Weekend Best Bites - 1st to 3rd Oct

Hey Folks,

Well, having been whisked away to Paris on our first European excursion as Disco Matt last weekend, it seems we missed out on a superb Lovechild party, when a touch of France came to London in the form of the Delice boys, while we got our own sample of some stunners at The Supersized Pool party, our full review coming up a little later.

In the meantime, we take a look at our best bites for the weekend and kick off with our picks from Soho, top of the list being Profile & Lo-Profile, which have a host of great D.J. talent lined up for this weekend, it all kicking off upstairs in Profile tomorrow (Fri 1st Oct) in the hands of Gaydar Radio’s own Phil Marriot, spinning a trunk load of terrific tunes, his set also going out live on the ClubNation, while downstairs in Lo Profile, which fills a much needed gap in the clubbing market in Central London, the team welcomes international jetsetter D.J. Paul Heron to the decks, fresh from his exploits in Brazil for The Week’s anniversary, who will definitely have plenty of uplifting & funky beats to warm up your Friday. Paul is by followed Lovechild & SuperMartXe resident Tony English, shooting you deep into Saturday with his full on euro-style tracks plus hints of the latest sounds coming out of Spain & Ibiza that will surely hit the mark, his latest podcast giving you an idea of what to expect (check it out at http://tonyenglish.podomatic.com/). On Saturday, Profile once again proves the place to be & be seen early on, with Rob Sykes selecting the sounds, while downstairs in Lo-Profile it’s the turn of Nick Evans to start proceedings with plenty of heavenly house to hone you in on the action followed by D’Johnny, who will definitely be pointing you towards beyond with plenty of barnstorming beats. Full details on both venues can be found at http://profilesoho.com/ & http://loprofile.com/.

Our other top pick for Soho goes to the Shadow Lounge who are celebrating yet another nip & tuck, although this time an eye catching one, as considerably enhancements & changes to the infamous sunken dancefloor have taken place. The team have a whole weekend’s worth of “Decadent” celebrating going on, part one of three being tonight (Thurs 30th Sept) with their own homage to the legendary Studio 54 club , while Friday sees the second leg devoted to their Winter Season launch, while Saturday sees a full on Winter Wonderland party, each of these three decadent parties sporting plenty of Shadow Lounge resident D.J.’s including Andrew Elmore, Mis-White, Minx & more. With a brand new entrance & decor, new drinks menu’s fresh new cocktails and an altogether fresh & exciting new look, this should be a definite port of call. Check out their website http://theshadowlounge.co.uk/ for further details & mail info@theshadowlounge.co.uk for guestlist & other requests

Other Soho (well nearly) shouts go to two new clubs, firstly “Lucky Bitches” at No5 club on Cavendish Square, which is a new romantic slanted 80’s classic tune filled frolic with the iconic Tasty Tim behind the decks, while across the other side of the Soho borders, new kid on the block “TTD” launches (see our Weekend Focus report), both events being on Sunday & well worth a look in. For more info on TTD go to http://ttdlondon.com/ & here’s another chance to grab Brent Nicholls’ specially commissioned mix which you can download via http://speedyshare.com/files/24364407/1009_TTD_Pre_Launch_Warm_Up-_Welcome_To_The_Club_128.mp3.

Down in Vauxhall and the heat is definitely on in The Orange Group, with a jam packed weekend starting tonight with Gravity at Fire, Gonzalo Rivas & Alan K creating plenty of sound storms while regular The Oli will keep the hedonistic house in reasonable check. Friday then sees the Onyx success story continue, with the team asking for recruits to their “Army” themed party, with special PA for the night, the X Factor’s Rowetta, who will surely command your attention, all this military precision then neatly leading into the re-launch party that has been on everyone’s lips for a while now, A:M taking centre stage (see our Weekend Focus report) and should prove a very popular choice indeed. But the weekend hardly draws for breath when Saturday (2nd Oct) sees not just Area in action with “Reactivate” but Beyond goes all big on us with the third “B2B”. Now, with time pressing on, we will be bringing you full Extra Bites reports on both events as soon as final details hit our desks (hopefully tonight) so keep your eyes peeled for those. Sunday would not be Sunday with Later at Fire, resident D.J.’s including Paul Martin, Terry Bryan & The Oli & then Booster back at Area, favourites Ferno & Sharon O Love headlining two rooms of terrific tunes and if you are not dizzy from the back & forth between these two mega venues, then why not go the whole hog and indulge in some citric splendour as the club that started it all for the group, Orange, manipulates you into Monday morning, the RAW room getting a big thumbs up with Gonzalo Rivas & Hifi Sean making sure the 10 a.m. finish is a reality rather than a hope. Useful sites include http://tinyurl.com/onyxguestlists (change Onyx for Gravity & Later) & http://fireclub.co.uk/.

