"Proud To Be Pride" - Pride London 2010 - Special Event Review

“PROUD TO BE PRIDE”
PRIDE LONDON 2010 – FRIDAY/SATURDAY 2ND/3RD JULY
SPECIAL EVENT REVIEW


Now, in years gone by we have always attempted to throw ourselves into the pride spirit, in fact back in the 90’s we absolutely adored our times both partying & working at the massive post parade (we don’t like the analogy march) park gatherings, special memories of Kennington, Brockwell & Finsbury Park parties, as well as Clapham Common, still clear in our minds, although the turn of the century saw other work commitments get in the way, limited our pride devotions to special clubbing events. However, 2010 was set to be completely different, as not only were we enthused by the whole Pride London activity, but we were keen to absorb as much of the goings on as possible, well we were until an untimely accident lay us low with a bad back (but you know all about that). Mind you, plenty of rest followed by lots of determination saw us not just savour the before & the after, but plenty of the in between too. So sit back as we take you though our escapades from Friday to Saturday night, signalling our celebratory return to Pride partying & being. "proud to be pride".

So where do we start? Well at the beginning is a good place and with one of the busiest weekends on our doorstep and wishing to look out best, it was off into Soho to get our golden locks (well grey bits actually) trimmed in time for the following day, our Friday jaunt into town then finding us in the capable & hilarious hands of D.J. pal Brent Nicholls, who was spinning the sounds at Profile Bar, but like us was struggling with conflicts to his body, we being a right pair, him with his summery allergies and us with our crippling back pain. However, braving each other’s health ridden storms, we laughed & giggled our way through the evening, the backdrop of fabulously funky music, not to mention plenty of eye candy in the form of a scantily dressed young barman certainly sent plenty of healing waves our way and got the weekend off to the best possible start. But as no great party really starts without a pre-party these days, our evening’s entertainment was to end in the hands of Onyx down in Vauxhall, venue Area positively buzzing with pre-pride activity and magical music aplenty, superb performances from both Jamie Hammond & Phil Marriot more than satisfying our tastebuds, the ever attentive Tom ensuring our smooth entry to the club & our early(ish) retirement, so as not to ruin the marathon road of activity ahead.

With pride day dawning to warming sunshine, we were ready for our first foray into Central London to savour Pride London 2010 in all its glory, indeed our first full on pride experience for close on ten years. Being much more organised than usual and with our back seemingly much better after all our therapeutic laughing the previous night, we arrived at the head of the traffic diversions in Parliament Square just before 1 p.m., a good thirty minutes before the parade was due to start across the other side of the west end in Baker Street, so plenty of time to position ourselves in our favoured viewing spot by Piccadilly Circus, or so you would think. However, having decided to take a quick look at the dance stage setting in Leicester Square on the way, what can only be described as the rudest & surliest security guard, who treated us with a most unwelcome amount of distain when we enquired whether the stage was open, forced an immediate detour to vent our frustrations & them calm our fraying nerves, calling on pals in Rupert Street & arming ourselves with cooling liquid refreshments.

With 2 p.m. fast approaching, we began to hot foot it across the short distance to Piccadilly Circus, although were soon stopped in our tracks by a chatty Micky Galliano & Andrew Harris, both soaking up the warm summer sunshine beating down onto Archer Street, we picking up on hilarious anecdotes with both Micky & Andrew, recalling on recent clubbing experiences & dancefloor moments, the intensity of the conversation & yet more of that therapeutic laughter detaining us from our parade watching duties longer than we had expected, meaning it was close on 2.30 before we got anywhere near the parade, which seemed to have been diverted away from its usual route. Making it to Piccadilly Circus, we managed to catch the last ten minutes or so of this colourful cacophony of gay liberation celebrators, flags flying, whistles blowing & waves of people parading past this ionic London landmark of a spot, very much being proud to be pride, large floats making a splendid splash, although we managed to miss the “Best Of Brits” mini we were so looking forward to seeing.

So, with the last of the parade trail gone, we turned tail and headed for the dance stage in Leicester Square, which we were sure would be in full flow by now, arriving at just turned 3 p.m. and making our way to stage front, suitably impressed by the set up, given the short notice nature of arrangements, the usual site of the dance stage in Soho Square having been prohibited by Westminster council on grounds of safety, but an 11th hour reprieve handed to Craig Elder & his team to use Leicester Square instead. Mind you, with no drinks stalls of any kind within the arena and alcohol banned from the square, the atmosphere, to begin with, was a little subdued, although D’Johnny was definitely doing a fantastic job behind the decks, rousing the audience with a whole collection of funky chunky tunes, very much in the style of his brilliant Beyond inspired beats we love so much. Catching Tom Fuller’s attention, our passage to the select VIP area behind the stage was secure, following which a whole host of friendly faces appeared to say hello, including clubbing pals, Jason, Ross & the huggable Rob, not to mention D.J. chums Jamie Head, Mikey D, Steven Sharp & Nick Evans, the square filling with pride party goers before our very eyes and the atmosphere building by the minute.

We were keen to check out proceedings down on Trafalgar Square, although the streets leading up to it were swarming with people who had either peeled off from the earlier parade or had decided to venture in search of Soho, our arrival at our destination confirming our fears that the whole area would be packed to the rafters. Finding what seemed the only reasonable space to stand, we had a good view of the square below, although being so far away, the performers on the stage were hardly visible, save from the massive screen next to it, which made for easy viewing, even if the show at the time, Tight Fit (a real blast from the past), wasn’t that inspiring. With the dance stage calling us loud & clear, we headed back to Leicester Square just in time to capture the bulk of Jamie & Mikey’s back-to-back set performance, a brilliant collection of hands in the air anthems, mixed in with characteristic vocal electro & tech inspired tunes that set the scene for The Oli & Paul Martin to follow.

By now Soho was awash with alfresco drinkers & socialites intent on making the whole area a street party like never seen before, hardly a spot unoccupied, a space unfilled, so much so our foray onto Rupert Street saw us soon retreat to the relative comfort of Barcode, first bumping into the lovely Jeremy Precelton & partner Tim Banham, then head poncho Kerry Chapman. Having caught up on news we dived inside to say our hello’s to longstanding pal Kris Di Angelis, who was warming up the Barcode pride party with some soothing sounds, he being thrilled to see us, bounding out from behind the booth to give us a big hug, gripping our back a little harder than we would have liked, although the liaison did bring a huge smile to our face, memories of our Soho frolics in years gone by, streaming back in our minds. However, as joyous as the meet up with Kris was, the dance stage was once again calling us back, we rounding the corner into Leicester Square just in time to catch the last few beats of Alan K’s latest rendition of our favourite track “Release Me” and by the time we were stationed within the VIP area, we could see he had really captured the audience’s attention & imagination, the atmosphere having increased considerably, hoards of revellers soaking up Alan’s monumental music with gusto. So it was here that we stayed, seeing out the remaining two hours of activity, our occasional dancing dervishes intermixed with social schmoozing & chit chat with both Elder brothers, photographer Chris Jepson (subsequent evidence confirming he caught in pose with his camera, the sneaky man!), club promoter Romain Lopez & a resplendent Naomi, we being pleased as punch to get our slice of Jiggy magic on this special day. With Peyton putting up a prolific PA performance & The Sharp Boys rounding off this brilliant outdoor event in the hands of the dance stage in Leicester Square with a rip roaring set, the 8 p.m. finish came all too quickly but signalled our retreat back into Soho to continue to pride party activity deep into the night.

As good as the music was in the square we had left behind, it was set to get even better, as entering our favourite bar hangout Rupert St, we spotted a resplendent Alessandro Londra through the crowd, already spinning some scintillating & uplifting beats to a packed out place. Finding a sacred spot next to the D.J. booth, we immediately found our stride, soaking up Ale’s tremendous tunes, his whole performance very much with pride in mind, not least with a truly uplifting Lady Ga Ga mix, plenty of the funky euro/italio style sounds that have become his trademark, as well as a special dedication to us of that record again, “Release Me” getting a rapturous reaction from all around us. With the party atmosphere ramping up by the minute & plenty of familiar faces floating, Alessandro was revelling in the moment, his music hitting all our high notes, making for one of those truly memorable performances that he always seems to deliver within the walls of this Soho sophisticate of a bar.

