"ONE MASSIVE FESTIVAL, ONE MASSIVE WEEKEND,
ONE MASSIVE RUN-UP”
THE LONDON GLOBAL DANCE FESTIVAL - PRELUDE EVENTS
FRIDAY 28TH TO SUNDAY 30TH MAY
SPECIAL REVIEW
Never in the relatively short time that we have been writing about this most prolific gAylist/land London scene that we find ourselves wrapped within, has one event dominated our lives like The London Global Dance Festival (LGDF) has, and as news began to filter through as to exactly when & where this massive festival would take place, we began not only to prepare ourselves for a hectic weekend of clubbing activity, soaking up a veritable feast of international D.J. talent flying into London especially, but also began to map out in our minds quite how we would report on each party that would go on to make up THE biggest weekend of clubbing we have experienced in a long time.
Therefore, to match the massive scale of this amazing festival, our aftermath reflection has drawn us to posting this special review, focussing on the parties leading up to the main event, each section giving you a feel for not just the influence LGDF had over these established club nights, but also giving justice to each of them in their own right. Whilst each section of this review is slightly briefer than our usual reports, it nevertheless makes for on massive review to reflect the massive run-up to the main event on the Sunday. But, before we go on, we have to thank both Alex Erfan & Craig Elder, without whom LGDF would have been a mere pipe dream. And with music being the central theme of the festival, watch out as we break with tradition, giving you links to some specially commissioned mix compilations.
So, where did this massive festival weekend start? Well, at the Friday night phenomenon Onyx of course, the club hailed as the newcomer hit of 2009 by tip top clubbing website Seen Queen (link http://seenqueen.com) which also seems to be going from strength to strength under the new direction of incumbent promoter Jonny Marsh and definitely THE place to start any weekend of audacity. With this LGDF “Onyx” Opening Party, the feel was distinctly European with La Demence & Rapido resident D.J. Dikky Vendetta headlining the band of disc meisters, as well as the usual explosive ingredients of angle grind & fire eating performers together with the incredible lighting & pyrotechnic effects that have made host venue Area one of the capital’s most popular & favoured dance hangouts. Add to all that a brilliant P.A. and D.J. regulars Phil Marriot, Jamie Hammond, Lee Harris, Lisa German, Ariel & special addition The Very Miss Dusty O and, on paper at least, this had all the makings of a thrilling curtain raiser to the LGDF weekend.
Arriving at just after midnight, we caught a departing Jamie Hammond, we disappointed having missed his set, this young talent certainly making musical waves on the scene, although on weaving our way through the Terrace Bar where Lisa German was ripping up the room with her tech & electro infused beats, then parading through the Blackbox middle room, set aside for the more pop inspired enthusiasts, Lee Harris demonstrating his diversity behind the decks, it was clear that this was going to be one hell of a party. But it was to get even better on arriving in the main room, already in full flow with that amazing lighting & effects we had talked about, plus with some very sexy looking go-go dancers on the podiums, the whole space was pulsating with action, aided & abetted by the mesmerising music D.J. Phil Marriot was serving up, none of your pop or commercial sounds here, but deep & progressive beats yet with uplifting tones that had us spinning on our favourite spot just shy of the booth in an instant. And here we got a brilliant view of the expanse of the room, dominated by a huge & glittering “London Global Dance Festival” sign at one end shouting a statement, along with the subsequent PA performance and the fire eaters, the heat of the flames distinctly noticeable even from our distance.
As much as we were enjoying Phil’s sounds, the direction in his music then took a slightly lighter direction, which was then to signal the arrival of International D.J. star Dikky Vendetta, who took to the decks and immediately pumped the mood with a succession of dancefloor fillers, including the massive “Release Me” which sent us and all around into stratospheric delight, the lighting at full tilt, the dancers dipping up & down into moves on the podiums and the atmosphere truly electric (take a glimpse at this video clip for a taste of the fantastic feel Dikky was creating; http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=629611276&ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=401723246276&ref=mf). So, while the rest of the club deserved some of our attention, so good was Dikky’s performance, that we were going absolutely nowhere, rather consuming record after record that clearly demonstrated why this man is so popular at La Demence & particularly Rapido in Amsterdam and a real highlight for the start of our LGDF weekend.
