers that were so much am every day occurrence only a few years ago. However, times continue to change & even giants like Matinee & SuperMartXe can easily fall out of favour with the very picky public that make up our scene here in the capital, so when news began to sweep across London that a newcomer from Spain was about to land, tongues began to wag as to exactly what to expect, especially given the party launch would be one week after its biggest competitor celebrated its 2nd anniversary.

Having fanfared back in its home country of Spain & city of Madrid just over a year ago, WE Party’s rise to the upper echelons of club brands has been nothing short of meteoric, promoter & artistic director, Victor Pallas, spreading the good WE word right across the globe, having made a splash at The Circuit Festival in August with a prolific pool party, then marvelled in Mykonos at XLsior, as well as having firmly cemented roots at the amazing La Riviera back in Madrid, very much picking up where SuperMartXe left off. Indeed, WE has very much captured the imagination of gay audiences across Spain, meaning it has become THE hot property & talk of town and with dates set for its world tour growing by the week, landing in London was always going to be a question of when as opposed to if. And so it was, the marriage of minds between the WE Spain team & the promotions vehicle iLondon events, the joint venture between Lovechild & As One promoter Alex Erfan & the Orange Group’s Craig Elder, an added irony being that it was to launch where SuperMartXe had done just two years ago.

So, having taken a sabbatical which meant we missed out on much of the calamity of the previous weekend, mixed reports coming in about WE Party’s competitor, some good, some indifferent, many bad, our hopes for a busy launch in London for Victor Pallas’s brand were buoyant to say the least, although with worries over the arctic like weather conditions, plus a wildcat strike by the Spanish air traffic controllers, much organisation & mobilisation was required to effectively get the show on the road. But, with the might of The Orange group behind then, both the host venue, The Coronet, and the joint promotions teams for this WE Party launch in London, moved with the efficiency of a German panzer tank battalion to ensure the logistics of the night would run as smoothly as a baby’s bottom and by golly did they or what, the whole experience a dream, literally from the minute we arrived at the stroke of midnight, to a free flowing queue of party goers & then to the most friendly security staff we had seen in a long time. Adding to our immediate pleasure were the familiar faces of the terrific Tom Fuller, the marvellous Minty & our lovely Latino, Juanjo, all doing their bit to welcome not just us, but the constant stream of others eager to get a slice of this new Spanish splendour.But more than that, were we pleased as punch or what, when the lovely Dave Cross pitched up, immediately entering into jovial conversation as to our presence (...were we Matt, Disco Matt, or indeed Crisco Matt?!...) bringing a huge smile to our faces (how many!!), fabulous.

With entrance formalities over & our liaison with close friend Stephen complete, not to mention a whole host of hello’s in the foyer & then the upstairs VIP area, including Andrew Jones, Guy Williams and iLondon events man Alex Erfan, with refreshments in hand and a text message from incumbent D.J. Steve Pitron received, we headed round into the Coronet’s main arena, escorted by the ever inviting Romain Lopez, who gave us a guided tour of the VIP balcony and the main space, at this point shrouded by a massive black curtain, awaiting the full reveal to a by now rammed packed bar space. So, tour over & a certain club promoter avoided, we sought refuge with our friends Stephen & Stefan, although not before bumping into a host of familiar faces, first & foremost Craig Elder, who was so pleased to see us, then Romano Hendry & his lot, the charming TTD promoter Billy Richard, and Industri pals Jeremy, Andy & David, in amongst a wave of others that were not only pleased to see us, but poured heaps of support on us & our attendance to this WE London launch, marking our return to our review duties.

Now we were keen for the party to gather its full head of steam and with the reveal complete & the expanse of the incredible stage displays & lighting looming large in everyone’s eyes, we headed down towards the massive dancefloor, being greeted at the bottom by a beaming Steve Pitron, who immediately took us across to his posse who were all ready to lap up both his set & the impending action. And, it wasn’t long before the space began to fill with crowds of others, all intent on getting a brilliant view of the stage, the dancers, the lighting & the incredible screen effects which have become a WE trademark, the whole ethos of the brand based on a new evolution & a new formula of clubbing, the inevitable yet hilarious association with washing, bubbles & the like, the by word of the brand (just look at their signature identity). Yet, while the space was filling nicely & D’Johnny’s music warming up proceedings, the temperature of The Coronet was decidedly chilly, despite the huge efforts to heat the place with industrial size contraptions, many complaining of the cold, while joining us in our dancing dervishness to ward off the winter like conditions.

However, to the rescue came Mr Pitron, immediately upping the pace of the music & treating us to a veritable feat of fantastic tunes, many lifted straight from his magnificent mix, recorded in celebration of this WE London launch, the dancefloor now well & truly packed with revellers intent on partying the night away, the likes of friend & partner in fierceness Lexi, trading moves with us, birthday boy Stweart Who in attendance, the Lo-Profile team swarming around and the angelic Andrea & her boys right next to us adding to the now enthralling entertainment. But, was it going to get better or what, as with a sudden slow in the music, the WE dancers made their sultry & sexy moves onto the stage, then in a brilliant flash of lighting, the huge screens fired up in all their splendour, completely wowing the audience, looks of amazement at the enormous neon effects on everyone’s faces around, testament to the incredible impact this fresh new formula had created, all added to by first plumes of bubbles filling the theatrical space, then with a massive fanfare of sound, the biggest ticker tape canon explosions erupted, multi coloured plumes thrown high into the air, elevating the atmosphere to stratospheric levels.

Now all thoughts of the cold were far from people’s minds, indeed the heat projected from the huge screens sought to raise the temperature, all added to by Mr Pitron’s pulsating performance, the teams of dancers strutting their stuff on the stage podiums, we even being amused by the position of WE letters on one gorgeous hunks crotch (WE on the front...what on the back?), the whole essence of this party brand swinging into focus, the fun element that had so been missing in many a club night & brand before, evident for all to see. And with moments of hilarity continuing in our captivating company, our enjoyment of this exceptional event was growing by the minute & added to by yet more familiar faces, D.J’s. Alan K, Jamie Head, Mikey D, Alessandro, & Tony English, The Orange group elite, including Jonny M & the Elder brothers, even a busy as a bee Phillipe Giovanni Chiarella, as well as our favourite couple Dorin & Kyriacos, and the Polish boys Mariusz & Norbert, amongst a myriad of others making for a truly magnificent magical montage of men & women in our midst.

With the party at full tilt & Steve have graced his exit, the Spanish invasion was now in control, first Manuel De Diego dazzling with a euro-beat-tastic trip of tunes that had the main space completely pumping with pulsating party heads, the crowd showing no signs of relenting to the fever pitch pace of proceedings and the dancers continuing to delight in front the awe inspired effects & visuals. And, the atmosphere only improved yet more notches when it was headlining WE party resident, Carlos Gallardo’s turn to delight the crowd with his divine dance tracks, we even being thrilled & graced with a back stage intro just in advance of his spectacular set, this being just one highlight in a long list of others that rounded off this wonderfully extravagant event in the best possible way. And, whilst we really wanted the party to go on & on, time was against us & with sights now on the afterparty, we waved our farewells to the Coronet & this wicked WE party, heading home to recharge our batteries s before Beyond WE, when we did it all over again.

We were expecting great things from this WE launch, especially having seen the impact that the brand had made thus far both at home in Madrid and across Europe, but nothing quite prepared us for the amazing effects & atmosphere that we witnessed at The Coronet. To say we were spell bound by the enormous neon effects is an understatement and what’s more, the music matched in every respect, the team of main room stars each adding their own elements to create one of the best Spanish sorties on a Saturday we have seen in London in a long time. Now, we were going to fill our review with amusing analogies, like first wash cycle cold, midway rinse rapturous & second spin spectacular, but to be honest, they would simply deflect from the truly tremendous time we had and the wonderment that is WE. But moreover it would not reflect just how smooth the whole operation was, much down to the incredible organisation of the iLondon events crew, who along with the venue & WE’s Spanish team, should be heartily congratulated for pulling off this party without hardly a hitch. WE London was Well Executed, encapsulated a Wonderful Ensemble, ended up being a truly Wicked Event and we enjoyed every minute of it, meaning we cannot wait for this Wonderful Espaniol to return, to once again make for the perfect WEekend. (DISCO MATT)

"A New Look, A New Direction" - DiscoMatt.com "Go For Launch"

2010-12-07T19:51:00.001Z

“A NEW LOOK, A NEW DIRECTION”
DISCOMATT.COM “GO FOR LAUNCH”
REPORT – MONDAY 6TH DECEMBER

Well, it has been a long time coming, but the day has arrived when we can, excitingly, announce the launch of our new one-stop website, a momentous day in Disco Matt land and one which we are coining “go for launch”, perhaps not quite as spectacular as the first rocket in space, the first man on the moon or even that first space shuttle mission, but a significant launch & step in our relatively short yet eventful history.

And yes, it has been just under three years since we started putting pen to paper, Disco Matt having been born & developed following publication of his review of Matinee in February 2008, on tip top clubbing website SeenQueen, we having gone on to rack up exactly 200 reviews since then, although as we have broadened our services ,other posts & reports have pushed up that incredible figure to well over 400, adding previews, weekend recommendations, hot dates & music pages to our family of blogs.

But in an ever changing & fast moving world and with our reputation & name established, the time came for us to step out of our “blogging” label, by creating a full-on website to encompass the full range of our work, offering a “one-stop shop” for our regular readers & wider audiences. So, given this momentous change, we have decided to slowly phase out our posts via BlogSpot, with the plan to fully integrate into DiscoMatt.com from the beginning of 2011. However, till then, you will be able to find out posts both here & at the new site.

So, why not take a look at our new look now & our post “A New Look & New Direction” which gives you a complete rundown on the new features, pages & site navigation tools, by simply clicking on http://discomatt.com/. We hope you like our new look and welcome your feedback, good, bad or indifferent. (DISCO MATT)

"Thoroughly Thrilling Third" - Lo-Profile 3rd Birthday - Club Review

2010-11-28T10:22:00.003Z

“THOROUGHLY THRILLING THIRD”
LO-PROFILE 3RD BIRTHDAY – FRIDAY 19TH NOVEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

When multi-national organisation Gaydar decided to take the plunge into the bar & clubbing market, adding to its already well established online dating & networking business, as well as its popular radio shows & other online services, some immediately questioned why they should be entering a market place that was in complete contradiction to is regular offerings. Yet, with its first foray out on Frith Street, the venue gained considerable following, filling a neat gap in the selection of Soho sophisticates, although this massive conglomerate was keen to make a bigger impact of the capital’s clubbing scene and like its bar operation, fill a much needed gap in central London, particularly given the fact that many existing venues were either closing down (in some case bulldozed) or diminishing in popularity. So, they soon sought out a space on Wardour Street which had previously seen failed attempts to do similar, a launch under the guise of “Sweet Suite” falling at the first hurdle, although with the might of Gaydar behind it, this new operation had every chance of succeeding where others had failed.

Lo-Profile hit the ground running in 2007, very much capturing a change in clubbing trends, as people began to desert the larger venues in preference to the more moderate affairs that were better matching the needs & demands of a shrinking audience, some laying the blame on this change, funnily enough, at the door of online organisations like Gaydar, for revolutionising the way people meet & connect, this trend change meaning that the traditional way of meeting people, in bars & clubs, was becoming much less the norm. So, very much flying in the face of their bread & butter business, the bold move to open a nightclub was seen by some as controversial, as was the extrovert decor of Lo-Profile, the overt shapes of lighting around its entrance working well, but the replication across the club , a little too much for some. Plus, with certain club ventures failing to ignite expected attraction, it seemed the club was, like its predecessors, would flounder, although three years on, it is not only still alive, but very muck kicking.

So, given both the appeal of its sister venue, Profile, now located directly above on Wardour Street, plus with all the recent improvements to the club space, we simply couldn’t forgo making the trip down to Lo-Profile for its 3rd birthday celebration, even if we had stated we were suspending our reviewing activity for November, we very much pleased to make this exception. Therefore, we made plans to meet up with D.J. close pal Brent Nicholls, who was due to perform at this special birthday bash, making our way to Profile for around 10 p.m. for the liaison with our friend, also catching up with Profile’s Friday resident D.J. Phil Marriot, who was in his usual chirpy mood & keen to party on downstairs after his stint behind the decks, transmitting his show live to Gaydar Radio’s Club Nation audience. And with the bar a frenzy of activity, not least with the bubbly enthusiasm exuded from fellow friend Andrea, who bounded up to make her presence felt

But the main focus was downstairs, so with Brent Nicholls leading the way, we headed through Profile and then down past the clubs reception, entering Lo-Profile’s space in time to catch the end of the VIP reception for this special birthday occasion, D’Johnny in charge of the musical direction, pumping out a neat selection of tech infused house hits to a select bunch of invitees ready to party deep into the night. So, soon finding ourselves at the bar, we grabbed some refreshments, served by the charming Philippe and began to circulate the space, bumping into familiar face, one after the other, including yet more D.J. pals (was it a convention?!) Alessandro Londra, Paul Heron, Nick Evans & Jamie Head, all making their appearance to toast Lo-Profile on its third year in operation. Plus, some the Gaydar top brass were around, we even getting invited to a glass of champagne, most agreeable, everyone in cheerful & celebratory mood as the club began to swell in numbers before our eyes, the staff motoring to get everyone served in their now customary efficient manner, special “3” balloons festooning the back bar to re-enforce the birthday message.

So, now we were set fair to soak up this Lo-Profile special occasion, planting ourselves in our favourite spot (come on you should know by now) just by the D.J. booth, the perfect vantage point to see the new lighting system swing into action, the bank of lasers swinging to the beats D’Johnny was bashing out & bouncing off the sea of bodies that was now filling the dancefloor. But when the podiums filled, first with enthusiastic party goers, one such hunk stripping to the waist, although he was soon to make way for an even tastier guy, part of the troupe of dancers that were to entertain our eyes throughout the rest of this pulsating party. And it came as no surprise that Mr photographer himself, Chris Jepson, was on queue to snap the gorgeous dancers in action, although fortunately we were also in pole position with our phone pointed directly at this sexy stud in front of us, our hands quivering as we shot away to our hearts content.

With D’Johnny’s set now over, it was down to Brent Nicholls to further elevate the already awesome atmosphere, he very much taking the music, grasping it with both hands and giving it his trademark latino edged & funky filled touches, with plenty of house heaven anthems from across the three years of Lo-Profile’s existence, trading classics like “Sunday’s At Heaven”, with more recent hits “Devil Walking” “Hey, Hey” and many more, although the rapturous reaction to Toca’s “Miracle” was one of the most amazing we have seen anywhere & proved a truly magical moment within this Aussie D.J’s superlative set. And we were very much in full flow, especially in the company of Mr Marriot, who had now made it down from upstairs to join in the party, we not only trading dance moves, but also sharing more than a joke or two which was, yet again, proving to be a fabulous Friday sashaying in Soho rather than being vivacious in Vauxhall.

With Brent in complete control of the decks and the new lighting & effects in full tilt, we were going nowhere, our original plans to stay for just an hour or two, laid to waste, our dancing dervishness showing no signs of slowing down, so good was Lo-Profile, even outstaying the usually energetic Andrea, who curtain called before us. But with yet more people swinging by, including the charming Suzana Quentin & the lovely Naomi Ruiz, as well as beautiful Brazilian Lunarde Martins, the captivating company couldn’t have been better, our spot by the D.J. booth proving the perfect place to be, Brent continuing to delight with one delicious dance tune after the next, all very evocative of this special 3rd birthday bash, he pitching the music perfectly, ensuring the dancefloor remained rammed right up to the 4 a.m. finish. And, whilst we really wanted to stay to the end, the call of our bed & resting before a journey to family duties the following morning, meant we had to grace our exit, collecting our bits from behind the D.J. booth, saying farewells to those around us, then sliding out into Soho to wend our way home & reflect on what was certainly a superb celebratory event extra-ordinaire.

There is absolutely no doubt that Lo-Profile, in its three year history, has gone from strength to strength, Fridays as well as Saturdays proving more & more popular as time has gone by, this being no surprise, particularly when you consider the wealth of D.J. talent the team employ to attract the masses, talents Steve Pitron, Mikey D, Jamie Head, Paul Heron & Gonzalo Rivas, among a host of others, all very much the cream of the London clubbing scene, that many a larger club operation would be proud to sport, meaning the music is the best you will find anywhere. And with both D’Johnny & Brent Nicholls masterminding that music for this 3rd birthday bash, we were very much treated to a truck load of terrific tunes from start to finish, all added to by the brilliant new lighting installations that have made such a big difference to both the atmosphere & ambiance of this Soho sophisticate, combining to make Lo-Profile, not just a credible alternative to the larger offerings south of the river, but a captivating club in its own right. So, we raise our glass in hearty congratulations to the team behind this prolific place & look forward to celebrating the next birthday in just as much style as this. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

To mark Lo-Profile’s third birthday, resident D.J. Brent Nicholls has compiled a special mix, marking this special occasion, his 18 track devotion covering the three years of the clubs history with some truly amazing anthems, Brent describing it, modestly, as “...nothing groundbreaking, just a collection of good time memories defined by house music...” this hardly doing justice to what is one of his best creations of 2010 so far, keeping us addicted from start to finish and will surely do the same for you too.

So, to download this mesmeric mix, go to http://djbrentnicholls.com/music & click on the relevant link. Plus, to see the new look Lo-Profile in full swing, captured in video by Mr Nicholls, go to either his own website or to direct link http://seenqueen.com/web/tag/lo-profile-3rd-birthday/ and sink yourself into both the music & the action of this outstanding outfit.

"Mr Medina Makes His Mark" - Lovechild "1st Anniversary" - Club Review

2010-11-23T21:28:00.006Z

"MR MEDINA MAKES HIS MARK”
LOVECHILD “1st ANNIVERSARY” – SATURDAY 13TH NOVEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

Looking back over the last few months, indeed years, there is no doubt that when it comes to Saturday night clubbing, the scene in London has seen some quite dramatic changes in trend, this usually most popular weekend slot having pitched & yawed in popularity, only a handful of brands surviving to tell the tale. Indeed save for some of the major brands, finding somewhere to party like (as the song goes) 1999, is increasingly more difficult, much of the central London locations either having been bulldozed to make way for other uses or filled with club brands that don’t necessarily appeal. So, as a consequence, Saturday’s have become rich pickings for the likes of SuperMartXe and, until recently, Matinee, one other brand showing itself on a monthly basis to make its own mark on a struggling slot when venues such as Barcode & Lo-Profile end up making the most of.

Lovechild very much has established itself as a prime contender for Saturday nights in the capital, making the bold move to change its original Sunday slot in favour of what, at the time, proved a wise choice & & popular decision. Indeed, it hardly seems a year since promoter Alex Erfan decided to move his lovable clubbing brand from its first home, Pacha in Victoria, to Fire in Vauxhall, the move giving him the flexibility he need to broaden both the appeal & dynamic of the monthly parties, a whole host of events having made a considerable splash on the capitals scene, firmly establishing it as one of the venues more popular events, well on a Saturday at least. This move to Vauxhall has also allowed Mr Erfan & his close team to expand into other brands, both home grown & international imports, although it would be fair to say that Lovechild is Alex’s first born in his recent relationship with Craig Elder’s group, so remains close to his heart and one which we have both supported & attended on a regular basis. So, despite certain issues with another scene club promoter, forcing us to take a sabbatical from our review duties, we made an exception for this special Lovechild “Anniversary”.

Another major reason for breaking our embargo on reviewing, was the arrival in London of Barcelona based boy, Javier Medina, whose work we have been promoting since the spring & indeed someone that has become a good friend, we spending time together as recent as September in Paris, as well as having connecting when he played on behalf of Lovechild at the August Bank Holiday As One event. So, whilst up until the actual day, it seemed doubtful we would make it to Fire, as Saturday dawned, we decided to brush aside, or at least dispel for a few hours, the issues that had forced us to suspend our writing & clubbing, the night actually becoming quite busy early on, with a boat party trip on the Thames, followed by a dip into Soho to celebrate both friends Michelle Thornber’s & Tom Marchant’s birthdays. But, a 1 a.m. liaison with Brent Nicholls, who was due on Lovechild duty, saw us arrive at Fire at a little shy of 2 a.m., we eventually finding ourselves at the venues “Lightbox” entrance, the revised arrangements for this anniversary occasion.

Making our way through & around towards the rear entrance (not tradesman’s before you ask) we were greeted by the man himself, Alex Erfan, who was beaming from ear to ear although very much concealing his concerns over the revised set up for this special one year celebration of his lovable brand, he guiding both us & Brent through into the replacement for the usual lounge space, the small “raw” room, which, if we are honest, has never really worked from the day it was opened, the space being very much divorced from the rest of the club. Dropping off our bits & boobs behind the D.J. booth & catching a hello with Terry Vietheer behind the decks, Alex then escorted us through into the Lightbox area and then on into the mirrorarch room, we very keen to catch up with our Catalonian companion, although as we arrived at the D.J. booth, Mr Medina was nowhere to be found, instead, Tony English was in charge of the sounds, Alex advising that a revision to the D.J.’s timings had been necessary due to the change in the club configuration. So, after a brief stop off in the upstairs VIP area, when Alex discussed some issues of the day with us & Brent, we found ourselves back in the raw space where Mr Nicholls acclimatised himself with the change in surroundings & scenery and prepared to commence his set.

Still wanting to catch up with Javier, we soon headed back into the mirrorarch to find him in situ by the D.J. booth, our Barca boy giving us a hearty hug & delving into catch up conversation, we also being introduced to his travelling companion, who was already stripped to the waist & well into the action. Fitting in a sneaking smoke break, we soon found ourselves back in the mirrorarch & getting into the swing of Mr English’s sounds, very much more uplifting & accessible than we normally expect from this talented D.J., his usual style more euro-beat in its make-up, Ibiza & Spanish influences much more his flavour, although with the room packed & Thiagio Drewery’s dancers making the first of many showings, this anniversary event was certainly hitting the spot, the macho & testosterone fuelled feel that Lovechild has come to be known for, back with a bang & even the dancers much more butch & muscular than we had seen of late.

But the best was to come as Mr Medina rose to the decks, immediately upping the pace of the music & taking the crowd on a magical mystery tour through Spanish sounds, tribal tunes & much more hard edged house, the kind that always seems to go down well in this, our favourite space at Fire, Javier really capturing the imagination of the crowd, who soon filled the podiums in front of the D.J. booth & further down the room, whoops & cheers coming with every record selection & a stream of people coming up to our spot to find out who the maestro in charge of the music was. Indeed with scores of people intent on soaking up his superb sounds, the mirrorarch, which had been packed before, saw no signs of receding, rather filling out even further as the waves of go-go dancers delighted & then the superb PA performance by Lizzie France well & truly erupted this exceptional event.

However, in contrast to Mr Medina, who was definitely making his mark, as good as both Mattias in the Lightbox & Brent in the raw room were, they were struggling to capture the crowd & the imagination, even though their music was very much in tune with Lovechild & the moment, Javier rather having the lion’s share of the party people. And the already busy main space filled further when two hunky half naked dancers ascended the stage and began a teasing display, slowly revealing their prone assets for all to see, not least Mr scene photographer himself, Chris Jepson, in perfect position to catch these well endowed muscle men’s posing, even D.J. & pal Phil Hewson looking on in amazement. Now, we were going absolutely nowhere, Mr Medina’s music captivating us with every track selection, we spinning on our spot in a-typical Disco Matt dervishness and loving every minute of it.

But, with an unfortunate encounter with one of our clubbing critics, a protagonist that had become intensely personal following an issue at Beyond a few weeks before, our elevated mood was dented considerably and with Javier’s stint nearly over, although looking like it would continue as Gonzalo Rivas had not yet arrived, we headed for the comfort & security of the raw room & Brent Nicholls, who was still spinning his latin infused & funky sounds, his friendly reassuring smile filling us with the confidence we had lost, even Paul Heron’s impromptu arrival helping tremendously, Brent joining in the joviality which made for an altogether pleasant end to our stay at this special Anniversary Lovechild celebration. However, with the call of Beyond, yet the need to drop our excess baggage off at home, Brent dispatched us to say our farewells to Javier, before we made our way out of Fire and into the Vauxhall early morning to reflect on a party with a difference, some for good reasons, others not so.

There is no doubt that, in the room format that we found it, Lovechild this time round had a distinctly different feel and without both the main room & the lounge spaces, was definitely lacking in overall appeal & satisfaction. However, the mirrorarch space very much made up for the missing elements, not least Javier Medina’s performance, which truly captured the essence of Lovechild for us, euro style sounds & macho mesmeric music that was much more akin to the brand rather than the usual uplifting & energetic genres that seem to feature across the London scene so much. That said, Tony English’s performance went down extremely well, we also hearing that Phil Hewson’s set was superb, plus with the calibre of D.J.’s like Brent Nicholls, Mattias Alessandro Londra, & Terry Vietheer, not to mention the prolific PA Lizzie France, there was no short of terrific talent on this special occasion.

However, as good as all these individuals were, not forgetting the drop dead gorgeous dancers on display f course, we cannot escape the fact that the topsy turvy room set up at compared to previous Lovechild’s in Fire, was not just disruptive to the flow of the party, but made it feel completely different, a shame when this was supposed to be a celebration of Fire being this brilliant brands best home so far. Plus, when we heard the main room had been given away to another event, so as to keep the refurbishments fresh for Revolver the following weekend, we were short of dismayed at this move on many counts, mostly, as being one year on, you would have thought the venues management would have allowed its strongest Saturday night brand the free run of the venue it deserved, rather than reserving some final changes to the main room for a crowd that might not (and indeed failed to) materialise. As for Lovechild itself, with expansions into Europe & beyond, life couldn’t be better for Mr Erfan’s lovable club & with London firmly established, we look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries as well as birthday’s to come. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript – Lovechild Music

There is little doubt that Lovechild has & continues to sport one of the strongest resident line-up’s on the capitals clubbing scene, not to mention a host of guest D.J.’s that make the music it plays not just diverse & interesting, but some of the best you will find anywhere. International talents that have graced the clubs decks in the year it has partied hard at Fire have included Albert Neve, Leomeo Carandang, Justin Ryan, Johan Khoury and, of course, Javier Medina, while London based guests extend to Terry Bryan, The Oli, Alan K & Nick Tcherniak. Yet, as this list wasn’t sparkling enough, you then include the list of residents & it truly becomes awesome, Italian’s Pagano, Gabriele Cutrano & Alessandro Londra, Australian’s, Brent Nicholls & Terry Vietheer, Englishmen, Phil Hewson, Tony English, Lee Harris & Jc Christopher, Scot, Paul Heron and Swede, Mattias, even South African Leroy Tayler, a roll call indeed.

But it gets better, as not only is there a special site dedicated to the music of Lovechild, mixes available from the likes of Nick T, Paul H, Mattias, Alessandro, Gabriele & many more, all 13 episodes which can be downloaded from http://lovechildclub.podomatic.com/. But, yet more are available via the D.J.’s direct web pages, all worth a look, http://events.leroytayler.podomatic.com/, http://justinryan.podomatic.com/, http://soundcloud.com/djalessandrolondra, http://funkylondon.podomatic.com/ (Phi Hewson’s site) & http://soundcloud.com/gabrielecutrano.

However, marking this 1st Anniversary party as only he can do best, is Brent Nicholls, with his compilation entitled “LoveChildOne – Feels Like Fire Mix”, which he describes as “...a collection of funky flavoured nu-funk, tech dipped & disco inspired tunes...” and he is not wrong there, our fave tracks being “C’mon Get Funky”, “Let’s All Chant”, “Sweep The Floor” & “Disco Disco Disco” (there’s a surprise), but with 13 more terrific tunes besides, making for what we would describe as a retro meets modern gem of a compilation with the Nicholls magical twist to it. So, this is truly a gorgeous gift to Lovechild on their 1st Anniversary and can be one to you too, by going to http://djbrentnicholls.com/ and then either scrolling down the home page, or selecting his “music” section.

Finally, the “official” Lovechild Anniversary compilation was pressed onto CD for the party & handed out across the evening, this 44 minute marvel mixed by resident D.J. Tony English, which is a glorious gathering of both uplifting vocal tunes & euro-style beats, very much evocate of his superb set on the night and is a MUST for your collection. Now, for those of you that weren’t around & didn’t get a copy, the good news is that it will be released on http://lovechildclub.podomatic.com in the next week or so, although in the meantime, if you fancy a copy, then just drop your details to Disco Matt headquarters via discomatt@hotmail.com & we will arrange to forward a copy to you. Plus, for Tony’s regular podcasts, go to http://tonyenglish.podomatic.com.

So, with well over twenty Lovechild inspired mixes available right here, as we love to say, “...sit back, select those sounds, turn up the volume & let them play, as Music Is The Answer...”

"Cavorting At Cargo" - D.T.P.M. "Eastbender" - Club Review

2010-11-21T18:57:00.001Z

“CAVORTING AT CARGO”
D.T.P.M. “EASTBENDER” – SUNDAY 31ST OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

When we first landed on London and started our clubbing career in the capital, Sunday’s were very much the day to party hard & decadently, this trend having been forged by the mighty Trade, which when opening its doors back in 1990, quickly caught the imagination & short of transformed Sunday’s into the vogue day of the week, many swapping paper reading for partying, church for cavorting. So, it was natural that, when spilling out of Turnmills (Trade’s home) the energetic throngs of clubbers simply didn’t want the merriment to stop, thus an institution was born that, like its Sunday morning mother, firmly established itself on the capitals clubbing calendar, host venue Villa Stefano’s a must visit for any post Trade baby looking to dance deep into Sunday evening in what become the most decadent tea dance we have ever known.

DTPM is without doubt one of the leading clubbing brands, whose reputation has stretched far & wide, a club that has very much moved with the times, literally, from its original slot of 3 p.m. on a Sunday through to more of a Monday morning club & back ago, its 18 year history littered with amazing parties at a host of venues in the capital, including The End, Fabric & more latterly Paramount, but finding favour for us the most both in that original timing slot & at ancestral home Villa Stefano’s, it also being the natural follower to any Trade event. Indeed, living up to its name, in Latin, “Delirium Tremens Post Meridian”, roughly translated (in Disco Matt talk) as meaning “Delirious Teadance Post Midday”, it always seemed to have more significance on a Sunday afternoon rather than a Monday morning and so, when we heard that it would be making a welcome return to the scene, not only in our favouring timing slot, but following Trade’s 20th birthday event, we simply had to include it in our schedule, not least as promoter Lee Freeman had chosen the superb Cargo as a host venue for this “Eastbenders” titled trounce.

With Trade wearing us out in more ways than one (all for good reasons of course), we felt the need for a respite before landing on Rivington Street in London’s select situ Shoreditch for DTPM’s afternoon event, a short amount of re-fuelling of energy sought at hip hop hangout Rupert Street, before landing on Cargo at just turned 5 p.m. Whilst our arrival was a little later than planned, plus a good 4 hours after the party had kicked off, we were still in time to catch the ever engaging Laurent Chaumet on the door, who greeted us with his familiar French charm & warmth, escorting us through the entrance & past the friendly security staff & into the club proper, taking a moment to catch up in bits & bobs with us, before returning to his met & greet duties. Then it was just a case of finding the coatcheck to deposit our bits & bobs , while acclimatising ourselves to the inside of Cargo, this being our first visit, although the location being familiar to us as our daytime duties often require us to call on the address.

Ready & raring to go, we made our way into the main room space, filled nicely with plenty of partygoers, many whom had made the trip up form Trade, while a select few had very much more fresher legs to carry them through to the planned 10.30 p.m. finish. Moving around the dancefloor towards the bar to grab refreshments, we soon came across familiar faces, including Clington Forbes, who was still looking remarkably fresh following well over 12 hours of clubbing (like us), he having changed out of his Halloween attire that he had graced so fabulously at Vauxhall Chainsaw Massacre the night before, he getting down to the magnificent music at this “Eastbender” event with his usual gusto, invoking a similar reaction from our now refreshed legs, the New York & nu disco house that incumbent D.J. Guy Williams was selecting, very much hitting the mark & easing us into the party perfectly. And, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves at the D.J. booth saying our hello’s to the man behind the decks, Mr Williams still looking full of beans, even after the full-on fourth birthday bash for his own club brand Black Rabbit, as well as succumbing to the pleasures of Trade, which included a set in the lite lounge, the man clearly in party mood & enjoying this DTPM leg in his marathon weekend immensely. Indeed, he was very much in the grove with his music selections, the style much more akin to his performances at paradise 45 (another brand of his), but every bit the part for this cavorting at Cargo.

Feeling the need for a quick break out on the terrace to indulge in our re-emerged vice, we first caught up with Simon Patrick whom we had seen a mere four or so ours ago in a similar spot at Trade, he having taking the sensible decision to pop home & refresh himself for this post midday shindig. With a clutch of other familiar faces also taking a breather from the action inside, including D.J. Mikey D, who bounded up to say hello, soon followed by main man Lee Freeman, sporting his trademark trilby hat, who was just as pleased to see us, diving deep into conversation about all things DTPM, also touching on the change in D.J. line-up, Boy George, who was supposed to be headlining the event, cancelling (we were told for good reason) at the last minute, although such was the strength of the rest of the team, it didn’t make any difference to the party’s outcome.

With the familiar uplifting music sounds piping through onto the terrace, we starting searching for the source, soon finding it in the shape of the intimate second space, which was tucked away at the end of the venue, a neat little room with its own bar & make shift dance area, filled with a select crowd of faithful's lapping up the superb sounds of the man in the seat, none other than Fat Tony, who had, just hours before, captivated us in Trade’s lite lounge. And with Clington in attendance, we soon get into the swing of this more uplifting & funky offering, spinning on our spot by the D.J. booth, even Lee & Simon joining in for a while, others also spilling in the space and adding to the already audacious atmosphere, all helped along by Tony’s selections which would never be complete without “Release Me” and “Here Comes The Rain”, both erupting the room & everyone in it.

But, as good as this little space was, we were being drawn back into the main room, our arrival timed to perfection as Guy Williams was ready to hand over the reins to the duo of Nick Tcherniak & Steve Thomas, an increasing gathering of party goers having assembled around the D.J. booth & stage, including the naughty but nice Tom Marchant, as well as Mr Patrick’s crew, which included TTD men Billy Richard & Greg Mitchell. And, with Guy in a really mischievous mood, not just playing with the red light behind the booth, but joking u with us & Steve, it wasn’t long before the whole affair descended into one hilarious moment after the next, Mr Williams continually put Mr Thomas off his stroke as soon as he got anywhere near the decks to mix a record, Nick having to assume control, while we were bent over in fits of laughter, Gus face an absolute picture and everyone around entering into the spirit of this jovial encounter extra-ordniarre.

So, with Mr Tckerniak in complete control of the music and his selections finding favour, the music more on the tougher side & much more akin to the DTPM style we had been used to, the stage also erupted into action, two scantily dressed go-go’s ascending each side & displaying their wares in front of the massive screen which was flashing vivacious visuals to enhance the show the twosome were entertaining the crowd with, the whole place pulsating with action and the atmosphere building by the second. Yet, as good as the party was becoming, our energy levels suddenly fagged somewhat, the previous 12 hours plus of hectic dancing beginning to take its toll on our remaining reserves, so we resigned our mind into following what our body was telling us, gracing our exit from this exceptional “Eastbender” event, to saunter back across town, leaving a still buzzing Cargo & DTPM mash up which partied on deep into Sunday night in style.

Having made the effort to make it across to Shoreditch & the brilliant host venue Cargo on Rivington Street, there was no doubt in our minds that this was the best choice place that lee Freeman had made since bringing the brand back to London just about a year ago. Yes, the location was not the most familiar to many, perhaps reflecting in the overall attendance, but the whole feel & vibe of Cargo suited DTPM perfectly for us, that post midday timeslot also finding our favour, added to the fact that the pitch of the music was just right, Guy Williams’ nu-disco blending into Nick’s more tech infused style brilliantly, while the second space in the hands of Fat Tony right up our street. And, while our stay wasn’t as long as we would have liked, the time we had there was full of fun from start to finish, the atmosphere amazing & the company equally so, meaning that our Cavorting At Cargo ended up being a most enjoyable experience, we looking forward to the next DTPM outing with interest, especially if the host venue is this swish spot in Shoreditch. (DISCO MATT)

"Tremendous Twenty Turn" - Trade 20th Birthday - Club Review

2010-11-18T10:26:00.002Z

"TREMENDOUS TWENTY TURN"

TRADE “20TH BIRTHDAY” – SUNDAY 31ST OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

Casting our minds back to when we were twenty, finds us frolicking in the clubs in & around Johannesburg, our informative years having been spent in South Africa, but in moving to London when we did, signalled a real step change in the way we clubbed. And the music we listened to, the hi-nrg sounds of the eighties transforming to the hard house tunes of the nineties with one club shinning out over & above the rest as the real trendsetter in this respect. Plus, setting its stool on a Sunday morning was also very much an evolutionary step for the London scene, especially at a time when the only option after the mainstream clubs closed, were illegal raves for clubbers & cruising for others, this now legendary institution quickly establishing itself as THE place to be & be seen, the place being Turnmills & the club being Trade.