Not much could have torn us away from the amazing Alessandro & his music, although a quick trip up to Profile Bar, weaving our way around the packed & crowed streets, saw a return to the spot where our Pride weekend had started just over 24 hours before, as Nick Evans was banging out some brilliant beats to an up for it funky collection of party heads, we delighting in seeing the venue so full of fun once again, in some ways completing the circle of our proud to be pride inspired central London antics. However, with our mind now set of the chain of clubbing parties ahead of us, it was back to Rupert St to soak up yet more of that Londra lambasting, rubbing shoulders with an angel-tastic Svetlana Queen, before changing into our SuperMartXe gear for our trip down Logan’s yellow brick road to The Coronet & his “The Wizard Of Oz” gay party extraordinaire.

So that was our pride trip, but what did we think of Pride London 2010? Well, there was no doubt that we felt much more enthused about the whole affair this year compared with last and with the dance stage being secured in Leicester Square, rather than being pushed into its usual Soho corner, it seemed to pull proceedings together much better, rather than creating the feel of celebrations being somewhat separate, the dance stage acting as a real linch pin to the party activity between Trafalgar Square & Soho. However, it was clear that facilities in Leicester Square were a bit “last minute.com”, no fault of The Orange Group of course, but the resounding cries of lack of refreshments dominated discussions, as did the rather unfriendly security staff & their idiosyncratic decision to restrict numbers, despite plenty of space being available each side of the stage front. However, those issues aside, all the D.J.’s performances more than made up for these issues and the whole afternoon was, without doubt, the most enjoyable outdoor event we had savoured since the spectacular Soho Pride of two years ago, so big thanks go to Craig, Aaron, Daniel, Tom, Steven, George, Johnny, Jamie, Mikey, & especially Alan, without whom none of this splendour would have been possible, Leicester Square very much the plentiful filling in our pride celebration sandwich.

And as for Soho, thank goodness the authorities decided to relax restrictions on the streets so as to allow the pride partying to go ahead, although we remain bemused by their decision not to allow any outside stalls or the like, which would have made that subtle difference between this gayest of villages streets feeling more like a proper pride celebration, rather than hoards simply taking advantage of the traffic free roads to drink decadently outside. However, you get a sense that London as city casts a critical look at giving its spaces away to gay celebration, rather than embracing it like Madrid, Cologne & many other worldwide metropolises do, the mere fact that our own mayor was unwilling to take to the stage for fear of being heckled, a perfect example of elements of intolerance that still seems to grip our society. However, we send a massive thank you to Rupert St & Profile for playing their part in our brilliant before & after as well everything combining to ensure that we were definitely "proud to be pride" in 2010. (DISCO MATT)

"Bitesize Bel Ami Arousal" - Lookbetternaked - Club Review

“BITESIZE BEL AMI AROUSAL”
LOOKBETTERNAKED – SATURDAY 26th JUNE
CLUB REVIEW


In the dynamic & diverse scene we find ourselves within, you can imagine the amount of events that cross our bows in any given week and the decisions we have to make in showing our support or committing to covering as broad a spectrum of happenings, meaning that a whole host of invites or party pointers simply miss our radar or fail to inspire us enough to make them a feature of our review work. And to be fair, when we saw the initial advertising & event posting for Lookbetternaked, it seemed that this would be another one of the parties that would pass us by, after all, in our advancing years we have kind of been there & done that when it comes to getting up close & personal with near naked bodily beauties, whether they be the American style of horny hunks or the more lithe yet erotic eastern European form of young men that were the central theme to this new to London look-in. Moreover, our desires now point far more towards music than muscle, party than porn & dancing than drooling, but having overlooked that initial invitation, subsequent bombardments of postings our way couldn’t avert our eyes from the event, so what do you think ended up happening?

Mind you, had it not been for our sustained back injury, Lookbetternaked would have undoubtedly come & gone without event in our world, for many of the reasons above, although when focussing on it in a special recommendation aimed at those into all things Bel Ami etc, we uncovered some enticing morsels of information that made the prospect of a trip to Fire in Vauxhall much more tempting, the rather un-appealing original D.J. line up being boosted by some of our favourite London boys and a glance at the press photo’s of some of those Bel Ami beauts definitely raising our blood & other bodily pressures somewhat. Indeed, despite our untimely back injuries, further boost to our inevitable arrival at this Prague invasion of London, came in the form of rallying calls during the day itself, having been spotted out & about and then when we found ourselves within a stone’s through of South Lambeth Road while braving our bruised & bashed back at Barcode’s birthday bash, our trip to Fire became a foregone conclusion. So, how did our walk on the LookBetterNaked wild side fair? & what were the real highlights of this horny happening?

Well, having resigned ourselves to a relatively early bath compared to our usual escapades around Vauxhall on any given weekend, our retreat from Barcode’s birthday bash was met by a liaison with doorman & club promotions machine master, Tom Fuller, who in his inimitable way, persuaded us that a drop in on proceedings across at Fire would be received warmly. So, with our mind telling us one thing, but our heart another, we made a steady course for this Lookbetternaked erotic event, being greeted on the door by an inviting Romain Lopez who ticked us off his list, releasing us into Fire to fulfil our erotic intentions. Mind you having been out for most of the afternoon & evening, we felt a little underdressed for the occasion, jeans shorts & a t-shirt the extent of our attire, although with no extra belongings to store away, we were released to investigate this Prague inspired party without any real delay. Now, before we go on, can we mention that the concept of LookBetterNaked coming to the capital was very much the brainchild of one Alex Erfan, the man behind Lovechild, LGDF and a handful of other clubbing events beside, his penchant for providing a truly different clubbing experience evident with this, his latest concept, mixing things up & injecting his passion for partying prolification.

And it was evident that lots of effort had gone in to the production for the event, Fire’s main room knee deep in special Lookbetternaked signage & ceiling hung mobiles, the screens lighting up the place with their dedicated visuals, adding to the atmosphere created by the venue’s renowned lighting & lasers, as well as the music masterminded by opening D.J. Mike Mikalis. But we were Lounge room bound, for this party transformed into a “Hot Stud” space, the mere name hinting to plenty of horny happenings and we weren’t to be disappointed, as rounding the corner & entering the space, not only was there a delightful drop dead gorgeous go-go spinning around on a specially implemented pole dancing podium but the whole space had the feel of erotic expectation. Being virtually immediately spotted by pals Roni Inan & Danny Shubert, who introduced us to their entourage, we knew in an instant that our planned brief visit was going to be anything but, refreshments thrust our way & an impromptu guided tour instigated, aided by the arrival of the man himself, Alex Erfan, who was keen to introduce us to some of those Bel Ami boys, backstage in the Mirrorarch room.

Despite having seen preliminary photo’s, nothing could have prepared us the eye candy feast Alex was treating us to, as the twelve or so bronzed & perfectly formed Bel Ami boys were a sight to behold, dressed in tight white jeans to exaggerate their taught torso’s & shimmering smiles, we doing our best to hide our blood rushing excitement and jaw dropping movements as we gazed in pure delight at these male delectations before our eyes. Such was the extent of our excitement, we were forced to beat a hasty retreat to slow our racing heart, but returning to the main room for what we thought was the breather we needed, we bumped right into a further bevy of beauties, this time three muscled dancing hunks on the podiums in front of the D.J. booth, the sounds now being served up my Jonny M. However, our eyes were firmly fixed on the male meat in front of us, this gorgeous form of a man recognisable as the one that had done it for us at Lovechild over the love weekend, he once again sending us stratospheric with his stunning strides on the podium, reconfirming our thoughts the he was the best looking go-go we have seen, ever!