Our other vote in Vauxhall goes to “Megawoof” which returns to Hidden on Saturday (2nd Oct) for what seems to be the start of a series of porn parties, Daz & his team taking up the mantle with the help of Alphamale Media’s superstar Trojan Rock who will definitely be fighting off a host of admirers to his pumped up performance & pecs, while resident jocks Leonardo Glovibes, Tim McCloone, Diddy, Rob, Massimo & Daz himself will pump up the volume with plenty of funky & hunky sounds to match the macho male crowd that the club never fails to attract. With the addition of the new “Sensory Room” (sounds interesting) & plenty of testosterone, this will definitely be the place to be for some full on man action. Go to http://megawoof.com/ for more details including membership.

Quick mentions also go to The R.V.T. which sandwiches your weekend with a very special “Speedwagon” on Friday with guest & honorary member Richard O’Brien making an appearance, while no weekend would be the same with a Sunday session of “S.L.A.G.S/Chill-out”, the regular team of Simon le Vans, Andy Almighty & Sean Sirrs soon to be joined by Phil Marriot, while The D.E. Experience still packs them in for the best show this side of Sydney (has to be seen to be believed). But The Eagle also gets its say with “Tonker” on Friday welcoming guest D.J. & super Swede Per Q.X., Saturday rolling out another “Carpet Burn” session with Luke Howard on the decks, while Sunday is all about horsin around with the funtastic “Horse Meat Disco”, Jim Stanton & crew delivering electro & funky beats to the brimful. More info on The R.V.T. can be found at http://rvt.org.uk/.

As for the alternative action, it will come as no surprise that The Dalston Superstore (DSS) once again hits our high notes, starting off as it does tomorrow (Fri 1st Oct) with another “Paradise 45” session in the basement, this time round promoter & D.J. Guy Williams hogging the decks & limelight with an extra special extended set. Now, if you haven’t made it down yet, we cannot recommend this night enough but if you want some convincing, go check out our review at http://discomatt.blogspot.com/2010/09/paradise-45-club-review and make sure a date with Paradise is on the cards, if not tomorrow, then very soon. Saturday at the DSS sees the return of “Computer Blue” which has the finest Italo disco, hi-nrg & electro synth on the cards, D.J.’s spinning the sounds including Ali Renault, Arno De Beaufort, Jamie D Winter & Spiro De Niro (shall we become Disco De Matt!?), the night being full euro wave glamour, or so we are reliably informed, so best you tart up those tassels ready for a good old shimmy & shant. Then, Sunday sees the ever popular “Tutti Frutti” take hold, with resident D.J. Squeaky leading the way with plenty of soulful sounds, while the gyrating grooves come from guest John Sizzle & David George, plenty of bubbly disco also on offer and for the likeminded, glassfuls of the bubbly golden nectar too, as we love to say, chaaampaaaagne darling! Whilst the boys don’t have an official website for DSS, both Matt & Dan tweet a lot, so why not follow them at http://twitter.com/dsuperstore to keep up with the doings in Dalston.

Our other alternative actions tipping the scales are “Caligula” on Friday, which returns for another session where the hot & high fashion up West meets the cool as a cucumber East End lot, all at Basing House in Shoreditch, special D.J. deck guests this week being the Hot Boy Dancing Spot guys that include The Lovely Jonjo, Hello Mozart! & Warboy, the whole night hosted splendidly by Andre J. Saturday is very much all about the iconic club “Escape” in Kingston, which bows out after close on 25 years of service to the clubbing community, which had its roots in Putney & the fabulous “Reflex”, although with owner Martin Church needing to call it a day, due to health reasons, this is a final fling for an institution that will be sorely missed. This last party in the clubs colourful history is expected to be a complete roadblock, so the team recommend you arrive early to help them drink the joint dry & party till dawn and give Martin the fond farewell well deserves. Then rounding off our choices is a Sunday afternoon affair full of song & dance, courtesy of Miss Kimberley & friends as south London “Upstairs At The Cambria” will serve up plenty of socialising splendour at this south London boozer, with Sunday roasts thrown in for good measure, this the third of three other options to go alternative this weekend. More info on “Caligula” can be found by going to http://caligulauk.com/.