The call of the next in the chain of eight events eventually tore us away from Dikky & his delightful dance music, as we were A.M. bound and into the welcoming arms of hostess Naomi, looking as glamorous as ever, yet warming up for her own podium prancing along with the enthralling Elektra & Enrique, all who were to provide the eye catching entertainment, helped along with the musical magnificence of resident D.J.’s D’Johnny, Gonzalo & Alan K in the main room, while over in the “Vinyl” lounge, proceedings would be perfected by Jamie Head & Terry Bryan, this afterhours action given the LGDF influence & treatment by inbound Spanish superstar D.J. Luque (of Sunday’s at Heaven fame), a household name in his home country and a real coup for the organisers of this massive London festival of dance.
And right from the off, we were in mesmeric mood, as D’Johnny infected us with his truly funky electro & tech infused beats that has is in a dancing dervish in our hard fought spot next to the D.J. booth and in prime position to see Elektra & co do their thing on the podiums. Mr Johnny was certainly laying down some serious sounds and got the room absolutely rocking with his rapturous renditions, leaving us breathless with his brilliance & craving for more, we losing count the amount of occasions where he has hit our musical sweet spot with his selections (why not get your fill of his prolific performance by checking out his specially dedicated compilation at http://soundcloud.com/djohnny/sets/am-2010-05-29) and this was no exception, he lifting our flagging energy levels to match our mood & touching us with every track, creating a heaven of his own.
With Johnny’s set over and Gonzalo Rivas taking to the decks, we shimmied through to the Vinyl lounge and wandered up to the D.J. booth to find Jamie Head standing proud and playing out some delightful disco tinged house music tracks, very evocative of the Hed Kandi style of sounds that we adore, so it was here that we held station for a while, lapping up the joyful Jamie jamboree, this intimate lounge space having steadily grown on us since venturing back to Fire full time just months before, the lighter beats & the more informal atmosphere the perfect retreat from the machinations of the main room. And our venture back into the activity of A.M.’s premier space was delayed further when ace D.J. delight Terry Bryan assumed to decks, continuing where Jamie had left off, delivering some delicious dance drenched beats that had this flamboyant fashioned space pumping in adoration, even star of the opening party Dikky Vendetta, lapping up Terry’s tunes and remarking to us just how fabulous the feel of the place was compared with his hometown offerings.
But with D.J. Luque due behind the main room decks, this was where we headed for our final fling, soaking up the remaining minutes of Gonzalo’s performance, trademark tech & progressive beats mixed in with the occasional uplifting house hit that very much paved the way for fellow Spaniard Luque, who took to the place perfectly and certainly showed his experience spinning sounds, with a glorious collection of chunky house that kept the dancefloor filled with feverish frenzy deep into Saturday morning and the eventual clutches of Alan K & his multi mixing magic that lifted the atmosphere even further, inspiring our legs to carry us cavorting right to the end of this “international” A.M. outing in the lap of luxury to our ears, the roar of Dennis Christopher’s remix of “No More Lies” one among many memories of this master at work.
With Saturday turning into Sunday, our attention was diverted to Elephant & Castle for SuperMartXe’s latest offering “Hot Wheels”, we missed out on the third LGDF party which was set aside for the turn of Patrick Lilley’s cool club, Queer Nation, to take centre stage at Fire, bringing an altogether East Coast America style theme to proceedings, with guest D.J. Robert Owens jetting in from Chicago and superb P.A. & singer diva Barbara Tucker touching down from New York, to inject her powerful vocals & huge stage presence on the event. Joining the usual Queer Nation resident D.J.’s was be Guy Williams, who was reported to have rocked the Mirrorarch room with his tech & euro house, while Alan X went much more delectably disco on the crowd in the lounge space, the whole party a super success, not least from the prolific P.A, performance by Barbara who bashed out some stupendous songs to steal the show.