But as if that wasn’t enough to satisfy our desires, Alex came through, grabbed our arm and led us into the lounge, where a naked Bel Ami boy was lying on the bar, his torso and crotch covered in strawberries, signalling some of that forbidden fruit we had talked about in post party analysis, with a line of hopefuls taking turns to lift the juicy bits of fruit from the boy’s body with their teeth, resplendent hostess Elektra making sure nothing to naughty was going on, but clearly acting like the mistress of dominance that she clearly was, her look & attire adding to the illusion she was creating. Then, with the fruit consumed (not by our lips you understand) yet more erotic delights were to come our way in the Mirrorarch, as the remaining Bel Ami arousers hit the stage to perform erotic kissing & other moves, an excited audience looking on in amazement of their overt acts, while Prague D.J. incumbent Michael Burian, also of Amnesia & Space Ibiza fame, delivered a bountiful backdrop of mesmeric music, including a version of “Disco Electrique” that was simply stunning, all this activity leaving us more than impressed with this Lookbetternaked display of eroticism.

There was just one thing to round off our evening of delight in the hands of Alex Erfan’s latest string to his bow and that was the arrival of D.J. pal and chief leader astray Nick Tcherniak, whom we had conversed with earlier in the day, not sure whether we would see before his birthday & trip to Madrid, although we seemed as surprised as each other with the unplanned encounter. Catching up on bits of news was all to brief however, as the demands of the D.J. decks drew him away, leaving us to lap up his tech & funky fuelled terrific tunes, swinging on our spot next to the booth although unable to throw ourselves into full dancing display as our now sore & sensitive back was stopping us in our stride. So it was this that saw our brain take charge, the sensible vibes rubbing off on our legs, which soon carried us away from Nick, those gorgeous Bel Ami boys and out into a Vauxhall dawn to make the short journey home, reflecting on an impromptu visit that ended up being an impressive adventure.

Well, we have pretty much said all we can say about this Lookbetternaked outing, although summing up & answering the questions we posed earlier, given its initial lack of appeal to us, it ended up more than proving its worth, both in terms of its erotic intentions and eye candy offerings, elements of the music also playing their part in an event that we are sure has some legs in it for future forays at Fire. Yes, it is fair to say that the numbers through the door were not great, but when you consider influences like the hot weather, the birthday bash across the other side of Vauxhall, plus the overriding fact that many were probably saving themselves for Pride the following weekend, the team didn’t do half bad in attracting the audience they did. And those that made it were certainly treated to some spectacular sights, the boy on the Hot Stud Lounge bar one particular highlight for us, as was that drop dead gorgeous go-go dancer in the main room, making our “Bitesize Bel Ami Arousal” extra special. So, with the promise of at least a repeat next time round, we say bring back Lookbetternaked which was a worthy contender to our affections. (DISCO MATT)

"South London Swamped" - The Clapham Street Party & Barcode Vauxhall 4th Birthday - Special Review

“SOUTH LONDON SWAMPED”
THE CLAPHAM STREET PARTY &
BARCODE VAIXHALL 4TH BIRTHDAY-
SATURDAY 26TH JUNE
SPECIAL REVIEW


Waking up on Saturday morning with the prospect of not one but two special celebrations ahead would, in any usual circumstances, have provoked a serious spring in our step, although for a small handful of reasons and one rather large factor, we were unable to muster anything close, rather writhing in agony and constant pain from a serious accident that had resulted in severe damage to muscles & ribs in a part of our back that had left us unable to carry out the most basic of bodily movements. As such plans for what was supposed to be a hectic weekend of activity were not just put on hold, but shelved, a shame as the summer had definitely arrived & even the sun had got his hat on, meaning that two of the big events of the weekend were destined to be busy affairs indeed. But there is a lot to be said for our determination, although given the extent of damage to our back, some would call it more our foolhardiness in attempting to face, first a packed street party in Clapham & then an equally busy birthday bash in Vauxhall, but then we are known as “London’s original party boy”, so it was always going to take hospitalisation or something similar to keep us from grabbing at least a snippet of the action.

Now it its 6th year, The Clapham Street party has firmly established a place on the gAylist clubbing(ish) calendar, but moreover as an event that heralds the start of summer socialising in alfresco celebration, so in many ways a real departure from clubbing per say, yet attracting whole hoards of faces that we bump into, week in week out, during over dancefloor dervishes. Indeed, having lived in relative proximity for half of its history but in the last few months having anchored our bolt hole presence in Clapham Old Town itself, this year signalled significant intentions on our part to engross ourselves in this prolific party, not least as host venue The Kazbar and the adjacent avenue setting Edgeley Street were a mere stone’s throw away (well five blocks in American talk!), meaning it would have been a crime not to commit. But with the formula much unchanged, in fact the cabaret stage line up virtually identical to last year, together with not one D.J. on duty familiar to us, the party was always going to be about the people we mingled with and the friends that circled our company.

For those of you unfamiliar with this annual event, The Clapham Street party is a fusion of music & cabaret entertainment, the thrust of the former more disco than electro, more dance than trance, while the latter was more a display of camp slapstick comedy in drag, rather than a thespian prose played out by theatricals and very much a miniature version of the swarm of pride events that attract huge attention & crowds across the capital cities of the world & beyond. Yet, all this said The Clapham Street party has slowly grown in popularity, so much so that after the third annual event, there were calls for it to be moved to a larger space to accommodate the increasing numbers, a slot on Clapham Common being muted as the solution, although claims of unviableness & permission refusal have meant that the tight squeeze of Edgeley Street remains the host area, attempting to accommodate crowds three, maybe four times its size.

Nevertheless, we were definitely looking forward to savouring our slice of the street action this year until an untimely accident left us in considerable back pain and with calls from those around us to rest, it seemed that the party would be a non event for us. But you can never keep this “original party boy” down, so come the day itself, a scorching hot Saturday in SW4, we were determined to at least show our face, even if it meant finding a quiet corner from which to survey our audience, although even that, as it turned out, was a mere pipe dream, as holding back for cougar loving clubbing pal Stephen’s arrival, our approach to this street splendour at not long turned 3.30 p.m. (it had only been going 2 hours for heaven’s sake!) found a queue to enter stretching right back up Clapham High Street, with little or no chance of getting in. Following furied telephone calls & texts, all bearing no fruit, our liaise with our pal in The Two Brewers was just as disastrous, the overspill leaving the venue swamped and the bar 10 deep in search for refreshments, the street party organisers, the Kazbar & Two Brewers management, indeed all involved in the event seemingly caught by surprise & unprepared for what seemed a mass gay invasion of Clapham for this celebration of camp cabaret & social street schmoozing.

So, resigning ourselves to a low key get together with our posse of pals on the nearby common, then picking up on snippets of news from the lucky few in our extensive social circle that actually made it in, as day turned to night and our disappointment for not being able to report on the street shenanigans sinking in (Craig Maritza & Matt Joshua please note!), we thought better of resting our back, instead heading for the next mecca in this final weekend of June’s machinations, Barcode Vauxhall. By why you ask? Surely it was just another typical Saturday in this south of the river resting spot, but not at all, because this boozer come dance joint was celebrating four years in existence, previous birthday bashes always signalling something special in celebration of this now firmly established watering hole’s stamp on the Vauxhall scene. Indeed photographic evidence of our escapades last year, for their third, showed just what a brilliant birthday it was, the place being festooned with sparkling 3’s even our torso showing them off from time to time.

But this year was always going to be a far more restrained affair, not least for that pain in the back we talked about (our bad back silly!), our early arrival at just before 11 p.m. finding the lion’s share of party goers outside rather than in, although on entering the front bar, there was a considerable crowd cavorting to the terrific tunes of Barcode’s manager come D.J. for the night, Saki, an individual who works tirelessly & sometimes underappreciated for his commitment & passion for the place, the man having toiled all afternoon to give the venue the added production & birthday feel it deserved for this momentous 4th year occasion. And glancing up, we were very impressed by the chunky, quality signage, glittering sliver encrusted Barcode signage & 4th birthday banners spinning over the space, the new(ish) lighting in this front room fab spot setting off the amazing atmosphere superbly. Indeed Mr maestro D.J. was serving up a scintillating string of uplifting, funky & chunky house tunes, very much kick starting the birthday party proceedings in style, meaning this was the place to be, a brief trip down to the dance bar behind, finding it sparsely filled with followers, D.J. Develish selecting his usual eclectic mix of tech turned electro turned uplifting turned progressive beats that had us bamboozled, we cutting a hasty retreat in search of a seat out front to rest our weary back.