Now, as always, further details (if not found via the websites) of all these Soho, Vauxhall & alternative happenings can be found by flicking through the pages of the popular weekly rags or by going to the events pages on social networking site Facebook, while if you are looking for the hottest dates in gAylist London then a visit to http://seenqueen.com/clubs is a must, the team having their diary complete deep into November, which includes details of the clubs to be & be seen in. Plus, remember to keep your eyes peeled here for our Extra Bites posts on “Reactivate” & “B2B” coming up and if you are reading this & your club or event has not been included & you would like a shout, then mail your details to discomatt@hotmail.com.

As for our weekend, well we are currently fending off a nasty stomach bug, so plans for a trip up to Shadow Lounge tonight for the “Decadent” launch party have been put on hold and we may need to take stock on our schedule for Friday through Sunday that currently includes “Paradise 45”, “A:M’s” re-launch, “Reactivate”, “B2B” & “TTD”, but hope the stiff medication will take effect & we will be out on the dancefloors as planned. So if we are and you spot us out, come say hi, but we wish you a fun filled & fabulous weekend and as we always say ......Go There! Be There!

xDM

Weekend Focus - TTD

"SOPHISTICATION & STYLE AT SOUND”
T.T.D. LAUNCH – SUNDAY 3RD OCTOBER
WEEKEND FOCUS


There is no doubt that there seems to be a resurgence in Sunday afternoon clubbing, or at least the penchant to party on the seventh day of the week, but very much with the desire for something a little different to the norm. In some ways, this desire is a return to the days when DTPM was founded, the first informative months & years planting it firmly in the PM market, starting a 3 p.m. no less, this timing slowly slipping due to a change in trend. But even clubs like Factor 25 very much built their successes on Sunday’s and no look back in this way could be complete without including Salvation, the epitome of Sunday clubbing and in sophistication & style at Cafe De Paris that has rarely been matched since. But with much water under the bridge since those days, one would question the appeal of a similar style club, although the footfall & popularity of Matinee at MOS, which has found new favour through its Sunday slot seems a good barometer in this respect.

So, with all this in mind the launch of a new clubbing concept couldn’t come too soon and in TTD we have a new Sunday sophisticate that aims to re-kindle some of the style of those Salvation-esque days, attracting the smart crowd and more than a touch of sexy lookers in amongst sumptuous surroundings, but most importantly for this the new clubbing kid on the block, in a central location, at Sound on Leicester Square no less. Now, it would be fair to say that the concept of TTD is not new, in fact promoter Billy Richard would be the first to admit that the club is born out of the days of “...Villa Stefanos & The Limelight...” he further remarking that “...since the demise of the original ‘Tea Dance’ concept, Sunday’s have experienced a void that has (in his words) unsatisfyingly been left empty for far too long...”. However, we guess for those followers of Later, Sunday afternoons have long been lively, although in saying that, there is little doubt that the style & sophistication that the Cafe De Paris days of Salvation offered have definitely been missed by many.

In TTD, this is what the team want to resurrect, offering a club event in recognition of a segment of the scene where “...gay men are smart, sophisticated and love to party, drinking champagne & cocktails in luxurious surroundings...” the short & sweet definition for us being truly gAylist and whilst we can acknowledge a few recent parties/events to have met this standard (think SuperMartXe, Matinee, UP & Rome), we have to concur with Billy in saying that it is very much the time to bring back some of this cream of the crop style classy clubbing to the London scene. And in host venue Sound, the team are certainly hoping it will do just that, this unassuming frontage of a club, wedged between tourist shops on Leicester Square, opening out inside onto three floors crammed with the latest technology, sumptuous furniture & decor and with some spectacular panoramic views of London’s west end & beyond. And in the main room, which will host this TTD party, the whole New York industrial feel will certainly give Billy Richard’s event an edge, combining state of the art lighting, sumptuous leather banquette seating and even large sofas inspired by the famous designs of Hoffman.