For us, the best was yet to come in the run up to the main LGDF event, as Beyond then took centre stage for its “Universe” party and was always going to be a roadblock event, not least as it is the place where the masses from SuperMartXe always like to continue the party, but with it being a Bank Holiday weekend too, Sunday morning has become the new Saturday night and in this legendary afterhours, it couldn’t be more perfect. And with the impeccable line-up of resident D.J.’s that included Mikey D, Steve Pitron, & Alan K, in the main room, Hifi Sean, D’Johnny, & Terry Bryan in the Terrace while David Jimenez & Gonzalo Rivas looked after the Blackbox, the LGDF influence was to come from the gorgeous German, Chris Bekker, joining the dream team of Mikey, Steve & Alan in the Beyond main room.
Arriving from SuperMartXe at just before 6 a.m. and being greeted by a busy yet in control master of the door, Tom, who was impressively managing the massive queue of people that stretched as far as our bleary eyes could see (and that was far enough!). we were advanced to the head of the guestlist gathering and yet again the welcoming grasp of Naomi, herself fresh from her SuperMartXe exploits yet ready to party on with the best of us. And from the minute we stepped into Area’s doors we felt it was going to be a busy Beyond, although hadn’t quite prepared ourselves for just how packed it would be, safely negotiating the Terrace room, although not before saying our hello’s to Terry Bryan behind the decks, then squeezing our way through the Blackbox room, full with revellers soaking up the hard house sounds of a resplendent David Jimenez, back to Beyond where he definitely belongs, after a stay of absence and clearly pleased to be in the thick of the action.
But we were main room bound to savour the dynamic duo of Mikey D & Steve Pitron going back-to-back in a special three hour set warm up, to find the whole place hot rather than warm as well as packed with hoards of hedonists clearly intent on matching the magnificent music with their demonstrative dancing, even in the more tightly packed dancefloor. And such was the sheer volume of bodies, half naked muscular torso’s vying for a slice of space with an eclectic mix of beaming boys & glitzy girls gyrating gloriously to the bombastic beats, that our usual spot, just left of the D.J. booth was full, leaving us to find enough room to move & groove in the corridor behind, grabbing the casting gazes of the toilet attendants with our extravert dancing that has become a trademark of our Beyond boisterousness like no other club we know. This was no surprise, the Dower & Pitron combo enriched the electric energy running through the veins of the main room with his stupendous selections, rushing the blood round our bodies at an ever increasing rate, our heart struggling to keep up, especially with the added eye candy attraction of this gorgeous tall guy whom we had remarked on with a pal when we spotted him behind the bar at Profile just days before.
Only momentary trips to the outside space for some air tore us away from the terrific tunes being delivered by the duo, our retreats allowing us to catch up on the Terrace takings from Hifi Sean, who’s deep yet funky filled records kept us from dashing back to the main room for a while, although with an incumbent Chris Bekker about to start, we had to return to the scene of our earlier dancing dervishness, still unable to actually dance on the main floor, rather relenting to others in favour of sufficient space to spin to the sounds. Mr Bekker’s beats were brilliant and well deserved of his headlining position in this “Universe” labelled Beyond bash, but our excitement was to erupt even further with the arrival of Alan K who, like us, was truly amazed with the numbers in the club, definitely the busiest we have seen Area ever and probably a little too busy for comfort. But that wasn’t going to put us off, as Mr mixing maestro took to the decks and within minutes had treated us to mind-blowing multi mixes of “Release Me”, “Underground” & “Downpipe” that set the tone for the remaining couple of hours of our stay, Alan thriving on the amorous atmosphere and rounding off a Beyond party to remember in scintillating style (check out his specially dedicated LGDF mix at http://djalank.podomatic.com/ that gives you an essence of just how good his set was).