Since its launch back in 1990, Trade has assumed that legendary status with consummate ease, along the way bringing us larger than life character’s, not least its creator Laurence Malice, but also other including the amazing artist, known best as Trade Mark, as well as a host of D.J. talents from Malcolm Duffy, Alan Thompson, Steve (Janet) Thomas, Ian M, Pete Wardman, Gonzalo & who can ever forget, the late great Tony De Vit. And these main room D.J.’s really set the trend for the hard edged Sunday morning partying that went on at Turnmills throughout the 90’s, further enhancements including the introduction of the Trade lite lounge, spurning greats like Guy Williams, The Sharp Boys & Fat Tony, while the post weekly Turnmills years have seen the brand choose venues like The Renaissance Rooms, Colosseum, Area, Fire, Egg, & MOS to lay its specialist night hat, never failing to celebrate its birthday in style somewhere, the most memorable of late being the 18th, which was held at The Arches in Southwark. So, celebrating Trade’s 20th birthday was a given and in returning it the place of those memories of two years ago seemed an incredibly popular move, but how did this landmark anniversary in the clubs history turn out? and what were our huge highlights?

With the anticipation for this 20th birthday building to a crescendo, we found ourselves in a lengthy queue at Arcadia’s (formerly The Arches) doors at not long turned 5.30 a.m., the fevered frenzy feel that used to grip us back in the days of Turnmills back with fervent, our hearts tripping a beat as we patiently waited for our turn to be checked in by the extremely overzealous security on the entrance. Mind you, given the incidents at the 18th birthday, it came as no surprise that the checks were somewhat over the top, clearly slowing the process down, as was the woefully undermanned coat check system once we were inside Arcadia’s walls. However, as with those heady days back in the 90’s, we quickly learnt patience needed to be the order of the day, this being rewarded by our release into the club with fellow Trade party goer Benoit, to grab refreshments at the busy main bar, having already in this short time, caught up with a score or more of familiar faces.

Main room bound, we were keen to check on exactly what the D.J. line up would be, the first room by the entrance already having been laid aside for Gabriele Cutrano to warm the crowd into proceedings, we finding the delectable Per QX opening, not necessarily the start we had expected, the usual form of Malcolm Duffy mysteriously absent. However, we quickly warmed to Per’s electro twisted beats, the main room already filled to brimming, even at this early hour, an indication that this commemorative Trade outing was the lions share choice over any other. Establishing our spot, strangely nowhere near the D.J. booth for a change, we soon bumped into yet more friends & faces from clubbing years past & present, Chris Brogan & co lapping up the building main room atmosphere, even old Trade babies Glen & Maz, two iconic individuals from our years in Turnmills, very much in the thick of the developing action, the Arcadia main room having the closest feel to the former Farringdon home we have experienced. And looking around, the team had certainly gone to extra effort to make it feel as much like Trade & Turnmills as possible, the walls blazoned with Trade Mark artwork, classic trade production hanging from the ceilings & just enough laser lighting to give it that truly decadent & rave house feel that we had so loved back in the club’s heydays.

But, we were keen to investigate further & with the other spaces opening, we ventured forth, first checking out the classic room which was about to get going, then the space opposite, interestingly set aside as a darkroom, and eventually finding our way down to the lite lounge where Circus resident Kris Di Angelis was setting the scene with some sordid sounds. Bounding up to say hello, he seemed as pleased to see us, as we him, our encounter temporarily putting him off his stroke, although it wasn’t long before he was back in the groove & stirring up a storm of terrific tunes to tantalise, so, having found our feet across the expanse of the venue, we headed back into the main room where Nick Tcherniak had taken over the decks duty. Finding favour with each & every track selection, his set slowly built from the more melodic classic Trade sounds through to energetic hard hitting house that had us spinning in a dervish in our spot towards the back of the dancefloor, yet with the space now rammed with party heads, we struggled to find room to dance extravagantly as we had so been used to doing both in the Trade of old & the Beyond of new, eventually finding a spot to swing our pants & settle into his set.

So good was Nick’s music, especially when he pulled out & played the fabulous “My People”, we were in absolute heaven & loving every minute of his magical mixing, our pal Benoit struggling to find his own pace with the tough edged tech sounds, but so many old Trade faces lapping up this 20th birthday bash with gusto. Then, as if Nick had been brilliant enough, up stepped recording partner & Trade original resident Steve Thomas (known affectionately as Janet) upped the ante with an octane fuelled string of sounds that well & truly set the room alight, closing our eyes for moments of his magnificent music, transporting us right back to the 90’s & those tremendous times at Turnmills in his hands. So superb were the sounds & so amazing the atmosphere, we were now going absolutely nowhere, even the massive screen in front of the D.J. booth firing up & displaying iconic Trade visuals to add to the incredible laser lighting & other effects that were giving this main space at Arcadia a fantastic Trade-esque feel.

Now the place was swarming, our extravert moves on the dancefloor only rarely traded for refreshment & relieving stops, the whole venue a veritable feast of eclectic & euphoric Trade followers, very much a who’s who of clubbing and clearly the only place to be on this final day of October 2010. And with the morning hardly half way through, there was so much in store, not only from a prolific PA performance from Lizzie France, who, to our delight, ascended the main room podium right next to us to belt out the Tcherniak & Thomas collaborative EP hit “The Answer”, but didn’t stop there, treating us to three other tracks, before making her leave & handing the controls of this colossal commemoration to Trade over to none other than Pagano. In an instant, this disc spinning maestro had the room in his grip, switching the feel, pace & direction delightfully, swarms of Pagano followers surging forward towards the D.J. booth to soak up his sounds, while the podiums were topped with Logan’s muscle-bound go-go dancers to give this Trade party a distinctive edge.

With the heat of the main room beginning to bite and our pal Benoit in need of some lighter edged music, not to mention a truck load of messages on our phone from a sadly missed & absent D.J. friend, we headed into the lite lounge where Fat Tony had taken charge, flanked by the vivacious vocalist Tonnic, ready to take the space by storm. And that they did, the room a wall to wall sea of bare chested bodied man hunks & glorious girls, all intent on non-stop dancing to Tony’s towering tracks, while, like in the main room before, we quickly found our feet re-tuning ourselves to this more uplifting & accessible musical magic, this time positioning ourselves in our favoured spot, yes you guessed it, just left of the D.J. booth, fighting off the perspiration & heat of this lite lounge love-in, as Tonnic delightfully added her vocal infusions to the scintillating sounds been selected. Now Benoit was in his own heaven, the feel more akin to Beyond than Trade, although we knew exactly where we were, memories of two years ago flooding back in our minds, only the stifling heat stopping us in our tracks in favour of respite out on the rain soaked smoking terrace and the occasional dive into the main room.

With morning turning to afternoon & the a list crowd showing no signs of dissipating, we continued to savour the delights of this awesome Trade anniversary, the lite lounge finding favour over the other spaces, many familiar faces also finding their way there, we catching up with the pals Michelle Thornber, Clayton Wright, Tom Marchant, Clington Forbes, Tamsin Roberts, Joel Thomson, Guy Williams & many more, all soaking up the lite lounge sounds, even bumping into yet more faces old & new. Plus, catch up moments out in the terrace, including those with Simon Patrick & Pagano himself, matched by earlier liaisons with Per QX, Lee Yeomans, Mauricio Ortiz, Paul Weller, Adam Barr, Gabriele Cutrano, Ross Patterson & Hassan Hatoum, to mention just a few (we can’t leave out Glen & Maz of course), meant that this party was living up to its billing as not the place to be but the gAylist place to be. Indeed, the constant wave of people either saying their hello’s to us as Matt or as Disco Matt, some recognising us from recent times, others from the past, all combined to make this one of the more memorable events in our clubbing year thus far.

But, as truly terrific this Trade birthday bash was, our decadent delighting had to come to an end, the stifling heat in the lite lounge having drained us of most if not all of our energy, an upsetting encounter in the main room sealing our departure fate, not to nicest end to this prolific party that we had wanted, although the mound of mesmeric minutes we have experienced throughout our nine hour marathon far outweighing this unfortunate end to our day. So, waving farewell to Arcadia & Trade, we sauntered into the West End to recharge our batteries & gather ourselves for the next instalment in our weekend of wonderment at DTPM’s “Eastbenders” bash, yet still full of tremendous moments of Trade magic etched on our mind & in our soul that would mean it would be hours before the euphoria of this epic encounter with the mother of all clubbing brands wear off.

Trade, having dominated our lives throughout the nineties, can be held solely responsible for shaping our clubbing world. Yes there have been so truly ground breaking clubs since that have & still form a major part of our lives, the iconic Crash being one & Beyond undoubtedly the other. Yet, as much as Trade is now only an occasional outing, it still holds all that magic it did back in those heady days of Turnmills. And with its 20th birthday bash, the brand proved that it remains just as decadent, just as debaucherous & just as delightful as it always was. Whilst Arcadia did prove a brilliant host venue, the heat of both the main room & the lite lounge was sometimes too much to bear, plus the overzealous security did put a dampener on the party for some, reports coming in of sporadic checks for no reason, an unfortunate result of issues from two years before, added to the fact that the place was a little on the dirty side for others.

However, that said, Trade’s 20th lived up to our expectations & more, real highlights coming in the shape of scintillating sets from Nick Tchernaik, Steve Thomas & Fat Tony, even the vocal infusions from Lizzie France, Tonnic & friend, adding extra spice to an already enormous event that has to go down as another titanic Trade triumph. But, all the highlights aside, what really made the party were the people, a magnificent mix of old faces & new, all intent on having the best time possible & making the most of this mesmeric mash up as only Trade & a handful of other parties can achieve. Plus, the news that Laurence’s brand will be back for more on a regular basis, should sufficiently shake up the scene & give it the injection of energy it needs, leaving us to raise our glass to Trade & its Tremendous Twenty Turn and may we wish it plenty more. (DISCO MATT)

"Halloween House Horror" - Vauxhall Chainsaw Massacre - Club Review

2010-11-17T17:23:00.003Z

“HALLOWEEN HOUSE HORROR”
VAUXHALL CHAINSAW MASSACRE – SATURDAY 30TH OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

Over the years we have slowly seen Halloween gain popularity in London, the all American style of celebrating infiltrating Britain & very much taking over the traditional pagan style parties that used to take place up until only a few years ago. And in clubland, it seems that Halloween is much more of a significant date too, many jumping on the bandwagon & choosing to throw specialist events to celebrate what is traditionally simply the eve of All Saints day, but has come to mean so much more for many. Indeed, more & more grown-ups go to the trouble & expense of dressing up in ghostly & ghoulish outfits to mark the occasion, parading around the streets of London with gay abandon and entering into the spirit of Halloween, often out numbering ten to one, the children playing out the more typical trick & treat antics, the adults trading the doorstep for the dancefloor to cavort in their costumes for one night only, well maybe the morning after too.

So, it came as no surprise that the club scene south of the river would be serving up its own offering for Halloween, doing its best to tempt people out with s specially themed party, aptly named “Vauxhall Chainsaw Massacre”, with the added enticement of a headline international D.J./Producer to compliment the impressive line-up, not to mention much promise with regard the decor & delights in prospect at host venue, superclub Colosseum. Add the that the teaming up of new A:M promoter & the flavour of the moment, Oliver M, with the Beyond B2B team, the scene was set for a spectacular Saturday night down Vauxhall way, we having been enticed away from our planned visit to Guy Williams’ “Black Rabbit” 4th birthday bash, in preference to supporting Mr Mohns, plus catching up with Industri pals & D.J. close friends Brent Nicholls & Eduardo De La Torre. However, two questions’s remained, did we make the right decision? And how did this Halloween House Horror turn out?

With much debate occurring between us & friend Benoit during the day, not just over the change of clocks, but whether we would venture out clubbing before the big one, Trade’s 20th Birthday, we finally decided that a trip to Vauxhall rather than Maida Vale was on the cards, firming up arrangements during the course of the evening and then scheduling an arrival at Colosseum at not long turned midnight. And as we had been greeted at A:M just a few hours before, the ever smiling & welcoming Minty was on hand to greet us, we eventually negotiating the maze of fencing at the door to find ourselves in her presence, even joint promoter, Oliver M, appearing at the door to say hello. But with the weather having turned quite cold & wet, we were keen to get inside the club, although not before the usual formalities, which this time included catching up with Tom Fuller who was keeping warm just inside the entrance and making himself useful with ticket collections & sales.

With the promise of delivering a warming shot of Sambuca back downstairs to Minty complete, we armed ourselves with our own refreshments and sad our hello’s to Pier Morrocco, who like Minty, we had seen at A:M and was, this time, on D.J. duty in the aptly named “Riverbar”, a view of the Thames out from its windows the inspiration. Mind you, with most of the action happening in the main room, we soon found ourselves in our usual spot, yes you guessed it, just left of the D.J. booth and savouring the delights of guest D.J. Andrei Stan for the second time this Halloween weekend, this enigmatic & fun-filled young man serving up a superb selection of sounds, tough & euro-style yet uplifting enough to rouse the select audience into audacious action. But, as select as the crowd may have been, we were very impressed with the amount of people that had made the effort to come in costume, the pathetic extent of our outfit merely a skull & cross-bones on a t-shirt, paining in significance to those around us, especially one such person who surprised us with a tap on the shoulder. Reacting to this prompt, we turned to face the individual, who we did not immediately recognise, only a closer inspection revealing it to be our Industri close pal Stephen, the make-up shrouding his familiar features and his clothing completely hiding his usual persona, so well that we were astounded by his transformation. Clutching a skull in one hand & a spear in the other, not to mention a ball & chain tied to his leg, Stephen was cutting an impressive stride and certainly matching the best costumes in this Halloween house horror of a happening, even many of the dancers outfits failing to make as much of an impression.

Looking around the main room, the team had certainly gone to the effort of sprucing up the place to give it a ghostly & ghoulish feel, the performing stage to the side featuring a similar chair to that we had seen in A:M’s Asylum party, although there were plenty more effects besides which certainly gave the main room a special feel, even if the atmosphere felt a little flat. With Andrei still in control, we went in search of the VIP (second room) space, having seen the posters indicating that Brent Nicholls was playing, we sure this not being the case as he was already committed to Hard On! and our conversation earlier had indicated that he wasn’t due to play at this “Massacre” event until later, our suspicions being confirmed when we found Lee Harris waiting patiently, the room still not open, a poor Mr Harris having been left high & dry for most of the first couple of hours with no real news to the contrary.

Having grabbed a short break outside & taken a message from our friend Benoit who was heading our way, we were back in the main room & catching up with plenty of familiar faces including Industri friends, Chris, Jeremy & Andrew, as well as long standing clubbing pal Johnny Salas with his own little entourage, many of whom had adorned themselves with suitable Halloween make-up & more, very much throwing themselves into the event with gusto. But it was back to our spot next to the D.J. booth that we found ourselves, Andrei having handed over to special guest, D.J/Producer David Penn, who assumed the decks and set about treating us to a full on euro-style & euphoric set of sounds, although it seemed that even he wasn’t going to lift the lack lustre atmosphere, the flat as a pancake feel a bit perplexing as was the scant amount of numbers, even if many had made the effort to dress to impress. Plus with no real second space on offer, we were condemned to making the most of what we had, our friend Benoit arriving & quickly drawing the same conclusions as us on proceedings.

However, we were boosted with the arrival of D.J. close pal Eduardo de la Torre, who was due to play in the second space, we praying that a change of heart by the event promoter, the seemingly single handed Oliver M, would see this VIP space roar into action. But, none of it, poor Eduardo, who had travelled across from his Berlin base especially for the promised gig, being left out in the proverbial cold with no proper explanation or information. It now seemed a case of damage limitation as the stage show did it’s best to ignite the faltering atmosphere, The Free Radical Formation’s Rob Harris injecting all his energy into a powerful & punchy performance of two tracks which gave the event a temporary lift, as did the drop dead gorgeous hunks of dancers that were framing him on the podium in front of the D.J. booth. But, with the show over, we were beginning to watch the clock until our trip across to Trade, it seemingly like many had chosen to either save themselves for the big birthday, or had decided Halloween parties at home were the preferred option, news also coming our way that Brent Nicholls had been cancelled, signalling the last straw in our stamina for this party.

It was now just a case of counting down until we could grace our exit, although with Gonzalo taking over the decks, we were given some joy, as his selections were definitely hitting the mark, even our pal Benoit beginning to enjoy himself at last. And with Mis-White & friend in close call trading dancing moves with us, we made the most of our final massacre minutes, the whole party feeling very much that, rather than the resounding success the build up & billing had promised. So, with the strike of 5 a.m., it was curtain call time on this chainsaw calamity, the main room dancefloor having thinned before our eyes, many either choosing a hip skip & jump across to Beyond Hell at Area, which was getting underway, or like us, making the journey across to Southwark & the mother of all parties this Halloween weekend, Trade’s 20th birthday.

Well, what can we say about this promised biggest & scariest Halloween party in London that was the Vauxhall Chainsaw Massacre that we haven’t already? Well, apart from the fact that it failed to attract anywhere near the following the team had expected, the whole night felt extremely flat & monotone, only brief sparks of brilliance coming from the D.J.’s on duty, as well as the stage performers & dancers. And of those duty D.J.’s, it simply beggars belief the way Eduardo de La Torre was treated during this event. Yes, the decision was made not to open the second room and yes, he was probably paid a cancellation fee, but having travelled all the way from Berlin and not even been given the opportunity to play in preference to London based D.J.’s is a disgrace in our books. Had it not been for the fact that we were in good company, that so many people had made the effort to dress for the party & that we really wanted to catch up with the people we did, we would have left Colosseum a lot earlier than we did, or indeed forgone the party completely. As another review after the event summarised, the party definitely lived up to its name and we will leave you to judge exactly what name that was. (DISCO MATT)

"Amazing Morning" - A:M "Asylum" - Club Review

2010-11-17T11:13:00.001Z

“AMAZING MORNING”
A:M “ASYLUM” – SATURDAY 30TH OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

When it comes to afterhours clubbing, there is something quite special about the whole feel of partying deep into a morning, particularly at the weekend, pushing the boundaries of normality & delving into dancing decadence while most other folk are tending to the regularities of life, whether it be the housework, the grocery chopping or simply relaxing & readings the broadsheet press. Sunday mornings have always grabbed the lion’s share of our extravert clubbing activity, from the days when we paid homage to our own version of church, better known as Trade at Turnmills, through to more recent times when Beyond has pretty much dominated the Sabbath day more than anything else we can think of. However, Saturday mornings rarely get our attention, more latterly due to work demands during the week & then clubbing demands in the fat end of our weekend, although with much a-foot following the re-designing & refocusing of one such Saturday sortie, we felt it was high time to make the effort & pull our finger (maybe more) out.

A:M has quietly & consistently filled the gap in the Vauxhall clubbing market between Friday & Saturday nights, the nature of its popularity & its crowd waxing & waning with the changing times over its 9+ years of existence, the club rarely hitting the headlines, rather its cool & calm persona seeing it survive the test of time, while other offerings hardly failed to get off the ground. Yet, A:M never really ignited into something special, it being the Christmas equivalent to a stocking filler to the club circuit, rather than a full-on whacking great big present under the tree, although with news that the team behind this Saturday morning outfit, The Orange Group, were to introduce a new look, a new style, but moreover a new promoter, we were very much preparing ourselves for something exciting, fresh & much more appealing to the former look. Incumbent A:M top cheese, one Oliver M (of ex-Matinee through Matador & Impact fame) promised much in terms of new D.J.’s, new direction & an altogether more delicious new feel and with news filtering through following the re-launch night that the difference was considerable, we simply had see it for ourselves.

So, having succumbed to another impromptu yet thoroughly entertaining evening with Phil Marriot & his man Russel at Profile in Soho, swiftly followed by a foray Onyx way, we dashed home to re-collect ourselves ready for our walk on the wild side back to Vauxhall and A:M’s Halloween offering, “Asylum”, a fitting start (well continuation as it turned out) to our hectic weekend of clubbing activity on this last weekend in October. Arriving at Fire’s doors at not long before 5 a.m., we were greeted by the door hostess with the mostest, the magnificent Minty, the first hint of some majorly positive changes to the club, although in some ways it was a bit of a homecoming for her, as in years gone by she had been the face of A:M, so much more of a welcome back rather than a welcome to.

With catch up formalities over, we negotiated the rather large coatcheck queue; always an issue with Fire, yet a good sign in a way as the club was clearly busy, eventually finding our chilling bones inside & into the heat of the lounge space which was packed to the rafters & wall to wall with bodies, pulsating to the pumping & uplifting house, the legendary Fat Tony was turning out, the whole room alight with the sort of electric atmosphere normally reserved for Trade, Beyond & Orange. With a whole host of familiar faces lapping up Mr T’s terrific tracks, after one hello after the other, we found a small spot just shy of the D.J. booth where we came upon clubbing scene face & effervescent character, Romano Hendry, we immediately trading moves & talking points on what was clearly the party to be at, the lounge in Tony’s hands the perfect way to warm up our Saturday & get us in the mood to party deep into the morning. Our already excitable mood was heightened more when the deck meister pulled out none other than “Release Me”, sending the soaring atmosphere skyward, those who had room among the mass of bopping bodies, raising their hands (as the lyrics go) high above their heads in exultation of both the sound selection & the song itself, pure heaven.

But, we were keen to investigate the rest of the club, so squeezing our way out of the tightly packed lounge space, we headed for the main room, which was equally as full with a cavorting crowd lapping up the tougher yet accessible euro beat sounds of guest D.J., the adorable & cuddly Andrei Stan, of La Demence fame. Indeed, the man behind the decks was clearly enthralling his audience with one terrific tune after the next, very much testament to his tremendous talent that we had been so impressed with following his spectacular showing at both Matador & then Beyond earlier in the year. But, before we could dive behind the D.J. booth to say our hello’s, A:M’s new man Oliver M bounded up to say hello, lifting us high into the air in his usually charming & welcoming fashion, then immediately seeking our views on the club & the changes he had been masterminding. And, in fairness to what we had witnessed thus far, not only did the place feel much busier than we had seen it in a long time, but the D.J.’s choice of music certainly seemed to be hitting many more sweet spots, the lighter edge to the sounds much more palatable than before and the club itself feeling much more of a club & gay with it, rather than a stop off point for drunken debauchery & straight socialising that had all too often been an overriding element of the old.

Intent on catching up with Andrei, we were behind the D.J. booth in a trice & delighting in the company of the little man between his superb selections, he even entertaining us with his dancing by the decks, not to mention an improvised hop-scotch performance that had us in hysterics. Yet, as good as Andrei’s dancing & disc spinning was, we were perfectly placed to see the incumbent stage show, as Elektra Paris & her team ascended the space in front of us, to play out a pervy Halloween inspired performance, centre-pieced by a huge chair with a gorgeous go-go tied to its arms & back & enacting an electro twisted torture in the hands of a masterful Elektra (who else), much to the delight of the crowd who were cheering her every move, not to mention the macho male’s squirming in the seat. With the show over all too soon, Andrei re-assumed control of the main (turbocharged) room, continuing to strike resonance with the revellers in advance of the arrival of Alessandro Londra, who was to assume the decks & the headline main room slot for the night.

However, we were mirrorarch (fresh) room, which had been opened to its full extent, D’Johnny in charge of the decks and filling the space in an instant with his superlative sounds, very much more in the old style of A:M, tougher funky & electro twisted beats finding favour with the faithful and short of emptying the main floor of followers. And it was here where we caught up with pal Tom Fuller, who was enjoying some r&r after yet another hectic Friday shepherding scores of clubbers into Onyx before & now A:M as no other person can do better. Standing by the bar looking on & across this second room space, it was clear that this was now where the party was at, D’Johnny revelling in the action, as the podiums quickly filled with party heads intent on showing their appreciation for his efforts. However, what was to follow, somewhat left us (and many) bamboozled, as not long short of 7 a.m., the music ground to an immediate halt & the room was closed, leaving many wondering why.

Hunting down promoter Oliver M, we discovered that he was concerned that the main room had emptied, so had made the conscious decision to close the mirrorarch in attempt to recapture the turbocharged impetuous of before, although rather than leaving Alessandro to re-ignite the full-on feel, Andrei Stan was back behind the decks, picking up where he had left off and leaving our bello Mr Londra confused & deflated as a result. But more was to come, as not too long afterwards, the mirrorarch was re-opened but only as far as the now erected screens, leaving second D.J. for the night, Pier Morrocco, to play behind the screens & to an empty dancefloor, meaning that he couldn’t see his audience or his audience him, we scratching our heads in dismay, then like many, choosing outside for in, drinking for dancing & socialising for sashaying, wondering quite what direction the remainder of this A:M outing would take us.

However, with the morning still quite young, we threw ourselves into proceedings, re-joining Andrei behind the main room decks, further showings by Elektra & her dancers, doing their best to re-kindle the amazing atmosphere of before and Fat Tony still holding considerable sway in the NYC style lounge. And it was here where we saw out the remainder of this “Asylum” action, Minty holding court and Alessandro by our side still shook up by the happenings of the day, we doing our best to console him & put a positive spin on it all. But, with our sights on a hectic schedule ahead, we dived back into the main room for a final fling, catching in-bound D.J. Alan K (a welcome return at that) who was to capture the initiative & see the party out in his usual pulsating & powerful style, we eventually bowing out to head home & reflect the good, the bad & the indifferent of this new look A:M.

In drawing our conclusion as quickly yet as positively as we can, there is absolutely no doubt that A:M is improved on before. Not only does it feel much more of a club outing now, but it has much more of a qualitative content over the old. Fat Tony is obviously a huge asset & it showed in just how he packed out the lounge space, plus the introduction of more depth to the D.J. line up has had an evolutionary effect, although probably the most striking improvement is in the crowd, which is very much gayer, clubbier than & not quite as trashy as before. Plus, there is no question that all these changes have made A:M much more popular, the numbers through the doors speaking for themselves and the overall effect is that the club has a more accessible feel and our overall impression is, on the whole, a positive one.

Yet, as good as all these improvements are, we walked away dumbfounded by aspects of the delivery at “Asylum”, not least the non- sensicle use of the D.J.’s and the two/fro closure & opening of the mirrorarch. To use a D.J. to play to an empty dancefloor is simply ridiculous and to chop & change the main room artists, ended up being short of disastrous, leaving us to wander whether it was done in a moment of madness & whether there was any method to the decision making. In defence of A:M, we understand the second room was not set up properly, but then surely this was a fundamental error that should have been spotted at outset and, in our view, is the responsibility of the promoter to ensure that the club is prepared as it should be, before the doors are opened. Add to this the decisions made during the course of the evening, plus the fall-out & threats waged at us following the event, and we are left scratching our heads over the actions of A:M’s new hands. That said, as for the club itself, we like the new direction & we wish it every success for the future, a future we hope is full of good decisions & delivery. (DISCO MATT)

"Live With A Legend" - Jean Michel Jarre In Concert - 10/10/10 - Special Review

2010-11-15T21:07:00.010Z

“LIVE WITH A LEGEND”
JEAN-MICHEL JARRE IN CONCERT – SUNDAY 10TH OCTOBER
SPECIAL REVIEW

Having been consumed by all things house music since the early nineties (yes we are talking last century), much of our music devotions from previous years in our lives have all but faded from our playlists, even our most recent times whizzing around London’s roads listening to music as we do, reserved for a select few D.J.’s & their compilations. However, a small minority of artists that formed our music listening during our teens & early twenties still survive & occasionally get airplay in our ears, or while relaxing at home, Abba standing head & shoulders over a whole host of other pop bands that litter our music library & collections. But, the super Swede’s apart, there is one artist that has always been top of our tree & who is responsible for so many memories of our informative years through his music, that, for us, is very much a legend in our lifetime.

Jean-Michel Jarre has without doubt impacted on our lives in a way that few others have, not least as his “Magnetic Fields” album was the first ever non Abba purchase we made, going on to be the most played set of tunes of any record (well tape, then CD & now MP3) we have owned, a whole succession of JMJ acquisitions following similar suit, amounting to a collection that hit double figures during the eighties & remains the most represented in our comprehensive music collection. However, whilst we have revered this man & his music for close on three decades now, the one thing we have never done, is see him play live, despite there having been a number of occasions that this would or could have been possible, China would have been amazing, as would have Hong Kong, we heard Houston was incredible, Lyon fantastic & Docklands simply spectacular. But, in a casual conversation, the subject of his latest London date came up and realising that clubbing connections & friends had the same passion, the dream became a reality & we were destined to re-kindle our misspent youth years.

So, with the date arriving before we knew it and a significant one at that, 10/10/10 having significance for Jean-Michel apart from anyone else, the history of this man’s concerts marking landmark events & times, for example he was in Docklands for the millennium, Houston around the shuttle disaster (the album Rendez-Vous dedicated to the lost astronauts), he even marking the change of sovereignty with a concert in Hong Kong. So, with 10/10/10 a one-off date, it was no surprise that Mr Jarre would be playing somewhere, although in choosing London the choice was a simple one as he adores the city & it holds such great memories for him. Plus, in the O2 arena there was yet more significance, why we here you ask?, well for any JMJ fan, this would be immediately apparent from the links with his massive worldwide album success, “Oxygene”, so, all in all, this latest trip to the capital by, what we can only describe as "...THE master of the electronic keyboard..." & by our friend & liege for the night, Tom, "...the originator of Trance...", simply was unmissable & would mark a step change in our lives for a number of reasons.

With our trip to Beyond “Tokyo” still fresh in our minds, we headed down to the London Eye on the Thames to meet up with Tom & fellow JMJ enthusiasts Dorin & Kyriacos, the four of us taking a leisurely trip up to the concert venue on the river boat (a very civilised way to travel), although missing a fifth person in our party which was disappointing to say the least (Mr Elder please note). With the journey wending us past some of the capitals best tourist sites, it wasn’t long before we arrived at the impressive destination that was the O2 Arena, standing tall in front of us as we disembarked the boat & made our way round into the massive entrance, the whole space looking both hi-tech & modern, shops & restaurants a plenty framing the main arena. Having figured out our tickets, VIP ones no less which had been arranged on our behalf by the wonderful Craig Daniels, we headed straight for the souvenir desk to grab some memento’s of this illustrious occasion before making our was up into the auditorium & the Arena proper to take our seats in the VIP box (oops we said it again) which gave us an incredible view looking right down across the stage where the legend Mr Jarre would soon be performing.

Having never visited the O2 before, we were taken a-back by the sheer size & atmosphere of the place, all this further enhanced by subtle smoke effects creating shimmering effects from the banks of lights, but moreover the background sounds that were unmistakably elements of JMJ’s “Waiting For Cousteau” album, the combination heightening our already overt excitement even more. So, with the lights suddenly dimming, the show was about ready to start, as the lights around the arena were dimmed leaving a two spots shinning & pointing to the far end of the arena, where Jean Michel was commencing his walk down through the crowd & towards the stage. the music building to a slow crescendo, the sounds of bells, drums & keyboard effects culminating on his leap onto the performing area with the crowd roaring as he proclaimed “...Good Evening London...”. So, the scene was now set for close on two hours of musical mastery from the energetic Mr Jarre, each & every selection of sounds sending shivers up our spins in pure delight at what we were witnessing & experiencing and from our vantage point we could literally see him flex his fingers on the keyboards he was playing, on the laser harp he was plucking & all the other instruments he was manipulating to create the unmistakable sounds of his mesmeric music.

With Dorin & Kyriacos having decided to venture further round to get a better “full on” view of the stage, we, together with Tom & a handful of others around were more than pleased with a view of the man in action, downward multi spots illuminating JMJ & his support artists as they played out renditions of classics like Equinox V, Magnetic Fields II, & Oxygene II, even going as far too include Rendez-vous II which we had literally pre-empted with a cursory comment to our liege Tom, “...I wonder whether he will play Rendez-vous?...”. With our lofty VIP position & placing allowing us to look across the whole expanse of the arena, not only was the concentrated lighting & other effects of the stage, mesmerising, but the constant camera flashes around lit up like shimmering stars, as our star & legend Jean-Michel continued to wow, not least when yet more amazing memories of years gone by flashed before our eyes as tracks “Apregiator”, “Orient Express” “Souvenir Of China” and then the incredible “Laser Harp” , left us breathless & emotional, even Tom like us, holding back the tears, as we saw the magnificence of incredible piece of equipment on full show, the green beams being struck with incredible precision to create that unique resonance for which JMJ has become famous for.

Now we were completely glued to the action in front of us, the stage set right in our sights, the never-ending multicoloured lighting flashing on the banks of musical equipment & artists supporting the great man, who continued to stand out proud, his insatiable energy showing through as he bounded between instruments with athletic ease, occasionally rousing the massive audience with his clapping, but in reality with the majority seemingly JMJ officinal’s, recognising each & every track as they were selected. And such was the depth of his choices, ranging right across his discography, from “Equinox”, through “Revolutions”, “Magnetic Fields” to “Zoolook” & “Oxygene” past “Rendez-Vous” & even elements of “Chronologie” not to mention “Concerts In China” it was all there, even extracts from his live concerts across the years, all making for a simply stunning show that we didn’t want to end. But as all great things do, the show was coming to an end, the time having flew from the minute we took our seat to the curtain call of JMJ’s performance, although as he & his team took their bows & departed, it was clear the crowd wanted more and the veteran concert appearance & experience of Tom immediately came to bear, there was going to be an encore, “Oxygene IV" no less, although not before he had given a final speech on stage, calling for the audience to beam the show across the globe via their phones, which they did with dramatic effect, the whole of the O2 lighting up with tiny flashes from their devices making for one of those magical moments which, to be honest, the whole evening had been full of.

However, the ultimate end to this colossal concert could only be probably THE most recognisable record that Mr Jarre had been responsible for and very appropriate for the venue he was playing in to, as “Oxygene IV” was played out in scintillating style, the twist of the live performance giving the record the edge it needed & leaving us in complete admiration of the star of this spectacular show, JMJ eventually gracing his exit & leaving us to gather ourselves as the lights came up & we were returned to that “Waiting For Cousteau” inspired atmospheric music. And as we left our treasured VIP place & the fantastic feel that this incredible individual & his small yet terrific team had sunk us into for a hypnotic couple of hours, there was nothing else on our lips as we reflected on so many magical moments with both Tom & the people around us as we waited for our river charge back to the normality of Vauxhall, a far cry from the magical world of the legend in our lifetime, the fabulous Frenchman Jean Michel Jarre.

Finding the words to describe just how amazing this concert was would never do justice to the atmosphere that was created & the magical mesmerism of Mr Jarre’s music. Listening as we have over the years to all of his albums which remain as fresh as they did on the first hearing, now pail in significance to the heights achieved by this exceptional live experience. Capturing as much as we could in both still pictures & videos, while rekindling some of those magical moments also only give a snapshot & a tiny picture of just how special this whole evening was and we cannot fault one moment of the whole night, from the minute we left home on our Jarre journey, until we returned. The company we held couldn’t have been better, so in recognition of that fact, we devote this review to our companions Dorin & Kyriacos, but especially to our liege & now close friend Tom, who is every bit a Jarre fan like us (more so in some ways) and without whom, this whole trip would not have been possible.

Now, we kind of hinted towards a step change in our lives following this concert and in so many ways the passing of 10/10/10 & seeing the man that was such an important part of our informative musical years play live, has well & truly changed us. Not only have we re-connected with certain family members, rekindled old friendships as well as forging new ones, but we have begun to re-visit times in our lives that we never thought we would & most of all, we are playing Jean Michel Jarre vierutally every day again. So, to say that this concert holds very special meaning is a bit of an understatement and we cannot thank Mr Fuller enough for inviting us to share in what has become one of the most momentous musical milestones in our lives. But our final words have to go to the man himself, Jean Michel Jarre, who was amazing, brilliant, exceptional, fabulous, glorious, incredible, superb, terrific & wonderful, yet as expressive as all those words are, the best way we can sum up this musical master is to say that "Jean" should stand for joyous, "Michel" for magnificent & "Jarre" for jubilant, although there should surely be an L in there too, standing simply for legend, because to us, that is exactly what Jean-Michel Jarre is. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

Our reflection on this extra special occasion could not be complete without some of those video captions we captured that give you a feel of just how phenomenal Jean Michel Jarre Live at the O2 on 10/10/10 was. So check out the links & enter a little into this the life of this legend go to http://youtube.com/watch?v=W4TaMnszRYc, http://youtube.com/watch?v=AXdtI6MMy9o, http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z3UEmz-_7xA, http://youtube.com/watch?v=J8b3Dh9EajE, http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wpz6Lo-lrgE, http://youtube.com/watch?v=sslZ7-UPsYM, http://youtube.com/watch?v=Re_-QmlyN6U & http://youtube.com/watch?v=0XT-sLhNd5s.