With much expected of the venue which is sure to deliver, what can we expect from the music? Well the team will be “...showcasing the most talented internationally renowned D.J.’s, while also giving new & upcoming talent a platform to show what they can offer...” the latter part of this statement being the long term aim of TTD, while the launch party will definitely deliver on both the talented & international aspects of their aims, the trio of Brent Nicholls, Nick Tcherniak & Pagano very much fitting the bill and will be combining to produce a superb journey of sound throughout the night, from the more funky latino yet tough twists of Brent, onto the distinctly progressive sounds that Pagano is famous for, ending up with the tech fuelled & hard edged beats for which Nick is renowned. Now, whilst Francesco is still busy in the studio producing his new compilation, “Digital Generation”, his set will surely be crammed with classics like “Loca”, “Back To the Future”, “Drama On The Dancefloor”, “My Religion”, plus (we have been promised by the man himself) previews of some brand new remix works. As for Mr Tcherniak, well he is still riding high from the huge success of both “My People” & latest smash “Deep Water” which just this week topped the Juno download chart (accolade indeed) and Nick will be landing direct at TTD from recording partner, Steve Thomas’s studios in Spain and will no doubt full of new tunes & sounds to sample. As for Brent, well it goes without saying that he has pulled out the stops with a dedicated compilation which is available for download via http://speedyshare.com/files/24364407/1009_TTD_Pre_Launch_Warm_Up-_Welcome_To_The_Club_128.mp3 and to quote him, “...no one wants to be assaulted with pots and pans on a Sunday afternoon, so my set will be funky, chunky and aimed at the hips. Expect a lot of new grooves mixed up with current floor fillers...” and the mix certainly is that, especially with the hip-tastic & funky “Party People” by Audio Jackers in amongst the 64 minutes of gems that gives you more than a hint to this scene favourites opening set at TTD.

Right, well that kind of seals the deal on making TTD a date for us , this looking like being a party you simply cannot miss, although you have, without question, missed out on all the early bird tickets which sold out an age ago, at the beginning of September to be precise. However, we are reliably informed that a very limited amount of advance tickets are still available at the usual Soho outlets Prowler, Clone Zone & DV8 as well as online by going to http://clubtickets.com/gb/2010-10/03/t-t-d-london-launch-party, all priced at £12 (plus booking fee). TTD kicks off this coming Sunday (3rd October) at 4 p.m., the club running through until 2 a.m. Monday morning and if you need any further persuasion that this is the place to be, why not check out their promo video at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=499149958451&ref=mf which should also seal the deal for you.

What is left to say? well nothing apart from, it definitely looks like all those elements of Sunday sophistication & style should be back with a bang, courtesy of the event that sets out to “...shake up your Sunday’s...” So, make TTD at Sound on Leicester Square this Sunday a date and join us for a boogie five floors up as we will be there to review it all. (DISCO MATT)

Weekend Focus - A.M. Massive Re-Launch

“AMAZING AFTERHOURS ALTERATIONS”
A:M. – MASSIVE RE-LAUNCH – SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER
WEEKEND FOCUS


When it comes to a bit of afterhours clubbing action on the gAylist scene, one tends to think about Sunday mornings, Trade being the mother of them all throughout the nineties & early on in the nougties, the crown then having been wrestled away by the brilliance of Beyond, which has since gone on to dominate the market, especially in its latest incarnation at the awesome Area in Vauxhall. However, afterhours partying in this clubbing mecca south of the river also has its roots in Saturday’s and the club brand that has been cutting a quiet & unassuming stride for close on 10 years now, The Orange Group’s A:M. very much having made its mark on the scene, gaining a reputation for cutting edge, if but a little tough, house music. A.M., like any good afterhours event, very much pushes the boundaries of normality, offering the decadent party goer the opportunity party deep into Saturday morning when others would either be doing the grocery shop or tucking into breakfast in bed.

But, as much as A:M. has continued to survive & thrive while other brands have fallen by the wayside, as it approaches its tenth anniversary, the team behind this amazing afterhours have decided it was time to inject some new life, new vitality and new direction for this clubbing icon, or as A.M.’s organisers prefer to refer the changes to as “...a few careful tweaks & exciting new features...” which are planned to maintain its position as “...London’s biggest & best Saturday morning party...” However, in amongst these nip & tuck changes is the appointment of a new promoter, one Oliver M (of Matinee London fame), a big & bold move by the Orange group, that has been met mainly with warm hearted reception, although has raised some questions, both about the new found working relationship & Oliver’s plans to re-vitalise/ change the look of A.M. So, we took the opportunity to probe Mr Mohns on these issues and you can catch the full & unedited interview via our latest “Disco Matt-ers” report at http://discomattpreview.blogspot.com/2010/09/oliver-orange-disco-matt-ers.