Sitting by the front door just shy of proceedings was the best thing we could have done, as not only could we, in the relative comfort & relaxation of our seat, spot the marauds of party people float by, but we got the chance to catch up with Barcode & Industri pals as they swayed through, including Jeremy, Andy, & Steven, although as we saw the streams of socialites pile in, there was a feeling that the immense influx on SW4 earlier had all decided to converge on SE11, this Vauxhall version of the Barcode brand filling to capacity before too long and the queue to get in waxing & waning between one-in, one-out and controlled entry, we being glad to be in our comfort back protection zone. And whilst our discomfort from our injury was beginning to consume our enjoyment of this special evening of birthday entertainment, light relief came our way when the engaging Terry Vietheer arrived, greeting us with a massive smile & delicate hug, before treating us to a veritable feast of terrific tunes that had the front bar bouncing & even us up on our feet in rapturous response. But, as much as we wanted to savour the rest of Terry’s set, even soak up the delights of Mattias & D’Johnny in the dance bar behind, our back was calling halt on our party proceedings, we sinking into the Vauxhall night & a (supposed) journey home to rest our weary joints.

In summing up this twosome of tremendous & prolific parties, we were at least glad we got a sniff of some of the proceedings. Without a doubt Barcode’s 4th birthday bash satisfied us more, but, probably in part due to our back injury, wasn’t really a patch on the party a year ago, although judging by the sheer numbers through the door, will be noted as a superb success. However, much water has run under our Barcode bridge since June 2009 and whilst the brand remains one of our favourite, specialist night Industri in Vauxhall still top of our socialising crown & Saturday’s in Soho never really being the same without a trip down to the club bar depths down Archer Street, there is this overriding feeling in SE11 at least, that horns are being locked between businesses in this Vauxhall gay village hotspot, rather than working together to make it a more fulfilling place to be, so we can only hope that the tide of temperaments change and people are put before politics, in the realisation that all joe public wants to do is party & have a good time.

As for Clapham’s street party, undoubtedly the warm weather played a considerable part in attracting the numbers that this annual event did this year, but speaking to the stewards who were struggling to control the crowds, as well as SW4 being awash with gay revellers like never before, there has to be considerable credence in lobbying the powers that be to at least extend the party to a second street, or as many would see a viable proposition, succumb as slice of the nearly common to celebrate in style, although we guess the issue as always is money & gay businesses are just not willing to cough up. As for this 6th year party, reactions we received afterwards were that the stage shows were a real hit, highlights being Titti La Camp & Sandra, although the inevitable queues for warm can of lager ensued and unless you had a vantage point for the stage; it was just too packed for pleasure. So come on organisers, do something positive for next year, as too many of us walked away disappointed in missing out. (DISCO MATT)

"Love Shine A Light" - Lovechild Summer - Club Review

“LOVE SHINE A LIGHT”
LOVECHILD SUMMER – SATURDAY 12TH JUNE
CLUB REVIEW


In an interesting conversation just the other day, it was remarked by a friend that “love has the greatest meaning of all” and if you have been in love at some stage in your life, as we are sure you have, you will understand exactly what he was on about. But what does this have to do with clubbing & indeed Lovechild? well, more than it would seem, as not only has our love affair with clubbing lasted the longest of any so called “love” we have had & held, but we have really come to adore Lovechild as a clubbing event. And this love & passion for the club shows through in the promoter & his team, Alex Erfan & his merry band of Lovechilders being truly devoted to the club brand, this shining through in everything they do, which means that Lovechild has become, for us, one of our most favourite Saturday nights.

So, there is little that keeps us away from a Lovechild event these days and this was very much so of the latest instalment, which gave a major hint towards the summer and, following importing some special international D.J.’s & P.A. stars in recent events, decided to go back to basics, showcasing the amazing depth in its London based D.J. resident team, but with the addition of two Terry’s that would make a considerable splash. With our sights firmly set on Vauxhall and another love-in with Lovechild, we took our usual warm up route via Barcode, although after some upsetting & unwelcoming treatment at the door, our mindset was somewhat off put as we approached Fire, although this was soon amended by a resplendent Roni Inan, who grabbed us by the arm and swung us past the queue, through the entrance and into the club.

The first sight we saw was a rather fetching dancer swinging round a pole, making a considerable opening impact to this latest Lovechild outing, although Roni was keen to whisk us further into the club, first over viewing the already filling main room dancefloor and then swinging us into the “love” lounge, aiming straight for the bar and arming us with refreshments to get the night going with a bang. And quite a bang it was, as not only did we find ourselves immersed in amazing company, but we had two rooms of terrific tunes to choose from, with young blood JC Christopher fighting off a nasty ear infection to whirl up a storm of funky chunky & uplifting beats in the main room, then the more pronounced tech & progressive cool rhythms of new boy Terry Vietheer’s in the lounge. But such was the company in this intimate little space, that we lay out hat here for a while, soaking up the smooth sounds the handsome Mr Vietheer was selecting, our mood heightened more by the people around us, Danny Shubert & pals and the polish boys Norbert & the naughty Mariusz, with whom we had shared some raunchy moments in past clubbing exploits.

But, the main room was to draw us for a while, as a gaggle of gorgeous go-go’s ascended the podiums and began to strut their stuff on the stage, stripping down to barely nothing, the two muscular hunks in the middle swinging & showing off their appendages with great gusto, the gay paparazzi in place to snap suitable shots, Seen Queen’s head poncho arriving just in time & squeezing into prime position to capture more than an eyeful of the audacious action in video footage & picture poses. From our vantage point by the D.J. booth, our eyes were short of popping out with the overt display unfolding before us, even the music machinations of Tony English, who had assumed his position behind the decks, couldn’t divert our attention. With most of this sex fuelled stage skulduggery normally reserved for the contact room next door, it was the main room that was grabbing the early plaudits from the punters, poor old Mattias drawing the short straw yet again, but playing some fantabulous progressive pumped sounds to a select smattering of devotees to his cause, in the usually much more popular mirrorarch space.

With the first of many stage showings by the delicious dancers over, we headed back into the lounge, re-joining pals Mariusz & Norbert, our timing pretty much perfect, as scene favourite Brent Nicholls had assumed the decks, straight away delivering a whole string of his trademark “nu funk” inspired tunes, that had us moving & grooving in moments, Mariusz trading erotic & energetic dance steps with us, adding to the already amplified atmosphere. Each record that Brent was choosing, saw an increase in the pace of our activity, not to mention the volume of fellow followers of his sounds, the lounge swelling to near capacity as one tremendous track after the next caught the imagination of hoards of hedonists to the Nicholls mission statement of music, tracks like “Check It Out”, “Musical Freedom” & “Back On Black” getting our loins lunging & our arms alive with action. But like Beyond just a week before, one record emerged as the tune of the night, although this time is was the guitar tastic, dirty vocal & funky beat drenched “My Girl” which captured the moment beautifully, playful poses between Brent in the booth & us on the dancefloor erupting into hilarity as we shouted out whoops in time to the track & strummed our imaginary guitar to the beats.

Barely being able to tear ourselves away from the lounge, we occasionally sought to update ourselves on activity across the rest of this Lovechild love-in, the main room well & truly rocking in the hands of guest D.J. Terry Bryan, a talent really familiar with playing at Fire, yet nevertheless hooking the crowd with his huge hits, the man really in his own purple patch of perfection at the moment and loving every minute of it. But further advances found us checking out the contact room, although not quite as far as the play area behind the D.J. booth, rather catching the attention of the delectable Dorin, working hard on the lighting & pyrotechnics as ever, then spotting Paul Heron behind the decks, saying our hello’s and then soaking up some of his sounds, the room eventually filling out with Paul finding his form & stride, paving the way for the finale of bello Alessandro Londra, who stormed the contact room with his scintillating Sicilian splendour, treating a now full room to some terrific tech, electro & latin infused sounds, that saw the room pump and pulsate right through till the 7 a.m. close.