"Towering Techno Trip" - Berghain - International Club Review

2010-10-27T11:29:00.003+01:00

“TOWERING TECHNO TRIP”
BERGHAIN – SUNDAY 24TH OCTOBER
INTERNATIONAL CLUB REVIEW

Having mentioned to a number of people that we would be partying in Germany’s capital, the original plan simply to savour Salvation, but then also realising that Hustlaball was a homage we would hook onto, although, before leaving London, virtually everyone we spoke to about our latest clubbing expedition into Europe, said, “...if you are going to Berlin you have to go to Berghain...”, explaining that we would be blown away by the venue, the music & the people that populate the place, some even going as far to say that this colossal club was one of THE best in Europe and maybe even the world. So, with such a prolific picture having been painted, regardless of just how huge Hustlaball turned out to be & how superb Salvation was, our weekend of decadent dancing delrium would not be complete without at worst, a look in on this iconic industrial style institution, we thinking there would be at least one person truly disgusted if we returned to London having missed out. So, what was so special about this Sunday morning? And what made Berghain so brilliant?

Well, despite so many people having been so forthright in their views about this Berlin beast of a club, much of the devil in the detail was left out, the only clue as to what we could expect being in the music, which we kind of knew would be planted firmly in the techno bracket, the general trend in Germany (particularly Berlin) being to this much tougher end of tech. But having done little or no research on the club, we were totally unprepared to for sheer size of the place & the divine decadence that Berghain would bring, our only thoughts that it would be the Berlin equivalent of Beyond, but we were to be shocked & surprised by the scale of our underestimation of just what this East Berlin bounty would bring. Indeed, to compare it with London’s audacious afterhours, as we were in our heads, is like saying hot is cold, on is off, & black is white, the only similarity being that they both begin with B but that’s exactly where the comparisons begin & end.

But before we go on, it is worth highlighting a little history of the club, the name being derived from the two quarters of the city it straddles, Kruezberg to the north & Friedrichshain to the south, hence the club being called Berghain, the venue a former power plant standing tall on the landscape just east of Berlin’s fourth largest railway station Ostkreuz, itself the inspiration for the legendary club Ostgut, of which Berghain is a re-incarnation. But the foundations of Berghain go deeper, having emerged out of fetish men only nightclub, Snax, an event that still takes place yearly, although echoes of it remain within Berghain each & every week, the extensive basement a massive darkroom where trance & techno are traded for sex & seduction, although the main emphasis of the club is the main floor where the 18 metre high dancefloor dominates the design & a further upward trip leads to the Panorama bar which has equally huge proportions but a slightly more laid back feel to the music & vibe.

So, with the history lesson over & a pinch of a picture painted, our Berghain experience started with a trip from across town, Salvation in Shoneberg to be exact, in the fabulous company of D.J. Nick Tcherniak & singer P.A. Valerie, our trip fantastic to Berlin’s best in the hands of a taxi driver who fortunately knew exactly where to head, such is the magnitude of the clubs standing & familiarity in the German capital. And as we disembarked from the taxi, whilst we had a vision in our minds of what to expect, nothing could have prepared us for the sight before our eyes, the gigantic ex power plant raising skywards like a Berlin version of Tate Modern, although we could hardly take in the sheer scale of it all quite yet, as the hilarious conversation with which we had engaged with both Nick & Valerie in the cab, continued virtually to the door. With a healthy queue assembled, we thought we would chance our luck with a fast track entrance, Valerie bowling up to the rather scary looking brute on the door to test a little of the German her sister had religiously taught her, although the straight forward English approach from Nick seemed to be getting a better reception, yet, despite our pleas for accelerated entry, our request eventually fell on deaf ears, we finding our place in the queue, to patiently wait on the start of our Berghain bash.

Now, we promised we wouldn’t quote, but such was the continued hilarity the three of us were indulging while waiting, was not going unnoticed, Valerie coming out with one laughable line after the next, Nick stoking her fire & even our little anecdotes causing a stir around us, the waiting crowd nothing like any queue for a club we had seen before, well with the possible exception of Trade in its heyday, each & every person waiting their turn to enter this mecca of techno clubbing in Berlin, clearly music fans rather than posing queens, even the cross between Lady Gaga & Lena Zavaroni, this wasn’t a case of being glamorous rather being passionate. And when our turn arrived, the guy that had the look as though he had just chewed a wasp & Valerie’s tough northerner, gave us a smile & waved us through without incident, the incredibly tough door policy entrance now negotiated and our towering techno trip to Berghain now well & truly on its way.

With yet another incredibly efficient coatcheck process complete, Nick needed to spend a penny, so went in search of what looked like the toilets, disappearing into this dark space, but coming back as quckly as he went, exclaiming “...I just want to confirm that that is NOT the toilets...” need we say more, the poor innocent Mr Tcherniak having walked straight into the infamous darkroom. So, with the laughter back, we all started ascending this incredible space, a truly industrial setting like we have never seen the like of in any club, the continual references to Tate Modern without the art & paintwork flooding through our minds eyes, the backdrop of pure Techno beginning to pump through our bodies. Having made it to the main floor, our breath was simply taken away by the dimensions of the space, the place teaming with party heads that were clearly well into the incredible tough sounding beats that were bouncing off the metal surfaces & the discreet yet inviting lighting illuminating just enough to retain that drench of decadence that we hadn’t seen in a club in close on 20 years.

Nick had now found the proper facilities, returning suitably relieved to gather us up and take us round through the labyrinth of corridors and then up yet further metal stairs to the Panorama bar, a second space in this incredible clubbing cathedral that made for Berghain’s host venue, the might, the mass & the magnificence of the place now really beginning to dawn on us. And like the huge room now below us, this Panorama bar was filled with ardent clubbers, locals rather than travellers, Berliners that were mixed in their makeup but liberal with their attitude, such a refreshing change from the g queen pushing & shoving that happens all too often back home, just a cavorting crowd intent on escaping into the trance house grooves that set this space aside from its bigger techno triumph downstairs. But, looking around, whilst the dimesions of this space weren’t quite as vast as before, they were no less awe inspiring, huge pieces of art spread across the far wall (hence our continual refrence to Tate Modern) & just a handful of spot lighting to add to the already awesome ambiance.

So, with yet more refreshments in our hands, we headed for a neat spot in the corner, where we had a superb view of East Berlin outside (albeit a peak through the substantial metal blinds), as well as resident D.J. Cassy who was selecting some superlative sounds & from vinyl no less, this together with the whole atmosphere, somehow transporting us back in time to our early days of clubbing, mixing in with a most eclectic crowd of people that simply just wanted to party. So, with Nick & Valerie in close call, we very much joined in on this pulsating Panorama party, throwing ourselves into the deep grooves, trading moves with our twosome dancing partners as well as others around us, only momentarily pausing to record this tremendous time for posterity on our phone, yet more hilarity occurring as a virtual synchronistic Facebook broadcast was in motion, neatly followed by Valerie’s make-up moment (you had to be there), we ourselves exclaiming to the world “...here we are at Berghain with Nick Tcherniak & Valerie post Salvation & couldn’t be in better company in this amazing club...”, our morning getter better by the minute, our enjoyment levels rising as quickly as the sun outside & the inescapable feeling that we were experiencing something very special indeed.

Having all agreed that after the splendour of Salvation before, our braving of Berghain would be just a short pop in to say, “...we have done it...”, so good was this club & so incredible was the venue, that an hour extended to two and then into a third, Cass’s music hitting every single sweet spot in our body and our company enriching the whole experience more than words can say. But as the D.J. switch came & then music took on a more electro feel, the call of time on our towering techno trip was coming close, both Nick & Valerie conscious of their impending flight back to London & our need to re-charge our batteries for our final forays around this wonderful city we had found ourselves within. So, squeezing our way past the party people packing out the Panorama bar, we meandered back through the myriad of corridors still strewn with clubbers taking respite from the two rooms of musical madness, down the metal stairs to collect our belongings & then out into the East Berlin morning sunshine to make our way back west, conversing lyrically with Nick & Valerie on what was, without question THE most amazing outing we have enjoyed in years.

To say that Berghain is breathtaking only tells a minuscule amount of the full story, every single element of this colossal club adding up to make it the best event we have witnessed in Europe, ever. Yes, the music is firmly planted in purist techno in the towering main space, and the draconian darkroom downstairs would be a shock for some, but there is always the Panorama bar for the slightly more feint hearted, yet the whole Berghain offering is quite unique and one that we would never really believe we would say “...you have to go...” until we did. For us, the club captures everything that is so decadent yet so splendid about the city within which it stands, Berlin, and by golly do the Berliners know how to party, our simple three hour snippet of a showing a mere drop in the ocean compared with the eighteen or so of hedonistic hours that the club’s doors are open, from dark to dawn to dusk, the decadence doesn’t stop. So, while Beyond is undoubtedly brilliant, Berghain is the best and by a long shot and we will be back. (DISCO MATT)

"Sashaying in Shoneberg" - Salvation Berlin - International Club Review

2010-10-26T10:49:00.002+01:00

“SASHAYING IN SHONEBERG”
SALVATION BERLIN – SATURDAY 23RD OCTOBER
INTERNATIONAL CLUB REVIEW

When we look back over the years, there have been only a small number of club brands that have survived the test of time, more often than not, their lasting appeal down to the fact that they have a following both internationally as well as here in London. And there is no doubt that Salvation’s success, particularly of late, has been as a result of its global rather than domestic standing, the foundations that were originally built in London, now firmly planted in Europe, allowing promoter Steve Elliot & his team to springboard the concept into South America, Australia & South Africa, but also to include destinations like Paris, Stockholm, Ibiza & Mykonos in their year round calendar packed schedule, Berlin having been added to the stable of favourite forays a couple of years ago. So, when we decided to also stretch our own legs into Europe, Salvation simply had to be on our schedule too, a trip to the German capital etched in our dairy a good three months ago and our excitement & anticipation rising relentlessly as the big weekend arrived. So, why all this enthusiasm and were our expectations fulfilled?

Having just about re-charged our batteries from Hustlaball the previous evening, we made a rendezvous with D.J. pals Eduardo De La Torre & Danny Verde, Edu having forgone a Friday meet up due to work commitments & Danny having just arrived from Milan, a late lunch then followed by a sneak preview of Salvations host venue. Having checked out the literature beforehand, we were expecting the place to be pretty close to where we were staying in Shoneburg, although knowing Berlin as we do now, this district of the German capital is pretty large, our trip with Edu, Mrs De la Torre & Danny in the car taking us right into the sticks. However, the trip proved invaluable, as we managed to landmark our directions for later, having decided to be adventurous & t6ake the train, rather than a cab, even bumping into a fellow Londoner on route who had done the same. Mind you, has it not been for our i-phone map application, we may not have made it to the industrial Malzfabrik at all, our arrival instead being as smooth as silk.

Having decided on an early arrival, we were at Salvation’s doors at just turned 11.30 p.m., virtually immediately bumping into a busy looking Steve Elliot, one familiar face in amongst many others, although, to our surprise the cute looking guy managing the entrance also recognised us (what happened to anonymity in this city?!?!), we being waved through in a trice and our belongings efficiently packed away in the adjacent coatcheck. With that small formality over, our sashaying in Schoneburg was about to begin, the main room literally opening out in front of us, this massive warehouse having previously been the home of the infamous sex parties held by the Kitkat club, the raw feel of the warehouse style of the place broken by sophisticated lighting & the massive LED D.J. booth which was making a colourful splash & statement.

And this was our first port of call, bounding up to say hello to Edu, who was warming up this Salvation showing with some seriously tech infused sounds which were booming out from the massive speakers banging down from the ceiling which was a good 50 foot above. With our greetings over, we retreated to the bar to seek refreshments, this time opting for the energy boosting choice rather than the beer of Hustlaball before, we also being conscious that some serious pacing was going to be required , should we also make the essential trip to Berghain as so many people had said we should do. Relaxing into a spot by the bar, it was clear we had arrived early, as it took quite some time for the crowd to develop, however, like many Saturday night gatherings in London, one minute the place seemed rather empty & the next it was packed full, the collective crowd very much more the club type we were used to, a myriad of muscled men, plenty of glamorous girls & even familiar club kids, one guy in particular noticing us from our times at Fire in Vauxhall (isn’t the world small sometimes), while a number of other faces were familiar, obviously the trip to Berlin this weekend being a popular choice & Salvation a definite draw.

But, we were now very expectant of the arrival of not just Danny Verde, but also an inbound Nick Tcherniak, whom we had seen just a week or so previously back in London, both of us very much looking forward to partying together outside of our usual haunts, rather internationally for the first time. And arrive they both did, Danny spotting us as he made his way to take over from Edu in Malzfabrik’s main room, while Nick assumed the decks up in the second room upstairs, the entry to which was up a most industrial & well worn set of stairs, the whole ambience both on the ascension & the arrival in the room, much more draconian than we were used to, although Nick’s music was anything but, we finding our steps to his sounds in an instant, the space soon filling out with plenty of party people, very much into the more intimate atmosphere of this separate space. And with a tremendously warm welcome from the man himself, we couldn’t have felt more at home, this feeling made even more fulsome by the second familiar face of fellow D.J. Paul Coals, who had been warming up the space & was later to take position in the main room.

Now we were very much in Salvation mood, trading this lofty space with devotions to Danny downstairs, each visit back & forth timed to perfection as both Nick & our Milano mate picked tunes that tripped off our musical memories, Nick’s “My People” track yet again a highlight, having already played a prolific part in our weekend, Danny’s “Let Me See Your Underwear”, “Pushin To The Top” & even his bootleg of Madonna’s “Vogue” getting airplay. However, the music in the main room was only part of the scintillating story, as not only were we treated to a pulsating P.A. performance by London based Valerie, but a succession of dancers were intermixed by fire eating displays & a most explosive angle grinding show, played out virtually in front of our eyes on the expansive podium to (yes you guessed it) the left of the D.J. booth, our favoured spot in any club.

Henceforth, we simply couldn’t separate the delectable deliveries from the deck maestro’s performing in our midst, darts back & forth intermixed with plenty of camera clicking of Raul Gonzalez’s drop dead gorgeous go-go’s both males & females impressing immensely, the crowd showing their appreciation with every move they made on the podiums, Danny’s brilliant beats even ensuring that on the few occasions the elevated areas were absent, they were quickly filled with bare tops beauties from the cavorting crowd, the laser lighting & ticker tape drops from the ceiling above adding to the amazing atmosphere in this truly voluptuous venue. Even Nick was having his say upstairs, true devotees to his terrific tech honed house music there by choice, we even bumping into yet more faces from back in London who were as pleased to see us as we them, the sweat from their furied frolicking evidence of just how good our fabulous friend was entertaining enthrallingly.

With Danny virtually done with his set, the second impromptu back-to-back set of the weekend was about to take place, the duo of Nick Tcherniak & Paul Coals taking over the main room music, both upping the tempo from the second room before, Paul especially impressing with his diversity compared with his guest spots & residencies back in London, Nick sliding easily into the change of pace & playing to the crowd like the seasoned pro he is. And, the crowd were incredibly receptive of their performance, not the thinning out that you all too often get back in London, when the call of a certain afterhours drags people away prematurely, these Salvation sophisticates seeing out most of the remainder of this exceptional event close to the 7 a.m. finish, even the performers, Danny, Edu & Valerie partying around us right till the end, everyone thoroughly enjoying the whole experience so much they, like us, didn’t want it to end. But, with the last tune played out by Nick, the time had come to move on, we choosing a relatively swift exit with Mr Tcherniak & Valerie, to make that essential must visit to Berlin’s Berghain club to continue what had been a simply sensational Saturday come Sunday soaked in Salvation splendour.

In Salvation as a club brand we have enjoyed some truly prolific parties, most if not all in London’s Cafe de Paris, very much on the glamorous end of the clubbing venue market. Having said that, the Hippodrome made for a truly awe inspiring setting, as have the couple of occasions we have sampled it in the brilliance of Barcelona, although to see it acted out in the Industrial & bohemian setting that was Malzfabrik in Berlin was an experience we will remember for a long time to come, as not only did it show Salvation in a new light, but it made for an altogether fresh & fulfilling time in what has fast become one of our favourite city destinations. Yes, the venue was a little bit out in the sticks but that made Salvation much more of an adventure & given the numbers through the doors, there is still clearly a penchant for this long established brand, not just in Berlin but across Europe & even the further reaches across the globe, meaning that sashaying in Shoneberg was certainly scintillating & we salute you, superb Salvation, bring on the next party, we can’t wait. (DISCO MATT)

"Macho Meet Up In Mitte" - Hustlaball Berlin - International Club Review

2010-10-25T16:34:00.002+01:00

“MACHO MEET-UP IN MITTE”
HUSTLABALL BERLIN – FRIDAY 22ND OCTOBER
INTERNATIONAL CLUB REVIEW

When it comes to combining horny action with disco dancing, it doesn’t come much better than Hustlaball, the club brand that has its origins in New York, but has very much spread its word across in Europe, first touching our lives just over two years ago when it landed on London for the time, taking our breath away at Renaissance rooms, the combination of superbly saucy stage shows & heaps of horny horseplay, very much giving us an appetite for more of the same. Having repeated the affair back in May, even meeting up with the Hustlaball top brass, the club was firmly on our radar, so when a trip to Berlin was planned, it came as no surprise that a second macho meet up, this time in the city’s Mitte district at the new Kitkat club no less, simply had to be on the cards. But, how did our third liaison with this erotic event turn out? Was it bonking in Berlin? or simply monotony in Mitte?

We like to think of ourselves as pretty organised, although for some reason, whenever we travel abroad, however much planning we do, certain elements never turn out as they should expect, our trip to Berlin & Hustlaball being a perfect example. Yes, we knew that it would be on the cards and yes, we had come prepared, packing our leather chaps, boots & accompaniments, although no, we had not done much research as to where & when the main event would take place, an update on our favourite social networking site seemingly indicating the party being scheduled for the Sunday, our minds fixing on this when deciding to devote the whole of Friday to touring around the beauty of Berlin’s superb sights, rather than concentrating on clubbing cavorting. However, fate was to lend us a helping hand as not only did we bump into the familiar face of D.J. & club entrepreneur Fabio White within hours of landing in Germany’s capital, but a well timed text deluded to the fact that we had got our dates seriously wrong & had just three hours to get our act together & head for the Kitkat club in Mitte.

So, with all our leather paraphernalia sorted & us looking very much dressed to impress, we made the relatively straight forward trip across to Kopenicker Street, arriving at Hustlball’s host venue doors at not long turned 10.30 p.m., quite early by Berlin & our own standards, although with news that the party was a sell-out, we didn’t want to be disappointed with missing out in any way. Finding an already healthy queue of people waiting to enter, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves within the Kitkat club, leaving our belongings with the well organised & speedy coatcheck and then sinking ourselves straight into the action, the multi layered & cavernous club opening out in front of us, immediately drawing comparisons in our minds with Turnmills back in London, the Kitkat club a much bigger version, yet with that same decadent & delightful feel that has made Trade’s ancestral home so special.

Indeed, as we wandered around the myriad of rooms, each one having their own character & feel, yet all connected with an air of mystery & intrigue, there was no doubt in our mind that Hustlaball had found the perfect place for pitching their porno party, from the generous outside terrace, to the calm chill-out room with plunge pool, & from the magnificent main room through to the compact yet charming underground bar, the club had it all, save for a sling or two, well at least what we thought, although we were kindly informed the following evening that there were plenty & much activity in them too, damn & blast!! Mind you, such was the labyrinth of nooks, crannies, rooms & passage ways; it wasn’t surprising that we failed to find them, our thoughts more on the main room action, rather than the play areas.

So, finding a spot, surprisingly just left of the D.J. booth (sounds familiar), we watched as the space filled pretty rapidly, Sorry Shoes head poncho, Mike Kelly, in charge of the tunes, pumping out a mix of electro tech & uplifting beats to a crowd that was as nearly eclectic as his record choices, men sporting leather harnesses & the like, dancing right next to guys in sports gear with much in between, but all intent on soaking up the building atmosphere. And it wasn’t long before a bevy of beauties ascended the podiums & bar top not far from where we were standing, adding their own element of saucy sexual intrigue in advance of the main show which was about to come, the arrival of both incumbent D.J., Fabio White & show host Chi Ch La Rue almost simultaneous, all eyes moving towards the stage & Miss La Rue’s gaggle of gorgeous go go’s, while ours were pointed more towards the booth where Mr White was gearing up for his own prolific performance.

With Chi Chi’s rousing of the crowd over & the go-go’s intermixing their displays with the odd porn star here & there, most of the attention swung towards the dancing and no surprise really, as Fabio White certainly took up the mantle marvellously, the height of Mr Kelly’s set, a superb rendition of the Tcherniak & Thomas hit, “My People”, been reached & surpassed with virtually every record choice, Fabio hitting the mark & sending the crowd wild with a glorious mix of funky & chunky tunes to match the raunchy & rocking feel of this Hustlaball Berlin main space, laser lighting at full tilt & the podiums swarming with party heads intent on dancing till dawn & beyond. Indeed, such was the amazing atmosphere, the room continuing to pack out with people, even our relative anonymity smashed by the arrival of Svetlana Queen, whom we had bumped into upon our arrival in Berlin two days previously & were now partying hard once again, even Lovechild’s Dee Crooks popping across to say hello, yet another unexpected yet lovely liaison.

Now we were well into our stride, the familiar spot by the D.J. booth helping us feel at home & an ever attentive barman making our time all the more pleasurable, although it was the magnificent music that Fabio White was serving up that was the epitome of our enjoyment, one track after the next having us dancing in a dervish, in between clicking shots of the action in front of our eyes with our phone camera, even catching the man himself in action, Fabio clearly revelling in the rapturous reception he was receiving. But, as good as the main room was, we had to take a few moments to explore the other spaces, first stopping off to say our hello’s to Chris Bekker in the second space & then made a dart across to the outside area, where we bumped into Mr Hustlaball himself, Jeffrey David, he very much content with his lot and quite rightly so, as reports had come in of a 3000 plus turnout, we not at all surprised as it seemed virtually every square inch was buzzing with party heads.

But it was back to the main room where Fabio was polishing off his prolific performance before handing over to yet another Italian, this time the good yet menacing looking Phil Romano who had not long arrived with fellow D.J. & pal Steven Redant, both deciding that an impromptu back-to-back session was the order of the day, Mr White relinquishing the decks and then disappearing into the madding crowd for a bit of post disc spinning saucery. And, with Messrs Romano & Redant doing their full on tech & progressive stuff, we were soon taken on a much tougher journey of sound, although by now we were completely carefree, such had been the euphoric extent of Fabio’s set, even the uncharacteristic amount of beverages we had consumed not dampening our spirits. However, having pretty much danced our socks off but not having taken anything off (if you know what we mean!), a final investigation around the club was required, before we decided to call it a morning, well it was by now, waving farewell to the Kitkat club, to return to our weekend base to re-charge our batteries (phone & all) for the next instalment in our Berlin bonanza break.

Walking away from this Hustlaball party with a smile as big as a Cheshire cat, pretty much summed up our experience at the Kitkat club, the smile very much representative of our amazement at the venue and the magnificent music, not least from Fabio White who served up a truly stellar set. We have to say that the crowd was not quite the handsome looking lot we have seen at events in London and the mix of sports gear & leather was an interesting combination, but you cannot deny that the whole party had a much more raunchy, intimate & sexy feel than the two Hustlball’s we have witnessed back home which made this Berlin outing all the more enjoyable. Plus, in answering those questions we raised earlier, to say that Hustalball Berlin was simply mundane in Mitte would be a judgement way past the mark, yet whilst, for us it wasn’t quite bonking in Berlin, it could have been had we found those illusive slings (then our cousin Crisco Matt would definitely have been out), but we had a good enough time as it was, meaning that come 2011, we will certainly be considering a re-visit. (DISCO MATT)

"Brimming With Buff Bodies" - Lovechild "Hot Muscle" - Club Review

2010-10-22T12:06:00.002+01:00

“BRIMMING WITH BUFF BODIES”
LOVECHILD “HOT MUSCLE” – SATURDAY 16TH OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

You have probably realised that hardly a month goes by now without us making a homage to the club that saw promoter Alex Erfan re-emerge as one of the big players on the scene in London, this brand certainly seeing no signs of succumbing to the toils & troubles of a floundering economy. However, with our European tour of duties getting the start it needed in Paris at the end of September, we missed out on the last outing, a marriage with French outfit Delice and all those drop dead gorgeous boys that come with it, reports coming in that they certainly wowed their captive audience as they always seem to do. But, with the prospect of a more manly & beefed up affair this time round, we were certainly not going to miss a trip down to Fire to savour the delights of Lovechild at its testosterone best, the male body also being projected as the art form it is in this memento to all things muscular. So, what was “Hot Muscle” meet all about, were we inspired by all the man meat around & did we come away satisfied with our lot?

Having been plagued with one piece of bad news after the next just over a week before, very much putting paid to most of what was looking like a hectic weekend, with matters somewhat more settled in our world, we were in much more of a fun filled frame of mind as we made our way down to Vauxhall for this muscle-bound man fest, marking our first trip to Fire in nearly four weeks (a rarity these days), the last being the wonderful The Week event which set us up beautifully for our trip to Paris. But eyes were very much on Lovechild this time round, as we arrived at the re-organised rear entrance to the club, the ever smiling Andrew Jones on hand to welcome us, although it was a mere moment before the radiant Roni Inan arrived, his trademark fur coat number on (it was a pretty cold night) to usher us in. Mind you, with duties pulling him away before you could say brass monkey’s, we joined a long & slow moving coatcheck in the outdoors, waiting patiently for our turn, only relinquishing our coat at the last minute due to the cold.

Inside and we immediately headed for the bar, Booster Romain Lopez spotting us and doing the honours while catching up on news of the previous weekend, but with drinks in hand we were keen to investigate this hot lovechild muscle meet, advancing into the main room where new resident & good looker to boot, Doug Ui’im was in charge of the decks, pumping out a glorious mix of funky & chunky euro style beats with an uplifting twist that was certainly warming the already considerable crowd into this latest love-in with Alex Erfan’s brilliant brand. Looking around the room, it was evident that the planned artwork from Anthony Chia-Bradley was being displayed all around the room, interesting canvases swinging in amongst the banks of laser lighting that were bombarding the walls & ceilings of this evolving main space in Fire. Indeed, on in advancing right down to the end, it was clear that nine bells were still being knocked out of the room, a planned new bar area & mezzanine VIP lounge in the making.

With the main room gaining momentum & the massive new light installation at full tilt, we headed into the lounge to catch up with regular D.J. resident, Gabrielle Cutrano, who was mixing up a delicious cocktail of tech infused yet laid back tunes that had a select crowd moving & grooving around the central pole-dancing podium, two excitable individuals swinging around like spinning tops in a child’s playground. There we caught a moment with incumbent D.J. Hugh Stevenson, who was due to play a back-to-back set with other former Beyond Colosseum icon disc spinner, Alan X, we very much looking forward to their performance, probably more than any other on the line-up, although our attention was soon grabbed first by Danny Shubert and then by an off duty Phil Hewson who had special guest New Yorker Justin Ryan in his midst, the main floor bound man having flown in especially for this Lovechild event from a tour of duty in Brazil, we catching a mere moment of his time before heading back into the action next door.

Back in the main space & Leroy Tayler was now selecting the sounds, the crowd being further delighted by the arrival of a collection of muscle-bound go-go’s, very much on the man end of the scale compared with previous events, the foursome very much cutting a considerable stride on the generous dance stage wrapping around the D.J. booth, their tight torso’s & pumping pecs exciting the crowd in front of them, although merely paving the way for bigger things to come as the main event body builders from head muscle man Lucas Alexander’s stable were yet to show their hand. However two people that did were Industri pal Stephen & fellow friend Stefan, both bounding up to say hello & then Stefan, without warning, jumped onto the podium in front of us, now vacated by the dancers, and gave us his own impromptu performance, soon being joined by the larger than life yet magnificent Chrissy Darling, dressed in yet another unique & striking costume, the duo attracting much attention from the wave of camera’s pointed in their direction.

However, by now the duo of Alan X & Hugh Stevenson where firing up the mirrorarch which some truly terrific tunes, we choosing this room over the two others for our lion’s share of devotions for the rest of the evening, many more also making the same choice, such was the extent & enjoyment from the heavenly house hits this dynamic duo were delivering. Indeed, we would have stayed put for the rest of their set, had it not been for a roll call from Alex, his request pulling us back into the main room where the bevy of body builders had gathered on the stage for a rip roaring pose down, each & every one of them seemingly enjoying showing off their assets to the goggle eyed admirers in front of them, the music pace first slowing as the muscle men posed & then gathered considerable pace as Mr Alexander had a go on the decks, pulling out the track that never fails to get a reaction, “Release Me” short of blowing the roof off Fire, the posers replaced by prancers revelling in the brilliant beats, guest D.J. Justin Ryan then taking over & moving the music up a further gear or two with a distinct New York style hard edge to it that had the room pulsating.

However, both Alan & Hugh were drawing us back, so we headed through to the mirrorarch once more, being stopped in our tracks by Paul Heron, whom we had not seen for such a long time, but who was very much looking forward to setting his designated room alight, this second room spot right up his street, he hardly failing to hit the mark with tonnes of terrific tunes. And with the dynamic duo bowing out, it was Paul’s turn to show the crowd what he was made of, the room soon swelling to capacity as he set about laying down some scintillating sounds, tech & progressive based but rip roaring in their delivery that had the room rampant. Then to add to the incredible atmosphere, first the muscled body builders returned to delight and then the room’s sponsor, Regulation, placed a small collection of dildo’s on one of the podiums next to us, although while the collection may have been small the dildo’s were far from, one absolutely huge, wider than our arm in fact. So, the inevitable happened and with Chris Jepson in situ, first one dildo was pushed against our lips, then another, this time by the ever present Roni Inan, a few more people getting in on the act with Chris snapping away merrily, this very much setting the tone for the remainder of our evening in the hands of a prolific performance by Paul & in the delightful company of Roni, Danny, Stefan & Stephen, seeing out our testosterone & muscle inspired walk on the Lovechild side close to the 7 a.m. finish before heading to pastures Beyond.

Having been part of our regular monthly calendar for close on a year now, it would be fair to say that in Lovechild we sometimes take things a little too much for granted and it is only sitting back a few days after an event these days that we truly realise just how good the parties actually are. And in “Hot Muscle” this was very much the case, the experience at the time not feeling anything too special, yet looking back, it actually was. With a choice of three rooms serving up significantly different styles of music from a wealth of talent in both resident & guest D.J.’s, there is no question that Lovechild deserves its spot in our devotions and whilst the formula may be pretty much the same, Alex & his team always keep the theme fresh & inviting, meaning there is always something new to inspire & delight. As for this time, well our delight were those dildo’s & the inspiration was the incredible music, so keep it coming Lovechild and we can’t wait for the next party in November. (DISCO MATT)

"Prolonged Pop-In" - Profile Bar - Review

2010-10-22T08:28:00.002+01:00

“PROLONGED POP-IN”
PROFILE BAR – FRIDAY 15TH OCTOBER
BAR REVIEW

It seems such a long time since we devoted a review to a bar, but then to be honest, following a guiding light back in May, we have severely cut down our alcohol intake, not that we need to consume this kind of liquid to be in & around bars, although the culture in the capital seems to lend itself to that. Mind you, we still partake of the odd shandy here & there, generally as a quick refreshing boost after a long day burning up London’s roads, more often on a Friday, although the days of wobbling home are long gone, meaning if we make a night of a bar trip or hop, our rule of thumb is home first James & then back out on two feet rather than two wheels. But you know what they say about rules and by golly did we break ours last Friday, Profile being the host for our night of naughtiness, all in the best possible taste though.

Now, without question, the bar that has ruled the roost in our times knocking around the Soho scene has been Rupert Street, our devotions to this stylish sophisticate having been consistent since it opened over 12 years ago, although the recent re-location of relative new kid, Profile Bar, to Wardour Street has made it much more accessible & indeed with bigger sister Lo-Profile now just downstairs, makes for a superb combined destination night out. Mind you, come Friday’s there is only one place for us to be and that is upstairs, whether it be a trip back for one of the many pre-parties the bar hosts, or if a mere drop in after work before making the journey home. However, this last Friday ended up being something much more extended and a great deal of fun to boot.

So, having initially planned merely to pop into our usual stop off at Rupert Street, a voice in the back of our mind was also saying to zoom round to Profile bar to say a quick hello to Friday resident D.J. Phil Marriot, who always gets the evening started in superb style, this Gaydar Radio jock also transmitting his set live on the stations clubnation show. So, the music he selects is always incredibly accessible, uplifting yet club like, making for an altogether sumptuous set of sounds to start the weekend in style. So, having made our way up & into this Wardour Street watering hole, we headed straight for the D.J. corner to makes our presence felt by the man behind the decks, Phil beaming out at us in his usual fashion while clearly in the zone with his mixing. Leaving him to his devices, we headed to the bar to grab refreshments, catching our favourite barman’s attention, the usual “black sambuca” joke (long story) raising smiles from both of us.

Back in our position by the booth we caught up on news with Phil, at this stage our visit planned as just a brief one before heading home after a long day toiling around London’s roads, but with the expected arrival of New York glamour drag queen, Peppermint, we were keen to make a liaison, our glass soon emptying and a refill sought at the now very busy bar, Profile a heavenly haven for some very good looking men & luxuriant ladies, a real buzz in the air & a mix between drinkers & diners making for an altogether enchanting experience. But we were intent on making a little mayhem in our corner, Phil also in a naughty mood ahead of the arrival of his partner, Russell (we won’t use his nickname) who was expected any minute. And arrive he did, bounding up to Phil and engaging in an endearing embrace before turning to us to say hello, remarking that it had been a while, back in June in fact at Onyx in Vauxhall, on that occasion it being a momentary meet.

Now it was clear that our evening at Profile was going to be much more prolonged than we had expected, although very much in a good way of course, as it became clear that we had much more in common with Russell than we had thought, he too having firm roots in South Africa, his accent in our more fulsome conversation coming out much more clearly than before. So it wasn’t long before we started reminiscing about our homeland, talk of braai’s borevoors & biltong intermixed with all sorts of other splendid South African specialities that had us transfixed & transcending into magical memory moments minute after minute. Such was the extent of our enjoyment, all thought of our homeward journey was long gone, even Russell deciding to stay in the grip of Profile rather than head for a planned meet with work colleagues, the time flowing by effortlessly as was the conversation, we even being treated to snippets of our second tongue, Afrikaans, from the expert in our midst.

With the truly superb night unfolding, it wasn’t long before we were tempted into consuming sambuca shots & jaeger bombs (lethal), Phil joining in on the frivolity, as was a number of people that had arrived, choosing our corner of calamity & cavorting, dancing friend Andrea making an appearance which, in itself, signalled a yet further terrific treat to our evening. Through all this activity around him, Phil was doing a sterling job concentrating on his job in hand, he delivering track after track that kept grabbing our attention in amongst our reminiscing with Russell, one particular favourite of ours & the song of the moment for us, “Happiness” getting an airing, although yet another version to the ones we had heard both recently & when the track broke our world. And the fabulous music kept coming, making any intended departure all the more difficult, although we were far from ready to throw in the towel, rather carry on with the chat & calamity, the dancing & the drinking that was making this very much impromptu evening something rather special.

Profile was now a sea of people all intent of fulfilling their Friday, some starting their night here before venturing to pastures new, but many more others ready to party deep into Saturday morning down in sister venue Lo-Profile below, where D.J. delights Jamie Head & Paul Heron were ready to entertain, posters plastered around Profile’s walls to advertise the fact. And before we knew it, the jovial Jamie was in our midst, weaving through the crowd & coming up to say his usual warm hello before descending to get things going downstairs. This was virtually immediately followed by the arrival of Peppermint, this New York glamour puss preparing for a showing at Shadow Lounge, but putting time aside to come & meet up with Mr Marriot, an introduction coming our way before she disappeared into the night nearly as quickly as she had come out of it.