As for A:M.’s re-launch, there is plenty in store and whilst Oliver has covered a fair bit in his interview, we thought we would run down exactly what you can expect from this spectacular splash of an event. First 7 foremost, the changes to Fire’s main room have to be seen to be believed, much of the planned works having been completed, which have included the re-positioning of the D.J. booth which has become more on an island, allowing unbroken vision of the stars in action, as well as a much improved stage area to accommodate the sparkling shows, not just at A:M., but for the host of events the venue supports. But probably the most impressive statement is the massive LED lighting wall behind the booth, which we saw in action at The Week event back on 18th September and will definitely be at full tilt for this massive A:M. re-launch party, no doubt complimenting the dynamic dancers & the superb P.A. performance from Lisa Millet, who may well treat us to some of her classic hits that include “Now You’re Gone”, “Bad Habit” and “Sleep Talk”.

In terms of the D.J.’s, Oliver is definitely shaking up the format somewhat, whilst also relying on some of the former & original residents in his efforts to make the music more accessible to the majority gay audience we wants to attract, Oliver confirming in his interview with us that “...The main floor music will be also giving a little make over and I will introduce more accessible sounds without being cheesy and still remain cool and forward thinking...”. So, the launch party will see the main room (for A.M. called “Turbocharged”) sporting the might of Gonzalo Rivas, the exuberance of Alan K and the import influence of Andrei Stan, who impressed us immensely at the launch of Matador back in March, then made a considerable impact at Beyond “SuperSize” on August Bank Holiday, so makes a welcome return to London and should prove a sure-fire hit in Fire. Then, in the A:M. NYC lounge (formerly known as the Vinyl Lounge), the legendary Fat Tony will be playing the best in disco & house classics, very much in the Trade lite lounge style, while a new third space, the A:M. Fresh room will sport fresh underground sounds from regular D’Johnny, who will be joined by Pier Morrocco & Joel Antunes, both who have played for Oliver at Matinee, but who will no doubt inject some of that new vitality & dynamism that we are expecting from the club under Mr Mohn’s direction. And of that fresh new injection, other D.J.’s planned in for future parties include Severino, Guy Williams, Alessandro Londra, Saki, Micky Galliano & Tasty Tim, who will all be part of the rotating residency team, as Oliver puts it “...but I will rotate them from week to week and take a bigger more diverse D.J. team on to play, plus I will introduce some new unknown D.J.’s to the scene...”, so expect plenty of international new talent to show their faces in forthcoming A:M. events.

So, that’s the re-launch pretty much signed, sealed & delivered, but for the all important detail. “A:M - The Dawn Of Excellence” kick off at Fire in Vauxhall this coming Saturday (2nd October) from 3 a.m., the event running through until a planned 11 a.m. (although subject to demand it may well run a little later). Advance tickets are still available at a number of sources, online through http://evolvedevents.co.uk/ or http://clubtickets.com/, as well as across the usual Soho outlets, all priced at £10, although keep your eyes peeled for special discount flyers in both Fire & Area, as well as via Tom’s boys. Plus, if you fancy a frolic at Onyx “Army” beforehand, we know special joint £10 tickets are also up for grabs (direct link http://clubtickets.com/gb/2010-10/01/onyx). Plus, remember that, as part of the new look A:M. the team will be enforcing a strict majority gay policy. All, that’s left to add, is this is going to be one truly amazing & awesome A:M. that you simply won’t want to miss, so it’s time to set aside your Saturday morning & soak up the splendour of this afterhours audacity and we will see you on the dancefloor just as long as you....Go There! Be There! (DISCO MATT)

Weekend Focus - Hard On!'s 7th Birthday

“HOW MANY DEADLY SINS?”
HARD ON!’S 7TH BIRTHDAY – SATURDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER
WEEKEND FOCUS


When it comes to laying on a fabulous fetish fun filled event, there is no better in the business than Suzie Krueger, the mistress of the night that has reigned supreme over this side of the gAylist scene for as long as we can remember, our first foray into all things a little leather (and we mean a little!) being in the Fist tent a gay pride in 1990 something (we know the date, but we aren’t telling) at Kennington park (oh we may have given it away), when a young & innocent Disco Matt got very much into the swing of the action (did we say swing or sling?!), the rest of our Fist action very much speaking for itself, hardly a month going by without a visit to Substation South, the Imperial Gardens. But as truly amazing Fist was and so much into that scene we were for quite a few years, even heading to Amsterdam when we could, when Fist was no more, we fell out of love with our fetish side, trading in our Crisco in favour of the Disco.