However, as good as things were in the other rooms, it was the lounge that received the lion’s share of our devotions, as not only had Terry Vietheer enthralled us with his set, Brent Nicholls then having blown our minds & drawn on our irrepressible energy with his barnstorming beats, the third protagonist to our musical affections, Gabrielle Cutrano hit more than a hint of our sweet spots with some truly Trade style lite lounge styled tunes, one particular track by Rick Nicholls (how appropriate) really doing it for us. But for reasons best known to themselves and despite a reasonable crowd savouring Gabrielle’s delectations, the curtain was drawn on the loveable “love” lounge proceedings, which kind of brought our latest Lovechild event experience to an end, we choosing to head across Vauxhall to continue our partying in the hands on Beyond at Area, in the capable controls of Mikey D, Steve Pitron & co, as well as special guest & Berliner friend, Eduardo de La Torre.

So, what did we think of this latest Lovechild instalment? And as a result, is our love affair with Lovechild as strong as before? Well, it would be fair to say that the numbers were improved on the last outing, although at no stage was the venue packed & full. However, with the breadth of D.J. talent on show, what actually happened was that the rooms balanced out nicely, giving everyone enough space to dance without feeling cramped, something which we personally prefer. Terry Bryan came up trumps in the main room for sure & Alessandro really stole the contact room show, but for us our love affair with Lovechild was liberal the most in the “love” lounge, a space that has well & truly grown on us, not just at Alex Erfan’s Love event, but at recent A.M., Orange & other special parties in Fire. Yes the decor is a bit over the top, but there is something quite special about the space and on this occasion, both Terry & Gabrielle complimented the magnificent musical mastery of Brent Nicholls, who yet again proved more than his worth with a prolific performance. As for Lovechild, in the words of the moving moments from our favourite film, The Fifth Element, “...she needs your love...” & “...there are beautiful things like love...” and we all need a little love in our lives & Lovechild gives out plenty, so yes, our love affair with the club is as strong as ever, even more so with our new adoration space. Bring on the next one and let love shine a light again. (DISCO MATT)

"Back With A Bang" - Beyond Back-To-Back - Special Review

“BACK WITH A BANG”
BEYOND – BACK-TO-BACK
SATURDAY 5TH JUNE
SPECIAL REVIEW


Memories can be such amazing things and during our time in clubbing we have scores stored in our minds, whether it be the people we have enjoyed them with, the venues we have enjoyed them in, or simply just those moments in time that for one reason or another are truly unforgettable. But none of these clubbing memories would be possible without two special combinations, the D.J.’s & their music and the clubs & their promoter’s, so when we trawl through the great moments in our quite lengthy period strutting our stuff on the scene, one set of those tablet of times keeps ringing resoundingly in our heads, as not only does our reflection cast the spotlight on some of the scene’s best D.J.’s, the best music, but it encompasses what has become for us the best club of all time. Now, we could be talking about Trade, an amazing club that consumed our lives for well over ten years, but no, we could be talking about Crash, the underground revolution of Vauxhall that cemented some of the best & strongest friendships we have had in our life, but no, so, pushing those two legendary clubs & their memories aside, there is really only one left and that is Beyond.

So how come Beyond over the other two? Well, for all the magic that both Trade & Crash hold & represent in our lives, Beyond tops them each & every time, whether it be the unique & brilliant feel of the VIP room at former home Colosseum, the crème de la crème list of D.J.’s inextricably connected with the club & our memories, the myriad of people that have enjoyed our incredible journey in its hands for close on eight years, but moreover the magnificent music that lives on in our minds eye and continues to deliver in all departments in our rather choosy chain of criteria. But none of these extra special set of memories would be possible were it not for the vision & passion of one man, who back in 2001 saw an opportunity to bring something fresh & new to the vitality of the spurning scene in Vauxhall & provide clubbers the opportunity to continue their Saturday night partying deep into Sunday just a stone’s throw away from their earlier devotions.

One Craig Elder was the man with that vision and in launching Beyond to a then unsuspecting public, even he couldn’t have predicted just how popular the club would be. But without his passion, his direction & his vision, Beyond would not be the club it is today and it would not have attracted some of the best D.J.’s the scene has seen, names like Alan X, Paul Heron, Brent Nicholls, The Sharp Boys, Steve Pitron, & David Jimenez, with more recent music maestro’s including Alan K, Mikey D, D’Johnny, Jamie Head, Hifi Sean & how could we leave him out, Gonzalo Rivas. But for all the greatness of these star performers and indeed for all the hard work of the cast of behind the scenes & other individuals that continue to bring this mega legendary Sunday morning partying phenomenon to us, no special review would be complete without saluting the man that right from its inception back in June 2001 to this very day, a man that remains the figurehead of the club and just last Sunday talked so eloquently to us about his continuing passion & belief in his beloved Beyond.

So, with our prologue of this prolific partying phenomenon painted, you can imaging our excitement when news came through that the team behind Beyond were planning a special event that would give a nod back to the classic days of the club at its original home, super club Colosseum and not only that, but it would showcase some of the original D.J. stars that made those heady days so memorable in our minds. Then, when the added excitement of combining both old & new Beyond into one huge 14 hour extravaganza hit us with a wave of enthusiasm, we simply couldn’t miss out on what, on paper at least, would be the biggest Beyond event yet, including many of the elements that made Colosseum in its hands so special, not to mention the magical qualities of now regular home Area delivers week in week out and capturing the imagination of Beyond devotees, old & new, to create one very special and unforgettable event, labelled “Beyond Back-To-Back”. So did it deliver as promised & expected? And was Beyond at Colosseum at least, as we headlined this review, back with a bang?

Having decided to warm up our evening in Vauxhall’s Barcode, meeting up with pal & cougar impressionist Stephen, as well as a somewhat worse for wear clubbing crime partner Joel, we dodged a very untimely downpour and made our way across to Colosseum for the first instalment of this “Back-To-Back” splendour, at just turned midnight, arriving at the entrance and being greeted by the ever welcoming Alex Erfan who immediately commissioned one of his team members to show us around the revamped Colosseum venue. And it was clear that a fair amount of time & money had been spent on the place, the main room benefitting from a revised & ramped up D.J. booth, as well as spectacular new lighting & revisions to the elevated dance areas, the VIP room sporting a new sparkling curved wall backdrop, although the biggest improvement was to the facilities behind, with extended & new toilets and improved decor right across the expanse of the club. This was all added to by the extensive Beyond production employed for the night, making a striking statement and leaving you in no doubt as to what club you were about to devour, even if the night-time scheduling felt a little strange.

With our tour over and refreshments in hand, we joined a select crowd on the main room dancefloor, while Paul Martin served up some warm up sounds to get the party feel elevated, but with 1 a.m. fast approaching the feel remained a little lack lustre, even given the fabulous company we were holding, a whole host of Industri pals in attendance, Stephen, Jeremy, Andy & David, not to mention a wandering Joel who had returned from his forays around the club but still seemed unsettled in our presence. Then we spotted Paul Heron arriving for duty behind the decks, he coming over to say his hello’s, also remarking on reservations about how the party would turn out, given the scant numbers, but then disappeared behind the scenes to set up for an appropriate back-to-back set with Gonzalo Rivas, the two soon swinging into action, Paul treating us to some classic Beyond tracks revamped, while it was down to Gonzalo to fly the new flag of funky, chunky tunes to delight.

By now the VIP room had started up in the hands of Alan X, who, in Beyond days of old, was more used to finishing things off on the main floor and with this special space tucked away, it was always going to be a battle to attract an audience, although as people wandered through, they were drawn by the more uplifting & disco tinged sounds Alan was playing. But our devotions were very much back in the main room, as not only were Paul & Gonzalo gripping us with their pulsating performance, but a whole host of performers had swung into action, including some lively Brazilian inspired acrobatic dancers, an imposing 7ft Alien parading around the room, as well as more conformist go-go dancers flexing their muscles on the podiums across the space, the impressive lighting & lasers casting their luminous spells on proceedings and the mesmeric Beyond visuals emitting from the massive screen next to the D.J. booth. And it wasn’t long before we found our stride in our favoured dancing spot of old, joined by Stephen & an arriving Brent Nicholls who was keen to have a bit of a boogie as well as snap some shots before starting his stint in the VIP room.