By now we were feeling a little worse for wear, the sambuca & the jaeger bombs having taken effect, although it was not curbing our enthusiasm for this truly enigmatic evening we were experiencing, conversation with Russell still at full tilt & Phil looking over virtually constantly trying to grab a piece of the action in between choosing tunes. However, with 11 p.m. approached & gone in a flash, time was close to calling a halt to what had been one of the best Friday’s we could remember for a long time, although an energetic Andrea was determined for our night to continue down in Lo-Profile, we very close to be tempted save for the need to collect our belongings that had been safely stored away in Rupert Street, our first call for the evening. So, with this march of time, we waved our farewells to Phil, to Russell and to the collective crowd that had touched our evening, departing to wend our way home & reflect on a most fantastic Friday of full on Profile fun & giving thanks to everyone that touched our time there, especially Phil & Russell, we are privileged to know you.

Having been around for both the launch and the first birthday, Profile in its new location on Wardour Street has certainly become a firm favourite of ours. Not only does it provide a haven from the sometimes hectic surroundings it finds itself within in Soho, but with an extensive food menu, all prepared fresh (and we mean fresh) on the premises to American style booth tables & even snacks to the bar area, the whole experience is one of complete satisfaction. Furthermore, the previous issues with slow drinks service has been significantly improved, the engaging & friendly bar team going that extra mile to make your visit one to remember rather than forget, meaning we cannot express our recommendation highly enough apart from saying as we always say, Go There! Be There! (DISCO MATT)

"Julbilant Japanese Jaunt" - Beyond "Tokyo" - Club Review

2010-10-14T05:03:00.007+01:00

“JUBILANT JAPANESE JAUNT”
BEYOND “TOKYO” – SUNDAY 10TH OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

The last couple of months have been a strange old time in our clubbing world, as whilst we have been as busy as we have always been, there has been a definite missing link in our clubbing calendar. Yes, we have had a slice of Spanish with a magical Matinee party, we have done the Brazilian thing with The Week, tucked our forelock in the direction of NYC underground house with Paradise 45 & even gone French continental with The Supersize party in Paris. But while an Onyx outing, a hook up with Hype & an afternoon with As One have touched our dancefloor lives recently, there being plenty more besides, one club has not figured as large as it normally does. Yet, when we sit here kick starting our review of this amazing afterhours, we have amazed ourselves at just why it hasn’t been part of our landscape, well since July in the capital & August in Brighton.

Beyond has been an intrinsic part of our lives now for close on a decade now, even given the fact that it took a short break back in 2006, although since establishing itself at current home, Area in Vauxhall, this amazing afterhours has gone from strength to strength, for us hitting a real purple patch earlier this year, when our weekly homage’s just seemed to get better & better in unrelentless fashion. Although, like an over inflated balloon, the pop was inevitable and extreme elation turned into deflation when an unfortunate incident (no fault of the club we must stress) left us not only nervous of a re-visit, but saddened that something so important to us & our weekly existence was destined to become just another also ran club in our calendar. But, such is our passion & love for this very special brand & the people involved, that a return was always on the cards, so just why did the re-engagement happen & how did we find Beyond having been absent for so long?

Having been plagued with one bad piece of news after the other, what was looking like becoming a busy weekend for us, deteriorated rapidly, trips to both fetish club Hotwired & SuperMartXe’s “Porno Star” event(s) aborted, well they didn’t even start if the truth be known, but there was something in the back of our mind that said we needed to make Beyond, so an alarm call at 5 a.m. rose us from our slumber & we headed down to Vauxhall and a liaison with our favourite club & all friends connected with it. And indeed, on checking social networking updates, it became apparent to us, that, not only was this latest Beyond party a special, with a Japanese theme, we spookily having left the house & the Japanese F1 Grand Prix on the T.V. screen, but more importantly for us, we simply had to be there to mark the occasion of promoter Steven Sharp’s last event in charge of this Sunday morning phenomenon.

With the usual pleasantries with doorman extra-ordinaire Tom & plans for our concert visit later that evening pretty much sorted, we were in the considerable queue to get into this special “Tokyo” event, waiting patiently to gain entry to what looked like an incredibly busy Beyond already. However, it was a shame that one such individual didn’t have the patience, pushing & shoving his way past, with an attitude to match his barging, very much giving Latino’s a bad name, although, having an exclaimed look saying, “who are you?!” his face was an absolute picture when a beaming Steven Sharp plucked us from the queue & led us straight into the club, past the coatcheck and into the main room, red carpet service indeed.

Having taken a moment to commiserate with him on this, his last Beyond, we left Steven, drink in hand and headed down the packed main room, aiming for our spot which everyone who knows us at Beyond will recall is right next to the D.J. booth. And there we found ourselves, very much back with a bang, especially as the maestro was at work, Steve Pitron bopping up & down and beating out a never-ending succession of truly amazing tracks, many Beyond anthems and a-typical Pitron style. Rather than attracting his attention, it was clear we were attraction n many others, a stream of familiar faces passing us by and pausing to say hello. To say we were overcome with emotion at being back in our favourite club & being around so many friendly clubbers, was an understatement, our fragile state tinterring & we fighting back the tears with determined dance moves to banish all thoughts of our bad week from our minds.

So, the scene was set for a morning filled with incredible music & all the magic that Beyond at Area is renowned for, the best lighting, pyrotechnics & effects in the business, undoubtedly some of the best D.J.’s in town & even all the new additions to the venue, not least the massive elevated stage at the far end of the main room. With Steve in full flow and we going absolutely nowhere, rather burning up our corner with exuberant dancing dervishness, even the incredible heat in the place was not stopping us in our tracks, the only slight halt to our movements being the never-ending stream of people cramming into the room to lap up what was becoming the best Beyond we had been to in a long time. And it was going to get better, as not only did a succession of dancers hit the main stage, but then we were treated to a P.A. performance by Hadley, to compliment the striking dancers both Shaun Capewell & Elektra Paris were co-ordinating.

Now, it has to be said that we are never that keen on P.A.’s in Area, mainly because all they seem to do is interrupt the flow of our morning and, to be honest, this was it same, the whole situation not being helped by technical issues with her mic, but in typical Pitron style, Steve carried on regardless, made the best of a bad situation & soon we were back into our stride, especially when he pulled out our record of now, “Happiness”, this once again bring tears of eyes, although this time tears of happiness, Steve even looking over, spotting us & giving us a huge thumbs up. With a few hello’s to the Orange Group top brass, Alex Erfan, Jonny Marsh, Dave Cross, & Jay Vokins, all who were strangely present & on cue. But the music was our real devotion & with Mikey D soon taking over the reins, what had been a truly exceptional set by Steve, was to be equalled in every way & even exceeded in some, a small refreshment break, finding us rejuvenated & ready for another non-stop two hours of moving & grooving to Mikey’s music.

To say that by now we were losing control only referred to the fact that track after track reminded us of Mikey’s brilliant compilation “lose Control”, we in absolute heaven with every track he was choosing and very much in our element in our most favourite club, every moment just getting better & better, the crowd one of the most jovial friendly & good looking we had seen in ages. So good was our experience becoming, we felt compelled to tell the world, remarking on our experiences via our mobile & social networking sites, the pitch hitting a true crescendo when Mr Dower played the magnificent “Elevated”, the track an absolute reflection of our mood & what Beyond had transformed from a downbeat & fragile individual, to a determined & ecstatic person.

Being back to our comfortable self, the morning only going to improve, with Steven Sharp passing by & escorting us to the Terrace for refreshments, where we caught up with Hifi Sean who was preparing for his set, taking over from Paul Christian, while the duo of David Jimenez & D’Johnny (we affectionately label them D.J.’s D.J. & D.J....get it?!?!) playing a storming back-to-back set in the new extended middle space, now called The Chapel Bar, very much re-kindling this is a creditable dance room. Whilst Sean was a little tired, having flown in direct from Athens to play at this special Beyond party, it certainly didn’t show in his music, a sparkling set of sounds that he aptly termed teriyaki tech, it certainly touching our sweet spot perfectly. But, with a serious eye now on the clock & with Tom’s 12 midday deadline ringing in our heads, we dived back into the main room to catch up with Alan K, although such was the brilliant & euphoria of his set, we simply couldn’t tear ourselves away, only eventually doing so under duress at just before the 1 p.m. closing, leaving Area behind to reflect on a simply scintillating session at Beyond.

Well, what can we say, apart from the fact that Beyond Tokyo was, for us, probably THE best one this year. Yes, we had not witnessed much of the August Bank Holiday Super Size party, which so many people remark as being the best, but if it was anywhere near as good as this one (which we doubt) then it also is top of the tree. From the minute we were whisked out of the queue, till the moment we left Area’s doors, not only were we made to feel well & truly welcome by so many people, but we felt so much at home & ease with the club that has meant & means so much to us. Finding the exact words to describe just how magical it all was is difficult, but Beyond just seems to have that all important edge over any other experience & Sunday mornings surely now have to begin with B & end in D and no longer T & E as what was previously our tip top afterhours experience, Trade, having had its crown well & truly stolen by the might of Craig Elder’s creation.

As for Steven Sharp, like our journey on this special Tokyo event, from the minute he took over as Beyond promoter, till the final moments of his tenure end, you couldn’t ask for a more charming, generous, kind & thoughtful individual to run the club. His dedication to his audience & his customers has been immense and he knows exactly how to pitch his presence perfectly, this care for what he does showing through in bucket loads, his popularity with the punters speaking for itself. All this means that, like when Steve, Mikey, Jamie or Sean are not at Beyond (no offense to the other D.J.’s of course), it is never the same for us and without Steven there, it won’t be the same, so we just hope that whoever takes over the club has the same care, consideration & dedication, but with this jubilant Japeanese jaunt being such a good party, we will be back to Beyond, regardless. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

If you were unfortunate enough to miss out on this brilliant Beyond bash, then you can always get a slice of the action through three tremendous compilations, one a direct recording from his set at “Tokyo”. So, let’s cover that one off first, as Alan K treats us to yet another beyond mix, which you can grab now at http://djalank.podomatic.com/. As for the other two, well we have mentioned them before, but they are so good & evoke so many great memories of this & previous Beyond parties, you simply have to add them to your collections. Steve Pitron’s “Summer 2010” has become a classic & is still available at http://stevepitronsessions.podomatic.com/ while Mikey D’s rare but latest offering “Lose Control” has his performance at Beyond Tokyo written all over it, so is an essential mix for any Beyond main room enthusiast which you can grab at http://mikeyd.podomatic.com/.

"Terrific Time Dancing" - T.T.D. Launch - Club Review

2010-10-13T01:43:00.002+01:00

“TERRIFIC TIME DANCING”
T.T.D.LAUNCH PARTY – SUNDAY 3RD OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

We very much look back on our early clubbing days in the capital with fond appreciation, many magical memories of a rich variety of clubs making for our very colourful weekend existence. Sunday in particular was always held in high regard, not least due to the legendary Trade, the equally iconic FF & Warriors, the delight that was DTPM & even clubs like Sherbert, Factor 25 and, who can forget, Salvation & PSP. Yes, Sunday’s were certainly very special in our world back then and looking at all these clubs, they had two things in common, firstly, central locations with a capital C & secondly, style with a big fat capital S. However, as time has moved on & trends changed, Vauxhall is the place now, other parts of South London sparkling on Sunday’s, although for us, both the C & S words are too often missing, therefore leaving a considerable gap in the market.

However, one man has very much grasped the nettle and with his new club T.T.D. (still waiting to find out exactly what it stands for) has combining those magical ingredients of Sunday P.M. clubbing in a central location. But not only that, creator & visionary behind this new clubbing brand, Billy Richard, ticked the central London & Sunday afternoon/evening boxes, with T.T.D., the plan is to bring a little bit of sophistication back into clubbing, not so much the pompous A listing of certain venues that see themselves as select and not the mundane weekly happenings that occur south of the river, but something delightfully in between the two, dare we say a kick back to the halcyon days of Salvation, Factor 25 et all. The question is, did T.T.D. achieve this on the launch? & how did we find our first experience in Sound?

So, in true style & feeling a little perkier after being laid low for a few days, we got ourselves organised nice & early, meeting up with friend & D.J. Brent Nicholls at just turned 3.30 p.m., he himself having started early at a private Cowboy/Cowgirl party over in The Shadow Lounge, a brief snack & catch up then finding us at Sound’s doors just on the strike of four & ready for the planned opening time (if but a little early in our estimation). With promoter Billy Richard running around finalising what preparations still needed to be done, it was down to the cool, clam & collected Simon Patrick to show us up to the main (3rd) floor, giving us a brief tour around the rather impressive venue, before we settled at the makeshift D.J. booth, Brent finding his bearings and firing up some uplifting & funky sounds to fill Sound with music.

Looking around at the space, it certainly had an impressive feel about it, the industrial chrome look, blending well with the striking lighting & furnishings, although the paint splashed wall panels around the dancefloor were a little too garish for our liking. However, with two further floors to the venue, there was certainly plenty of space, although, in our fragile state, the fair hike to the toilets was always going to be a challenge, but even given this we were suitably impressed with Sound as a host for T.T.D., Billy having added his own touches of production & lighting to give the main space an extra special feel, vivacious visuals playing on the bank of screens & imposing three dimensional lettering floating behind the D.J. booth where Mr Nicholls was now in full flight, even if he was challenged by not having a monitor to accurately mix tracks, although some of his attempts were cause for some hilarity on our part, we get more than a taste of our own medicine back from a jovial Brent, who’s quips as well as music kept us & the select few around entertained

With people slowing beginning to drift in, including the dancing crew, the gorgeous Mark bounding up so say hello to Brent & us before heading off to change, the gauntlet was thrown down for us to warm up the dancefloor with our energetic moves, some of them being caught on video, especially as the crowd began to develop & join in with our antics. With other clubbing pals joining in on this T.T.D. launch fun, Andrea, & co, Chris Brogan, Industri pal Stephen & occasional visitors Jeremy & Andy, the magnificent Minty, who made her usual commanding entrance, friends David & Stuart ready to party, we were certainly getting into our stride, soaking up the full on funky & latin twisted sounds Brent was serving up, one moment of hilarity being followed by the next, from a collapsible chair behind a speak, to a very interesting energy drink we were consuming, “Pussy” very much being the word of the party, even if it did taste a little odd.

With the arrival of incumbent D.J. Nick Tcherniak, we were looking forward to trading some moves with pal Mr B, although the absent monitor was causing continual concern, but with equipment on its way, Brent extended his two hour stint, eventually handing over the reins at not long before 7 p.m., by which time a healthy, if but eclectic crowd had developed, the brighter lighting of before traded for something much more appealing, the previously absent smoke effects now in full tilt & improving the atmosphere on the dancefloor considerably, encouraging even more people to join in with our overt antics. Nick was now himself adjusting to the lack of a sufficient equipment behind the D.J. booth, selecting some superb sounds, that included the massive “Deep Water” & “My People”, partner Tom also in situ exchanging latest bits of news with us, as the pace of the party continued increase momentum, minute after minute, the arrival of the dancers onto the main floor attracting attention, especially Mr Mark who was fetchingly dressed in thigh length boots & a tight fitting bodice, all which was showing off every asset (& my has he got some tasty ones) to their best.

Now the launch sequence of T.T.D. was way behind up, Billy’s spaceship of a club having reached the upper stratosphere in terms of atmosphere, we totally engrossed in our dancing, our continued hilarity with Brent, Stephen & Andrea and our “pussy” providing the rocket fuel we needed to keeping us from plummeting back down to earthly reality. And it was only going to get better when the Italian stallion himself, Pagano arrived, ready to take on an extended set to add to the already brilliant time we were having, surrounded by one of the most fun filled & carefree crowds we have been with for a long time, even arrivals Mis-White, Andrew Harris, & Dimity K blossoming the bountiful brigade of party people wanting to get their slice of this new Sunday sophisticate. With the Sicilian splendour taking to the decks, shrugging off the absence of a monitor & diving straight into action with classic Pagano tunes that brought even more people onto the square dancefloor, the bevy of beautiful dancers exchanging positions & moves each side of the maestro D.J. at work, completing the pulsating picture of perfection that was now T.T.D. However, with a good things unfortunately, they have to come to an end and with an eye on the clock which was creeping up towards 11 p.m. & commitments the following day, we were forced to call a halt on our terrific time dancing at T.T.D., saying our farewells and heading home to reflect on a successful start in the life on this new extremely enjoyable Sunday clubbing experience.

So, what was our conclusion on T.T.D. as a viable venture & what should the team concentrate on for future parties? Well, first & foremost, there was no doubt in our mind that this new kid on the gAylist scene block is such a refreshing change to the now normality of Vauxhall, the central location a real winner in many people’s eyes, even if Sound as a venue took a little getting used to. It was clear that the music was the main statement, all three D.J.’s putting up prolific performances, the whole essence of a musical journey being satisfied superbly and with the combination of that Sunday socialising feel to it, we can definitely see T.T.D. increasing with popularity, party after party.

Yes, Sound was never packed, but when you consider that the team had to face inclement weather & tube strikes, the numbers they pulled in were impressive enough and whilst the party lacked a little polish here & there, the absence of certain equipment & proper podiums for the dancers, the in balance of lighting early & the lack of smoke & laser effects which made a huge difference, are all things that can be put right quite easily. Given this was Billy Richard’s first ever full on clubbing event, he can be proud of what he has achieved, his team truly committed to the cause & the result a party that everyone (and we mean everyone) we have spoken to since, thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, so like us, will be back for plenty more of that terrific time dancing that we had, come 7th November & you should be there too. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript.

Why not check out the specially commissioned compilation for the T.T.D. launch party by Brent Nicholls, which you can grab by either going to http://djbrentnicholls.com/music or by downloading the mix at http://speedyshare.com/files/24364407/1009_TTD_Pre_Launch_Warm_Up-_Welcome_To_The_Club_128.mp3

"Poolside Plunging In Paris" - Supersize Pool Party - Event Review

2010-10-03T12:57:00.001+01:00

“POOLSIDE PLUNGING IN PARIS”
SUPERSIZE POOL PARTY – SATURDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER
EVENT REVIEW

Whilst our first steps into a club and onto the dancefloor were deep down in the southern hemisphere in South Africa, the real roots of our clubbing devotions are planted firmly here in London, although having been accustomed to plenty of travelling in our youth, the penchant to take combine two incredible passions in our life has been an ambition for some time now, the thought of us becoming ever so slightly European or international an exciting prospect. Yet, such is the daily demands on our life & the continual draws of the prolific scene that we find ourselves within, that we have struggled to break free from the capital, only this August seeing our first venture outside the boundaries of London, well in the collaborative clubbing, travelling & writing perspective at least, our first real escapade being back in August for the Gay Dance Weekend down in Brighton, which was to give us the incentive we needed, more the renewed desire to seek out new territories beyond our usual comfort zone.

And with this new found enthusiasm came our first opportunity as the massive Spirit Of Star event was popping over the horizon, as The Supersize Pool Party was once again returning to France’s capital for another huge splash in Europe’s biggest indoor waterpark, The Aquaboulevard in Paris, promoters Michel Mau & Aurel Devil joining forces with Brazil’s best, The Week, which had, just seven days before, taken London by storm at the hugely successful event down Vauxhall way. But as much as The Supersize Pool party was the major draw, news in a D.J. pal being in town at the same time made our first clubbing trip over the channel as Disco Matt all the more enticing. By the very nature of its name, The Supersize Pool party had very much painted lots of pictures in our mind, of masses of muscled men plunging in the pools then dancing themselves dry, the images these thoughts were creating, combined with the eye catching advertising, very much evoking everything that seemed splendid with marrying poolside antics with dancing dervishness, then add in the element of the romance of gaaay Paris and our expectations were high for a supersize experience to match the stats of this event, so did Spirit Of Star’s crowning glory deliver? And what were the highlights of our aquatic inspired antics?

Being in unfamiliar territory, we were certainly glad to have D.J. & friend Javier Medina to guide us around Paris on our arrival, although it was clear that The Supersize Pool party was not really his bag, meaning we would be venturing across to Aquabouelvard on out tod, although as is the case back here in the capital, this tends to be the norm for us, but in this case we would likely to be far more anonymous. So, with directions in hand and deciding to brave the perils of an unknown Paris road & Metro system (why didn’t we just take a taxi?!?), our journey of exploration & excitement to reach our aquatic destination began at just turned 10.30 p.m. Now to say that the journey was a mere 3 or 4 kilometres from our start point was the extent of our trip, but when we finally reached the splendour that was The Supersize’s host venue and glanced at our clock, we couldn’t believe that it had taken us over an hour to make it, which say’s enough about our directional abilities in the dark of an unknown territory.

However, we were here and have paid our way into this special aquatic party, we were then directed into the first of two massive changing areas, where we stripped down from our regular clubbing attire into an unflattering pair of knee length swimming shorts, the extent of our footwear, a simple pair of Kappa flip-flops, yet not quite brave enough to strip ourselves of the skimpy club t-shirt we had packed for the occasion, although looking around at the myriad of others also preparing for the party ahead, we seemed a trice over dressed. However, undaunted, we left our belongings with the utterly charming French coatcheck ladies and then meandered back through the entrance, past the second & more extensive changing area and into the Aquaboelvard waterpark proper. By now, we had missed much of the pool antics that had started back at 9 p.m., with Spirit Of Star’s Little Nemo (very apt name) in charge of the tunes, although it was never really our intention to indulge in that part of the outing, our interest much more in how the clubbing & dancing party of this massive event much more the reason for our visit.

However, despite our fevered anticipation, acclimatising ourselves to strange clubbing surroundings of this waterpark took some time, the climatic temperature soon making us strip off that skimpy clubbing t-shirt, joining virtually everyone else in the 1500 or so throng of Supersizer’s that were sinking into the sounds of resident jock Aurel devil, playing aloft from a D.J. booth that looked out across one of the few expanses of dry land. And this space had certainly been dressed to give the feel of a dancefloor, plenty of laser & flashing lights adding to the atmosphere, a huge stage to one side with a massive video screen enticing the eye to visuals of the various sponsors of the event, as well as tasty pictures to compliment the actual eye candy in front of us, while further screens sandwiching the D.J. booth completed the scene.

Now, it would be fair to say that we were relatively unfamiliar with Aurel Devil’s music style, although having seen him perform back in May at the London Global Dance Festival, we were certainly expecting a slightly tougher more tech fuelled set compared with the, we have to say it, G.A.Y. like string of sounds he was putting together, but despite our disliking to the music, it was clear the majority were very much into this lighter more accessible collection of tunes he was playing, the Aquaboulevard a light with dancing delirium from a hot bed of lovely Latino’s through muscled European’s & everything in between, very much combining the mixes of crowds we were used to seeing at SuperMartXe, Beyond & Matinee all into one, yet pleasantly attitude free & welcomingly friendly. Music aside, we were slowly beginning to accustom our mind to this very different clubbing experience, helped along by the stage shows that has sprung into action, a collection of drop dead gorgeous go-go dancers ascending the podiums by the D.J. booth and the stage itself alight with action, plumes of smoke from a huge cannon held my a muscled hunk adding to the exceptional effects that were making the most of The Supersize pool party’s home.

Pausing momentarily for refreshments back at the bar, set away from the dance area, we were somewhat taken a-back by the 10 euro charge for a drink, opting for a energy re-fuelling liquid with a kick as our relief from the shock to our wallet, but then quickly resigning ourselves to the fact that this Supersize experience was a special excursion, so well worth the price. So, back to the dancing we found ourselves and having mastered the art of moving & grooving in flip-flops, the arrival of The Week resident Leandro Bekker lifting our spirits considerably, the music taking on much more of a familiar & favoured ring to it, plenty of electro, funky & tech tracks intermixed with octane fuelled beats that included the record that never ceases to get us dancing deliriously, Zoe Baldwin’s “Release Me”, which somehow injected extra vitality into our legs and energy in our veins, Leandro very much stepping up to the mark & hitting our musical sweet spots with every track choice he made.

Indeed, after the more camp & frivolous set of Aurel Devil, this much more forthright & fulsome performance by Leandro had transformed our experience from one of relative boredom to outright enjoyment, verging on the ecstatic, even our relative anonymity at this event being broken, first by Leandro himself, who spotted us dancing next to the booth, waving across in acknowledgement, then by Sprit Of Star’s own Michel Mau, both whom we had met at The Week party back in London the previous weekend. But it didn’t stop there as we were spotted by a whole crowd of Londoner’s back at the bar, very much consigning our obscurity to the rubbish heap, all this adding to the outstanding outing we were now savouring, Mr Bekker’s beats saving our musical day & the exceptional shows together with the eye candy filled crowd topping off this pool party in Paris with pure panache, we seeing it through close to the 6 a.m. finish with ease, only a rendezvous at the afterparty with our liege, Javier, tugging us away from seeing out the end of this exceptional event.

To try and give this Supersize Pool Party the justice it deserves in just several paragraphs is difficult and in some ways, you had to be there to experience the full extent of just what made this prolific Paris brilliance of a bash special. Yes, it was totally different to any clubbing event we had witnessed or enjoyed, but enjoy it we did, the interesting yet enchanting setting only adding to the amazing atmosphere that the Aquaboulevard brought to this Spirit Of Star spectacle. Yes, we missed out on the pool antics and it took us time to get used to the feel of the vent, Aurel Devil’s music not quite hitting the mark for us, but Leandro Bekker & the influence of The Week on proceedings was a definite plus, making for an altogether spectacular end to a thrilling aquatic influenced clubbing trip that will certainly remain in our memories for a long time to come.

Having very much been enchanted by Paris as a charming city during our whistle-stop tour of France’s finest, we can also say that, in the Supersize Pool Party, we found our own clubbing fatal attraction, that this reflection & review has only served to heighten and in the imitable words of that Debbie Harry song, Paris was definitely calling & this Supersize spectacle was doing plenty of French kissing on our mind spirit & soul. Would we do it again? Well, we would most definitely consider it and maybe next time take the pool plunge we missed out on during this visit and having gotten used to the experience of dancing in swimwear & not much more, would definitely recommend the feeling of frolicking freedom it gives and with a clubbing crowd that has to have been one of the friendliest we have come across, not to mention the best looking, what more could you ask from a party. Isn’t it just a shame that Supersize is only a twice yearly event? (DISCO MATT)

"Brazilian Beats Lauding It In London " - The Week - Club Review

2010-09-22T00:30:00.006+01:00

"BRAZILIAN BEATS LAUDING IT IN LONDON”
THE WEEK – SATURDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

It would be fair to say that we are lucky to have some amazing home-grown club brands that have made a impact across the world and that we can be proud of, names such as Trade, DTPM, Love Muscle & Crash springing to mind, oh and not forgetting Beyond of course, this Sunday morning afterhours having made more than a splash in Amsterdam & Paris, while the former brands have made it further a-field, destinations including Australia, South Africa & even South America. Now, as much as we can be proud of our British brands, the diversity of our scene is such that we often welcome overseas clubs with open arms, although there has seemingly been a dominance by all things Spanish in this respect, Matinee Space & SuperMartXe ruling supreme in the import stakes, while others like Muccassassina, Nightkomn & Scream only getting a recent look in at specialist event The London Global Dance Festival (LGDF). But the man behind this huge undertaking which dominated the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, who was also responsible for the NYD success story that was As One, Mr Alex Erfan, had something else up his sleeve, the arrival of a club event in London, this time from Brazil and a brand that is not only a legend in its own country, but had just last month made its mark of Barcelona’s Circuit Festival.

The Week, whilst relatively unknown to the average Joe in London, is simply huge in its home town of Sao Paulo, as well as making considerable waves across Brazil in both Rio & Florianopolis, this club event in South America’s largest city regularly attracting well over 2500 revellers through its doors in a club setting that simply blows the mind, two huge rooms illuminated with wall to wall laser lighting and plenty more besides, plus an outside area sporting a swimming pool & views over Sao Paulo to absolutely die for and we haven’t even touched on the Rio setting yet. And as for the crowd The Week attracts, well you can imagine that it is full to brimming with bare chested Brazilians, handsome & scantily dressed go-go dancing boys, muscular men & gorgeous girls, all who know exactly what having a good time is about, topping all that with magnificent music of the uplifting, funky & fulsome kind, from some of the best looking D.J.’s in the business. So, with this massive brand making strides not just in its home country, but slowly & surely across the globe, London simply had to be on their touring agenda and what better man to make it happen than Mr As One & LGDF himself.

So, with our sights firmly set on Fire and with the prospect of something quite special, at least by London standards, we made our way down to Vauxhall, arriving at the venues doors a little after midnight, negotiating a rather healthy queue of people as eager as us to see just how this Brazilian brand of a club would work in London. With door pleasantries over, we stepped into the club proper, first calling on the coatcheck to drop off our bits & bobs and then grab some refreshments at the bar, meeting almost immediately the delightful Danny Shubert, who was on a relative free reign to enjoy the party, while partner Roni was masterminding proceedings from a background position. With Danny soon off to locate his liege, we headed down into the main room, very much taken a-back by the considerable changes that had been made, the D.J. booth completely moved from its original spot, now standing proud towards the far end of the room, which had been knocked back as far as the building perimeter, a large stage area wrapping around both sides of the booth in readiness for the spectacular carnival of a show that had been promised.

Finding a spot to the left of the D.J. booth, we surveyed the new territory that was Fire’s main room, the most striking addition being a massive LED lighting affair on the back wall, to compliment the banks of video screens down one side & the infamous Fire laser lighting that set off the yellow & green decor & interesting ceiling decor that was certainly making a statement. But much more of a statement was coming from the D.J. both, not so much from his music, which for us was a bit off beat, but from his smouldering good looks, Doug Uim certainly cutting a stride and impressing pal Danny who had rejoined our side. With a quick visit into the lounge space over, we were back in the main room and ready for the duo of Steve Pitron & Mikey D, both who never fail to deliver delectable & majestic music whenever they perform alone, but to get them together and at this The Week party was to be an outstanding highlight. And, do you know what, they delivered in each & every department, track after track mesmerising the crowd and short of lifting the roof off Fire.

But it wasn’t just their music that was making our experience special, as both Steve & Mikey made us feel so much a part of proceedings, Mr Pitron bounding over before his back to back performance, to say hello and share a “who am I speaking to" joke with us, then calling us across to the other side of the booth as his stupendous set with Mikey commenced, even Mr Dower looking over constantly and, having also said his hellos’ yet another quip about his latest compilation release entering into conversation. With the duo in full swing and the main room literally bursting at the seams, also reports coming in the queue outside was stretching up towards Starbucks, the heat from the mesmeric music was one thing, but the heat from the un air conditioned main room was another, so something had to give, the team rolling open the doors to the mirrorarch room early, Doug Uim stepping in ahead of Gonzalo Rivas’s arrival to ease the roadblock that was both the main room and the waiting masses outside.

Now the party was in full swing, the crowd getting bigger & bigger by the minute and the good looking muscle men intermixing with Brazilian boys & classic Fire club kids to create an enticing mix of dance crazy people that just wanted to party. And with the amazing LED display behind the main room D.J. booth firing on all cylinders, displaying Steve’s & Mikey’s names in bright white lights, both stars very were much in their element and loving every minute of it. Then to further add to our euphoria, we were joined by fantastic friend Brent Nicholls, who had his camera in hand ready to take shots of the incumbent stage show, as well as plenty of the other action going on around the club, although it was soon apparent that the full show would not be set in motion until close on 3 a.m., the start of his set next door in the “Latin” lounge, although having Mr Nicholls with both Steve & Mikey, not just under the same roof at the same time, but performing at the same party, was bliss indeed and took us back to the days of Crash, Ultra & the original Beyond, brilliant!.

With Steve & Mikey’s performance coming close to an end, we retreated from the stifling heat of the main room to take a few moments out in the “Latin” lounge before Brent’s set, catching up on news & downing iced refreshments with our pal before he started his stint behind the decks, our devotions from here on in very much torn between Brent in the lounge and Paul Heron in the mirror arch, who had taken over from the might of Gonzalo Rivas and was stirring up some superb sounds of his own. Meanwhile in the main room, the drop dead gorgeous & muscular to boot, Leandro Bekker, had taken charge of the decks, his tougher sounding house finding favour with the Brazilian lot, but the carnival of a show that preceded his full on performance, stole much of the limelight, twelve appropriately dressed dancers parading round the extended stage to samba style sounds that had the crowd cheering in appreciation of the sparkling spectacle. But having savoured the show, our main devotions were to the more Latin flavoured & funky beats Brent was masterminding next door, he pulling plenty of our favourite tunes out of the bag, the room pitching & yawing with followers of funk. Even Industri pal Stephen was getting in on the Latin act, rising to the occasion and swinging around on the dancing pole in the middle of the room, much to our hilarity, although being far braver than us in his escapades.

Such was the brilliance of the party that the time literally flew by, Per Q.X. eventually taking up the main room mantle and Pier Morrorco, who had been enjoying the party, called to duty to step in for a swift departing Mr Heron, the final few moments of our stay occupied with liaisons towards a now off duty Leandro Bekker and Spirit Of Star supremo, the engaging Michel Mau, although with 6 a.m. approaching fast, our attentions were now diverted to forays across Vauxhall at Beyond, a trip we had not made for some time. So, negotiating the very lengthy coatcheck queue to collect our belongings, we waved bye to Brent, eventually leaving Fire and a hugely successful The Week event behind, smiling from ear to ear from this ecstatic experience.

Without doubt we can conclude that in The Week at Fire, Alex Erfan & everyone involved in the organisation of this incredible event very much pulled of one of the best parties we have seen in Fire this year. Not only were we taken a-back by the numbers through the doors, but the music from the top class D.J. line up, definitely delivered to expectations & more. The changes to Fire’s main room were certainly impressive, the LED lighting display shouting out a stunning statement and whilst many would say the London effort wasn’t a patch on those In Sao Paulo & Rio, we thought the party packed a considerable punch, showing the rest of clubland in the capital at least, just how good it can be done at Fire. As for our highlights, well it has to be the spellbinding back-to-back performance by Messrs Dower & Pitron, along with the Latin infused excellence of Brent Nicholls, all three serving to prove that we definitely have top quality D.J.’s in London to match anywhere in the world. The Week definitely did it for us and we can’t wait to see it lauding itself in London again, as we will be there for sure. (DISCO MATT)

"Second Spanish Sunday Smash" - Matinee - Club Review

2010-09-21T17:35:00.004+01:00

"SECOND SPANISH SUNDAY SMASH”
MATINEE “OPEN AIR SUMMER PARTY II” –
SUNDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

Having been absolutely astounded by the magnificence of Matinee’s new look & style at Ministry of Sound (MOS) back in July, we can safely say that the event of the year so far had definitely set the standard for this Spanish brands new Sunday soiree’s, the terrace theme working like a dream, not only as the weather was kind to promoter Logan Schmitz and his team, but there seemed a real desire for something new & refreshing, Matinee itself craving for its own identity to set it aside from the teams other stable-mate, SuperMartXe. And with the “Open Air Summer Party”, Logan certainly achieved that, not only capturing the mood & captivating his admiring audience, but in MOS, he had found a venue that seemed to suit Matinee well, this even having been a favoured choice of previous promoter Oliver M, when deciding on his next move from Colosseum & Cable.

With MOS certainly delivering first time round and Matinee was very much the talk of the town, mixed fortunes for the Logan presents team over August Bank Holiday seemed to propel to perceived popularity of this second summer special, although planting the event into September, admittedly marrying it with the brands closing parties around the world, was a risky prospect, particularly considering that the success of the “Ibiza Terrace” theme hedging itself against the uncertainty of the capitals climate. But with a D.J. line up stronger than we had seen at a Matinee since Cable, as well as the inclusion of diva vocalist Vanessa Klein, the scene was set for a Second Spanish Summer Smash to match the first and with back up plans to move outside in, should the weather dictate, all was set fair for another magical Matinee full of mesmeric music at MOS. So, how did this second open air summer special turn out? Was it about outside, in or both? And did the Soho Pink Sunday event effect affect Matinee in any way?