However, with the emergence of the replacement for Fist, the now infamous Hard On!, things were a little tamer, especially as first venue, Crash, was a little too close for home for some, the underground Saturday night phenomenon of the time still running strong, but the cross over between the two clubs a little too close for comfort. But, whist 66 Goding Street did prove a worthy & lengthy home for Hard On!, it really needed to strike new identity & find its fetish feet in a more flexible & fulsome venue, the choice of Hidden, seeing this monthly fetish frolic really find its feet. And like our days at Fist, as we say, the rest is history, Hard On! continuing to attract a healthy crowd of totally up for it leather, rubber, uniform & booted crowd who certainly know how to play on the rough & wild side of clubbing, Suzie & her team providing all the tolls to do so, whether it be the horny music across the two dancefloors or the horny happenings in the myriad of Hidden’s corridors or the extensive play area.

Now, we have indulged in a bit of Hard On! action a few times ourselves, indeed on Boxing Day we did very much wear off a fair bit of turkey and got some stuffing of a different kind to that found on our Christmas Day dinner plate (check out our review at http://discomatt.blogspot.com/2009/12/hard-on-xxxmas-boxing-day-party-club), but with Disco still dominating Crisco for us, visits are not as often as we would like, this weekend being another one we will be missing out on, with duties in Paris in our diary, although we wish we hadn’t made our date with some anglo French activity, as Saturday (25th Sept) marks Hard On!’s 7th Birthday, in what looks like being truly outstanding event for sure. Now, we can hear the masses already polishing up their boots, choosing that extra special horny outfit to wear & honing in on Hidden & heaps of humping, hot & horny action to celebrate this fantastic fetish night in the best way possible.

So, with such a momentous occasion on the doorstep, what can you expect from this special 7th Birthday celebration? Well, all the usual ingredients will be there, 2 dance floors open for plenty of masterful music, the fully equipped playroom with some extra special cinema shows to get those juices flowing, the private outdoor smoking deck & snack-bar (just in case all that horny action gets you feeling a bit peckish), plenty of chill-out zones with comfy leather sofas to rest those tender parts, a full-on cock-shop with all your sexxxsentials and the team even have a cash machine so you can stock up on readies if need be. Add to that plenty of freebies too, free Hard On cum towels (a birthday souvenir for sure), free butt toys from Crackstuffers (these are fun!) plus plenty of free giveaways from sponsor DV8X, plus there will be a limited amount of free 7th Birthday celebration CD compilations from resident jocks, Brent Nicholls & Hugo’sland (more on those in a min). Plus to get you well lubricated (a good reason to arrive early too!) will be a special 7th birthday happy hour from 10 p.m. through till midnight, with 2 for 1 offers on cans of Fosters & vodka/mixer drinks.

As for the entertainment, well it will be absolutely top draw & a-typical Hard On!, the resident band of D.J.’s serving up plenty of sexy & hot horny house across two rooms of dancing fun. Taking control of the blue room (that’s the cruise bar in old language) will be the threesome of Hugos’land, Dmak & Halo-is, performing their musical version of a spit roast with plenty of tough & tech fuelled tunes to get in the mood for a romp next door in the play area, while in the red room (the main space the dynamic duo of Steven Black & Brent Nicholls will be tickling your fancies with what has been described as “arse funky” we couldn’t have said it better ourselves) electro tribal beats, while the usual hunky & horny go-go dancers will be complimented by a special birthday pervy performance from other main sponsor for the night, Raging Stallion, who will be pushing their porn star Ricky Sinz! into the limelight, this muscled & tattooed hunk of flesh (and that’s just his torso!), definitely showing plenty of those seven deadly ones we were deluding to with our title (seven being the number here boys & girls).