With our legs very much worn out and the incredible heat, first succumbed in SuperMartXe and then dancing in that corridor in Beyond, no energy boosting liquid was going to get is to Later and their “Global Edition” party, which if we had of done so, may well have sidelined us from the main LGDF event. But with news of South African guest D.J. Leroy Tayler stamping his authority on the party and the sunny afternoon filling the all improved Later Garden to capacity coming through, we had instead headed home to reflect on 30 hours of clubbing over two days that was our own “massive run-up”, safe in the knowledge that we had savoured some very special international D.J’s on duty, that in collaboration with the various London residents that had all delivered the best combination of dance music we had heard in a long time.
So, what did we think of the first few instalments of this London Global Dance Festival? And what were the real highlights for us? Well, having got used to the idea that the whole festival would be spread between just two venues in Vauxhall, encapsulating the regular weekend parties in the run up to the main LGDF event, we were actually quite impressed with the effort that had clearly gone in to make each party feel that little bit more international. Each of the three overseas D.J.’s we witnessed in action very much played their part making more of a global mark on these London based club outings, but in doing so, also highlighted just how much tremendous talent we have right on our doorstep. Picking out four from the bunch of bravado’s was tricky, but D’Johnny’s set in the main room at A.M., then that prolific back-to-back performance by Mikey D & Steve Pitron, rounded off by a awe inspiring showing from Alan K in Beyond served as real highlights, although our hats go off to the rest of the London based jocks, as well as D.J’s Lugue, Chris Bekker & especially Dikky Vendetta, who proved that he can hold his own with the best of the brits and pull out a pulsating performance. All in all, with Onyx, A.M. & then Beyond, we were unquestionably put in the LGDF mood, our appetite well & truly whet for the activity which lay ahead. (DISCO MATT)
ONE MASSIVE RUN-UP”
THE LONDON GLOBAL DANCE FESTIVAL - PRELUDE EVENTS
FRIDAY 28TH TO SUNDAY 30TH MAY
SPECIAL REVIEW
Never in the relatively short time that we have been writing about this most prolific gAylist/land London scene that we find ourselves wrapped within, has one event dominated our lives like The London Global Dance Festival (LGDF) has, and as news began to filter through as to exactly when & where this massive festival would take place, we began not only to prepare ourselves for a hectic weekend of clubbing activity, soaking up a veritable feast of international D.J. talent flying into London especially, but also began to map out in our minds quite how we would report on each party that would go on to make up THE biggest weekend of clubbing we have experienced in a long time.
Therefore, to match the massive scale of this amazing festival, our aftermath reflection has drawn us to posting this special review, focussing on the parties leading up to the main event, each section giving you a feel for not just the influence LGDF had over these established club nights, but also giving justice to each of them in their own right. Whilst each section of this review is slightly briefer than our usual reports, it nevertheless makes for on massive review to reflect the massive run-up to the main event on the Sunday. But, before we go on, we have to thank both Alex Erfan & Craig Elder, without whom LGDF would have been a mere pipe dream. And with music being the central theme of the festival, watch out as we break with tradition, giving you links to some specially commissioned mix compilations.
So, where did this massive festival weekend start? Well, at the Friday night phenomenon Onyx of course, the club hailed as the newcomer hit of 2009 by tip top clubbing website Seen Queen (link http://seenqueen.com) which also seems to be going from strength to strength under the new direction of incumbent promoter Jonny Marsh and definitely THE place to start any weekend of audacity. With this LGDF “Onyx” Opening Party, the feel was distinctly European with La Demence & Rapido resident D.J. Dikky Vendetta headlining the band of disc meisters, as well as the usual explosive ingredients of angle grind & fire eating performers together with the incredible lighting & pyrotechnic effects that have made host venue Area one of the capital’s most popular & favoured dance hangouts. Add to all that a brilliant P.A. and D.J. regulars Phil Marriot, Jamie Hammond, Lee Harris, Lisa German, Ariel & special addition The Very Miss Dusty O and, on paper at least, this had all the makings of a thrilling curtain raiser to the LGDF weekend.