Having well & truly sweated it out at Suzie Krueger’s sporty fetish frolic the previous night, a planned trip to Beyond was shelved in favour of finding fresh legs for the extravagance of Matinee’s “Open Air Summer Party II” at MOS and having savoured all the delights of the pre-party just two days previously at the Box in Covent Garden, we were definitely in party mood as we approached the entrance at just before 4 p.m., for us a fashionably late arrival compared with our previous visit in July. With just a small queue to negotiate, as well as a rather over-zealous security guard who felt the need to search under our crotch, we were into the club before you could say “how very dare you” and into the main room to be greeted immediately by a beaming Paul Heron, who reminded us of our camp claim from Hype, before caching up on news of his Mykonos exploits & more recent developments. But with refreshments on our mind, we headed for the bar and then joined Paul & fellow D.J. Hugh Stevenson behind the main room decks, where bello Alesaandro Londra was waving his magical musical wand, the screens showing Matinee parties past & present and the lighting in full swing, illuminating the dancefloor below, a select crowd soaking up his euro & Spanish influenced sounds.

Clearly, however, the emphasis at this relatively early hour in Matinee’s second outing at MOS was on the outside, so with Industri pal Stephen arriving, we headed off the terrace to check out the action, finding a cavorting crowd bopping to the beats that pre-party star Leandro Kloppel was dishing out, an uplifting yet hard hitting collection of chunky tunes to inject some pace & passion to proceedings. Looking around there were plenty of familiar faces already gathered, we spotting Logan’s lot, including, Naomi, Luke, Dilmar, Fabio and, of course the ever smiling Mauricio, who remarked on our Matinee t-shirt and then produced a fresh new black number for us to wear with pride. But plenty more had already gathered, a whole collection of muscular Latino men, gorgeous girls, club kids & much in between, friend & fierce partner in crime, Lexi, catching our attention and immediately trading delightfully extravert dance moves with us, very much setting the standard to things to come. But, whilst the terrace was filling out nicely and the sun shining, the summer heat that was very much evident at the first party was missing, which seemed to affect the atmosphere somewhat, the crowd seemingly more in sociable mood rather than dancing delirium, although as Paul Heron took to the decks, we were certainly poised to prance, over indulgent ducks & dives to the Balearic inspired beats attracting the attention of D.J. pal Micky Galliano, who was determined to get us up onto the podium, while the rebellious Romano was also trading with our affections in his usual mischievous manner.

Taking a moments respite from the ever increasing pace of the party outside, we headed in to pay a visit and were somewhat shocked by the actions of a security guard in the conveniences, who was being far too heavy handed with customers in the cubicles, even pulling one poor individual out and short of making him choke from the shock. Then, on heading back out onto the terrace, yet another incident involving this security guard erupted, as a whole bunch of people getting caught in a commotion which definitely deflated the atmosphere somewhat, although in typical style it was mere moments before Mr Heron had restored the equilibrium & raised the pace back to fever pitch with a selection of sounds that had the terrace rocking, a now off duty Alessandro adding his own element of excitement with continued toots on the infamous air horn that had been so much a part of the previous party. However, as good Paul’s performance was, we had to spread our wings a little, so headed back in to see what delights incumbent main room D.J. Nick Tchernaik had to dish out, but not before catching up with female clubbing friend Michele Thornber, who had not long arrived to savour her own slice of this summer special, like many, remarking on the chillier climate and the shortfall in numbers, although our impression was that this Matinee was much busier than the last.

And arriving inside it was plain to see that many had traded the terrace for the main room, Nick Tcherniak treating his ever increasing audience to a truck load of tremendous tunes, plenty of uplifting & tech fuelled beats to build the dance action, we again finding our dancing feet in an instant, especially when the fabulous Alan X remix of “My People” was belted out, this really signalling a step change in the mood towards this Matinee party, as there seemed to be a sudden surge of arrivals, possibly having peeled off from the Soho Pink Sunday event, which, for us was somewhat an afterthought to the lack of a proper pride party, yet was fortunate that the sun was shining. Such was the excellence of Nick’s set, that we totally missed the P.A. performance outside, the stand –in for an absent Vanessa Klein, the brilliant Abigail Bailey, who apparently more than made up for the missing Spanish diva vocalist, Paul Heron also extending his set to compensate for the non arrival of Matinee resident J Louis, whom we had been informed was stuck in Ibiza with Vanessa following cancelled flights.

But none of this mattered much, as not only has both Nick & Paul treated us to some terrific tunes & pulsating performances, but Michel Mizrahi then took up the mantle inside to really stir the emotions with some electric euro beats that well & truly hit the mark, only to be ousted from his seat by a late arriving Pagano, who was intended to fill the vacant slot outside. But with sound issues halting proceedings on the terrace earlier than expected at 9 p.m., our Italian stallion assumed his position in the main room and with everyone inside, the place ended up absolutely heaving, Mr P pulling out a procession of progressive & pumping beats that truly ignited the party beyond all expectations, we trading spots next to the D.J. booth, dancing with fellow Francesco fan & friend Rob, with moments at the bar with Nick, Michelle & a beaming Fidel Trotman. With plenty more besides deciding to trade yet more dancing moves with us, including the lovely Lexi & the luscious Luke, all this audacious action pretty much wore us out, calling an end to our Matinee experience, but not before we had a battle behind the booth to retrieve our belongings, a jovial & friendly Pagano refusing to let us leave, rather soak up the remaining moments of what was a scintillating set. However, take our leave we had to, slinking out into the a late Sunday evening and waving farewell to as many as we could before heading to Soho to see for ourselves what the pink Sunday fuss had been about.

Looking back on this second Matinee Open Air party, we can say that, despite the cooler climate, plus the complications the team encountered both with missing artists and outside sound issues, it actually made for a very good party indeed. Yes the expectations were high and in some ways that may have be a factor in the rollercoaster atmosphere outside earlier on. But there was no doubt in our mind that that numbers were up on the last event and the later finishing time of midnight was most definitely a hit with the crowd. Given that Soho Pink Sunday was pitched on the same day, didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Matinee in the end and with all the D.J.’s performing brilliantly, Logan & his team can be pleased with themselves for pulling off another excellent party. In MOS, they have definitely found the right home for Matinee, although there still remains the question of the sometimes overpowering security that took a shade of shine off this sparkling end of summer smash, although in saying that, this latest instalment in the history of this Spanish giant in London, once again proved the strength of Matinee as a brand & the surging popularity of Sunday clubbing. Bring on the next one, summer or not, we will be there for sure. (DISCO MATT)

"All Hot & Steamy" - Sweat - Club Review

2010-09-21T14:12:00.004+01:00

“ALL HOT & STEAMY”
SWEAT – SATURDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

When it comes to a bit of a horny action, it comes no better these days for us, than making a trip to Hard On!, the fetish club brand that very much took over from where the fabulous Fist left off, although whilst Suzie Krueger’s hit has very much established itself as a firm favourite of ours, our trips to Hidden clad in leather and not much more, are seldom often enough, as the end of month slot occupied by this erotic event tends to clash with other more mainstream offerings that crave for our attention. However, in her sporty event, Sweat, we found an event that was not quite so extreme as Hard On!, but nevertheless promised sufficient sexual intrigue & activity, centred around the theme of humped up action in sports gear or less, all played out to the horny house soundtrack by her Hidden resident D.J.’s. A tempting prospect indeed, yet one that had thus far eluded our attention, although with our diary decks cleared especially, our date with Sweat was set and our night to get all hot & steamy secured.

Now, for those of you that have been tracking this Ms Krueger off-shoot to Hard On! will notice, the event that is Sweat was formerly called Sex, although due to difficulties in advertising with such an explicit name, Suzie was forced to re-think and so came up with the next most appropriate name for the club, the night being hosted & held in the gym & sauna outfit that is Sweatbox in Soho, well just shy of Oxford Street to be exact, a venue known more for its workout than its fetish frolicking. But the marriage of minds between Suzie & the management of this popular retreat saw a gap in the market and an opportunity to offer something a little sexy for the sporty kind, combining the facilities of Sweatbox, the sauna, the steam room & other elements, with a blend of bonking beats to raise the already heated temperature & desires of its customers, giving the option to come dressed in seductive sportswear and then strip down further and indulge in some audacious action. So, how did our sporty Saturday at Sweat turn out? and did our expectations & exploits rise to the occasion?

Well, we were not quite sure what to expect of Sweat, the billing very much setting the scene that music & sports gear were central to the theme, whilst in the knowledge that the steamy sauna setting would also have its part to play in proceedings. So, setting our minds on our outfit for the night, we aimed for the more sporty look, choosing Addidas high risers, a matching shirt, football socks & knee length swimwear as our option for the night, although decided to head to Barcode Soho and a rendezvous with scene favourite D.J. Brent Nicholls for some suitable encouragement & nerve calming before hitting Sweatbox at just turned 11.30 p.m. Quite why we were so apprehensive of our visit to Sweat we don’t know, as we have been no stranger to sauna’s in the past, indeed in our earlier youth, not a Friday would go by without an extended visit to a whole host of hot & sweaty hangouts across the capital and our familiarity with all things horny & sweaty as natural in those days, as our clubbing is today.

With a queue already formed at the entrance, a smiling Suzie soon arrived to escort us downstairs and show us the Sweatbox ropes, leading us down to the lower of two levels and into the changing area, where we swapped our jeans & regular t-shirt for our sporty one & swimwear, revealing our red, white & blue boots and matching socks that very much shouted a statement about our expectations for the evening. Wending our way through the darkened corridor of cabins that led to the chill-out area, it was clear the preferred attire was a towel, although our dresscode was certainly getting plenty of attention as we made it through the line of sweaty bodies and into safety of the relaxation room, where we immediately caught the eye of D.J. Hifi Sean, who was beating out some barnstorming beats to a select crowd of steamy sexpots, taking a short respite from the action upstairs. With us immediately getting the feeling we were somewhat overdressed, we retreated to the side of Sean, re-capping on the brilliance of Barcode the previous weekend, when he & Nick had treated us to a right royal musical rumpus, Mr Hifi then immediately digging out his own mix of “Deep Water” to play for us, also remarking that he had been testing out some terrific new sounds all night since starting spinning at Sweat from 9 p.m.

Grabbing some refreshments at the bar, we soon returned to our spot, savouring Sean’s superb sounds, as a whole host of scantily clad men wandered through to grab a piece of the musical action, some moving & grooving to the horny house Sean was serving up, others simply taking time out from the steamy & sexual saucery around the corridors & rooms of Sweatbox. Then, to our sudden surprise, into the chill-out area stepped charismatic photographer, Chris Jepson, himself dressed in just a towel, making our overt sporty clothing look even more over the top, his camera pointing at us, crotch level of course, he having made an early appearance at Suzie’s fetish off-shoot before heading off to further exploits down at heaven for camp outing G.A.Y. With Chris, Sean & Suzie all joining voices for us to dress down, we continued to resist, rather reclining into our corner of comfort, inwardly plucking up the courage to change, yet outwardly showing our reluctance to do so, Suzie then challenged us to wander round in our full sports regalia and see what reaction we would get, our exploration of both floors of this steamy & sweaty sauna bearing little fruit although plenty of admiring looks.

So, on arrival from our first tour of the two floors back in the chill-out area, where we caught a departing Sean, off to Vauxhall for Amsterdam import event, Bear Necessity, it was incumbent D.J. & pal Brent Nicholls who eventually persuaded us to disrobe and head off for some hot horny action and that we did, a number of trips up to the Turkish steam room, the Jacuzzi & the sauna intermixed with plenty of sexual encounters in the corridors, seeing our towel drop and our tool rise on a number of occasions, the sensual soundtrack of music from Mr Nicholls being piped around the venue to add to the audacious atmosphere. But despite the action we were getting upstairs, it was the chill-out area we gravitated to the most, the draw of the heavenly house from Brent, the calming & cooling antidote to our hot & horny humping and it was here that we eventually saw out the rest of our evening, catching up on news & views, opinions & observations of the clubbing scene and events upcoming, having had our fill of sexual intrigue & activity and with 4 a.m. approaching, we changed back to our regular attire, discarding a soaked towel for dry jeans, leaving Sweatbox behind, heading home to reflect on a fetish frolic on the sporty side with a difference.

Having not really known what to expect, it was clear that while Sweat certainly stakes it claim to the sporty side of the fetish scene, the majority of customers through the door were more intent on towelling down & tooling up across Sweatbox’s two floors. The elements of music in the chill-out room and the midnight foam bath in the shower area are definite attractions on the night and we are reliably informed that many do normally make the effort both to dress in appropriate sportswear, for the start of the event at least, as well as bop to the beats from the band of resident D.J.’s, undoubtedly the main thrust of the party happens away from the music, as any good fetish night should be. We did love the feeling of dressing to dare in sports gear and it was a shame that more didn’t on this occasion, but with record numbers through Sweat’s doors and a terrific time had by all, us included, you simply can’t argue with that, meaning that we will certainly consider another visit sometime soon. (DISCO MATT)

"In The Deep Water End" - Deep Water Record Launch at BCV - Event Review

2010-09-21T11:46:00.006+01:00

“IN THE DEEP WATER END”
BARCODE VAUXHALL – SATURDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER
EVENT REVIEW

There is no doubt that when underground club sensation, Crash, launched itself onto an unsuspecting public, choosing a railway arch in Vauxhall to do it, the then pretty much unknown suburb south of the river, started to hit the gAylist headlines. Yes, there had always been places like The RVT, & The Market Tavern, as well as specialist haunt The Hoist, but when other clubs followed Crash’s lead, Vauxhall really took off as a destination to rival Soho, although there was always a distinct lack of a quality bar offer in this new hotspot in town, certainly one strong enough to compete with the offers in its larger & more popular gay village up town. But when Troy Weir & his team decided it was time to stretch their legs & open a sister branch to its Soho venue, Barcode Vauxhall pretty much elevated Vauxhall to a one-stop shop for many, with now a bar come dance venue also feeding into the myriad of club brands & events for which this part of London has now become famous for, very much securing its place on the clubbers destination map.

Indeed it would be fair to say that Barcode Vauxhall pretty much transformed the scene down in Vauxhall, in lots of ways adding the missing link to a multi pieced jigsaw of pubs, clubs & events, many of which are still going strong today. BCV, as it is often referred to as, has also sported some amazing nights, the queen of the all for us being Industri on a Thursday, which has transformed our clubbing & socialising life, very much being the lynch pin in our weekly calendar, BCV itself quite often now serving as the perfect starting point for a night or indeed weekend of clubbing. But whilst a whole host of other nights have sprung up over the four years of its successful history, it is the regular Saturday nights that seem to continue to reign supreme for BCV, when straight forward music from some of the best D.J.’s on the London scene, keep the offer uncomplicated and the crowds packing out the place. Yet, when something just a little more special gets thrown into the mix, what usual turns out to be a brilliant & uncomplicated night anyway, is even more thrilling a prospect.

And this was very much the case with our latest foray into a BCV Saturday, when delightful D.J. and pal to boot, Nick Tcherniak took the opportunity to launch his new collaborative smash track “Deep Water”, a wonderful piece of work put together with studio partner & iconic Trade D.J., Steve Thomas, this being the follow up to their amazing record “My People”, each getting the backing of a veritable feast of top notch jocks, both in playlist, live sets & remixes, but also with the backing of the record label, Sorry Shoes. So, not only were we about to savour one of the best nights we had enjoyed in BCV in a long time, but we also had the thrilling prospect of a special back-to-back set by Nick & fellow tech house tower of strength, Hifi Sean Dickson, who himself had already given “Deep Water” his own psychedelic house mix treatment and was to prove the perfect playing partner for Mr Tcherniak in the new look dance bar. But it wasn’t stopping there, as up front were terrific talents Terry Vietheer & Sharon O Love, with the whole line up being crowned by the might of Gonzalo Rivas, who would see the crowd through until the 7 a.m. finish. So, how did our night turn out? and what of the new track?

Arriving at just after 10 p.m., we found the front bar already brimming with party heads & clubbers, some using BCV as a warm up for other events across Vauxhall, plenty of Megawoof types circling around, as well as pre Queer Nation’ers also warming to the beats of Terry Vietheer, who had kick stared proceedings on this record launch night. And to the D.J. booth was where we headed virtually straight away, catching up with Terry between his track selections, both reporting on the heavenly time at Hola just two days before, plus sharing our joy to be savouring a Saturday totally devoted to BCV for a change. With pal Stephen arriving, we grabbed refreshments at the bar, but with him seemingly distracted, we found a spot away from the mad rush for drinks, to soak up the superb sounds Terry was turning out, deep & groovy tech house that had us spinning on our spot in an instant, soon being joined by Industri pals Chris & Kim, as well as a returning Stephen. But, spotting the arrival of Hifi Sean, we headed over to say hello, both keen to find out whether the man himself, Nick Tcherniak, had arrived for the start of proceedings down in the dance bar. With Sean off in search of his back-to-back playing partner & we embarrassingly mistaking a man behind the bar for our “Deep Water” mix master Nick T, we quickly retreated to our former spot to twist & turn to the tremendous tech house fuelled set Mr Vietheer was spinning, our devotions to the front room being far longer than we had planned, but for good reason.

But it was the “Deep Water” record launch we were here for and with pal Stephen choosing Queer Nations company over ours, we sunk into the dance bar and headed for the new look & postioned D.J. booth at the far end of the space, finding a perfect spot to catch both Nick & Sean in action, both taking roughly 30 minutes stints to serve up a constant stream of scintillating tech progressive & awe inspiring beats, that had us burning up our corner in an instant. With the room rapidly filling, the lighting & lasers at full tilt and the sea of mirrorballs on the ceiling adding to the already amazing atmosphere, we were very much in our element and loving every minute of it. Then, to add to our delight, we were joined in our corner by a host of familiar faces, including Lizzie Jane France, whom we had exchanged dancing moves just weeks before in Brighton and who had been commissioned to add the vocal twists to “Deep Water”, her arrival sparking a rendition of the record from behind the booth, to her sheer delight and to the rest of the room.

Now the event was in full swing, the music at fever pitch and the atmosphere explosive, our excitement brimming over with extravert dance moves in our corner, all being captured for posterity on video by an exuberant Nick, Lizzie with her dark glasses on & pouting at the camera, us ducking & diving in dance delirium and even Mr Dickson included in the fabulous footage, Nick then getting a taste of his own medicine, as the camera lens was turned on him when he took back to the decks. And, as if the music wasn’t amazing enough, Mr Tcherniak then pulled out a prolific re-mix of former hit “My People, superbly re-worked by Alan X, which, without question, was our record of the evening (if there had to be one from the string of scintillating sounds we had been treated to all night), his “peephole” version a bouncy uplifting & vocal drenched triumph that must surely hit the big time very soon, especially with a forthcoming official release on the Sorry Shoes label.

So good was the night & the time we were having, not to mention the company we were keeping, we hardly paused for breath in the remaining moments of Nick & Sean’s stupendous back-to-back set and were very much in fine fettle, were content to stay right through Gonzalo’s set too, but an unfortunate encounter further up the bar brought a rather swift end to our evening, the euphoria of the special “Deep Water” record launch night at BCV somewhat tarnished, although fortunately only temporarily. So, we waved our goodbyes to Nick & Sean, as well as Lizzie and her posse and made tracks for home, the superb sounds still ringing through our ears & the memories of another superb Saturday courtesy of Barcode clear as crystal in our minds.

To sum up the special record launch of a night with one word is really quite simple, it was outstanding! Yes, we may have missed Sean’s own mix of the track “Deep Water”, but with a further rendition being turned out by Nick to accompany all the other terrific tracks, pretty much sealed the deal on the night for us. Not only was the music magnificent, the company captivating and the atmosphere amazing, but in the new look set up in BCV’s back room we have a new found friend & dancing spot and one we look forward to re-visiting very soon. As for Nick & Steve’s new track, well it is certainly destined for great things and with it already having cracked the top 20 on two major download charts, plus having gotten the remix treatment by over five artists, we are very much in the deep water end with this release and loving it. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

“Deep Water” remixes are available for download on Beatport at the following link https://beatport.com/de-DE/html/content/release/detail/277517/deep_water_remixes, while you can catch video footage of the record launch at BCV, (sound tracked with “Deep Water” of course) at http://youtube.com/watch?v=HH4PH3DTcN8. Plus, why not check out Alan X’s remix of “My People” at http://soundcloud.com/alanx/my-people-alan-x-peephole-vocal-remix-v3-mstr which is a pumping vocal version of a truly brilliant track.

"Nu Disco In Da House" - Paradise 45 - Club Review

2010-09-20T23:40:00.004+01:00

“NU DISCO IN DA HOUSE”
PARADISE 45 – FRIDAY 3RD OCTOBER
CLUB REVIEW

Despite them being some time ago in our life, we still remember our informative days on the dancefloor, our late teens & early twenties being spent finding our feet in clubs down in the southern hemisphere, in South Africa no less, finding those dancing feet that have carried us through a whole host of music genres and an even wider style of clubbing venues, but through all these step changes & journeys through our clubbing history, those early memories are as fresh as ever, especially when we get a reminder every now and then. It would be fair to say that our experiences back in Johannesburg & Cape Town were similar to the iconic New York style of clubbing which we have since heard so much about, but were pleasantly unaware of while savouring our own slice of NYC at the tip of the African continent. Indeed, certain experiences in the capital have evoked this unique form of dance & music, although none quite so upfront & personal as our exploits on a post Bank Holiday trip out east.

Since its launch back in March, Paradise 45 has very much been on our radar, a night promising plenty of new style music, but with its concept planted firmly in that New York underground clubbing style, the whole idea of this new Friday night experience the brainchild of one Guy Williams, a D.J. that has not only been bridging the gap between the gay & straight elements in clubland, which we term as metrosexual, but has also pioneered a new wave of music, applying elements of disco to electro & tech, to produce a stunning sound, appropriately called “nu-disco”, a genre of music which has been played out at a number of club happenings in the capital, but most notably at both Reverse, another clubbing concept that like Guy’s latest offering, has successfully married both gay & straight strands to produce a mixed crowd that have one objective, to indulge in magnificent music, nu disco style. Now, it is true that this style of clubbing is somewhat a departure from our norm, but the enticement of this new style music, which we had savoured for ourselves at Reverse, was a temptation too much to resist, so how did our experience out east turn out? and would we do it again?

Well, having made a couple of attempts to find host venue, The Dalston Superstore and failing, we were more determined than ever to make it this time round, even asking for directions, first from Phil Marriot & pal at Profile bar and then with a collection of friends in Rupert Street, as we warmed up for our trip fantastic that would hopefully see us to our destination much smoother than before. Yet, while we usually pride ourselves on our directional abilities, once again they failed as we ended up heading in the wrong way when arriving in Dalston, mixing our minds in favour of Kingsland Road rather than the High Street, a slip of an error that saw a simple journey turn into an absolute nightmare and a mile long walk yielding nothing, apart from a taxi journey re-tracking all our paces and then eventually delivering us to the Paradise 45’s doors at not long before midnight. However, despite our late arrival and our hideous journey, were we going to be in for a treat or what.

Stepping into The Dalston Superstore immediately brought memories of home back, as the ground floor space had a distinct feel of Cape Town’s Cafe Manhattan meets The Bronx Bar to it, the whole decor, lighting & feel very much a departure from the squeakily shiny Soho spots we had just vacated, the warm & welcoming atmosphere akin to those we had so much enjoyed in our favourite mother city hangouts, the whole floor buzzing with activity and full with an eclectic crowd of locals & clubbers from further a-field, very much enjoying the rustic & uncomplicated nature of this east end entity. Making our way through the bar, familiarising ourselves with the layout as we did, we came across the man himself, Guy Williams, taking a break from the D.J. decks downstairs, our sheer relief at finally making it to a Paradise 45 event, spilling out fervently, as was our praise of the venue which was already proving a hit and we hadn’t even made it down to the real action yet. But that was about to come as Guy led us down the back stairwell and into the small yet perfectly formed basement room, encompassing a small bar at one end, expanding out to a square dancefloor & small D.J. booth at the end, a quite unassuming space, but one that immediately took us back to those early days clubbing in Johannesburg, very much capturing that NYC underground club feel that we had so much been part of back then.

Storing our bits & bobs behind the booth where Serge Santiago was in full swing, it was definitely a case of nu disco in da house, as he laid down a succession of terrific tracks that had us moving & grooving in the tight space towards the end of the room, where our view of the laser beams bouncing off the walls & the images created by the single mirrorball in the corner well & truly captured the whole essence of that underground New York style club venue feel and just kept bringing memories of old flooding back, but yet with feelings of new running through us. With Guy and co dancing alongside us, we sank into the whole Paradise 45 experience with consummate ease, even pointing our phone camera down the short space in front of us to capture the magical memory filled moments we were enjoying in what was turning out to be a trip long in the coming but well worth making, especially given the fact that this was so far removed from our usual clubbing exploits, but refreshingly so.

With Serge’s stint over, Mr Williams assumed the decks and pulled out some truly amazing tracks that had us completely mesmerised with the nu disco sound, lots of 80’s & 90’s disco beats rehashed & re-engineered to produced the kind of groove that not just befitted the moment, but captured the imagination, Guy very much in the zone with his selections and like Serge before him, spellbinding our mind & transporting us back to those heady early dancing days in our clubbing history. So magnificent was the music and so amazing the atmosphere, that we hardly moved from our spot, save for a quick refreshment break back upstairs, which was still buzzing with socialites, all soaking up everything the Dalston Superstore was serving up, the D.J.’s in situ treating the crowd to exciting electro & retro-tastic beats that seemed to be going down a storm.

However, our devotions were back downstairs and the stunning space that we had quickly grown extremely fond of & comfortable with, not least as the music Mr Williams was serving up kept getting better & better, shades of Grace Jones, Imagination, & Shalamar-esque sounds re-treated with modern tech twists but with soothing disco tones running through them that had us captivated on our spot. But the 2 a.m. finish came all too soon, especially as our late-ish arrival meant we only managed to catch just over half the experience, but by golly what an amazing half it turned out to be, we catching up with both Guy & Serge at the end to lament on just have marvellous the music had been and how amazing was the basement space. So, with nu-disco running through our veins, we departed the Dalston Superstore to wend our way home, safe in the knowledge that our extended journey out east was more than worth the initial hassle and that a return the Friday night magnificence that is Paradise 45 will definitely be on the cards again.

Well, it pretty much goes without saying that Guy Williams’ new club concept is an absolute winner in our books. Not only does it serve up something delightfully different to the norm, the nu-disco sounds being truly spectacular, but in host venue, The Dalston Superstore, it has the perfect setting for the Paradise 45 theme of NYC underground clubbing. Yes we may not have sampled the real New York for ourselves, but with memories of our early clubbing days coming flooding back, courtesy of this Friday night fantastique, we certainly say with conviction that this is one club that we will definitely be returning to, and very soon. So, if you want to sample some of the nu-disco sounds, in superb surroundings, with an eclectic crowd well up for social & dance splendour, then Paradise 45 is definitely for you, we know it is for us. (DISCO MATT)

"Heavenly House A-La Hed Kandi Style" - Hola - Club Review

2010-09-20T18:47:00.004+01:00

“HEAVENLY HOUSE A-LA HED KANDI STYLE”
HOLA AT SHADOW LOUNGE – THURSDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER
CLUB REVIEW

There is no question that when it comes to style, sophistication & sumptuousness and then connect those words with Soho, there is one venue that seems to reign supreme, not just in the gAylist world, but in amongst some of the A-listers destinations, after all, the venue has, in its nine year history drawn in not just the upper echelons of the gAylist circuit, but this hallowed turf has welcomed celebrities & Hollywood stars through its doors on a regular basis, notorieties including Joan Collins, Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, Graham Norton, Paul O’Grady, Cilla Black, Kylie Minogue & Sharon Osbourne, to mention a mere few. But it doesn’t stop there as this jewel in the Soho circuit crown has also attracted coverage in both the broadsheet & tabloid national press, getting the resounding thumbs up from loud mouth journalist Janet Street Porter no less.

Yes, The Shadow Lounge on Brewer street may look quite unassuming from the outside, yet on entering, it opens out like a tardis of unashamed elegance & opulence that transports you into a different & most luxurious sumptuous space, a far cry from the somewhat shabby surroundings outside and serves up a charismatic combination of comfort & quality unrivalled anywhere in the area, well that’s the impression & reputation it has built for itself over the years. But it is also true that in doing all this, The Shadow Lounge has attracted an air of exclusivity, some would say pompousness, meaning an experience within its doors feels more like a who’s who, especially for those within “the circle”, yet for those out of this circle, the average Joe , it can feel more like a “who are you?”. However, with specialist monthly night, Hola, we were expecting a much more accessible crowd, not to mention plenty of magnificent music, both making a trip into town on a school night sufficiently appealing. So, how did this crowd & this music turn out?

It would be fair to say that the Shadow Lounge has not been a regular haunt of ours, or indeed on our “favourites” list, perhaps for a few of the influences mentioned above, but in Hola we had been tempted to make an appearance for a number of months, especially given the involvement of prolific promoter, Laurent Chaumet and delectable Aussie D.J. Terry Vietheer. However, our Thursday’s are usually reserved for Industri, the venerable Vauxhall institution headed up by the queen of hosting, Minty and with scene favourite D.J.’s Brent Nicholls & Paul Heron, so diverting our attentions to another always seems a to feel as though we are breaking with tradition and letting down our faithful, especially having gained the reputation for supplying sweets & the nickname (one of seven) of “The Canndyman”. But with all this in mind, we made a diversion to Vauxhall on our way to Soho, dropping off the said sweets and then resuming our journey to the Shadow Lounge and our date with the heavenly house ala Hed Kandi style at Hola.

Arriving at the entrance at just turned 11 p.m., we were greeted by the gorgeous & ever eye pleasing Clinton, who managed our smooth entrance impeccably, seeing us down the glittering Shadow Lounge staircase and into the club in a trice. Despite not having visited for quite some time, the space opened out in front of our eyes in familiar fashion, plenty of shining surfaces, masses of mirrors, luminous lighting and that infamous sunken dancefloor that is very much a USP of the venue, if but giving the space a slight gladiatorial feel. So, rather than immediately indulging in its draw, we tip toed around and past the D.J. booth, stopping briefly to catch Mr Vietheer in action, he in the heavenly house mood we were expecting, playing out a succession of classic tunes, very akin to those that filled our ears for many years in our Hed Kandi era, classics like “I Will Follow You”, “Take Me Away”, “Brighter Days” and many more, all hitting resonance and bring magical memories flooding back in our mind. Having said our hello’s to Terry, we headed for the bar, expecting to pay the usual fortune for refreshments, but were pleasantly surprised to find plenty of change from the fiver we passed over, the place buzzing with a select mix of socialites, some faces familiar, others not, although there remained this air of exclusivity which, for us, is very trademark Shadow Lounge, despite our hopes that Hola would somehow dispel these feelings.

However, finding a comfortable spot to view proceedings both on the dancefloor and around the outskirts, we sank ourselves into the sounds that Terry was serving up, our mind on the music only being momentarily interrupted by a wave of text messages from our pal south of the river, still trying to get to grips with our woes following the Bank Holiday weekend just gone, when a certain Italian D.J. occupied our spirit & soul. But such was the quality of the music crossing our bows, that our thoughts were very much sunk into the dance music as others sunk onto the dancefloor to delight in the heavenly house being dished out in bucket loads by the vivacious Mr Vietheer. With our transfixation to the tunes pretty much complete, we hardly noticed the developing crowd around us, although as midnight approached & passed with veritable speed, the space began to swell nicely, even considering that the post Bank Holiday effect would naturally have a bearing on the numbers through Hola & Shadow Lounges doors, rather we being pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the resultant mix in the clientele, which took on much more of an all encompassing feel rather than the who’s who element we have come to expect from this Soho sophisticate in the past.

Now we were fully in Hola mood, even the wave of texts hardly disputing our mood & mind on the matter in hand, especially when the star of this latest outing, fellow Aussie D.J. Alex Taylor arrived to assume duties on the decks, this man having been at the forefront of the of dance music scene for well over a decade and starring at some of the biggest clubs on the scene in his home country, as well as whole host of guest appearances across in world including, regular trips over into Asia, the America’s & Europe. While London was a rare stop for him, the Hola team were thrilled to land his services, the celebrity style of Shadow Lounge very much suiting Alex’s persona, especially given his appearances at a host of A-list private parties, including Madonna’s during her “Girlie Show” tour of Oz, not to mention having played along the cream of the D.J. scene, the likes of Armand Van Helden, Roger Sanchez, Paul Oakenfold, Miguel Migs, Frankie Knuckles & Sandy Rivera. And this impeccable C.V. of achievements was to shine through in a pulsating performance, Mr Taylor taking up the classic house mantle of Hola with consummate ease, treating us to a plethora of precision perfect & terrific tunes that had the Shadow Lunge well & truly swinging.

With Terry retired to socialise with friends and further catch up with us on proceedings, we were also graced with the presence of superb singer Peyton, who somehow caught us off-guard as we didn’t recognise him at first, although he did us, but having engaged in colourful conversation about plenty of past, present & future exploits, we felt even more comfortable with our lot, soaking up Alex’s performance behind the decks and refreshing our glass on a couple of occasions throughout the remaining hour of this Hola event. With Clinton now on duty within the club, we spent a moment with him, before yet more familiar faces appeared to glide us through to our 2.30 a.m. departure, only work commitments on the Friday stopping us short of savouring the whole experience in favour a some much needed shut-eye, we wending our way home with plenty of classic house still ringing in our ears.

So, what was our verdict on Hola? And were our affections towards Shadow Lounge improved with the experience? Well, without doubt the music was right up our street, both Terry Vietheer & guest Alex Taylor, really going to town in pulling out some heavenly house tunes ala Hed Kandi style, that very much hit the mark and with the theme of this brand being “... a night of dedication to classic house...”, it certainly delivered in this respect & more. Whilst the venue still has that air of exclusivity for us and is very much a place to be & be seen, in Hola it has an event that serves well as both a dance party & a social soiree all wrapped in one and as result, we would certainly consider a re-visit, although perhaps with a bunch of friends with us to make the experience just that little bit more fulfilling. As for Shadow Lounge itself, we were pleasantly surprised by the less than inflated drinks prices compared to what we had been used to and with news of a revamp nip & tuck on the way, look forward to seeing the changes on our next visit, of which there will undoubtedly be one. (DISCO MATT)

"Banking On A Brilliant Blend Of Brands" - As One - Club Review

2010-09-06T18:59:00.003+01:00

“BANKING ON A BRILLIANT BLEND OF BRANDS”
AS ONE “MASSIVE FUNFAIR GARDEN PARTY” –
SUNDAY 3OTH AUGUST
EVENT REVIEW

We are very lucky here in the capital to have an incredible amount of strong branded clubs that offer us the diversity that many other cities around the world would bite our hands off for and yet as amazing as the choice is, bringing brands together seems to be a harder & harder prospect, particularly in the scene that seems to be becoming even more fiercely competitive for a slice of our hard earned cash. So, when promoter Alex Erfan came up with the concept to bring clubs together as a united front to produce an event not seen in London for quite a few years, although as successful as the inaugural event on New Year’s day was, which was followed up by an equally popular Easter outing, we had pretty much resigned ourselves to waiting until, January 2011 before the hit of NYD showed its face on the schedule again, plans for a Gay Pride party pulled at the 11th hour and as little as three weeks before this final Bank Holiday of the year, the collaboration talk of town was playing no part in proceedings. But as we keep telling ourselves, a week club & Disco Matt land is a long time and with news of its sudden inclusion hitting our decks, plus the exciting prospect of the inclusion of a Spanish D.J. talent friend of ours in the line-up, as well as a handful of other pals, we made plans to flex our own calendar of events.

As One made such a splash on the gAylist scene when it was launched at the head of the year, that just the mere mention of the name engenders a real sense of togetherness that the drawing in of like minded promoters & their branded clubs created at the first two parties, so we were certainly not going to miss out on the third instalment of this amazing amalgamation, original players Lovechild, Lo-Profile & Megawoof being joined this time, by Brighton’s Wild Fruit & London’s Later, to create an afternoon event combining both indoors & out, the timing changed from the previous parties. In backing this collaborative collective into Sunday afternoon, the team were very much banking on the feeding effects from both Beyond & M.O.S.T., as well as the golden ticket trend that now seems to be swinging in favour of this 7th day p.m. slot and, in the case of a Bank Holiday, a readymade audience very much up for partying hard, some from Friday, others just starting their weekend. So given all this, how did this latest As One affair turn out? Was it the success the team had hoped for? And who & what floated our boat the most?