Now, what of those two music CD giveaways? Well as we mentioned, both Hugo’sland & Brent Nicholls have been busy in the studio especially for Hard On!’s birthday and whilst the formers mix has not hit our desks yet, Mr Nicholls storming compilation did, we getting an exclusive airing literally the day it was made (aren’t we the lucky ones!) and have to say, it is up to his exceptionally high standards, the 64 minute mix kicking off with a brilliant new interpretation of a Hard On! favourite “Masters & Servants”, then whizzing through a dream blend of electro, funky & tech house tunes, including “Downpipe”, “Arumba”, “Deep In My Sax” (or is that sex?!) and probably our favourite on the compilation, the ever so funky hunky & horny “Conscindo”, but in truth, there is something for everyone on here and will be one Cd you will want to get your hands on come Saturday night. However, we know that those already members of Hard On!’s facebook group have been given details of the download option, as well as those in Brent’s Dropbox group, but we are sure it will hit his website (http://djbrentnicholls.com/) after the event and the mix will feature in our next “DM Does The News” music post, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Right, to the all important detail and Hard On!’s 7th birthday kicks off at Hidden in Vauxhall this Saturday (25th Sept) from 10 p.m., this special party running through until 5 a.m. But remember that this is a members only club, membership details available at http://hardonclub.co.uk/, as well as being a strict dresscode event, that’s leather rubber, uniform, skinhead gear, boots and if you dare, bare (but remember footwear is always required in the club), so no jeans or trainers and definitely no disco dancewear ( you know what we mean!). Entrance for members is £15 and for guests (members can bring up to two) £20.

So, is definitely birthday time down at Hidden this Saturday, so get those boots out, squeeze into your tightest leather/rubber and get down to Hard On! to celebrate seven glorious hunky, funky, horny sexy years with Suzie & her boys at London’s dirtiest dance club, you know where to be! (DISCO MATT)

Weekend Best Bites 17th to 19th Sept

Hey Folks,

Well, after a last weekend full of interesting & diverse action with Suzie Krueger’s “Sweat” on Saturday, sandwiched by all things Matinee, the accent this coming weekend will be much more on Brazil rather than Spain, as massive club brand, The Week, lands in London for a spectacular party at Fire in Vauxhall. You can catch all the details via our Weekend Focus post, direct at http://discomattweekend.blogspot.com/2010/09/weekend-focus-week.html, while our preview goes into further detail, the report entitled “Sourced In Sao Paulo, Landing In London” out at http://discomattpreview.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-event-preview.html. But as always, there are plenty of other events on to tempt you out and we take you through our best bites look at Soho, Vauxhall & alternative offerings.

So, looking at Soho first, Profile & Lo-Profile remain top dog in our picks, Friday (17th Sept) looking every bit as good as Saturday with the return of Nick Evans, whose uplifting & funky sounds never fail to hit the mark, he kicking things off downstairs in Lo-Profile on Friday, while favourite Jamie Head steers you into Saturday with some seriously stirring sounds, while Phil (where are our track details) Marriot starts it all upstairs in profile Bar from 7 p.m., hopefully this week transmitting live onto Gaydar Radio’s clubnation show. Saturday sees more of a euro beat & Spanish influence in Lo-Profile as the mighty Gonzalo Rivas gets the atmosphere going, while SuperMartXe & Lovechild resident Tony English selects some of the latest beats to hit the dancefloor to take you into Sunday in style, with the fab Nick Evans back for more, although this time will be upstairs in Profile bar to compliment the buzzy feel of the bar with loads of brilliant beats. Over at Shadow Lounge, there are further enhancements a-foot as the team have yet more nip & tuck improvements on the way, so why not compare old with new and get yourselves down there on Friday when they roll out another “Therapy” session, with D.J’s Minx & Miswhite sharing the plaudits, while the institution that is “Inferno” takes of Shadow’s Saturday, the dishy Andrew Elmore spinning the uplifting sounds, plus keep your eyes peeled on news of the new look party at the end of the month, as well as our review on Shadow Lounge’s monthly Thursday nighter, “Hola”. Our other Soho big shout goes to Rupert Street who have scooped international megastar D.J. Paul Heron for Saturday, the man making a rare weekend appearance in the capital before jetting off to Brazil, plus news in is that our favourite Soho spot will be selling Beyond tickets from this weekend on, so watch out for the video virals, the posters & check behind the bar to grab your advance tickets for some afterhours action at Area.