Arriving at just after midnight, we caught a departing Jamie Hammond, we disappointed having missed his set, this young talent certainly making musical waves on the scene, although on weaving our way through the Terrace Bar where Lisa German was ripping up the room with her tech & electro infused beats, then parading through the Blackbox middle room, set aside for the more pop inspired enthusiasts, Lee Harris demonstrating his diversity behind the decks, it was clear that this was going to be one hell of a party. But it was to get even better on arriving in the main room, already in full flow with that amazing lighting & effects we had talked about, plus with some very sexy looking go-go dancers on the podiums, the whole space was pulsating with action, aided & abetted by the mesmerising music D.J. Phil Marriot was serving up, none of your pop or commercial sounds here, but deep & progressive beats yet with uplifting tones that had us spinning on our favourite spot just shy of the booth in an instant. And here we got a brilliant view of the expanse of the room, dominated by a huge & glittering “London Global Dance Festival” sign at one end shouting a statement, along with the subsequent PA performance and the fire eaters, the heat of the flames distinctly noticeable even from our distance.
As much as we were enjoying Phil’s sounds, the direction in his music then took a slightly lighter direction, which was then to signal the arrival of International D.J. star Dikky Vendetta, who took to the decks and immediately pumped the mood with a succession of dancefloor fillers, including the massive “Release Me” which sent us and all around into stratospheric delight, the lighting at full tilt, the dancers dipping up & down into moves on the podiums and the atmosphere truly electric (take a glimpse at this video clip for a taste of the fantastic feel Dikky was creating; http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=629611276&ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=401723246276&ref=mf). So, while the rest of the club deserved some of our attention, so good was Dikky’s performance, that we were going absolutely nowhere, rather consuming record after record that clearly demonstrated why this man is so popular at La Demence & particularly Rapido in Amsterdam and a real highlight for the start of our LGDF weekend.
The call of the next in the chain of eight events eventually tore us away from Dikky & his delightful dance music, as we were A.M. bound and into the welcoming arms of hostess Naomi, looking as glamorous as ever, yet warming up for her own podium prancing along with the enthralling Elektra & Enrique, all who were to provide the eye catching entertainment, helped along with the musical magnificence of resident D.J.’s D’Johnny, Gonzalo & Alan K in the main room, while over in the “Vinyl” lounge, proceedings would be perfected by Jamie Head & Terry Bryan, this afterhours action given the LGDF influence & treatment by inbound Spanish superstar D.J. Luque (of Sunday’s at Heaven fame), a household name in his home country and a real coup for the organisers of this massive London festival of dance.
And right from the off, we were in mesmeric mood, as D’Johnny infected us with his truly funky electro & tech infused beats that has is in a dancing dervish in our hard fought spot next to the D.J. booth and in prime position to see Elektra & co do their thing on the podiums. Mr Johnny was certainly laying down some serious sounds and got the room absolutely rocking with his rapturous renditions, leaving us breathless with his brilliance & craving for more, we losing count the amount of occasions where he has hit our musical sweet spot with his selections (why not get your fill of his prolific performance by checking out his specially dedicated compilation at http://soundcloud.com/djohnny/sets/am-2010-05-29) and this was no exception, he lifting our flagging energy levels to match our mood & touching us with every track, creating a heaven of his own.