Despite some last minute jitters which included some upsetting personal developments, having been plucked out of Beyond to gather ourselves back together over coffee, some reassuring words & then a phone conversation with the in-bound Mr Medina, concentrated our mind on the next instalment in our weekend of furied activity and we arrived at Fire’s rear entrance at not long before midday. Finding Javier waiting for us very much boosted our lagging mood and we entered As One’s host venue to not only see it in its empty state, an experience first, but also make the most of a complete guided tour of all six rooms, more for the benefit of our Spanish D.J. pal, but nevertheless an enlightening few moments worth, especially given the renovation plans which were clearly beginning to take shape. But it was back in the Mirrorarch space, the room set aside for the Lovechild branded segment of this afternoon aural audacity, that we rested for a while, waiting for the party to swing into action, being joined first by the ever smiling & engaging Minty, who was back where she belonged, in charge of door & guest proceedings and then by incumbent opening slot D.J., the cute & charming Eduardo De la Torre in usual bubbly mood & ready to kick-start this brilliant blend of brands.

So the scene was set for another scintillating staging of the success story of 2010, the promoters usual apprehensions laid to rest swiftly as the crowds came in ever increasing numbers, soon swelling not just the Lovechild room were Eduardo was stirring up a storm of spectacular sounds, but filling out the main room which was being stoked up by Lee Harris, flying the Wild Fruit flag, through to the Lo-Profile lounge where the wonderful Stewart Whoo was casting his magical music spell. However, our attention was on our Barcelona boy and, following a second excursion out for coffee, we returned to the thick of the action in the Lovechild room, selecting a space by the bar to watch over proceedings, Mr De La Torre’s funky, chunky & octane fuelled tech & electro tunes with, not unsurprisingly, hints of latin beats running through them, were definitely doing the business, the space well & truly rocking. And it would be this rooms that had the lion’s share of activity across the whole event, not just when Javier took over the reins, his tribal & progressive euro styled sounds finding favour with the faithful, even if competing against the other rooms & the outside funfair was a battle, then with Lovechild residents Paul Heron & Alessandro arresting the atmosphere with two amazing performances that were purple patch in their positioning & rapturous in their reception.

But the main room had its say too, Lee Harris’s uplifting soundtrack finding popular resonance, special guests Prok & Fitch playing it tougher for the packed out space and Terry Bryan whipping up a hurricane of heavenly house hits to delight. But to say that the Lo-Profile lounge was simply popular, was a trice of an understatement, the fat end of the afternoon in this select space in the hands of scene favourite Brent Nicholls, whose selection of elements of disco, electro & funky latino house had the room absolutely pumping, torso’s with shirts taken off & the heat very much turned on, such was the energy of the music & the crowd. And as a result of the extent of the room’s popularity, we were finding it difficult to do our best to spread our devotions between Javier across in the mirrorarch & Brent in this, the Lo-Profile lounge, darting two & fro as well as keeping a watchful glance on the main room in-between & the lightbox, which was being managed magnificently by the Megawoof team, also dipping out into the Fire garden area, which was in full Later funfair mode and proving just as popular as each & every space inside.

However, it was the inside rather than the out that would get most of our attention, we continually gravitating back to the mirrorarch to support our Spanish senor and serenade his set with our dancing dervishes next to the D.J. booth, Javier’s tough tech toned tribal beats keeping us moving & grooving right to the end of his stint, his final flurry preparing us for his swift send off to duties in Ibiza, our short first liaison over as quickly as it had began just a few hours earlier and leaving us to sink back into the remainder of our stay. But with Mr Medina gone, our mind seemed to float back to the upsetting issues that had hounded our trip to beyond and whilst we did our level best to get into the stride, first of Brent Nicholls’ barnstorming beats & then Paul Heron’s prolific performance, even the magnificent Minty who rarely fails to lift our spirits, could see there was something not quite right. So, grabbing our bag from behind the mirrorarch D.J. booth, having said our farewells, we sank out into the garden to beat our retreat, but in finding the space packed to the rafters, all the funfair attractions in full swing, especially the helter skelter slide, we bumped into handfuls of familiar faces to whom we had to make our exiting excuses, including friends Michelle & Clayton, still going strong from their similar Saturday start to ours, and then to Alessandro, who was taking a moment before his stormer of a set that, we were reliably informed, short of stole to show. However, despite their pleas for us to stay, our mind was fixed on home and a comforting curl under our duvet, leaving Vauxhall, Fire & As One behind to grab all the plaudits as one of the true highlights of a hit & miss Bank Holiday weekend of ours.

Despite our own gloomy mood, it was clear As One made plenty people happy, not least the various promoters involved, as well as the team around them, reports coming in that the numbers topped the previous party and given the elements up against it, the pretty poor weather in the capital, the draw of Manchester Pride & the general difficult trading environment in clubland, banking on a brilliant blend of brands worked wonderfully. Whist we never really found our own stride sufficiently, going back & forth as we did, we got a feel for just how busy this latest As One incarnation was, each space & club brand playing their part perfectly and plenty of D.J.’s shining with superb sets. To pick out specific highlights would be difficult, as even though we weren’t firing on all cylinders, there was plenty for us to be joyful about, from an exceptionally energetic & entertaining enthralment from Eduardo, to a brilliantly breathtaking ballad of beats from Brent, who did more than his fair share of boat floating and much more besides, but we were thrilled the most to meet & see Javier in action, so that will be our lasting memory of this amazing amalgamation. In terms of As One itself, well there was no doubt that it turned out terrifically and in doing so has secured a well deserved place in our clubbing calendar, meaning that January 1st 2010 is already etched in our diary. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

To not just compliment but to boost this reflective look at As One, why not check out this videocut from the event, at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1484487706983&ref=mf and also the special compilation mix from Lovechild room opener, Eduardo De Lat Torre, at http://soundcloud.com/dj-edu-de-la-torre/as-one-london-bank-holliday-especial-mixed-by-dj-edu-de-la-torre.

"Stumped In Selecting Sunday Afterhours Offerings" - Special Review/Reflection

2010-09-02T15:15:00.007+01:00

“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.

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)

"Home Grown Hybrid" - Hype - Club Review

2010-09-02T00:21:00.002+01:00

“HOME-GROWN HYBRID”
HYPE – SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST
CLUB REVIEW

Few will doubt the capabilities for one Logan Schmitz to put on prolific parties, this enigmatic individual having made a massive splash on the gAylist London clubbing scene back in November 2008 when he brought Spanish smash hit brand SuperMartXe to the capital, creating an immediate buzz and attracting the kind of crowd that had been missing from many a party before it. Indeed, such has been the success of Logan in London, that the top brass of rival Spanish brand Matinee saw in Mr Schmitz, a man that could resurrect their lagging fortunes here in the UK and restore it as a clubbing experience of popular choice & demand. But, never wishing to stand still in trying to deliver first rate & quality clubbing offerings, Logan has been looking to expand on his portfolio of parties for a while now, his promotions vehicle, Logan Presents, having held loose ties with Beyond & As One in recent times, although the man behind the Spanish franchises in London, has craved for his own brands to carve out a new direction & identity for this mid west USA dancer come club promoter. Indeed in pursuit of his dreams & desires, the summer slipping away from us has seen private party “UP” make quite a considerable impact, paving the way for the second instalment of a brand which was launched onto a public who, at the time, were still engrossed in the sheen & sparkle of SuperMartXe.

When Hype hit the headlines back in May 2009, it would be fair to say that Logan’s captive audience was not quite ready for the brand which aimed at delivering, not so much a party full of prolific performances & stunning stage shows, but more one than concentrated on the music. And, on paper at least, it had the credentials to deliver in this department, London stars D’Johnny & Steve Pitron flying the flag for home faithfull’s & Rafa Ariza of Matinee & Pacha fame looking like packing a punch, as would top notch PA Rebeka Brown. However, the inevitable comparisons were drawn with SuperMartXe, not least as the signage was virtually the same and whilst the vicious reaction to our review at the time seemed to contradict ours & others views on the success of the party, Hype nevertheless disappeared from the clubbing schedule as its Spanish inspiration continued to dominate Saturday clubbing. However, the original concept of Hype, in delivering magnificent music, was still very much alive in Logan’s mind, so it came as no surprise that it would re-appear at a time when his production team & his parties were very much the talk of the town, testing the market for a second time, albeit on the tricky slot that was a Bank Holiday Saturday. So how did Hype go down this time round? And did it find favour with the faithful?

Arriving at Coronet’s doors at not long turned midnight, there seemed to be a buzz in the air as well as a small queue of party goers forming to see what all the hype was about and spotting Michael on the door we bounded up to say hello and secure our entrance into the club, the team now clearly drilled in the procedure and our safe passage secured in a matter of moments. Finding little or no wait at the outside coatcheck, once we had weaved our way through and had greeted pal & hairdresser extraordinaire, Luis, we were set free to drop down into The Coronet’s main room to investigate proceedings fully, looking first at virtually empty dancefloor, but then mingling with a healthy crowd which had assembled up in the extensive bar area. Searching for refreshments, we came across the ever smiling Johnny Hooley, standing resplendent in a brilliant black & silver number and towering high over us in piecing stiletto’s that made our feet whimper at the prospect, although engaging in chat & catch up proved an absolute pleasure, making for the ideal ice breaker on a somewhat shaky start this second Hype outing.

But it wasn’t long before the dancefloor began to fill out and we assumed our usual Coronet spot down just shy of the stage, much of the focus being on the massive neon displays in front & behind the D.J. booth where the familiar face & figure of Paul Heron was bopping up & down to the beats he was bashing out, including a rather uplifting number, yet an appealing version of Kelis’ “Acapella”, then blending into a string of more a-typical Heron house tunes on the tech & electro side that had us swinging on our spot, alongside familiar faces that included D.J. Phil Hewson & his Aussie pal, Matinee friend & fellow clubbing party head Michelle Thornber, along with her posse pals Clayton Wright & Dan Mator as well as a veritable feast of muscle-bound men & gorgeous girls, very much the smart set that we are used to at Logan Presents parties. But we were even more thrilled when pal Dorin appeared through the crowd and joined us in some major dancing moves, also catching up on news in between Paul’s hypnotic house hits that had us smiling from ear to ear, our enjoyment added to by the advances of Mauricio, Luke, Dilmar & Fabio, all lapping up this much improved Hype showing on fifteen months ago.

Looking around the venue, much of the usual overt production was not in evidence, rather the spectacular neon lighting & laser displays were doing all the talking, creating impressive displays both on the huge stage curtain and around the theatre style space for all to see, very much a refreshing change to the SuperMartXe norm that we are used to here in Elephant & Castle, not that we were ever making comparisons this time round, Hype very much standing on its own two feet & seemingly proud to do so. Then, with a twitch & swing of that massive curtain, the music pace completely changed and the neon lighting flashed up the words “Free Radical Formation”, signalling the entry of the PA performance for the night, from the duo made up of the vocal talents of Brit Rob Harris & Spanish electronic music wizard Sergi Gadi, who stepped out & delivered their brand new smash “Broken Dreams” to a captivated crowd that like us, had their eyes transfixed on the stage for this first exclusive live airing of Rob & Sergi’s latest track, although with just the one song performed, it was down to incumbent D.J. Carlos Gallardo took over proceedings, storming Hype with some massive Euro style sounds & current house hits that had the place pumping with his barnstorming beats.

With Mr Gallardo was now in full control, a delighted Paul Heron joined us out on in front of the stage to soak up the enthralling atmosphere that was being heightened by the gaggle of gorgeous go-go’s that were standing proud on podiums both on the stage, framing the D.J. booth and out deep in the dancefloor, a virtually unstoppable showing of brawn & beauty keeping up the eye candy content right through Carlos’s stupendous set, that for us rivalled any Spanish D.J. import guest we have seen, ever. So struck were we on the quality of his music and the statement the impressive lighting was making, with our new found toy in our hand, we clicked away, amassing a colourful collection of snaps to reflect on this illuminating Hype of an experience, even finding a spot at the back on the main floor to take in the full extent of the incredible displays as well as soak up Mr Gallardo’s prolific performance, only pausing briefly for refreshments in our exploits to land the perfect picture, finding every possible vantage point to catch the full extent of the stage & neon displays.

Back down by the dancefloor, the eye catching Geisha girl style dancer on the centre stage became the focal point of our never ending clicking, but with shots in hand & and second more energetic performance by the PA duo, Free Radical Formation, soaked up, it was down to Carlos and then London’s own Tony English to carry us & this Hype happening through until the 6 a.m. finish, we now firmly planted back in our favoured spot & trading moves with the remaining crowd, many of whom, like us, were looking forward to the next Logan home-grown brand, M.O.S.T. at Ministry Of Sound. Mind you our night of fun & frivolity in the hands of Hype was to be rounded off by a lively Andrew Harris who traded quips & dance moves with us in the remaining minutes of our stay, although the intentions of the neon displays were clear, signalling our retreat to collect our belongings & head across to MOS with Michelle, Clayton & co for the next instalment of our hectic weekend of clubbing, safe in the knowledge that we were content with our lot with Hype & pleased to have been part of this home-gown hybrid a-la Schmitz style.
Now, we have never been accused of shying away from the truth & for being honest in our opinion, although given the ferocity of reaction to our first Hype review are treading little carefully, not that we need to in reality as, unlike the party last May, we were actually quite impressed with Logan’s own brand this time round. Not only had they broken away from SuperMartXe in the branding stakes, but the whole concept of delivering top notch music was much clearer and much more successful, the lighting employed was nothing short of breathtaking & gave the whole party a unique feel that very much set it aside from its Spanish peer. Yes, the numbers were down on what one would normally expect at a Coronet Logan Presents event, but given the fact that it was a Bank Holiday Saturday, the team, in our view, did extremely well in attracting the numbers they did.

When you consider the inclement weather conditions, together with the heavyweight nature of events in Vauxhall sucking the life out of Saturday and switching the emphasis to Sunday & Monday, Hype stood up commendably. Are we making excuses for Logan? And does this signal a reverse in the so called “...secret support in someone else’s agenda...” waged at us by one of our fiercest critic’s last time round, absolutely not!! Hype was a credible party that delivered everything it said on the tin, so if by saying everything we have, we will once again be accused, quite wrongly so, of being “...like the mainstream media, presenting you with blatant lies...” then let those accusers come forward & be counted. We had a really enjoyable time at this Hype & that’s that. (DISCO MATT)

"Dynamic Display" - Onyx "Digital" - Club Review

2010-09-01T23:34:00.003+01:00

“DYNAMIC DISPLAY”
ONYX “DIGITAL” – FRIDAY 27TH AUGUST
CLUB REVIEW

There can be no doubt that, in terms of clubbing on a Friday, one brand has dominated the landscape since being launched on an unsuspecting public just over twelve months ago and whilst it may have changed hands from its original creator, Steven Gellar, you simply cannot question the strides it has made in recent months under the steership of promoter Jonny Marsh, previously known more for his D.J. work for club brand Wild Fruit in Brighton, as well as his connections with Gaydar Nation and the high profile online interviewing segments, covering key players, D.J.’s, promoters & the like (even we were privileged to be put on the spot). However, having taken over this fun-filled Friday nighter at Area in Vauxhall, Mr Marsh has brought renewed energy to the brand, strengthening the D.J. line up, introducing prolific P.A.’s and restructuring the three room offerings to give the club fresh & varied appeal that have seen it, not only fend off the competition, but grab much of the attention & limelight.

Yes, Onyx has very much re-painted Friday clubbing in the capital, although for much of its existence has escaped our full-on devotion, a surprising fact to many, yet Friday’s can be quite tricky for us, especially peeling off from a hectic week whizzing around London’s roads, many a promise falling by the wayside & a club event missing out on our review exposure. Mind you, wild horses weren’t going to keep us away from this Onyx, especially with the prospect of a superb five hour set from Italian stallion Pagano in celebration of the release on his first ever full-on compilation, “Digital Generation”, not to mention signalling what was expected to be the start to a full-on final Bank Holiday of 2010, encompassing seven parties & drop-in’s on a couple of others. Plus, with the likelihood that this would be our one & only call on Area across the weekend, we were keen to see the dramatic changes to the venue which we had be deluded to in conversations throughout the week. So, how did our first full foray into this Friday Onyx overture to our long weekend? And were our “Digital” desires suitably delighted?

With a couple of social calls required next door in Barcode over & done with, not to mention having savoured the fabulous pre-party for Hype & M.O.S.T. in the sister venue in Soho, our attention was very much devoted to Onyx and having caught up with the ever present Tom Fuller outside, we swung into Area’s doors, this being our first visit since our unfortunate incident a few weeks before. With nothing short of royal treatment, we were whisked into the club in a trice and released to investigate the buzzing space of three rooms of activity, first dropping off our belongings in the re-shuffled coatcheck and negotiating a rather worse for wear straight female & her gay companion, but then thankfully were soon thrust into a main room space that certainly had a new look to it compared with our last visit. Gone were the stairs leading up to the mezzanine level above the ground floor bar, this hideaway rarely utilised for clubbers, rather normally allocated to coatcheck facilities, the removal of the stairs very much opening up the main room & creating the space for the team to install a semi-permanent & improved stage area for performances & dancers. Moving further down, the usual podiums each side of the dancefloor were absent, instead were pushed closer to the D.J. booth where a bank of imposing speakers somewhat shrouded our usual view into the box, although nothing was going to stop us from attracting the attention of the maestro at work.

And catch his attention we did, even if the man was in full flow, Pagano seeing our head popping over the side of the D.J. booth & with this, giving us a huge smile before thrusting a special copy of his new compilation into our mitts, which we safely stored away in our pocket before sinking into his five hour showing, the main room already pulsating with his rousing progressive & tech infused sounds, intermixed with uplifting tones that had us & a frenzied crowd around totally captivated. It wasn’t long before long-time pal & Trade baby Rob came bounding up, sporting a “I Love Pagano” vest shirt and joining us in a merry dancing close to the D.J. booth as a whole string of classic Francesco tunes had us going absolutely nowhere, the magnificent Area lighting creating incredible effects across the space & illuminating the duo “Digital” signs hanging neatly above the D.J. booth. As the room began to fill even more, the trademark Onyx fire-eater & muscle-bound go-go dancers found their positions both on the new stage & the podiums dotted around the space, adding extra dramatic effect to the already explosive beats Pagano was pumping out, his signature tune of now “Drama On The Dancefloor” the appropriate track for this illuminating moment while the fire-eater created her own drama to equal Mr Francesco’s dynamic display.

With the call of nature & then the need for energy boosting refreshments, we retired to the second space next door, another room which had been given some serious make-over treatment by the team, the previously enclosed “Blackbox” space having been opened right out, making for a much improved elongated second room, more akin to the layout when Area was first opened, thus restoring the attractive feel both for dancers & D.J.’s alike. And it was certainly working at this latest Onyx onslaught, with a healthy crowd soaking up the sounds of guest & iconic figure, Tasty Tim, who was serving up a poptastic selection of old skool disco beats & nu house that even had hostess extraordinaire, Chrissy Darling, up on the podium in front of the booth, strutting her stuff in fine fashion, dressed in yet another multi neon coloured costume that has become her own trademark. Noticing us in the crowd, she beckoned us over to say hello, tempting us up onto the podium to join in the frivolity, although our modesty got the better of us, we instead seeking out some action next door in the Terrace bar where Lisa German was turning out a terrific ton of tunes, including one of our favourites “Disco Electrique”, which had us in a dancing dervish in an instant.

But it was the main room that drew us back in, although before we could make our way back to our usual & favoured spot next to the D.J. booth, we were given a guided tour of the changes to the venue by the man in the know, Tom Fuller, who pointed out the new elevated dancing stage born out of that mezzanine floor we had mentioned earlier, as well as hinting to the plans for the rotating plinth on the new ground level stage and the installation of banks of LED lighting down each side of the main room, some of which was already on display for all eyes to see. However, as much as we were fascinated & impressed with all the changes Tom was showing us, it was the dancing, the music & Pagano’s pulsating set that was our devotion, although with the room not quite so full as it had been before we left it, we decided on darting between spots to make the most of the delicious dancers that made appearances on the podiums, as well as taking our own snaps of proceedings for posterity. Eventually, however, we inevitably fell back into our position by the D.J. booth, which was going to be to spot where we stood back to soak up the P.A. performance, which, for us, distracted from the magical music our Italian stallion was mixing, the diva on show even struggling a little with the sound system & feeling a little too distant from the crowd.

So, with the shortish show over, it was back to Pagano to pump us through into Saturday morning with a glittering array of awesome beats, he deftly dipping between tech, progressive, uplifting & electro with consummate ease, hitting our musical sweet spots with every change & track choice, that saw us last much longer at this special “Digital” celebration for his latest compilation than we had planned. Indeed, his dynamic display of dexterity behind the decks that had all the elements we expect from a Francesco full-on performance, hits “Loca”, “Back To The Future”, “My Religion” and not forgetting, of course, “Drama On The Dancefloor” and “Digital Generation” adding to plenty more heavenly house hits that we were privileged to witness at this outstanding Onyx, his whole performance leaving us wanting for more, we eventually dashing home to play the superb sampler of his new mix and reflect on five hours of simply incredible music and a party that made for a superb start to our long weekend of action.

In summing up our first full-on Onyx Friday night experience, we have to say that the performance from Pagano was the single most humongous highlight of the whole evening, his prolific performance outshining every other element of this dynamic “Digital” dervish. We have been lucky to witness some simply superb sets from this Sicilian star of the decks, but this latest scintillating showing has to rank highly with the best we have seen of Pagano in his prime at Matinee & Megawoof and even come a close second to the best ever when he played superbly at Logan Schmitz’s private party “Up” back in July, that’s just how good it was. Seeing the changes to Area was a bonus, as was the special moments with Chrissy & then Lisa German, although having made fleeting visits to Onyx in the past, it was not quite as busy this time round, perhaps the Bank Holiday lag element coming into play. However, this takes nothing away from main man Francesco, who absolutely captivated us from start to finish and very much delighted our “Digital” desires. (DISCO MATT)

"Bombastic Beats By the Beach" - Beyond Fruit - Club Review

2010-08-11T18:54:00.002+01:00

“BOMBASTIC BEATS BY THE BEACH”
BEYOND FRUIT –
AS PART OF THE GAY BRIGHTON DANCE WEEKEND –
SUNDAY 8TH AUGUST
CLUB REVIEW

Our Sunday mornings these days are rarely the same unless we are lauding it large in Area, the magnet of a club that plays host to one of the most prolific & popular afterhours clubbing events we have known. In our years (and there have been a lot) of clubbing in the capital, there have been a mere few pretenders to its crown, this club even having seen off the then mother of all afterhours outings, Trade. In addition, a veritable feast of ventures fell at the first hurdle in an attempt to compete with the strength of this amazing club brand, so it will come as no surprise that the strength of Beyond is unquestionable, its reputation stretching far & wide and it seems that everyone wants to get their slice of this brilliant brand, whether it be the trappings of Paris, Amsterdam or even Mykonos, all destinations that have or are about to mark the clubs escapades abroad. But closer to home and Brighton was hankering for a look in too and it was to get its wish with the emergence of Paul Kemp’s Gay Brighton Dance Weekend, with Beyond set to sandwich itself between the four big events in the 29 strong festival calendar and being such a Beyond babe, it was a foregone conclusion that our excursion to the seaside would include this “bombastic beats by the beach” bash.

Arriving from Dance Nation, we were keen to get in amongst the action at The Honeyclub, host venue for this Beyond by the beach outing and the first one we had experienced outside the capital, our excitement levels reaching fever pitch as we found ourselves within the cavernous space that is, without question, our favourite club setting in Brighton. Mind you, looking around the space, which was brimming with a bountiful collection party heads well into the swing of things, we were struggling to recognise it as The Honeyclub we had known in the past, our vague memories of the venue barely impacting on our minds & eyes as we surveyed the territory in front of us. With Alex, Roni, Danny & Paul Kemp by our side and with no need to utilise the coatcheck facilities, we were set free to savour the full extent of this fruity frolic of a Beyond bash, being the collaboration between the ruling afterhours club in the capital & Brighton’s own big brand, this being the third in our trio outings which we had labelled “The Wild Fruit Way”.

Forging a path through the myriad of naked torso’s that was crowding out The Honyeclub’s main room, we could hardly see the various elevated podiums we needed to negotiate to find the safe spot by the D.J. booth we were aiming for, such was the sea of sweaty bopping bodies that were soaking up the octane fuelled & tech infused dance crazy house that Wild Fruit resident jock, Jonny M, was dishing out. But make the spot we did, Alex, Roni & Danny still in tow, although such was the demand on Paul’s attention that he had be left far behind and no doubt was also now caught up with promotions duties. So, with our spot by the booth secure, we sank into proceedings, our reasonably lofty position enabling us to look back across the extent of this pulsating main room, our minds making comparisons with Beyond’s natural home of now, Area back in London, although the space was nothing near the same, the ceiling much more rectangular than circular, the lighting not a patch on the amazing Area installation, yet all this difference gave Beyond in this by the beach format a funky & fresh feel.

However, venue aside, we could easily have been back in the capital as well over half of the cavorting crowd were Londoner’s, a never-ending list of familiar faces passing us by in our select spot and saying their hello’s, each & every person further lifting our already ecstatic mood, although it was when one Oliver Mohns arrived that our morning was going to get a literal elevation. In his now characteristic move, Mr Mohns gripped our legs and lifted us high into the air in an adoring exclamation of his pleasure to see us, but on bringing us back to terra firma, it was his tight bearhug of an embrace that took the proverbial wind out of our sails, his innocent exuberance crushing our delicately healing ribs and leaving us in considerable discomfort. Mind you, we were in one of our favourite clubs, Beyond, as well as in fabulous company, so the pain soon slipped away, especially with the arrival of Mikey D who was to shortly assume the D.J. decks and bring the real essence of Beyond to the beach.

With refreshments in hand we settled into Mikey’s set, finding our stride within the packed out out & pulsating Honeyclub main room, having adjusted our minds & accustomed our eyes to this new Beyond setting, Mr Dower’s music choices helping us feel even more at home with our beside the seaside Sunday morning and the continuing scene faces & friends appearing every now and then to further enlighten our experience. This included the dinky but delightful D.J. Miswhite, Emma rushing up to say hello and showing all her usual morsels of excitable energy for which we know her the best, we then indulging in our “whisper” moment, a story of old that we play out together whenever we meet, each time with hilarious results & reactions. With our roughed up ribs now a distant memory, we were beginning to really adore our new found Beyond bash away from London, the connections with the capital still apparent, but the atmosphere entirely different, yet for these contrasting reasons it was becoming the best outings in Brighton by far.

Being so busy inside, not just in the main room but in the second space next door which was proving a more relaxed affair, with Jeffrey Hinton in charge of the funky Queer Nation inspired tunes, many were seeking respite on the expansive terrace that fronted the beach, a walk on Brighton’s pebbly seafront simply separated by see-through steel fencing allowing onlookers to survey the social & clubbing shenanigans of the masses savouring the splendour of the bustling Beyond bastion before their eyes. And it was here we rested a while, catching up with our companions as well as bumping into recently formed friend Michelle, who like us had missed out on the Barcelona opportunity that had been beckoning, rather making Brighton the B in her wild weekend of clubbing. Clington Forbes was another friend that was here rather than there, but all of three of us were enjoying our experience nevertheless, as were off duty Tonker troupers from earlier, Alan X & Tim Jones, not to mention DTPM’s Lee Freeman, their very presence a clear indication that this fruity flavoured afterhours audacity was the club of choice following all the other Saturday night pride parties, let alone those from the Gay Brighton Dance Weekend.

However, it was inside where all the major action was, so we were back in our spot by the D.J. booth before long, Mickey in full stride and The Honeyclub in similarly full swing, the main room even busier than before, the bubbly Lee Harris appearing out of the masses to say hello, soon to be followed by the shining star of Lovechild’s party a few weeks previously, The Oli, who had hot footed it from Beyond at Area for his own second fill of this brilliant brand. Assuming his position behind the decks and taking up where Mr Dower left off, Oli gave this by the beach bash a very familiar feel with plenty of rip roaring house tunes of now, including that Crazibiza track that had become the sound of this seaside stint of ours, but with eyes beginning to point towards a chill-out session post this Beyond bash, we retreated to safe quarters by the venue entrance. Here we caught sight of yet another Beyond resident D.J., this time Hifi Sean, who had played out at DTPM before and was enjoying himself before yet more duties at Wild Fruit’s “Kings & Queens” event. Then just as we were getting into the swing of a final few minutes of this prolific party, a call came in hinting on our required attendance at the afterparty, so we beat a hasty retreat to rendezvous with our chill-out chums, leaving a still packed & pumping Beyond behind and an event extraordinaire exude on.

Naturally in this beside the beach Beyond party there were always going to be comparisons with London and distinguishing it apart from the club in the capital was not helped by the amount of Londoners present, not to mention resident jock Mikey D & occasional guest The Oli. However in reality, the fact that so many familiar faces had stayed back in Brighton for this Beyond rather than returning to London, was testament to the strength of the brand and proof of its popularity whether in the capital or not. However, there is no escaping that the Honeyclub as a venue isn’t a patch on Area, the lighting nowhere near as good, the overwhelming bass to the sound system sometimes too much to bear, the complete lack of visuals, pyrotechnics & effects which we are so used to in home territory distinctly absent, many observations that, in stepping out of the insularity of the scene in the capital for the couple of days we did, helped us appreciate just how lucky we are with our lot in London. Yet, that said, the Brighton version of this awesome afterhours had an edge to it, the feel of decadence that compared with Trade days of old, the resounding reason why it worked so well for us and meaning that Beyond Fruit will live in our memories for a long time to come. (DISCO MATT)

"Magnificent Marriage Of Minds" - Dance Nation - Club Review

2010-08-11T14:17:00.003+01:00

“MAGNIFICENT MARRIAGE OF MINDS”
DANCE NATION –
AS PART OF GAY BRIGHTON DANCE WEEKEND –
SATURDAY 7TH AUGUST
CLUB REVIEW

With the whole landscape of Brighton’s pride weekend under considerable question, not least as a result of a catalogue of failings and precarious decision making by the Brighton Pride committee, the catalyst that saw the emergence of the concept known as Gay Brighton Pride Weekend, was the shocking withdrawal of one of the city’s biggest players which had unquestionably been the single most longstanding supporter of what has become the UK’s most popular pride weekends. In pulling out for all the right reasons, Wild Fruits absence from park proceedings in 2010 not only had the domino effect, a handful of other key players/individuals also pulling out of pride, but left considerable scares across the city’s LGBT community that still run deep in certain quarters. However, from the ashes of a lost park dance tent & bar contract, rose the phoenix of the joining of forces with over 15 venues & 25 club brands to produce a 29 strong schedule of dance events that became the Gay Brighton Dance weekend, its centrepiece the Saturday night event, Dance Nation, but did this event deliver to expectations? and was it the “magnificent marriage of minds” it set out to be?

Being our first full review experience of a club in Brighton (well we had Audio under our belts, just) we were not entirely sure what to expect, although having sampled what we would call “provincial” clubs during a previous working life out in Essex, we were building a picture as we arrived at host venue Tru’s doors on Brighton’s West Street. Being in the company of Lovechild’s Alex Erfan, Roni Inan & Danny Shubert, once into the empty venue, we threw ourselves into the final preparations the crew were making, before arming ourselves with refreshments from the now ready bar. Making the most of our spare time before the club opened for the feature event that was Dance Nation, we got the chance to take a good old butchers around the venue and like those handful of other provincial places we have visited, Tru was a-typical chrome & carpet in its complexion, although the main room with its dual staircases & viewing balcony was quite an impressive space, the lower area spreading back from the dancefloor to include sumptuous seating areas, while a second room was tucked away neatly, very much separating it away from the main expanse, a third space also accessible from the upper deck of the venue.

So, with us settled into our surroundings, it was now a case of waiting for the doors to swing open on this Dance Nation delirium and the partying to commence, it being a matter of minutes before people started drip feeding in, filling up the dancefloor & surrounding areas and soaking up the uplifting house heaven that opening D.J., Lovechild’s Leroy Tayler was delivering. But before we go on, perhaps we should explain the concept of Dance Nation, a gathering of promoter minds, to create a fusion of four club brands across three rooms, London’s Lovechild, Macho City & Tonker joining forces with Brighton’s Wild Fruit to create a mini style As One (the success story of NYD in the capital), although with a very different feel & vibe. Right, back to the action and from our vantage point just left of the enclosed D.J. booth, a general spot that we always seem to prefer & find favour with, we had a good view of the developing crowd in front of us, like Audio before it, proving to be a mix of locals & Londoner’s and as the numbers swelled & the room filled close to capacity within a blink of an eye, it was clear that Dance Nation was the place to be, with the party packing the biggest punch on this Brighton pride Saturday night.

Keen to see what was going on around the venue, we left our comfortable spot in the main room, circling the stairs & upper deck, first landing in on the select space given away to Macho City, before swooping in on the outside area for a brief respite, then re-tracing our steps downstairs and into room two, where the Tonker crew were tipping the popularity scales. Here we found resident D.J. & Tonker main man, Tim Jones in charge of the tunes, serving up a selection of sounds not dissimilar to the bombastic beats in the main room, although this space had a very much more intimate feel, an intriguing area in the corner clearly set aside for pole dancing & the like, the theme of carpet, chrome & luminous lighting highlighting the provincial feel of the place. However, both Tim’s & then Alan X’s soundtrack of vocal infused, funky, chunky house was enjoying considerable following, not just from the bevy of Brightoner’s but loads on London boys too, all very much loving their Tonker fill of fun.

But it was the main room, which was being shared by Wild Fruit & Lovechild, that had the majority of our devotions across the night, the superb opener of a set supplied by Leroy Tayler giving way to Wild Fruit’s own Neil Duffie who had so entertained us earlier at Audio. By now the place was pulsating with action, the music doing much of the talking in anticipation of the PA performance to come and having caught up with her upon landing in Brighton, we were keenly awaiting the arrival of Krysten Cummings, our spot by the D.J. booth the perfect position to catch the full extent of her extravert performance. However, the spotlight was first to fall on second Lovechild resident for the night, Tony English, who took up the mantle left by Neil Duffie and, once again, treated us to a sparkling set full of tech toned euro style & rip roaring sounds of now, one tune after the next hitting the mark magnificently and paving the way for Krysten’s coming.

With the lasers & lighting pointing on the small stage in front of the D.J. booth and the party people pushed back to make way, in came a gang of gorgeous go-go’s to frame the slightly built Krysten standing proud in the middle of the stage, she then proceeding to belt out a sequence of songs that definitely roused the revellers, not that they needed it, although there was no doubt that her showing was spectacular. Miss Cumming’s cavorting around the stage had filled the upper galleries which were teaming with onlookers taking in the full extent of her frolicking, while the dancers continued to flex muscles, flaunt their fulsome frames & taut torso’s to the delight of the audience in front of them, the whole show very much stamping it mark on Dance Nation . With the first of two stage showings over, the focus switched back to the D.J. booth and this time headlining act The Hoxton Whores, the duo setting about their business of delivering an eclectic mix & style of sounds that, for us, sadly didn’t quite match the previous performance of Lovechilder Tony English, their choices failing to ignite our dancing enthusiasm anywhere near like we were enjoying before.

So, finding respite behind the D.J. booth, we took stock of this Dance Nation event and caught up with friendly faces including Industri (that’s the London Thursday soiree before you ask) pals Jeremy & Andy, as well as the ever present promoters Alex Erfan & Paul Kemp, both who seemed pleased with their lot. But it was the arrival of Steve Pitron and partner Celso that re-ignited the excitement that had waned in us, a cheerful Celso bounding up to say hello and an equally happy Steve clearly pleased to see us, as we were him, this legendary D.J. and Beyond club main room maestro having been sorely missed while on a well earned holiday abroad. Now our night was going to take a terrific turn, as Mr Pitron pronounced his arrival behind the decks with not one, not two, but well over twenty tremendous tunes that had us an a dancing dervish in our new found spot just right of the booth. With Celso trading the occasional move with us amidst the huge house hits Steve was selecting, hits like “Here Comes the Rain” which was quickly followed by “Release Me” intermixed with latest dance gems, this musical mastery resulted in yet another scintillating set from this splendid D.J., marking his return to the decks and our clubbing exploits in the best way possible. But this climax of a closing set was to end all too soon, the call of Beyond in London dragging Steve, Celso & co away, while we were destined for our own slice of Beyond brilliance just down the road at The Honeyclub, we heading to our next outing very satisfied with our lot and our expectations fulfilled.