Not too long after Brent’s 2 a.m. start, we moved our devotions to this special space, the place which had, in the original days, always held much of our Beyond magical moments and became one of our most favourite dancing spots of any venue in London. Seeing Mr Nicholls back behind the decks here made it feel more like the Beyond of old than any other so element of our experience so far and to make it even better, Brent was pulling out some stunning updated renditions of classic sounds played back in those early days, the odd latest track like “Release Me” & “Downpipe” drawing in a considerable crowd and packing out the compact VIP room, elevating the already considerable atmosphere, a whole eclectic mixture of club kids, glitzy girls & muscular men rubbing shoulders and dancing in delight to the D.J.’s devotions.

So good was Brent’s performance and so much like the good old days the feel was becoming, we spent the majority of the rest of our stay in his grip, pal Stephen still in attendance & launching his cougar swipes across our bows, having rested his feet & eyes a little on the couch in the corner, clubbing pal Joel also lapping up the fun & frivolity of the VIP room and our extravert dancing moves, made all the more pronounced by Mr D.J. pulling out the tune of then, Shakedown’s “At Night”, followed by the tune of now, Dennis Ferrer’s “Hey, Hey”, the lyrics being hilariously twisted from “...I heard you say...” to “...I heard you’re gay...” which became the theme & tone of a most entertaining evening of magical musical memories, even if the tune that will forever remind us of his times in the VIP room at Beyond, Sea Flowers’ “Easy Livin” was absent from Brent’s repertoire of rhapsodies. But this exclusion mattered not a jot as we savoured every moment, only briefly nipping into the main room, where The Sharp Boys were holding sway, the duo seeing out the remaining minutes & hours of our time at this first half in our 14 hour Beyond bonanza.

But no Beyond these days seems quite the same unless it is in Area, although given the strength of the Colosseum days from 2001 through 2006, we never thought we would be saying that. However, as times change, Beyond has too and so much of the new is better than the old, the clubs new home having treated us to so many prolific parties, as well as providing what has become our most favourite dancing spot of any venue we know or have known. Area seems to tick so many boxes, we being lost for words in being able to describe just how it does it, but quite simply it does, whether it be the fabulous treatment & greeting from Tom & Naomi, through to the fact that we feel at one with the D.J’s & their performances, to the unrivalled feel of the outside terrace space, often filled with table topping revellers and, of course, that truly magical spot of our dancing dervishness in the main room just next to the D.J. booth, where we not only get the chance to exercise our exhilarating moves, but we get a brilliant view of the amazing Area lighting pyrotechnics & displays.

And this second instalment in the “Back-To-Back” event proved to be just as good if not better than any Area outing before it, our arrival missing the usual presence of Tom & Naomi on the door, but their absence more than made up for by the mesmeric music on the main room floor, delivered delectably by first Mikey D, then Steve Pitron, our 14 hours of dancing rounded off by a rough round the edges Alan K, weary from a night of partying himself, but nevertheless still on breathtakingly brilliant multi mixing form, pulling out yet another amazing “Release Me” version among others, to add to the hours of terrific tunes Mikey & Steve had once again treated us too. Even clubbing pal Joel remarked on just how good the Area leg of the event was and this is a man that rarely stays the distance, although it was the distance we made, occasional dips into the Terrace bar to savour the delights of D’Johnny & Jamie Head, welcome respites from the feverish activity in the main room. But having reported on this awesome award winning experience so many times, you know the score by now and just how good our Sunday mornings have become brandished by Beyond, both Joel & us finally relenting at just before 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon, escaping to final moments fling of this mega afterhours and slinking home to reflect on a bombardment of Beyond brilliance.

So, as we had posed at the outset, did this Beyond “Back-To-Back” event deliver as promised & expected? Well, in many ways it did, the Area segment of the 14 hours speaking for itself. It was clear from the numbers through the door on Sunday morning compared to Saturday night, that Beyond at Area still benefits from other clubs feeding it, but there are also many that save themselves, getting up to soak up the full extent of this afterhours audacity and, for so many reasons, it once again proved to be yet another ecstatic experience in our catalogue of clubbing cahoots with this Beyond brand.

As for the Colosseum part of the party, well staging it on Saturday night was always going to prove tricky in recapturing the magic of old, plus scheduling the event the weekend after a Bank Holiday was a definite cause for the numbers through the door. That said, the main room developed a very healthy crowd and the VIP room had periods where the space was packed out. The production in Colosseum was very impressive indeed and whilst we would question some of the performers inclusion in the event, they did give some added dimension & fun to proceedings, although the improved feel of the venue & the new lighting & effects were a definite plus. However, once again, it was the D.J.’s that made our night at Colosseum, both Brent Nicholls & Paul Heron especially testament to their timeless quality and appeal, ensuring that some of those magical moments of old were recaptured, leaving us satisfied with our step back in time. As for future Beyond’s at Colosseum, only time will tell on their appeal, but making events special rather than regular may prove more fruitful and maybe trying out a Sunday morning might be an idea, then Beyond at its former home would definitely be back with a bang. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

Such is the strength of Beyond, a whole host of D.J.’s have devoted special music compilations to the club, so, along with this special review, we thought we would share a selection with you.

Both Steve Pitron & Mikey D have posted individual & collective compilations of Beyond sets of theirs and you can grab your copies via http://stevepitronssessions.podomatic.com/ and http://mikeyd.podomatic.com/. Regular Area residents Hifi Sean Dickson & Alan K have also compiled special mixes with Beyond the dominant theme, Sean’s special “Terrace Mix” available at http://hifisean.podomatic.com/ while Alan K’s four devotions can be downloaded/played at http://djalank.podomatic.com. Brent Nicholls was a guest D.J. at the recent Beyond pervert event at Area and commissioned a special 110 minute mix which you can stream at http://djbrentnicholls.com/music, while his house disco drenched 2002 mix, truly evoking the sounds of the Beyond VIP room at that time, is available to download at http://djbrentnicholls.com/music/B2B. Our final music nod to Beyond comes from Nick Tcherniak who has been both a Blackbox & main room guest and has laid down a special recording extract from his set at the Beyond/Trade event, which you can grab at http://nicktcherniak.podomatic.com/.

"Citric Dessert Delight" - Orange LGDF Closing Party - Club Review

“CITRIC DESSERT DELIGHT”
ORANGE LGDF/AFTER/CLOSING PARTY
MONDAY 31ST MAY
CLUB REVIEW


It has become quite a tradition over Bank Holiday weekends for Monday morning to signal some serious partying and with Vauxhall tending to be the hotbed of activity, one particular club brand more often than not emerges as the leading contender to our devotions. So, when full plans as to the format of the massive London Global Dance Festival (LGDF) we brought to our attention, it was of little or no surprise that citric splendour Orange would be included in the eight strong event schedule, slotting into the morning of last day of May, meaning that our plans to see out our extended weekend of clubbing activity would be very much in the hands of promoter Steven Sharp’s mega Monday offering, but with the added delight of being served up as the closing party for the LGDF proceedings and if the previous Orange Bank Holiday bonanza was anything to go by, this was surely going to be one hum dinger of a party. So, did it turn out that way? And who & what did it for us?

Well, like the LGDF main event, proceedings for us didn’t get off to a smooth start and having encountered some difficulties at the door we thought otherwise of rounding off our weekend in citric style, rather pointing ourselves in the direction of home, even passing a bemused Leomeo who was a tad disappointed that we would not be joining him on the dancefloor. But a handful of incoming calls soon smoothed over the issue and we were met on route back to Area by Jerry Boston and then as we entered the club by Steven Sharp himself, both treating us superbly and making immediate amends for the confusion over our earlier exclusion. With that hiccup over, Jerry continued to escort us into the club and having dropped our bits & bobs upstairs, we were back down in the club, raring to go, venturing first into the Terrace room where Terry Bryan was ripping up the space with some superb sounds, the already packed Spirit Of Star promoted area awash with party goers intent of lapping up every musical morsel that Mr Bryan was feeding them.