With Johnny’s set over and Gonzalo Rivas taking to the decks, we shimmied through to the Vinyl lounge and wandered up to the D.J. booth to find Jamie Head standing proud and playing out some delightful disco tinged house music tracks, very evocative of the Hed Kandi style of sounds that we adore, so it was here that we held station for a while, lapping up the joyful Jamie jamboree, this intimate lounge space having steadily grown on us since venturing back to Fire full time just months before, the lighter beats & the more informal atmosphere the perfect retreat from the machinations of the main room. And our venture back into the activity of A.M.’s premier space was delayed further when ace D.J. delight Terry Bryan assumed to decks, continuing where Jamie had left off, delivering some delicious dance drenched beats that had this flamboyant fashioned space pumping in adoration, even star of the opening party Dikky Vendetta, lapping up Terry’s tunes and remarking to us just how fabulous the feel of the place was compared with his hometown offerings.
But with D.J. Luque due behind the main room decks, this was where we headed for our final fling, soaking up the remaining minutes of Gonzalo’s performance, trademark tech & progressive beats mixed in with the occasional uplifting house hit that very much paved the way for fellow Spaniard Luque, who took to the place perfectly and certainly showed his experience spinning sounds, with a glorious collection of chunky house that kept the dancefloor filled with feverish frenzy deep into Saturday morning and the eventual clutches of Alan K & his multi mixing magic that lifted the atmosphere even further, inspiring our legs to carry us cavorting right to the end of this “international” A.M. outing in the lap of luxury to our ears, the roar of Dennis Christopher’s remix of “No More Lies” one among many memories of this master at work.
With Saturday turning into Sunday, our attention was diverted to Elephant & Castle for SuperMartXe’s latest offering “Hot Wheels”, we missed out on the third LGDF party which was set aside for the turn of Patrick Lilley’s cool club, Queer Nation, to take centre stage at Fire, bringing an altogether East Coast America style theme to proceedings, with guest D.J. Robert Owens jetting in from Chicago and superb P.A. & singer diva Barbara Tucker touching down from New York, to inject her powerful vocals & huge stage presence on the event. Joining the usual Queer Nation resident D.J.’s was be Guy Williams, who was reported to have rocked the Mirrorarch room with his tech & euro house, while Alan X went much more delectably disco on the crowd in the lounge space, the whole party a super success, not least from the prolific P.A, performance by Barbara who bashed out some stupendous songs to steal the show.
For us, the best was yet to come in the run up to the main LGDF event, as Beyond then took centre stage for its “Universe” party and was always going to be a roadblock event, not least as it is the place where the masses from SuperMartXe always like to continue the party, but with it being a Bank Holiday weekend too, Sunday morning has become the new Saturday night and in this legendary afterhours, it couldn’t be more perfect. And with the impeccable line-up of resident D.J.’s that included Mikey D, Steve Pitron, & Alan K, in the main room, Hifi Sean, D’Johnny, & Terry Bryan in the Terrace while David Jimenez & Gonzalo Rivas looked after the Blackbox, the LGDF influence was to come from the gorgeous German, Chris Bekker, joining the dream team of Mikey, Steve & Alan in the Beyond main room.
Arriving from SuperMartXe at just before 6 a.m. and being greeted by a busy yet in control master of the door, Tom, who was impressively managing the massive queue of people that stretched as far as our bleary eyes could see (and that was far enough!). we were advanced to the head of the guestlist gathering and yet again the welcoming grasp of Naomi, herself fresh from her SuperMartXe exploits yet ready to party on with the best of us. And from the minute we stepped into Area’s doors we felt it was going to be a busy Beyond, although hadn’t quite prepared ourselves for just how packed it would be, safely negotiating the Terrace room, although not before saying our hello’s to Terry Bryan behind the decks, then squeezing our way through the Blackbox room, full with revellers soaking up the hard house sounds of a resplendent David Jimenez, back to Beyond where he definitely belongs, after a stay of absence and clearly pleased to be in the thick of the action.