You may have noticed that we used the word provincial a few times and in truth, our visit to Tru did feel a little bit like that, the chrome & carpeting adding to the sense that we were experiencing something a world apart from that which we are used to in the capital. That said, the influx of Londoner’s which included a plethora of familiar faces bounding up to say hello, meant that we did feel quite at home with our Dance Nation experience and the anonymity that we were expecting, simply didn’t happen (all in a good way of course). As for the highlights of the night, well Krysten Cummings’ prolific PA performance was definitely up there, as was Tony English’s superb set, but you cannot take away the brilliance of Steve Pitron & his ability to lift the spirits like virtually no other D.J. we know. To see him back where he belonged, in charge of the tunes and storming the show with his delectable dance hits was pure delight at its best and witnessing his performance in provincial land was a tip top tastic treat. As for the night overall, the joining of forces between the four club brands certainly proved to be a "magnificent marriage of minds" and we can see this concept being repeated again, again & again, so hats off to all involved for making Dance Nation the enthralling event it was. (DISCO MATT)

"Alfresco Antidote At Audio" - Wild Fruit Terrace Party - Special review

2010-08-11T11:45:00.002+01:00

“ALFRESCO ANITDOTE AT AUDIO”
WILD FRUIT TERRACE PARTY –
AS PART OF GAY BRIGHTON DANCE WEEKEND –
SATURDAY 7TH AUGUST
SPECIAL REVIEW

We have been hankering to step out from under the massive shadow that is the London clubbing scene for a while now, even though it been a good friend to us for the years we have been partying (too many to mention) and the much shorter time that we have been reporting on its delights & diversity. An attempt to break away and report on Brighton Pride last year fell at the final hurdle, although we were determined to not let anything get in our way this year. Then enter the Brighton Pride committee, who not only close on completely compromised the whole Brighton Pride event, which the city’s LGBT community had steadfastly supported & nurtured over the years, but through a series of financial & other blunders, disenfranchised its biggest support, Aeon Events, thus creating the kind of backlash never seen before within this tight knit community.

But the company behind the massive club brand, Wild Fruit, turned a setback into an opportunity and Gay Brighton Dance Weekend was born, its creator, one Paul Kemp, not only stealing much of the thunder of Brighton Pride itself, but developed a calendar of clubbing events stretching from the Thursday through to the Monday, totally eclipsing the drastically reduced Pride programme. Moreover, Paul’s stature & standing with community field meant that he managed to pull together 15 of the city’s best known dance bars & clubs and his reputation in the larger club promotions circuit attracted brands from back here in the capital to become involved in what turned out to be the outstanding success of Brighton’s Pride weekend, not so much a Pride weekend but a dance weekend extraordinaire. So, where did it all start for us? And why did it turn out to be an “alfresco antidote”?

With all the controversy & calamity surround Brighton Pride's park proceedings, even though we were determined to make it down to our version of London by the sea (yes we know about Southend! no letters please), the park was never really on the agenda, so a leisurely mid-afternoon train journey was the order of play. Meeting up with travelling partner and companion for this short weekend of clubbing merriment, Alex, the journey was over in a trice and a stroll down this seaside city’s (that’s Brighton of course) streets culminated in a rendezvous with other friends Roni & Danny who had travelled ahead to set up shop and prepare for the partying ahead. With the pride parade already over, many had headed for the park, although our body compass was pointing us in the direction of the seafront and the fabulous Wild Fruit Terrace party which had kicked off in earnest at 3 p.m. and was earmarked as the first leg in our trio of prolific parties as part of the Gay Brighton Dance Weekend.

Having not been to Brighton for some time and never having set foot in Audio, we were doing our level best to visualise what to expect and exactly where the venue was, although upon arrival with Alex, Danny, Roni & co, we were pleasantly surprised by both its convenient location (sandwiched between popular Charles Street & Amsterdam venues on Marine Parade) as well as the expansive space both inside & out, this multi levelled deco styled building certainly making an impressive seafront statement. Entering directly onto the smartly decked terrace, we were immediately taken by the superb setting, even if the sun was struggling to break through the rolling clouds, but looking around, it was clear the team had gone to extra effort to give this outside area a special feel, a massive mirror ball (and we are talking huge) dominating our view seaward, so big in fact, that it was seemingly being held up by this scaffolding affair that wouldn’t have looked out of place on one of the pop concert stages in Hyde Park or somewhere, while Inside and the laser lighting was already going full steam, a carpet of green dots filling the air, bouncing off the walls and illuminating the interior beautifully.

With refreshments in hand, we headed back out onto the terrace, where a select crowd had gathered to warm up their dance weekend proceedings, although our eyes were now fixed on the huge American style motor home parked outside Audio which was displaying Wild Fruit, Dance Nation & Gaydar posters and therefore clearly having a connection with this dance weekend festival. Having spotted heads bopping up & down on the upper open deck and with Danny & Roni deciding to head off to check out the Pride park proceedings, Alex led us round into the motor home where we got the chance to meet both Chrissy Darling (the face of Onyx & Lovechild), this time out of character & colourful costume, as well as superb PA singing star, Krysten Cummings. Both of them were mingling with a crowd of locals & Londoners including scene faces Gary Jordon & Quentin Neild, all very much in party mood and ready for the audacious alfresco action that lay ahead and we sank into their company & this entertaining experience with consummate ease, sinking yet more refreshments that were flowing freely.

However, as good as the mini party on Chrissy’s temporary home was, it was Audio and the Terrace party that required our devotion, so it was back onto the decking where a considerable crowd had now developed, dancing away delightfully to the banging beats of local chick Kate Wildblood, this minx of a mistress serving up a cocktail of hip swaying & wholesome house that not only had this outdoor area pumping & bumping to her spectacle of sounds, but had a whole band of admirers spying in from the elevated area next door on Amsterdam bar’s own terrace, looks of envy & jealously written all over their faces as they gazed in amazement down on this elite collection of invitees to Wild Fruit’s select soiree. With Danny & Roni back from the park and lambasting lyrically about the inferior quality of the crowd & proceedings in the park, we were soon joined by Lovechild resident D.J. Leroy Taylor with his partner Pascual, both intent on kick-starting their night with shots of tequila, while we spotted London pal Tony Tansley and took the opportunity for a laugh & catch up with this charismatic chap who was already headlong into his weekend, having landed in Brighton the previous night for the Wild Fruit weekend welcoming party.

With the sun sinking in the skies and the breeze dropping a little, this select & sophisticated soiree was in full flow, the terrace now completely packed with party heads intent on rocking Audio to its foundations, incumbent D.J. Neil Duffie picking up the pace with a superb string of hypnotically funky & chunk house, including what turned out to be the tune of the weekend, Crazibiza’s “Spinning Around” (nothing like Kyle before you ask!) which had the place pumping in motion to Neil’s magnificent music choices, the ever present pride whistles blowing (can they be annoying or what!) although both South African’s Leroy & Pascual concurring with us that even the whistles were better that the vuvuzela’s, a trumpet style instrument that has made many headlines recently. But whistles or not, we were well into our stride by now and savouring every magical minute of this alfresco antidote to Brighton Pride, this second Wild Fruit bash certainly being the place to be and attracting the lion’s share of local LGBT celebrities & stars and leaving its competitor, Sundance, with a mere handful of followers.

However, the star of this soiree was about to take charge, as the legend that is Seamus Haji took to the D.J. decks and immediately set about raising the already terrific tempo even higher with a tremendous truck load of tunes, very much in his Hed Kandi hat style of old, but with new funky & fulsome tones that had the terrace gripped by his performance, the numbers having now also spilled inside, such was his following & the popular of this Paul Kemp party. As good as both Kate & Neil had been (and they were so refreshingly good), Seamus took the party to a new level and certainly proved his worth & reputation, short of stealing the show for us and rounding off a truly fabulous Wild Fruit Terrace party in scintillating style, very much paving the way for the DTPM party that was to follow, while we headed with Alex, Roni & the rest across to our next Gay Brighton Dance weekend instalment, Dance Nation, still delighting ourselves on the thoughts & feelings from this impeccable start to our weekend by the sea.

Having both sampled Audio and taken a bite of the Wild Fruit cherry for the first time, we were not only impressed with the set up of the venue and the vibe of the Terrace, but can now see exactly why this clubbing brand of Paul Kemp’s is so popular down here in Brighton. Whilst Mr Haji was clearly the star of the show, the local D.J.’s more than held their own and showed a refreshingly different side to the house music that we so love & adore in our homeland back in the capital. The blend of locals & Londoners at this terrific terrace gathering worked like a dream and the air of relative exclusivity also found fervent favour. Yes, we cannot escape the fact that Brighton Pride tends to be all about the park, although in recent years it has been the street party on the Sunday that has been stealing more of the limelight, yet for us, it was Audio & Wild Fruit that had the spotlight well & truly shone on them, this party playing out perfectly as a result and proving, not least with the terrace space, the alfresco antidote to the park that we expected it to be. A trip to Sunday Sundae soon must surely be beckoning. (DISCO MATT)

"The Leomeo Lovechild Love-In" - Lovechild "Hot Tropicana" - Club Review

2010-08-05T06:29:00.002+01:00

"THE LEOMEO LOVECHILD LOVE-IN"
LOVECHILD “HOT TROPICANA” - SATURDAY 31ST JULY
CLUB REVIEW

Now we love our clubbing and we love our club brands, although it takes a lot for us pay homage to events more than once in a month, well with the possible exception of those weekly outings that are too much to resist. But then, the occasions that we are faced with two parties in one month by the same brand is rare indeed, although this July was to prove the exception to the rule, as unbeknownst to us, the team behind Lovechild had planned for their big extravaganza of the month to fall at the final rather than its usual third Saturday slot. Therefore, we were somewhat caught off guard and unprepared for the month end madness of “Hot Tropicana”, having already pledged our allegiance to “Makin Hay” just two weeks before, added to which some serious unravelling of plans was required given the arrival of a special guest D.J. to the decks, that made our attendance at this second Lovechild outing a virtual certainty. So, were our change of plans worthwhile? What made this latest Lovechild event stand out from the rest? Was the move to the end of the month a success? And who and what did it for us the most?

Now probably the first question to answer is, who was that special guest D.J. we were deluding to? Well, it was French fancy Leomeo of course, whose trip to the capital had been preceded by whistle-stop tours of New York, & Barcelona, the hectic schedule of this amiable Parisian pal meaning that London bound appearances were few & far between, making our decision to make changes to our plans a simple choice. However, having met up with the man earlier on Saturday afternoon, we at least managed to keep to some of our old plans, our liege Leomeo accompanying us, along with fellow party head Marco Cerrone, to Circus’s Pyjama party, before duty called in Vauxhall. Arriving as a threesome (in the clubbing kind of course) at Lovechild’s door, we were greeted not just by head poncho Alex Erfan and a supporting cast including Simon Patrick & Romain Lopez, but had to beat our way through the plumes of palms that were decorating the entrance to this “Hot Tropicana” themed event, really setting the scene for the prolific production that was to behold our eyes inside.

And it was into the club that we found ourselves in an instant, Alex leading Leomeo & Marco away while we headed to the coatcheck to drop off our belongings, before stopping off at the bar to fuel our body with refreshing energy drink and painkilling remedies for our expected dancing onslaught in the hands of this latest Lovechild luxuriate. There we were surprised by an off-duty Tom Fuller and a departing Craig Daniels, both men stopping us in our tracks, we engaging in catch up news with Tom before continuing on our way. Descending down onto the main room dancefloor we were immediately impressed by the sheer level of effort the team had gone to in decorating the space, the extent of palms we had witnessed on our entry, paling into insignificance compared with the lavish greenery that was festooning Fire’s main space, added extra’s all around the D.J. booth complimenting the look and certainly deluding to the jungle like feel of the place, the tongue in cheek visuals full of extracts from the famous Disney movie adding a camp touch to the truly tropical theme.

But we were intent on finding our favoured spot in this main room madness and as we approached the D.J. booth found our friends Leomeo & Marco in situ, with resident Lovechilder Tony English in charge of the tunes, rousing the room with a rip roaring rendition of euro style & Balearic inspired beats intermixed with tunes of now, all of which were striking resonance with the packed out premier Fire space. Mind you, our late arrival had meant we had missed out on the usual opener by Phil Hewson, who spotted us in our usual place and bounded over to quiz us on absence before speeding off in search of his companions. This kind of spurted us into carrying out our usual tour of duty around the club, first dropping in on the lounge space and headed straight for the D.J. booth to say our hello’s to Gabriele Cutrano who was once again in charge of this intimate offering, serving up a more laid back yet tech infused funky house soundtrack compared with the more upbeat offerings next door, although it was clear this lounge area had its following, a comfortable crowd lapping up his alternative musical delights. But our tour was to continue as we urged Alex to introduce us to second guest D.J. for the night, Nick Wolanski, as we were keen to see this model turned music maker in the flesh, although on arriving in the contact room and heading to meet the man, it was clear he was engrossed in his set and far from interested in our introduction. So, instead we stepped back down to observe him in action and it has to be said that we found his performance far from inspiring, his music not quite hitting our mark, perhaps reflective of his monstrous mood.

Returning to the main room was now a simple choice, especially as the lovely Leomeo was about to hit the decks and were we in for a treat or what, as this terrifically talented individual set about stoking up the already impressive atmosphere with a mesmeric mix of uplifting and funky vocal infused house, slowly sliding into more tribal and progressive beats, that took us on a journey of magical musical exploration. With every new track Leomeo selected, we became more engrossed with his delightful delivering, dancing deliriously to recognition of his rip roaring raptures and it was clear he was enjoying his lot too, bopping up & down behind the decks, occasional hands in the air invoking similar reactions from the packed out dancefloor. Such was the strength of his set, that the numbers next door in the Mirrorarch soon drained into the main room to soak up Leomeo’s scintillating sounds and to add to the excitement, we were joined by a whole load of familiar faces, including Lovechilders Roni Inan & Danny Shubert, the delightful Dorin, who had torn himself away from duties in the Lightbox and bello Alessandro who had just landed from his gig in Barcode, our Sicilian friend in fine fettle & ready to party deep towards dawn.

With Leomeo now very much in charge, the atmosphere was to get even better when Thigio Drewry’s drop dead gorgeous go-go dancers hit the podiums placed around the main room, stilt walkers adding to the stage show antics and our gaze pointed in the direction of this massively muscled man displaying his wares and swinging his man tool around with baring bravado, his proud appendage big enough to more than poke your eye out, we wondering exactly where the Seen Queen video camera was when you needed it. Having missed the snake charmer & all the other audacious activities earlier on, our time was definitely now and we were very much enjoying our lot, the saucy shows adding to the magnificent music and the vibrant visuals, which had replaced the jovial jungle book screen shots before, the impressive Lovechild images the work of the immensely talented Alan X, who had also joined us to pour out his take on this Tropicana tribal transmission.

With the dancers retreated and our love-in liaison with Mr Drewry over, it was down to Leomeo to fulfil our hearts desires, he failing to disappoint, as one rousing tribal inspired tune after the next well & truly made a mesmeric mark on our musical mind, especially a brilliant brand new track full of tech & tribal tones that our Parisian pal had created with close compatriot D.J. friend Javier Medina in his Barcelona studio, we being treated to a first live airing of this terrific tune. And in essence this summed up Leomeo’s pulsating performance, a two hour showing of spectacular sounds that left us wanting for more and searching for inspiration once he had stepped down from his D.J.’ing duties, he handing over the reins to Lee Harris who was to see out this “Hot Tropicana” main room marauding, while we made the most of our last few minutes with Leomeo before he retired to rest on what had been a jam packed Saturday of socialising, partying & performing, his departure leaving us to soak up the remaining uplifting sounds from Mr Harris, which included our tune of now “World Go Round”, this in itself signalling our own go round and journey off to the afterhours action across Vauxhall.

What was clear from the moment we graced the doors of this Lovechild “Hot Tropicana” party was the sheer amount of effort that had gone in to the production of the event, from the entrance through to the main room & beyond, all really inspiring the jungle fever feel of this outing, indeed the best we have seen of any Lovechild party yet. Having arrived a little late to catch the snake charmer, we heard that part of the string of shows was an absolute wow, although the slices of Thigio’s dancers were more than enough for us, especially that muscular man who certainly had a snake of his own! However, whilst the numbers were certainly up on the last outing, this particular month end move was always going to be up against the exodus to Barcelona and once again it seemed the contact room failed to ignite anywhere near the passion of Lovechild parties of old, this occasion like “Makin Hay” before it, proving that it was all about the main room. But in reality this was no surprise, as the Leomeo show certainly packed a punch, his brilliant blend of funky, chunky tunes sliding into tribal tracks, had us hooked from start to finish and yes we were pleased to change our plans in order to make this “Hot Tropicana” happening, as his set was our outstanding highlight & well worth the visit. (DISCO MATT)

"Barmy Beside Bawdiness" - Circus "The Pyjama Party" - Club Review

2010-08-04T15:46:00.003+01:00

“BARMY BESIDE BAWDINESS”
CIRCUS “THE PYJAMA PARTY”- SATURDAY 31ST JULY
CLUB REVIEW

If we are brutally honest, in all the years we have been clubbing in the capital, we have always fallen into the stereotypical gAylist style event, all too often concentrating on the Vauxhall circuit to satisfy our hearts desires. Yes, clubs like Fist & Trade tended to buck that trend and then, of course, there was Love Muscle in Brixton. However, our forays further a-filed have been few & far between, notable exceptions to our Vauxhall rule being the way-out & whacky Gutterslut and the metrosexual delight of Reverse, although one club has recently been drawing a little of our attention, having played its part in recent events such as The London Global Dance Festival & SuperMartXe’s “The Wizard Of Oz” party. Like both Gutterslut & Reverse who both plant themselves firmly in the mixed crowd market, this fun-filled frolic also does that, but with the added excitement of a celeb here & there for good measure, not to mention a supporting cast of cavorters both in front & behind the decks, all adding up to a temptation far too much to resist.

Yes, Circus has, slowly but surely, made its way into our world, although some would say a long overdue entry, the club having firmly planted itself on the clubbing scene back in 2006, making plenty of waves at their home, The Soho Revue Bar, and immediately attracting an A list crowd of clubbers to its monthly events with enticing side shows to compliment the mains meal of musical madness from resident jocks that included Malcolm Plate, Kris Di Angelis and the lady herself, promoter extraordinaire Jodie Harsh. And what was a club that was created as a sideline project to pay off this larger than life character’s student debt, has become very much an iconic outing, drawing in equally overt individuals such as Amy Winehouse, Kelly Osbourne, Pete Burns & Siouxsie Sioux to its parties, along with other A listers Sophie Ellis Bextor, Roisin Murphy & Robyn, not to mention top notch gAylister Will Young, all who have either partied, performed or played at events across Circus’s 4 year history.

That history has seen Jodie Harsh’s creation develop & change with the times, the demise of Soho Revue Bar inspiring new ventures around the capital to keep the offering fresh & fulsome, ventures forth that have included trips into Mayfair at the posh Metropolitan Hotel, across to the massive Matter venue at the O2 arena in Greenwich, closer to home in Shoreditch at the appropriately named, Last Days Of Decadence, before honing in back on its hallowed territory of Soho. And despite moving the club around the capital, Circus’s following has not only survived, but thrived, where other clubs that have gone through similar metamorphic moves have failed, in part due to the brands unique mix of creative characters, mind stretching music and thought provoking themes. So, it came as no surprise that our ears were well & truly pricked up when we got an invite to their latest offering, this time at the lofty Paramount club venue at Centrepoint, a venue where we have witnessed parties in the hands of both DTPM and Reverse, although given Jodie’s reputation for pushing the boundaries, was all the more enticing as a Circus event, especially as the team were labelling this latest outing as “...a grown up sleep-over with drag queen pillow fights, naked Twister & bedtime stories...” amongst plenty more. So, how did our experience of this Circus “Pyjama Party” turn out? And what were the highlights of our trip fantastic & foray into this “barmy bedside bawdiness” of an event.

With our troubled back injury still praying on our mind, the plan was to take it reasonably easily, so a trip to Jodie Harsh’s overt outing seemed like a good plan, but we hadn’t accounted for the arrival in London of D.J. pal Leomeo, who was scheduled to headline Lovechild’s latest event and would inevitably draw us into dancing dervishness in Vauxhall. Mind you, meeting up with this fetching Frenchman in the sunshine of a Soho Saturday afternoon, we compared notes and decided that a trip to Circus before heading south was an added treat to Leomeo’s schedule, so made arrangements to meet later that evening for our foray 31 floors up at Paramount. So, with the witching hour upon us and having warmed our evening in the hands of Brent Nicholls at Barcode Soho, our rendezvous with our Parisian pal & fellow night owl Marco Cerrone, saw us arrive at Centrepoint, where a considerable queue had developed for this prolific pyjama party. But, finding ourselves at the head of the hedonists, we were pleased to find Laurent Chaumet in charge of proceedings, Leomeo pleased as punch to catch up with his French compatriot, this chance meeting seeing us whisked into Paramount in an instant and up to the audacious action above.

Stepping out into Paramount’s unique setting, the space was already packed with plenty of party heads intent on succumbing to this sleep over inspired shocker, both sides of the venue buzzing with excitement of what this event had in store. So, in usual fashion we sought to find our bearings, first heading onto the dancefloor side, which was already brimming with a most eclectic bunch of beautiful boys & gorgeous girls, soaking up the sounds of the fabulous Filthy Dukes, who were treating the cavorting crowd to an extravert electro pop pumped performance that got us dancing in an instant, Leomeo & Marco joining us in our impromptu energetic bursts of moving & grooving to the synthesised electro-pop & barnstorming beats being served up. Looking around, the team had certainly delivered on the promise of vivacious visuals, a whole collection of screens painting the Circus picture and displaying a whole host of colourful characters, depicting the world of this crazy world of Jodie Harsh’s creation perfectly, although our eyes were then drawn to the massive bed in front of the D.J. booth where plenty of sleep over shenanigans were in full flow, not least by the torso toned go-go Luke-Baden Barnsley, who was bouncing on the bed with a cuddly toy bunny in his hands, very much evoking everything extrovert about this event.

With Leomeo spotting Jodie behind the D.J. booth and disappearing for a hello & catch up, we positioned ourselves close to the action up front, where hostess Polly was keeping the appropriately dressed sleep over boys & girls in check, but with their reputation for outrageousness, she was always going to have her hands full keeping control of their slumberland antics, especially when the camera’s started clicking, catching each & everyone of them in compromising pose in pyjamas and more. With the audacious atmosphere going skyward with every minute, the usual draw of the incredible views from this lofty 31 floor high venue was the last thing on our minds, rather our thoughts more concentrated on soaking up the superb sounds from the Filthy Dukes’ Olly Dixon and savouring the spectacle that was this grown up bedtime bravado. Catching a few familiar faces floating by, it wasn’t long before Leomeo was back by our side and sinking into dancing dives with us, although we were keen to investigate the other aspects of this Circus party, so headed round past a second boudoir area, where performer Scotee was holding court and dishing out plenty of bedtime stories & hot milk to entice followers into & under his duvet of delight, we eventually finding ourselves by the bar to fuel with refreshments before aiming back in the direction of the dancefloor.

Back with the boisterous beats, we found a spot in amongst the crowd with Leomeo & Marco, our French D.J. pal getting plenty of attention with his multi-coloured top, while our eyes were gazing at the eccentric & eclectic crowd that were certainly completely different to the clubbers we are used to rubbing shoulders with at the likes of Matinee, Beyond & SuperMartXe. Indeed, following a tap on our backside & a flick on our ear, our attention was caught by the lovely Luke, who made a similar remark to us before returning to his bouncing bawdiness on the bed, posing for the never-ending photo shots that would surely hit the scene pages far & wide. We were keen to catch up with long standing friend and resident D.J. Kris Di Angelis, whom we had spotted in the background dressed in not much more than a slinky blue silk gown, with Fidel Trotman in close quarters, head to toe in white bedside couture & a towering towel turban, but time had moved on much quicker than we had expected and the Leomeo Lovechild due clock was ticking, thus curtain calling a close on our courting with Circus on this occasion, we departing to Vauxhall and the relative normality of clubbing conformity.

Now, it is fair to say that our walk on the Circus wild side was somewhat brief, but the small amount we sampled left us wanting for more and suitably sucked into the Harsh & co recipe of audacious activity, electro twisted tunes and downright debaucherous decorum that is clearly the trademark of this monthly eccentric event. Had it not been for our liege Leomeo, we would have engrossed ourselves in the full extent of this frolic thirty one floors up and reflecting on some of the images post event, there is no doubting that the Circus crowd certainly know how to party & rise to the occasion, so many making the effort to dress up for the outing, while others completely threw themselves into proceedings with vigour. We absolutely loved the eclectic mix of people this club night attracted and the amazing atmosphere they created, not to mention the energetic electro-pop pumped musical soundtrack, which was superb, but probably the most outstanding aspect was the effort put in by so many to make the whole experience magnificent. As for those highlights, well Fidel & his towel turban was up there, but the image of Luke bouncing up & down on the bed, bunny in hand, will live with us for a long time, although it will be the brilliant beats, the amazing atmosphere & the incredible individuals that will collectively claw us back to our next Circus bash and we have our diary out already. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

Images for this review are courtesy of David Hart Photography and for full details of the impressive individual’s talents, his portfolio of pictures, published work, club shots & plenty more, including how to book his services, go to http://shootmeup.co.uk/.

"Up, Up And Away" - Logan Presents "UP" at Dex - Special Review

2010-07-27T23:58:00.004+01:00

“UP, UP AND AWAY”
LOGAN PRESENTS “UP” AT DEX – SUNDAY 25TH JULY
SPECIAL REVIEW

In our early days of clubbing in the capital, we were always really conscious of some of the most qualitative offerings around, which always drew out the crème de la crème of the crop, making for a very stylish & sophisticated scene that offered a great deal to those that were in search of a high end experience. However, in more recent years and as times have changed, so has the whole clubbing landscape, meaning that we have been starved of sufficient quantities of clubbing, often referred to as gAylist events, which was much more common place ten or so years before. But, enter stage left one Logan Schmitz, a bright eyed & bushy tailed US Midwest bible belt born & bred boy turned White Isle go-go dancer, who has injected that much sought after spice & gAylisting quality into a lacklustre scene. Having been lifted off the podium & out of his dancing shoes then planted firmly into business boots, a move to the capital has seen this beefy bodied bloke with an equally strong entrepreneurial ethic, steal much of the limelight with both SuperMartXe and now Matinee, both which form staple ingredients in the Logan Presents production armoury, making him one of the most revered & respected promoters in the capital.

Having gotten to know Logan a little better in recent months, we have realised the true depth of Mr Schmitz’s passion to paying back to the scene and thanking his true supporters for the success they have fuelled him with. And it was this passion & desire to reward such support that was the driving force in the creation of a private party concept simply called UP, the format taken from Logan’s days in Ibiza, partying under the sun and out on the terrace styled settings that are so characteristic of that part of the world. Having located the perfect place in London to hold such an event in the form of Dex, a multi floored indoor & outdoor combination of a venue, sandwiched neatly between two arenas that his “Presents” team have used for both SuperMartXe & Matinee, Brixton’s O2 Academy & The Fridge, UP was born and within hours of its first outing in May, became the most talked about event of the summer so far, a party described modestly by its creator as “...just friends hanging out with friends around some great music...”, although for us it was much more than that.

So, it goes without saying that we were extremely honoured to be included in the limited amount of invitees for the latest UP party and thrilled to be attending this very select social gathering of the upper echelons of the gAylist clubbing circuit crowd. Despite thinking that we would feel a bit like a fish out of water, arriving at Dex’s doors at just before 2 p.m., we were not only faced with the friendliest security team we had encountered anywhere, but were made to feel incredibly at home by the enchanting & endearing Naomi, the much missed door hostess of Beyond, who gave us a characteristic peck on both cheeks before sending us smiling upstairs and out onto Den’s expansive roof terrace space. Within moments, we were then greeted by the man himself, Logan, his reception & welcome full of warm intentions and with this private party suitably choreographed & ready to invite in the select following, it already had assumed a relaxing & social air to it, which we immediately sank into with ease, very much laying to rest those fish out of water feelings.

Taking time to investigate the space to its full, we were taken a-back by this treasure trove of a hideaway from the hectic happenings in Brixton below, the two crescent shaped terrace levels providing the ideal setting for this gAylist gathering. Grabbing refreshments at the conveniently located bar on the second outdoor level, we were very impressed by the whole space, part covered by a smart white bedouin styled tarpaulin stretching across the centre of both terrace tiers, making a statement of quality & impressive display across this unique rooftop seclusion of a space. With plenty of comfortable seating around and lots of room to find our feet and stretch our legs, this space became the more popular of the two levels early on, we soon being joined by clubbing compatriot Ross & his partner, as well as long standing scenster George, making us feel even more comfortable within our increasingly enjoyable experience. Indeed, as the crowd began to build and the atmosphere heighten, it was clear that we would be familiar with far more folk than we thought, a veritable feast of scene faces, off-duty workers, D.J.’s & dancers blending perfectly with the pick of the crop clubbers that made for probably the best looking, behaving and sociable collection of people we had seen for a long time.

To say it was also a bit of a who’s who list is an understatement, such is the attraction of any Logan party, an endless amount of people arriving, saying hi and then soaking up the superb social splendour that that becoming very much the byword of the UP event. Familiar faces included D.J.’s Jamie Head, Mikey D, Fidel & D’Johnny, scene boys Tim Banham, Jeremy Precelton, Ben Kaye, Martin Zatko, Cliff Joannou & Marky B, as well as Logan’s Michael and team Mauricio, Naomi, Fabio, Elektra, Leandro and the lovely Luke, all lapping up the wonderful party atmosphere that was developing. So, rather than feeling left out, we were very much at home in amongst the muscle-bound men & sophisticated ladies, virtually a moment not going by without one familiar face or the other passing us by on our vantage point on the second terrace tier, which was teaming with people all intent to lapping up the pure delight of this gAy-rated event.

As the numbers continued to grow throughout the afternoon, many then found their feet on the lower level, dancing away to the delights of SuperMartXe resident Tony English, who had definitely turned up the heat & increased the pace, following a superb showing D.J. guest Leandro Kloppel, Tony treating us and a cavorting crowd to a delectable mix of electro, funky, chunky & tech fuelled beats, all intermixed with plenty of vocals and current hits of the best clubbing dancefloors, that received a rapturous reception from the revellers. So good was Tony’s set, that even with our sore back, we soon left our vantage point on the upper terrace where we had been sitting and observing proceedings, rather sinking some painkilling relief and then finding a spot close to the D.J. booth to dance deliriously to Mr English’s electrifying & terrific tunes. And it was no surprise to see Mr Photographer himself, Chris Jepson, appear out of the crowd, clutching his camera and not just catching us in interesting pose but showing the crafty video caption of our dancing moves he had shot through the window behind us, leaving us in hysterics with his planned creation.

But not wishing to endanger the healing process of our injuries, we traded dancing dives with delightful conversation, especially having hooked up with Matinee formed friend, Michelle, and with the refreshments flowing, courtesy of Dex’s venue promoter Mark Williams, we were getting the ever increasing feeling that we were part of something truly spectacular, the event unfolding into a Sunday afternoon like no other we had enjoyed. UP was certainly providing a magnificent mix between a club event, a private party and a social soiree that was leaving us in amazement of this alfresco & awe-inspiring outing, although having witnessed probably one of the best sets we had seen Tony English play and having been absorbed with one of the best looking crowds we had seen in a long time, as good as it already was, our experience was to go from strength to strength in the hands of Italian Stallion Pagano. To say his three hour showing was a precision perfect selection of sounds does no justice to his pulsating performance, which ranged from his usual progressive beats to more uplifting, nu-disco and rip roaring tunes, that was far and away the most breathtakingly brilliant & superbly scintlating set we had witnessed him play, ever! As dust turned to dark and the lights on the outside terrace illuminated proceedings, we were now determined to see out the remainder of this unbelievably wonderful UP private party of an event, Pagano & his mesmeric music ensuring that all thoughts of our ailing back became the last thing on our mind, although the 10 p.m. finish came all too soon and the fading out of Francesco’s fantastic fanfare eventually signalled our retirement from this prolific party.

Reflecting on this extra special & amazing UP outing, naturally we drew comparisons to our experience in the hands of Logan & his team in the form at Matinee at MOS. While it is clear that this Spanish brand of a club has found favour with not just fans of the club, but with new adorers to the fresh identity of the brand, as mindblowingly magnificent Matinee’s “Open Air Summer Party” was, it pales in comparison with UP. Why? well this private party at Dex had an extra special feel, no doubt due mainly to the cherry picked crowd that gave the whole outing an air of exclusivity, which when added to the brilliant two tiered roof terrace of a setting and the stupendous soundtrack provided by Tony English & Pagano, put this party up onto a pedestal of perfection. When we talk about gAylist events, we definitely include Matinee in that bracket, but in UP, Logan has created an even higher level of excellence, meaning that not only were we up, up on the roof at Dex, but in this outstanding outing we were “up, up and away” in upmost adoration & amazement of just how awesome it was. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

If you were not part of this latest UP event or indeed missed out on either SuperMartXe’s “Wizard Of Oz” or Matinee’s “Open Air Summer Party”, you can get a feel of the mesmeric music played that these events through the Logan Presents series of podcasts. Simply go to http://loganpresentspodcast.podomatic.com/ and listen &/or download to your absolute pleasure and enjoyment.

Plus, Disco Matt is extremely grateful to Chris Jepson for allowing the use of his photo's on this review. For further pictures of both this UP party and for plenty more events, go to http://londonclubland.com/.

"A Stack of Superb Sounds" - Lovechild "Makin Hay" - Club Review

2010-07-22T07:34:00.003+01:00

“A STACK OF SUPERB SOUNDS”
LOVECHILD “MAKIN HAY” – SATURDAY 17TH JULY
CLUB REVIEW

Now it is fair to say that we have loved our big clubbing brands over the years, from the dominance of Trade in the early & mid nineties, leading to a whole host of others grabbing a piece of our action, Salvation, DTPM, Crash & Beyond all being big hitters in our non-stop partying activity well into the noughties. However, while Beyond still plays a big part in our lives, relative new kids on the blocks Matinee & SuperMartXe have replaced all the other clubs in the dominance game, although there is a new pretender to the crown that tends to draw us in more often than not, pretty much fixing itself into our monthly calendar. Lovechild certainly has made strides since opening its doors will over a year ago now, especially since grounding itself on a Saturday night at Fire in Vauxhall, building a reputation for funky chunky music, sexual intrigue and a stylish crowd. So, with its latest theme based on farm boys, haywain's & the rustic outdoors, how did we find this “Makin Hay” party? did it live up to expectations? and has it instilled more confidence in a waning Saturday clubbing scene?

Having kick started our night in the hands of Rupert Street and a bawdy Brent Nicholls, our sex charged evening getting some serious injection from the affections Remi & Mariusz, while plenty of pals were present, as was heaps of “nu funk” sounds (more of all that in a separate review!) we were raring to go and to get our slice of farmyard frolicking in the hands of Lovechild’s latest outing down in Vauxhall. Arriving at Fire’s doors not long before 1 a.m, we found quite an extensive queue to get in, although waiting patiently, we were soon spotted by a smiling Roni Inan and ushered through & into the club to start our cavorting, quickly bumping into the pals we had left behind at Rupert St (how did they get here quicker than us?!) who, like us, were lodging our bits & bobs into the coatcheck for safe keeping before venturing forth to check out proceedings. The first sight we came across was a lithe dancer spinning on the installed dancing pole in the entrance area to the main room, dressed in some fetching tight jeans shorts & cowboy style boots, very much in the “Makin Hay theme of this event.

But we were keen to investigate further, so leaving our pals behind we dipped down onto the main room dancefloor which was filling nicely with an eclectic crowd of club kids, the odd muscle queen here & there and a healthy dose of glamorous girls making for one of the most mixed bunch of clubbers we had seen in a Lovechild party yet. They were all lapping up the rousing & uplifting sounds being served up by Phil Hewson behind the decks, it being great to see this charming & cute fellow back in charge of early proceedings in this “Makin Hay” happening. Phil had recently completed a successful tour down under, spreading the good Hewson word of magical music across Sydney & Melbourne in a whirl wind tour that had coincided with the last Lovechild party in London. So, having forgiven him for his absence, we caught a quick moment of his attention in amongst some of his serious sounds that included the fabulous “Devil Walking” which immediately got us dancing on our spot next to the D.J. booth. Looking around the space, the usual Lovechild production was in force although no real sign of anything deluding to this farmyard inspired theme of a party, the visuals pointing more towards the next “Tropicana” bash at the end of the month.