But further down in the Blackbox room it was much more of a German feel to it, as uber cool underground club Nightkomm was sporting one of its residents, Thomas William, playing out some tough tech & progressive beats to an appreciative yet selective audience, although our eyes were pointed in the direction of Area’s main room, where Orange “Raw” resident Gonzalo Rivas was stoking up the atmosphere and entering the room through our usual route to find our favoured spot by the D.J. booth, we could see that this amiable Spaniard had attracted quite a crowd, the podiums full of half naked muscled torso’s, plenty of revellers filling the spaces on ground level and even our select little corner awash with a gaggle of guys and gals, swinging to the beats. Looking around, the usual lighting & effects were in full tilt, the large screens behind the D.J. booth illuminating the area with attractive & intriguing visuals to tempt the mind. Gonzalo was delivering & delighting with a string of tech infused electro sounds, dipping into the occasional familiar hard edged floor filler which saw the room numbers swell to near capacity and with pyrotechnic explosions a plenty the scene was now set for another outrageously overt Orange outing, even though the day was still relatively young.

Back out on the Terrace and having seen the planned D.J. line-up on the wall, we were expecting to savour the beats of one Paul Martin, but looking behind the booth our eyes seemed to be deceiving us as we are sure we were seeing Jamie Head selecting the disc’s, but were relieved we weren’t seeing things when the unmistakable welcoming smile that Jamie always gives us was in evidence and remarking to him just what a surprise & treat it was to see him in place, we made our minds up in an instant to hold station and savour what turned out to be yet another uplifting and joyous Jamie jamboree of a performance, one that came very close to his last Orange set in this very spot, made even more perfect by the arrival of Mis (whisperer)-White who had entertained us so the last time around. Now we were well into our Bank Holiday stride, ducking & diving to the delicious dance delectations and it seemed that plenty others were getting the idea too, arrivals mingling with the ever increasing crowd, while others were peeling off the main room to enrich their morning with some music from the lighter, funkier side. And such was the enjoyable extent of Jamie’s set that our dancing dervish was spotted by an inbound Hifi Sean who commented when he saw us in our spot in the Terrace room “...you are still here from Beyond!!...” and whilst it wasn’t quite the feel of our favourite afterhours, it nevertheless felt like our clubbing home.

Occasional trips into the main room to lap up snippets of supreme Spaniard and international representative for Sorry Shoes, Ivan Gomez, and then to Hifi’s deep & dirty beats in the Nightkomm room, were the only disturbances for the vast majority of Jamie’s performance, but with one of those trips we got wind that D’Johnny would be starting his stint before Steve Pitron, so made haste for our spot back in the main space. And we weren’t to be disappointed as Mr Johnny treated us to an awesome two hours of terrific tunes, funky, electro twisted, tech infused yet truly tremendous tracks that sent us wild with energetic excitement, going into serious dancing move mindset, burning up our space next to the booth in hypnotic heaven, hardly moving from our spot, save for the quick dive for refreshments to fuel our exhaustive escapades. And the more D’Johnny played his selections, the more we moved & grooved to his sounds, each & every record filling us enthusiasm to dance on & on. The morning changed to afternoon with consummate ease with our overt Orange occasion definately in top gear, Mr Johnny very much at the top of his game with this set, seemingly loving every minute of it, we spotting his head bopping up & down to the beats, all balanced beautifully with the Area pyrotechnic explosions, lighting & lasers and it has to be said, that here we were witnessing D’Johnny’s best set to date and we have heard quite a few in our time.

A quick breather saw us spot Nacho Chapado taking over the reins from Hifi Sean in the Blackbox and Spirit Of Stars’ Supersized Pool Party resident Aurel Devil crank up the volume in the Terrace, but we were intent on continuing our dancing activity in the main room which was about to get even more excitable as Steve Pitron then took to the decks, which just a day after being confined to the corridor for his back-to-back performance with Mikey D, we actually had room to dance on the main floor itself this time. And were we in for a treat or what, as track after track hit repeated resonance and all the favourites in there too, including “Here Comes The Rain”, “Stereo Love”, “Acapella” and yes you guessed it “Release Me”, ticker tape showers & rocket pyro’s timed to perfection to further heighten the already amazing atmosphere. With D’Johnny & Jamie now off duty and enjoying a slice or two of the Pitron pulsating performance, we delighted in their company as well as that of ladies Mis-White & Liz Dowling who were dancing like crazy along with us, as was pal Jason, revelling in the rapturous renditions Steve was reaching for.

And it was in the musical mastery of this incredible D.J. talent where we saw out the remainder of our stay at this outstanding Orange outing, but not before timing our snippet of Fat Tony’s turn in the Terrace, marking the occasion with that record again, Zoe Baldwin proving the hit of the dancefloor still, well over a year after releasing her scintillating song. But with Mr Pitron’s phenomenal performance coming to a close and our head about to explode, so good was the music, we had to make our leave of this audacious afterparty which served as the perfect end to a truly incredible weekend of LGDF activity, which started & finished in what can only be described as the best club venue we have experienced in recent years by a country mile and one that makes each & every Bank Holiday Orange a truly memorable experience.

What more is there to say? Well, we have categorically answered the first question posed at the outset by confirming that, yes, this was one major hum dinger of a party and met all our expectations, we going further to say that it actually exceeded a whole handful of them, not least from three superstar D.J’s that like all the LGDF parties before this one, proved that we have amazing home-grown talent that only this sort of festival can serve to highlight, the London crowd often taking for granted just what greatness they have on offer within their clubbing scene. And who did it for us? Well, the three kings were indisputably Jamie Head, D’Johnny & Steve Pitron, each one of delivering pure quality in their own inimitable way and in doing so, not only matched the Easter Bank Holiday Orange outing at Area, improved on the Hustlaball Orange Afterparty at Fire, but contributed to make this third Orange special event probably the best of the lot. Steven Sharp & your Citric Dessert Delight, we salute you. (DISCO MATT)

"Mains Meal Of Music" - LGDF Main Event - Review

“MAINS MEAL OF MUSIC”
THE LONDON GLOBAL DANCE FESTIVAL – MAIN EVENT
SUNDAY 30TH MAY
EVENT REVIEW


From the minute we heard about the plans for a massive dance festival in London, bringing in internationally renowned D.J.’s from across the globe, we were very excited about the prospect, with lots of questions being raised in our minds as to where the festival would take place & what it would look like. In exclusive discussions & meetings we were privy to the cast of music maestro’s that would be jetted into the capital and indeed some of the clubs that would make up this celebration of worldwide clubbing & music, but the actual host venue and space was only to become apparent just a few weeks beforehand, shunning ideas in our heads that The London Global Dance Festival (LGDF) would be set in a huge warehouse style venue or in a specially selected arena, rather that it would be played out in the clubbing backyard of gAylist/land London, Vauxhall and in club venues Fire & Area to boot.

Mind you, the plans and aims of the festival were grand and would include nearly thirty international D.J’s, fifteen international clubs/outfits and a whole host of international dancers, performers & artists that, in the words of the LGDF promotions team, would make this “...the largest international gay clubbing festival ever held in the UK...”. So, given the fact that the original line up touched five out of the six continents of the world, the scale of the task to bring together this incredibly diverse & distanced set of individuals & organisations should never have been underestimated and in many ways, LGDF would never have come to fruition were it not for the vision of one man, Alex Erfan, and the support of another, Craig Elder, both who threw their hearts & souls into the festival, laying their reputations on the line and putting plenty up for stake. Having already reported on the “massive run-up” which, not least for the individual London clubs, was a resounding success, how would the main event fare? And would it fulfil the aims of the promoters?