But we were main room bound to savour the dynamic duo of Mikey D & Steve Pitron going back-to-back in a special three hour set warm up, to find the whole place hot rather than warm as well as packed with hoards of hedonists clearly intent on matching the magnificent music with their demonstrative dancing, even in the more tightly packed dancefloor. And such was the sheer volume of bodies, half naked muscular torso’s vying for a slice of space with an eclectic mix of beaming boys & glitzy girls gyrating gloriously to the bombastic beats, that our usual spot, just left of the D.J. booth was full, leaving us to find enough room to move & groove in the corridor behind, grabbing the casting gazes of the toilet attendants with our extravert dancing that has become a trademark of our Beyond boisterousness like no other club we know. This was no surprise, the Dower & Pitron combo enriched the electric energy running through the veins of the main room with his stupendous selections, rushing the blood round our bodies at an ever increasing rate, our heart struggling to keep up, especially with the added eye candy attraction of this gorgeous tall guy whom we had remarked on with a pal when we spotted him behind the bar at Profile just days before.
Only momentary trips to the outside space for some air tore us away from the terrific tunes being delivered by the duo, our retreats allowing us to catch up on the Terrace takings from Hifi Sean, who’s deep yet funky filled records kept us from dashing back to the main room for a while, although with an incumbent Chris Bekker about to start, we had to return to the scene of our earlier dancing dervishness, still unable to actually dance on the main floor, rather relenting to others in favour of sufficient space to spin to the sounds. Mr Bekker’s beats were brilliant and well deserved of his headlining position in this “Universe” labelled Beyond bash, but our excitement was to erupt even further with the arrival of Alan K who, like us, was truly amazed with the numbers in the club, definitely the busiest we have seen Area ever and probably a little too busy for comfort. But that wasn’t going to put us off, as Mr mixing maestro took to the decks and within minutes had treated us to mind-blowing multi mixes of “Release Me”, “Underground” & “Downpipe” that set the tone for the remaining couple of hours of our stay, Alan thriving on the amorous atmosphere and rounding off a Beyond party to remember in scintillating style (check out his specially dedicated LGDF mix at http://djalank.podomatic.com/ that gives you an essence of just how good his set was).
With our legs very much worn out and the incredible heat, first succumbed in SuperMartXe and then dancing in that corridor in Beyond, no energy boosting liquid was going to get is to Later and their “Global Edition” party, which if we had of done so, may well have sidelined us from the main LGDF event. But with news of South African guest D.J. Leroy Tayler stamping his authority on the party and the sunny afternoon filling the all improved Later Garden to capacity coming through, we had instead headed home to reflect on 30 hours of clubbing over two days that was our own “massive run-up”, safe in the knowledge that we had savoured some very special international D.J’s on duty, that in collaboration with the various London residents that had all delivered the best combination of dance music we had heard in a long time.
So, what did we think of the first few instalments of this London Global Dance Festival? And what were the real highlights for us? Well, having got used to the idea that the whole festival would be spread between just two venues in Vauxhall, encapsulating the regular weekend parties in the run up to the main LGDF event, we were actually quite impressed with the effort that had clearly gone in to make each party feel that little bit more international. Each of the three overseas D.J.’s we witnessed in action very much played their part making more of a global mark on these London based club outings, but in doing so, also highlighted just how much tremendous talent we have right on our doorstep. Picking out four from the bunch of bravado’s was tricky, but D’Johnny’s set in the main room at A.M., then that prolific back-to-back performance by Mikey D & Steve Pitron, rounded off by a awe inspiring showing from Alan K in Beyond served as real highlights, although our hats go off to the rest of the London based jocks, as well as D.J’s Lugue, Chris Bekker & especially Dikky Vendetta, who proved that he can hold his own with the best of the brits and pull out a pulsating performance. All in all, with Onyx, A.M. & then Beyond, we were unquestionably put in the LGDF mood, our appetite well & truly whet for the activity which lay ahead. (DISCO MATT)
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