Dropping in on the Lounge room which had been the hit of the last “Summer” smash, the space was slowly gathering pace in the hands of longstanding Lovechilder, Gabriele Cutrano, who had been devoted the whole room for the evening, delivering a far more funky & laidback tech infused soundtrack of tunes that was to see the space gain a select gathering for most of the rest of the evening. However, many seemed to prefer the pomp & circumstance of the main room that, by now, had been handed over to tame D.J., The Oli, who was being anything but tame with his track choices, although, we were still in search of some of that “Makin Hay” production we had been promised. And we found it in the outdoor area, a much smaller affair than usual, but with bales of hay used as the perimeter, plus with a very camp cock (a male hen before you ask!) hanging at eye level, making it delightfully different yet one of the loosest interpretations we had seen, but nevertheless commanding quite a few comments & looks.

Back in the main room and the comments were nothing but praiseworthy for the mastermind of musical mesmerism that guest D.J. The Oli was putting together, one hard hitting dancefloor anthem after the other, he combining uplifting, hard hitting and heavenly house delightfully that saw us sink into his set with consummate ease, finding our dancing feet in an instant and soaking up his scintillating sounds and Fire’s main room swelling to magnanimous proportions. With the atmosphere being sent skyward with Oli’s octane fuelled set, the only element that could add to the excitement of his set was the inclusion of Thiagio’s tasty dancers on the podiums and they arrived pretty much on cue, centre-pieced by a very glamorously dressed & stunning goddess, striking an impressive pose in amongst the farmer boy go-go’s. Now the crowd’s attention was certainly grabbed, as cameras clicked, flashes illuminated & Oli’s backdrop of music added just the right amount of drama to the stage show proceedings that was certainly a real highlight of the evening.

However, with the show over, it was back to Oli to provide all the entertainment and by golly did he do that or what, we absolutely delighting in his precision perfect performance that certainly ranks as one of the best we have seen at any Lovechild party and most definitely the most outstanding Oli set we have witnessed anywhere. His selection of tracks & tunes had the main room cavorting like all the best good old days of Fire, the lighting in full tilt and the atmosphere simply sensational in response to this maestro at work. So good was his performance, that the impetus had been pretty much taken away from the usually busy contact room, whose doors were now swung open for action and whilst Mattias was laying down some serious sounds, it would have taken an act of god to shift the crowd from the main room mesmerism that a man in his element had created.

Mind you all great things have to come to an end sometime and Oli’s Lovechild moment was over far too soon for us, his performance of the quality that would have given Steve Pitron in Beyond at his best, a run for his money and when second guest D.J. for the night, South Africa’s Leroy Tayler took over, while he managed to hold the crowd, he couldn’t hold a candle to Mt Oli’s scintillating set, thus promoting us to opt for the quieter yet more comfortable mirrorarch space where young Mr Paul Heron was stoking the atmosphere with some terrific tech tunes. Seeing Paul bouncing up & down behind the decks in his usual fashion inspired us to do a bit of bopping ourselves, our audacious antics in the corner by the D.J. booth attracting attention and drawing in increasing numbers to lap up some of the Heron energy being created. This included pals Danny Shubert and a much more lively Stephen, who commenced to titillate us with his cougar impressions, something we hadn’t seen for ages. And this was where we saw out the remainder of our “Makin Hay” experience, Paul delighting us with some purely magnificent music, his set full of invigorating new tracks that left us breathless in adoration, the last notes of his performance prompting a trip across Vauxhall to continue our partying proliferation in the hands of Beyond.

In dissecting our latest Lovechild outing we would have to say that, all in all, we had a great time and came away from Fire feeling comfortably satisfied with our lot. In fairness to “Makin Hay” the element that really made it was the music, as both Phil Hewson’s opener and Leroy Tayler’s curtain closer sandwiched one of the best sets we have witnessed at a Lovechild event. Signing up The Oli to the team of residents should be a given, as not only does he know Fire like the back of his hand, but he managed to inspire & indulge us in on one of the most splendid showings from a D.J. in many a month here. That said, the remaining threesome of Messrs Cutrano, Dabo & Heron played their part in pushing music to the forefront and in doing so begged the question, what happened to the usual ingredients of sexual intrigue & erotic intentions that were sadly lacking from this “Makin Hay” event?

Add to that the low key production and the fact that the numbers could barely sustain two, let alone three rooms and we begin to wonder whether the bottom really has fallen out of Saturday night clubbing. There is no doubt that Lovechild has found its niche, and a good one at that, but, in our view the promoter needs to possibly re-think his strategy with the rooms a little, definitely consider the cornerstones of the Lovechild brand, and let them do the talking in terms of which rooms are open & when. It seems that the desire for the contact space is there, just on this occasion the main room had the momentum & the lounge never got a look in. There is an argument to say that Lovechild should be about the music, but it is also true that the raunchy side of the brand has broad appeal. Get the combination right, together with the numbers through the door, and it has every chance to maintaining its position as the next best Saturday offering to SuperMartXe. However, July 31st may prove to be an endorsing acid test, yet we look forward to “Tropicana” with interest. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

As our review has highlighted, the music at this “Makin Hay” event pretty much stole the show, and the good news is that if you witnessed The Oli’s superb set, you can re-kindle some of that magic via his latest compilation “Long Summer” which is available at http://theoli.podomatic.com. Plus Phil Hewson has laid down a special mix for this “Making Hay” event, which you can download from http://lovechildclub.podomatic.com, while guest South African D.J. Leroy Tayler has also marked the “Makin Hay” occasion with his own compilation, available at http://events.leroytayler.podomatic.com.

"Cherishing This Charming Celebration" - Profile Bar 1st Birthday

2010-07-17T19:46:00.001+01:00

“CHERISHING THIS CHARMING CELEBRATION”
PROFILE BAR 1ST BIRTHDAY- THURSDAY 15TH JULY
BAR REVIEW

It hardly seems a year since we found ourselves soaking up the amazing launch of Profile’s new venue on Wardour Street, the move marrying up with sister Lo-Profile club below and making for much more of a one-stop shop rather than a trek across from the bars old home on Frith Street. It would be fair to say that we never really connected with the old place, not just finding it a little too far off our beaten track, but the mish mash of rooms, not to mention the lofty prices on drinks, always tended to mean we gave it a wide berth. In Wardour Street however, the Profile team have certainly found much more favour, the American diner style & bright black & yellow colour scheme that was a little difficult to adjust to at the beginning, now much more of a pleasure to the eye and given the fact that we often opt for its relaxing & inviting atmosphere to soothe away the stresses & strains of a working day or warm ourselves into the weekend in its clutches, missing out on its 1st anniversary celebration would have been far too rude a prospect.

Having been laid down with a nasty back injury for far too long, yet another day absent from our duties whizzing around London’s roads, our misfortune turned out to be a bit of an advantage as we were in pole position to make it into Soho nice & early and in time for Profile’s birthday bash kick off at 6 p.m. But it has to be said that, when it comes to social engagement time keeping, we are appalling, often turning up later than agreed or planned and tonight was going to be no exception, our tardiness & getting ready meaning we didn’t actually arrive on Wardour Street until what we thought was a fashionably late 8 p.m. However, there we were wrong as all the gAylist glitterati had been in situ long before us, in fact it felt a bit like we were the last to arrive, although our stroll towards Profile’s entrance was t greeted by a throng of friends that included Alessandro Londra, Dee Crooks, Paul Heron, Roni Inan & Sylvia Rebel, all taking a nicotine break breather from the knees up inside.

But inside we were bound, being greeted at the door by a smart & smiling partner in fierceness, Lexi, pronouncing our arrival with a big peck on the check & an equally welcome spoken acknowledgement of “Ratchy” (that’s one of our many nicknames), we then engaging in delightful conversation about this that & the other, as well as comparing facial hair statuses, our bum fluff attempt at a beard pathetic against the more manly designer stubble look of our fierce partner. So intense were our devotions to Lexi, that the scantily clad & sexy Gaydar (owners & sponsors of Profile) go-go dancers who were delighting passers by outside with their enticing & erotic moves in the window, barely caught our eyes, indeed even the shimmering smile of one of the boys didn’t really make much of an impact (were we still thinking of the lovely Luke from Matinee l?!). Instead and with some very welcome complimentary drinks vouchers in hand, we set about making our way to the bar to charge our yet to be filled glass.

Here we faced a veritable wall of people attempting to do the same, the usual issue of cocktail drinks concocting slowing down the service somewhat, although our late(ish) arrival had meant that we had missed the worst of the rush, so it wasn’t long before we had both a refreshing Pimms as well as a glass of champagne in hand, the latter courtesy of D.J. pal Nick Evans, who like many of our companions for the night had chosen a neat spot away from the frantic bar service area. And what a collection of people we were delighting in, as our arrival buddies of Ale, Paul & Roni were added to by a cheerful Danny Shubert, a very tanned Jamie Head, a bubbly Mikey D, and a beaming JC Christopher, not to mention a import of what seemed to whole Q.X. sales force, each & every one of our celebrating crew making the most of the brilliant atmosphere, the ever presence of photographer Chris Jepson completing our picture of prolific Profile-ites, the man himself taking plenty of pictures for posterity and no doubt for use in the popular press (let’s hope not a shot of us, please Chris!).

With the fantastic backdrop of marvellous music being played out by special guest D.J. Tony English, who was accompanied on percussion by David H, like the Matinee party on Sunday, Profile’s birthday bash was becoming a little bit like a who’s who of the scene, but with the refreshing & lightly alcoholically tainted Pimms going down a treat, we were well into our stride savouring the scintillating & sophisticated social splendour we found ourselves within, wafts of canapés floating by held delicately in the air by a wave of wonderful waiters, all dressed to the their high nines & looking the part for this special evening of celebration. In amongst the crowd we managed to grab the momentary attention of General Manager Rosella who was busy marshalling the whole affair and tending to the Gaydar top brass, while our favourite bar man, the gorgeous Philippe, was doing his bit to keep the party on a reasonable straight & narrow, although with the booze bursting over on some people that was always going to be a difficult affair.

Mind you, on momentarily casting our minds back a year, our role in the drunken partner task was so much easier to bear this time round, as clubbing pal Joel, with whom we attended the Profile opening, was absent 12 months on and our other pal, Stephen, who had arrived to join in on the party, was confined to soft drinks on health grounds and seemed not quite himself, our somewhat one-way conversation eventually losing steam, our cougar loving friends thoughts clearly far way, his focus on other things. But nothing was going to get in the way of our enjoyment & merriment, yet more of those now sort after red drinks tickets finding their way into our grip, a cheeky Jamie Head using us like his own private bar man to recharge his & others glasses, well how could we refuse such a cool cucumber of a character and with super speedy treatment from a muscled bronzed & smiling bar man on our slimmer side of the servery, the pleasure was all ours.

Now the party was in full swing and even though we had effectively missed the early bird goodie bag handouts, plenty more suddenly seemed to be making their way into people’s grasps, both Jamie & Paul sporting their goodie gifts, Mr Heron delighting in the fact that the combination of x-rated films and toiletries in his bag would allow for, no we can’t repeat what he said, although suffice to say his comments raised more than an eye-brow or two (you get the drift we are sure!). With pal Stephen clearly having itchy feet to move on however, plans to attend the other birthday bash of the evening, Shadow Lounge’s 9th, were put on hold and eventually dumped in favour of pandering to his needs, but even he wasn’t going to stop us from soaking up the last few more minutes of our stay, a now off duty Lexi trading fierce dancing moves with us as Mr English’s delightful music moved & grooved the place and yet more familiar faces wafted by our spot, including the beautiful Ben Kaye and the vivacious Valerio Narcisi. But not long before the stroke of eleven & giving up a kind invite to continue the cavorting downstairs in Lo-Profile, we made our exiting excuses to our chorus of celebrators and pointed our body compass in a southerly direction, skirting The Shadow Lounge which was beckoning, rather to vroom to Vauxhall for Minty’s Industri, reflecting on a super social splash of an evening and cherishing the charming celebration in the hands of Profile Bar.

In the 12 months Profile has been in existence on Wardour Street, it has seen its fortunes wax & wane, like many venues, having to ride the storm of economic difficulties that have even impacted on a previously safe bet of a social pink pound scene. However, the quality food offer and the sumptuous surroundings, not to mention the convenient proximity to clubbing sister Lo-Profile, have clearly been winning factors in maintaining Profile’s position within the market, added bonuses of SuperMartXe pre-parties & Sunday special events propelling its popularity & securing its standing within the select stream of socialising within Soho. With the continual backing of Gaydar, the deployment of D.J.’s on major evenings and all the hard work of the management team are doing to address to tardy bar service speed reputation will, no doubt, see Profile only go from strength to strength and with both the recent Pride night & now this pulsating party under their belt, the future is certainly looking bright for Profile in their strikingly black & yellow kind of way and they will be getting our support for sure. (DISCO MATT)

Splendid Sunday Sunshine Soiree - Matinee "Open Air Summer" Party - Club Review

2010-07-12T21:22:00.020+01:00

“SPLENDID SUNDAY SUNSHINE SOIREE”
MATINEE “OPEN AIR SUMMER” PARTY – SUNDAY 11TH JULY
CLUB REVIEW

When the Barcelona big brass decided to inject London with a huge syringe full of Matinee potion back in 2006 at Area, they clearly wanted this Spanish superclub to make a considerable impact on the capitals gAylist scene. And it certainly did, further moves first to Fabric in Farringdon, then to Colosseum back in Vauxhall hitting some real high notes & gAylisting moments, although the fateful conclusion for the then promoter at Cable in London Bridge, saw Matinee by this stage, chasing its competitors for plaudits as the best offering in town. Having witnessed some truly amazing events in the brand s history here in Britannia, the early days of Area stand out in a myriad of also ran parties, especially in recent times, when Matinee in London has been struggling to find its true identity, while rival offers like SuperMartXe & Beyond have gone from strength to strength. But when the news came through that Logan Schmitz was taking over this London Latino franchise back on NYD, we always thought something quite spectacular was in store for this, our favourite clubbing brand by far, a construction period leading to what can only be described as a summer sizzler of an event. So what made this Matinee so special? And what is the future for this brilliant brand in Britain?

With the weather forecast of sumptuous sunshine pretty much guaranteed and us wanting to look our Matinee best, we donned a classic 2009 inspired t-shirt, admittedly a little tighter than we would have liked, then hot footed it to Elephant & Castle to arrive at host venue Ministry Of Sound’s doors not long after 1.30 p.m. Immediately our body compass pointed us in the direction of the outside terrace where Paul Heron was laying down heaps of funky chunky outdoor inspired musical mainstream, his choices immediately hitting resonance with the developing crowd, our attempts at avoiding the marauds of Matinee lovers falling at the first hurdle as a poke in our back signalled a smiling & saucy Per Q.X. who, along with his pals, we were well into their sashaying stride, lapping up the bountiful beats of a lively Mr Heron and his energetic, pumping & pulsating musical pace. Indeed, the atmosphere out on this superb sun trap of a space was already spot on, the blue sky contrasting the multicoloured Matinee & other signage below, while the artificial green turf made dancing on the concrete floor much more comfortable & completed the scene, well except for the odd plane flying overhead, we convincing ourselves that one had "Logan Presents" splashed down the side, just like the advertising slogan for this major Matinee party.

But we wanted to check out Bello Alessandro inside, who was treating us to a right royal rousing rendition of hot & happening house, a very uplifting string of sounds contrasting to Paul’s more progressive beats outside. Early naked numbers of Matinee admirers & followers turned into a full on dinner suit selective of gAylist hob nobs of the luxury chocolate coated kind, our unapologetic plaudits of most notable scene faces going to & including off duty D.J.’s Steve Pitron, Jamie Head, Mikey D, Eduardo De La Torre & Nick Tcherniak, delectable dancers Naomi Cruz & Dilmar Brito, press people Chris Jepson, Chris Geary & Cliff Joannou and clubbing collectives Marky B Barrett, Dorin Andrei, Simon Patrick, James Brewer, Roni Inan, & Danny Shubert, an exhaustible list of familiar faces craving for a quick nod and wink in acknowledgement of our presence. Then, as if this glorified gathering wasn't enough for us, an endless chorus line of cavorters were doing their best to get their own slice of our attention, pal Rob, Rupert St boy Oli & even our hairdresser Luis, all succumbing to this outside area which was now full to brimming with people intent on making this a party to remember rather than to forget and anyone who was anyone, cramming onto MOS’s terrace to take in this tremendous Matinee trip of a lifetime.

So the focus was now on partying in prolific alfresco style, the sun beating down on the terrace, Paul Heron’s music choices the perfect recipe for this altogether Ibiza inspired event, the additions of ice cannons & the nifty air horn that played a massive part in the SuperMartXe “Hot Wheels” outing, doing their bit in projecting the pulsating party vibe right across this amazing outdoor space, an excitable Alessandro making the most of both implements to the delight of all around. With photographer extraordinaire Chris Jepson pointing his lens where it didn’t belong (our direction) and the dancing mercury hitting boiling point, the lovely Mauricio’s Matinee fans were a welcome relief from the summer sunrays, although with the space close on bursting point by now, the last thing on our mind was sun protection, rather alfresco dancing audacity with the now late arrival Taito Tikaro rousing our emotions with some truly uplifting tracks that included our favourite “Release Me”, which got its usual hands -in-the-air reaction and sending the atmosphere into enjoyment overdrive. Mind you, it was helped along by the delectable dancers who ascended the podiums astride of the D.J. booth, one of the foursome a perfect specimen of a man, each of his many muscles shimmering in the sunlight and his taught torso tantalising a truck load of looks, Luke Baden-Barnsley being the epitomy of everything that was hot & horny about this Matinee eye catching event, this gorgeous go-go even lavishing attention on us with leading lines of questions that made for our million dollar Matinee moment.

By now we were in absolute wonder of one of the best parties of the year unfolding before our eyes, the atmosphere on this terrific terrace tipping the temperature scales and Spanish resident Taito Tikaro in seventh heaven with his huge house hits that had a hypnotic quality to them. That said, indoors was also getting its say, MOS’s main room now in the charge & direction of Italian stallion Pagano, who was ready to create plenty of drama on the dancefloor with a succession of smash progressive & tech fuelled tunes, very much classic Francesco, that saw more than a handful of hopefuls sink into his sounds, choosing the inside over the outside to fulfil their dancing desires. And despite the football being shown on the selection of screens around this main space, much more attention was directed to the dance tracks being selected, one trademark Pagano track after the next seeing the space swell with swarms of sophisticated scene gAylisters lapping up Francesco’s fabulous & magical music.

But, sinking back into the temptations of the terrace, as being outdoor at this Matinee summer smash was very much the vogue, the summer sunshine gave way to a dimming dusk, prompting the massive terrace florescent lights to illuinate the scene and with dancer/D.J. Marco Da Silva’s soundtrack of scintillating & uplifting inclusions igniting the already amazing atmosphere, we were content in seeing the remainder of our stay at this Matinee magnificence of an extravagant event out on the terrace. Mr Da Silva was certainly pumping up the volume, his dancing pedigree & dexterity showing through in his performance behind the decks, the tunes he was selecting equalling the energy & vitality he was displaying, added to even further by an impromptu advance onto the podium next to the D.J. booth, Logan himself taking up the challenge & ascending the other, much to the delight of their audience of admirers, beeps on the horn & pulses from the ice cannons accentuating their dancing deliveries.

And to be honest, we didn’t want our experience to end, as the music had been so magnificent, the go-go dancers delightful and the party people a perfect complement to this incredible outing so full of the Matinee magic that had been missing from many an event before it. But with 10 p.m. come & gone, eventually Marco gave in to the venues calls to halt this pulsating party, although in truth it could have gone on well into the early hours of Monday morning, such was the enthusiasm for this mesmeric Matinee at MOS. So, we said our farewells to our crowd of cavorting collectives on the terrace, catching those words with the lovely Luke, before sliding into the normality of the surrounding streets and an onward rendezvous with pals Joel & Julian, seeing us waxing lyrically about this magnificent 9 hours of clubbing splendour, in what was sinking in as being not only the best Matinee of the year, but the best party of any we had enjoyed in 2010 so far.

Our memories of Matinee in London are probably some of our most treasured and it can be said that we have witnessed some incredible parties, “Knockout” & “Viva” being right up there, although there was always a comparison to the first forays at Area that, for us, showed the brand in its Saturday best. However, in deciding to take the club back to its Barcelona afterhours origins was a brave yet inspired move by Logan, the idea of linking it all in with an Ibiza styled alfresco outing, proving to be Matinee’s making in London. In doing so, not only has Logan given the brand a new & exciting identity, distinguishing it clearly apart from former competitor in the capital, SuperMartXe, but it has injected much needed vitality into a precariously stale & faltering clubbing scene full of the same old same old. Sunday afternoon clubbing has once again come of age, Matinee spearheading this momentum and gAylist gatherings in the capital courtesy of Mr Schmitz & his superb schmitzels are very much alive & kicking. As the soundtrack to this scintilating summer soiree shouts, we are well & truly "Addicted" to the new style of our favouite clubbing brand, so move over Beyond, the 2010 plaudits will surely be heading Matinee’s way and we cannot wait for the next party, which you must not miss for anything. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

If you were unfortunate to miss out on this magnanimous Matinee, you can get a slice of the superb sounds, as resident D.J. and star of Sunday’s party, Alessandro Londra, has laid down two compilations which are perfect sovenirs of this smash hit of an event. Part One is a nod towards the tougher side of Matinee’s music, while part two very much mirrors Alessandro’s set on Sunday, both worthy additions to your collection, which you can play/download at http://soundcloud.com/djalessandrolondra.

"Fabulous Froliking Funfair" - Later Gay Pride Special - Club Review

2010-07-12T17:09:00.001+01:00

“FABULOUS FROLIKING FUNFAIR”
LATER GAY PRIDE SPECIAL – SUNDAY 4TH JULY
CLUB REVIEW

Since the launch of a club back in 2003, Sunday afternoons have never really been the same, all for good reasons of course, as our dancing shoes on Saturday night along with our unstoppable energies would easily carry us onto the inevitability of a barnstorming & brilliant Beyond (when isn’t it?!), meaning come midday on Sunday we always felt the need to continue the partying, ignoring the normality of general society, rather revelling in the decadent & debaucherous feel that results from dancing deep into what is considered the holy day of the week. Yes, Later has definitely become an institution in daytime clubbing and whilst its fortunes have pitched & yawed over the years, it continues to satisfy the insatiable appetite for many to keep pressing the accelerator in their partying weekend, savouring both the social splendour & the dancing dervishness that Later provides in bucket loads. Add into the mix, a special party in celebration of gay pride and the writing was very much on the wall, shouting that this was going to be a massive success from the start plus a huge draw. So, how did Later fair this time round? And t it meet fulfil the promise on paper?

Well, we were certainly in full throttle as we made our way across from the boiling point that was a brilliant Beyond bash at Area, the short ramble from one side of Vauxhall to the other with pal Benoit finding us at Fire’s entrance at not long before 1 a.m., ready to dance on deep into Sunday afternoon with Jay Sharp Vokins' special Funfair themed party, no doubt indulging in our fair share of alfresco action to boot. So, with no real queue to negotiate we were soon through Fire’s front entrance and into the main room, which was already pumping with action, plenty of revellers soaking up the dance dish being served up by D.J. & Later resident Paul Martin, his uplifting, chunky & funky house hitting resonance with the petrol fuelled party heads intent on burning up the dancefloor. Having dropped our bits & bobs off in the coatcheck and then arming ourselves with refreshments, we were keen to investigate the infamous Later garden, which we anticipated would look more like a mini fairground, although on stepping out into the sun, the team were not quite ready for the reveal and had restricted us to a small square space to soak up the warm Vauxhall afternoon sunshine.

With numbers outside swelling past comfort levels and it being evident that Jay & his merry men were still preparing the funfair, we decided to retreat back indoors onto Fire’s main room dancefloor to delight in the ever increasing atmosphere & crowd to match, giving this latest Later outing a feel of those heady days a few years back when this main arena would be packed to the rafters with post Beyond hedonists pouring in from Colosseum to continue their cavorting. And just like those delightful days, with Beyond at Area emptying out, many were choosing this special Later party as their next port of call, hoards streaming past us, swelling the numbers dramatically. With the dancefloor already pretty much full, it was evident that the continual line of people passing us by were going somewhere, so we peeled off the main room in search of satisfying our curiosity.

Finding ourselves outside again, the whole extent of Jay’s funfair fantastic was before our eyes, the skyline dominated by a huge helter skelter which looked pretty daunting from where we were standing, but soon proved to be the hit of the afternoon, as one screaming queen after the next climbed to the top and then slid down & round, ending up in a heap at the bottom to continual applause from the hoards of onlookers. For the less brave, there was a camp coconut shy, a few walking away with prizes in their hands, pal Dorin clutching a cute cuddly toy and one guy with an actual coconut which he was close to breaking open on his own head, much to the dismay of his friends. But while these playful activities added some real spice to the Later garden proceedings, many were just kicking back & lapping up the glorious sunshine, some dipping into the hot tub, others just relaxing on the plentiful seating. And it was here where we caught up with Industri pal Chris, a welcome addition to our mini fold of followers, who was to the mood to move & groove. So, back inside we went, although we both decided to stop off in the Mirrorarch room, which had been given away to the massive bucking bronco, a whole load of people braving it, holding on for dear life and eventually coming flying off to rapturous laughter & applause by the audience of onlookers.

With our bad back on our minds, we decided to give that option a wide berth, rather heading into Fire’s main space with Chris to boogie to the beats of Mikey D, who was mashing up the dancefloor with some truly hard hitting house tunes, much tougher than we had witnessed during his back-to-back set with Steve Pitron at Beyond, his diversity & ability to play to his audience shining through like the incredible D.J. that he is. Looking around the room, it very much had the feel of those heady days back close to Later’s launch, when the room would be brimming with hedonistic dancing extraordinaire and Mikey was definitely contributing to that electric feel with his fulsome tracks. With pal Chris in full flow, the transition between Mr Dower on the decks and D’Johnny was a smooth as a baby’s bottom, hardly altering the pace of our gyration on our select spot in this now pulsating main room of madness, all thoughts of the outside antics far away from our minds.

But the inevitability of the outside was going to draw us away from the dancing, especially as our legs were now a good 30 hours into their rest free activity. So, finding a comfortable spot to lay our lallies for a while, we watched the world go by, including a whole host of familiar faces & scene party heads, including Rob Ferguson, Romain Lopez, Heidi Liscious, Graham Mellors, and a resplendent Jay loving his funfair creation & rightly so, as well as that cheeky photographer Chris Jepson, who caught us in more than one embarrassing pose, our back giving no quarter to a dodging move from his lens, but probably safe in the knowledge that his fleeting shot of our nether regions would not make it into the popular gay press. With the sun beating down on our now tender head & joints, we didn’t really want to move anywhere, instead deciding to soak up the brilliant atmosphere & audacious funfair antics that were making this one very special Later party.

One last dive onto the dancefloor was the most we could muster now, as the toll of our pride partying was now beginning to tell, although with D’Johnny stirring plenty of emotions & much more besides with his breathtaking tech infused & funky beats, we could hardly resist indulging in what would prove to be our final moving & grooving of the weekend, his magical music & hard hitting house the perfect curtain call to our weekend of clubbing and partying activity, a brilliant Beyond set of his earlier in the day equalled by his lavish Later showing spectacle that was well deserved of the packed out place he was playing to, everyone around us seemingly having the energy & vitality to see this special pride devoted party through to the finish at 8 p.m. However, our weary legs were never going to carry us that far, and as a result our proverbial towel was thrown in on proceedings at just turn 5 p.m., although we were safe in the knowledge that we had savoured all the brilliance of this latest Later outing, one of the best for us in a long while.

Having been bitten by the Later bug a few times in recent weeks now, especially as an audacious antic of a party following the afterhours bash to end them all, Beyond, it was never going to take much for us to extend our already lengthy weekend outing in the hands of Jay & his team this time round. Having said that, the special funfair theme was very much an attraction and given the fact that so much effort had gone in to laying on all this extra entertainment, it made for a fabulous froliking funfair of a party. For those that braved the helter skelter, many were caught in photographic or video pose, for those that bucked the bronco, they had plenty of fun and for the hoards of hedonists that chose to dance their Sunday afternoon away in the hands of Paul Martin, Mikey D, D’Johnny & then The Oli (sorry missed your set), there is absolutely no doubt that the magic of Later parties in bygone years was more than re-captured. We loved every minute of our stay and, for us, this special outing was as good if not better than the Beyond before it, so the only way to conclude is by saying “Jay & your terrific team, keep up the good work”. (DISCO MATT)

"Brilliant Beats At Boiling Point" - Beyond Gay Pride - Club Review

2010-07-10T17:40:00.004+01:00

“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)

"Disco Matt Or Disco Dorothy?" - SuperMartXe "The Wizard of Oz" - Club Review

2010-07-10T10:02:00.002+01:00

“DISCO MATT OR DISCO DOROTHY?”
SUPERMARTXE “THE WIZARD OF OZ” GAY PRIDE SPECIAL
SATURDAY 3RD JULY
CLUB REVIEW

There is certainly no doubting Logan Schmitz’s passion for putting on prolific parties, whether you look back as far as those massive stage shows he was responsible for in the Fabric days of Matinee London, or to the more recent SuperMartXe smashes both at favoured home The Coronet or over at the O2 Academy in Brixton, he seemingly having an incredible knack of attracting a colossal captive audience full of gAylisting clubbers that can spot a god thing when they see it, his reputation for lavishing his outings with prolific P.A.’s some of the top scene D.J.’s and some of the best costumes, production & effects we have seen at any time during our considerable & lengthy time clubbing in the capital. So when news came our way of yet another extravagantly themed event, our expectations for a repeat of recent pulsating parties, not least the last “Hot Wheels” SuperMartXe success, were high. So, with all thoughts turning to Dorothy, Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow & co, did this “Wizard Of Oz” inspired gay pride special meet those expectations of ours? and how did it compare to Logan’s best event yet?

With our post pride celebrations already in full swing courtesy of a brilliant performance from Alessandro at Rupert Street, our arrival at the doors of The Coronet in Elephant & Castle, marking our so called trip down Logan’s yellow brick road in advance our “Wizard Of Oz” experience in SuperMartXe style, was a little later than planned. Having been ticked off the list and efficiently managed through the considerable security checks, our journey towards the emerald city that was the main room was complete by not long turned midnight, finding ourselves down on the main room dancefloor, which was beginning to fill with post pride revellers. Resident D.J. Tony English was rousing the atmosphere with a collection of tough tech inspired tunes with funky infusions that had plenty around us dancing like merry munchkins, our eyes diverting towards the stage front, sporting the famed yellow brick road extending out into the dancefloor at its start and disappearing behind the massive curtain which was shrouding the majority of the stage and very much deluding to the “Wizard of Oz” theme to this latest SuperMartXe instalment.

We were keen to grab refreshments and fuel ourselves for the partying ahead, still conscious of our tender back which was being suitably numbed with painkilling prescription, so headed for the bar area, which was considerably busier than the dancefloor below, it being evident that many were still peeling off from the previous pride celebrations, making it down to this prolific party later than usual. However, by the time we were back down on the dancefloor, all the previous gaps we had spotted had been filled, everyone clearly anticipating the spectacular stage show to come, a few familiar faces floating by, including D.J. Lee Yeomans, and clubbing pal extraordinaire Romano who was clearly surprised to see us sporting a SuperMartXe t-shirt, but like us soaking up the ever building atmosphere & anticipation of the party performance ahead. With Mr English very much in the zone, still pumping out those tech filled & funky beats, we decided to take a quick look at the second room upstairs, being hosted for this special gay pride gathering by alternative club happening “Circus”.

Arriving up in this select space, we were pleasantly surprised to see so many savouring the alternative antics, promoter Jodie Harsh doing her bit behind the decks, but soon handing over to Kris Di Angelis, to take up the mantle and serve up a very much more funky & electro inspired set of tunes which certainly grabbed our attention for a while, as did a beaming Mr Di Angelis, who was thrilled to see us partying before his eyes and marked our second liaison with a matter of hours. But with the incumbent stage show back in the main room on our minds, we soon found ourselves stationed back where we started, just shy of the yellow brick road extension and in time to see the massive spots of lighting swing into action, signalling the start of the much anticipated performance. With a sudden change in the music, very much an “over the rainbow” styled soundtrack, the stage curtains peel back revealing a most elaborate scene including many of the elements of “The Wizard Of Oz” story, Dorothy’s house was there, the winding yellow brick road leading up to the famed emerald city there & much in between, this probably the most eye catching stage dressing we had seen at any SuperMartXe yet.

With a burst of pyrotechnic plumes each side of her, P.A. Abigail Bailey took centre stage & blasted out her massive new club hit “Touch Me”, our eyes filled with Logan’s dancers, all dressed extravagantly in Oz themed costumes. And each dancer was playing their part, Naomi there as the wicked witch, Dilmar as the Scarecrow, the cowardly lion prancing around and even the tin man standing proud on one of the huge elevations. With plenty of others playing their part, not as schmitzels this time but as muchkins, the scene was very much set, while the brilliant beats & towering performance from Abigail was tremendous, she taking the part of Dorothy and suitably clothed in a blue & white check dress as well as sporting those iconic red shoes, By now every single space on the dancefloor was full, each aisle lined with revellers and even the space up by the bar teaming with party goers, all intent on savouring every minute of this SuperMartXe “Wizard of Oz” spectacle, beating off the incredible heat with a field of fans handed out to cool & control their rising temperatures

We wanted to get a better view of this magnificent stage stetting, so retreated from our spot on the main floor & up behind the massive lighting & effects control balcony behind, this vantage point allowing us to take in the full extent of the show which was unfolding before our eyes, all the dancers still very much in position and contributing to the incredible display that was the focal point for our attention. But our view of proceedings was to get even more select, as a very welcoming Svetlana Queen invited us onto her VIP balcony, which had hurriedly been organised following an embarrassing oversight by the venue, this spot not only allowing us to savour the show which extended right throughout the whole event, a further appearance by Abigail later on in proceedings, one of many highlights of the night. And this exclusive spot allowed us to indulge, not just in superb social activity with Svetlana & her select invitees, which included a gaggle of gorgeous latino’s (one very much getting our devotions) lapping up everything before them, but our standpoint was perfect for dancing to the delightful euro styled & funky tunes that main man Hugo Sanchez was treating us to, a shaky start to his set soon seeing him find his stride, delivering close on three hours of funky chunky & tech infused tracks that had us spinning on our spot in adoration.

So good had this SuperMartXe party become and so much were we enjoying our company with Svetlana & co, not to mention the virtually continuous stage show, all plans to move onto to check out the competition, in the form of “The Best of British” party at Fire were extinguished from our thoughts. Then when incumbent D.J. the Italian stallion himself Pagano spotted us on our elevated position, swinging by to say hello before revving up the rhythm behind the decks, our mind was made up and we were going nowhere, rather seeing out the remaining of this dramatic yet scintillating SuperMartXe spectacle. With Mr Francesco playing his part in rounding off our enjoyment, a cheery collection of chunky funky track devotions, he precluding a progressive journey of beats with an uplifting & updated version of the Dead Or Alive classic “You Spin Me Round”, then serving up plenty of drama on the dancefloor, not least from the tribal tainted version of his very own track single of the same name, it was in his hands that we saw out the remainder of our trip down Logan’s yellow brick road & this “Wizard of Oz” fantastic frolic.

Reflecting on this latest SuperMartXe instalment, there is no doubt in our minds that many of our expectations of the event were fulfilled and in some ways were exceeded. It was clear from the remarkable stage production that the centre piece of the party made the biggest impact & impression, the dancers costumes, the displays & all the effects playing out the “Wizard Of Oz” performance perfectly and was very much testament to the hard work that had clearly gone in to laying on this most lavish of shows. On top of that, we thought that Abigail’s PA performance was amazing, her presence & vitality on the stage proving a real highlight of the evening, in some ways overshadowing the D.J.’s and their music, although this takes nothing away from Tony English, Hugo Sanchez & Pagano, each three playing their part in this prolific party.

The only question remains is how did it compared with Logan’s best event? Well, if we are honest, for all the glory of the stage show and how it played out on proceedings, for the fact that from our special vantage point & select spot we couldn’t have been in a better place to enjoy the full extent of the “Wizard Of Oz” spectacle, the previous outstanding “Hot Wheels” party was always going to be a hard act to follow and, as good as this latest instalment was (and believe us, it is was brilliant) it didn’t quite reach dizzy heights of the last outing. That said we thoroughly enjoyed our experience & trip down the yellow brick road, beating off the incredible heat within The Coronet as we did, coming away delighted in the fact that we had witnessed yet another superb SuperMartXe party that, for the stunning stage show more than anything else, will live in our memories for a long time to come. We await the next party with interest & excitable anticipation. (DISCO MATT)