Well, having rested from our encapsulation of three of the five run-up events, we refreshed ourselves and our wears and headed back down to Vauxhall for the main LGDF event, arriving at Fire’s “Lightbox” entrance at just before 9.30 p.m. for the supposed VIP champagne reception, a planned prelude to the main event kick-off at 10.30 p.m. and a chance for invitees to meet with the host of international D.J. stars & performers, as well as some of the club promoters involved with the weekend long festival. But you know what they say about best made plans and it was clear from the frosty reception we got from the doorman and then the relative unpreparedness of the team beyond the entrance, that proceedings for the mere handful of VIP’s were not going as they should, although after a little confusion we did find ourselves to the all important champagne rubbing shoulders with Jerry Boston & co and then engage in chat with the only two D.J.’s to grace the reception with their presence, the enigmatic & endearing Fabio White & London scene favourite Brent Nicholls, we discussing many subjects, notwithstanding that the line of conversation was dominated by the configuration of the five rooms for the event proper.

With the 10 p.m. start coming and going without any real fanfare, we eventually made our way through Fire’s new “Raw” room, which had now been set aside for Sorry Shoes stars Jean Phillips & Mike Kelly, past the Lightbox space, which would see Fabio White fly the flag for the massive Miami Circuit week, The White Party, followed by The Face Of Ibiza team of D.J. Oliver & Baby Marcello, moving into the Mirrorarch room, which had been set aside predominantly for Italy’s finest gay party club Muccassassina, but with a little bit of French influence to kick off proceedings, the dishy Leomeo behind the decks representing Paris’s clubbing hotspot Pleasure X and laying down some serious sounds that saw the room numbers swell before our eyes (check out his special compilation lifted from his live set performance, available at http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo). With Brent & Fabio still by our side, we bounded up to the D.J. booth to grab this French fancy’s attention and weren’t to be disappointed as Leomeo recognised us in an instant, lining up a track and then coming out to give us a warm hug & kiss (yum yum), he dressed resplendently in a fetching union jack vest & looking every bit as scrumptious in real life as in his photo’s. Retreating back into the crowd we lapped up a healthy portion of Leomeo’s stunning opener of a set, before venturing forth into the main room, which has an altogether anglo French & Spanish feel to it, Barcelona’s finest, Steven Redant representing the city’s premier superclub Discotheque, with Paris’s own Ben Mason, resident of the legendary Scream nightclub the French filling in the Spanish sandwich that was completed by D.J.’s Eros & Ismael Rivas, stars of Madrid clubbing giant Space Of Sound & the annual pride centrepiece of the massive region’s capital, Infinitamentegay, but with the French based Delice boys providing the appetising eye candy.

However, our ventures were to lead us further forward and into the Propaganda international lounge, the space inspired by the Moscow club and was due to showcase two of the resident D.J.’s Tin Rooter & Tony Key, although with news coming through that complications with immigration had stopped them from advancing beyond Heathrow, hurried re-scheduling meant that Brent Nicholls would entertain us for close on three hours with an octane “nu-funk” fuelled set that certainly caught the imagination & attention of many, track after track leaving us in a myriad of dancing moves, not least when tip top hit “Release Me” was unleashed from the hefty Nicholls armoury and had the whole space pulsating with action (check out his specially dedicated double compilation at http://brentnicholls.com/music). So good was Brent’s performance that we almost forgot our duties, although made occasional trips across the expanse of the five dance areas, the intimate “Raw” room attracting little attention, even with sole Sorry Shoes representative for the night, the terrifically talented Jean Phillips, doing his level best behind the decks, the main room holding a healthy crowd, first with Steven Redant banging out some tremendous tech tracks, then Ben Manson doing a sterling job with the Delice boys exerting the gorgeous influence over the considerable gathering.

But it was the Muccassasina inspired Mirrorarch room that was stealing most of the LGDF main event plaudits, as Leomeo’s arousing & inspirational set had packed out the place and had laid down a considerable gauntlet for yet another drop dead gorgeous looking D.J., this time Italy’s & Mucca talent Phil Romano, who took up the challenge brilliantly, his muscular figure drawing nearly as much attention as his magnificent music, our second zoom across from Brent timed to perfection as the first showing of the specialist Mucca performers took to the stage and made a real splash with their flamboyantly fantastic costumes that included the infamous Mucca cow, which along with creative director Diego Longobardi, had been flown in especially for the event. If it hadn’t been for the continual draw back to the now more London based international lounge and Brent’s brilliant beats, we would have made the Mirrorarch our favoured space from there on in, but we were also keen to see what the Lightbox had to offer and, once again, timed our arrival perfectly, as the delectable Fabio White was laying down a superb set of uplifting funky, chunky & tantalising tunes that had us well & truly hooked, making our choice of where to cast our devotions a very difficult one indeed.

But choices we made, seeing out the remainder of Brent’s set and then heading back with him into the Mucca space, where yet more brilliant stage appearances by the cast of performers were made, centre-pieced by the superb P.A. of Anna Buckley, who first sprung into song, delivering a performance that included the massive hit “Express Yourself” during Phil’s set and then made the stage a further time while the second of the three Mucca D.J. representatives, Danny Verde was playing out. And in Danny we were to witness probably the performance of the whole main event, very much testament to the popular demand of this now accomplished D.J./Producer whom we have been promoting & pushing for close on three years, his meteoric rise to fame well deserved and one that continues to make us very proud. Track after track had us dancing in delight close to the D.J. booth, the room packed to the rafters and we being in excellent company in our spot, Steven Redant, Leomeo & Aurel Devil close at hand, as were Alex Erfan, Roni Inan, Jerry Boston & crew, all impressed with what the Mucca room had to offer. Even the lovely D.J. Mis-White wasn’t missing out and like us was supremely impressed with Danny’s performance, especially when he played an electro tainted version of “Acapella” and the collection was complete when pal & cougar impressionist Stephen arrived to add to the merriment.

One final tour round the rooms included a landing in the Lightbox, catching D.J. Oliver & the larger than life Baby Marcello in full swing with their specially dedicated “The Face Of Ibiza” track, developed especially for this new club night they had created, the crowd going mad with excitement when logo t-shirts were hurled up into the air for them to grab. But there was little else to keep us away from Danny & the Mucca room by now and even when he had finished his sensational set with the third Italian of the night, Pagano rounding off the mega Mucca experience, our man from Milan was in close quarters to catch up on news and have a little boogie with us to complete what had been an enthralling experience of a night. However, by now it was well turned 6 a.m. and our minds were beginning to focus on the afterparty across Vauxhall, so tearing ourselves away from Pagano’s pulsating performance, we waved goodbye to Danny and, along with pal Stephen, headed off to the “Orange LGDF Closing Party” to continue the action deep into Monday afternoon.

In summing up this LGDF main event, we have thought long & hard about what we were going to say and with the feeling in our life very much of accentuating the positive and rejecting the negative, we are pleased to report on a whole load of positives coming out of this nine hour headlining party. It was clear that an enormous amount of organisation had gone into creating the event together and even with the hitches along the way, the team actually pulled off a great event, great because of the music, great because of the dancing and great because of the atmosphere, all aided and abetted by the truly international line-up and the involvement of all the international clubs, everyone of them that we spoke to seemingly thrilled with the outcome, which we suspect fulfilled the ambitions of the promoters.

As for our experience, well drawing on the highlights, while we adored Brent’s music bonanza, fell for Fabio’s showing and marvelled in Baby Marcello, it is undoubtedly clear that the Muccassassina room topped our list, Leomeo, Phil Romano & Pagano performing brilliantly, Anna Buckley adding extra spice to the already superb stage shows, and the whole atmosphere in the room excitingly electric. But the real star of the room and the event was Danny Verde, who proved to us and many exactly why he is in such demand, by pulling out an exceptionally stunning set and for us epitomised The London Global Dance Festival and all its intentions. (DISCO MATT)

Postscript

If you happened to miss the LGDF main event, why not check out over 70 pics of the night, available at http://seenqueen.com/clubpix/LGDF_300510/index.html, which includes a shot of us with Fabio White (happy memories!) or even better, take a look at their video of the main event at http://seenqueen.com/video/index.htm.