This neatly moves us on to Vauxhall and clearly The Week takes centre stage on Saturday (18th Sept) at Fire, although there is plenty of activity from The Orange Group as usual, stretching from Gravity on Thursday, through till Orange on Monday morning, talking of which, this citric splendour just seems to be going from strength to strength again at the mo and is very much the jewel in the Fire crown, so is definitely worth a look in this weekend. Mind you, Beyond looks like being a sure-fire winner this weekend too, as all those hot Brazilians will be hot footing it across to Area for more doses of Steve Pitron & Mikey D, not to mention slices of Jamie Head, Paul Christian, D’Johnny & more. Other tip top choices in the Orange Group armoury are guest D.J. Paul, Heron at Onyx with their “Anthems III” party at Area on Friday night, A.M. over at Fire on Saturday morning (probably one of the last chances you will get to see it in its current state) and Booster back at Area on Sunday evening, all which look like being pretty popular. Away from All Things Orange and The RVT seems to be the place to be this weekend too, as Friday sees the return of the popular “Anthem”, an Old Skool Reunion style party with plenty of heavenly, hi-nrg house & pumping pop in the hands of D.J.’s Marc Andrews, Sean Sirrs & Andy Almighty, while on Saturday, it just wouldn’t be the same without “Duckie” & the combo of host Amy Lame & sounds from the Readers Wifes. Sunday sees the return of the institution that is S.L.A.G.S./Chill-out and if you haven’t been to one of these outrageous outings, where have you been in our life?!?!, entertainment from The D.E. Experience, warm up hot house music from Gaydar’s own Simon Le Vans & for those that can’t resist another serving from Sean Sirrs & Andy Almighty, you get them too, plus with special drinks offers early on, including Pints & Spirits +Mixer at £2 and with the nights drawing in, what better way to see off your Sunday than a dosing of Dame Edna, we love it!! Our best bite goes to “Carpet Burn” at the Eagle on Saturday, which has a gay bingo special (we love a bit of number calling) with the extravert Jonny Woo with sidekicks Ma Butcher & John Sizzle all ready to serve up plenty of ball busting bingo action & plenty of fun & frolicking thrown in.

However, if its genuine alternative you are looking for then the mother of them all returns this weekend, as Gutterslut hits ya this Saturday over at Vogue Fabrics in Stoke Newington, bringing out the Dalston Gay Mafia in force, Messrs Per Q.X., Elliot J Brown, Nic Fisher & Miss Crystal MC doing it like no others can at this hip hop hangout. Now this party has established a reputation for cutting edge electro & tech tunes, with one of the most diverse & mixed crowds we have seen anyway, some dressed to impress, others simply ready for a mash-up bohemian style in cool cloths to cut a stride, so it goes without saying this night gets our complete thumbs up and with entry at just £5 all night, is definite bargain city. However, our beloved Dalston Superstore has plenty up its sleeve this weekend, although we do the rundown backwards as Sunday (19th Sept) sees “Tutti Frutti” return, with special guest Ninejob of NYC Downlow fame, who will not only be bringing some sumptuous sounds for your Sunday, but will be celebrating his birthday too, so this should be a right old party for sure, especially if his recent performances at Lovebox & Horse Meat Disco are anything to go by. As for Saturday, it’s all about “Sink The Pink” at the DSS, with their team of residents captivating the Kingsland High St crowd with all their post Bestival cabaret antics, including Dale Winton –esque “Happy Shopper” shows & plenty of party tunes to pump the atmosphere, although the star of the weekend has to go to the special Fashion Week opening party on Friday, as “Revive” sports a plethora of new & upcoming D.J. talent including the Rollerboys, Who Knows, Hercules, Gilliam Smyth, Paul Sethi & Will Best, the whole night full of fashion & fulsome music, especially as the night is supported by F**K My Fashion Box TV who will be covering “best in show” as part of proceedings. Other hot tips out East include the fantastic “Disco Fag Bar” at East Bloc on City Road on Friday, not to mention “Caligula” at new home Basing House, gets in on Fashion week too, with their own electro pop fuelled version. But alternative queen “Circus” has to be a hit this coming Sunday as Jodie & co prepare for Fashion week with their “Catwalk” event, hosts Alexis Knox, Kingsley & Johanna and none other than Ms Dynamite as PA for this sweetie darling delight of a gathering that should see plenty of fashion statements (and that’s just some of the attire). With Miss Harsh joining Kris Di Angelis on the decks, Paramount will once again rock with a special live photo shoot at midnight to boot, so is without doubt, THE best way to finish your weekend.

Further & full details of all these, our best bites offerings, can be found in the popular weekly press mags or on the events pages of social networking site Facebook.

Now, just time to squeeze in a mention for tip top clubbing website SeenQueen, who have just updated their listings to stretch tight up the end of October, the team also giving you details of their gAylist clubs & bars listings within their “clubs” section, which is well worth a look at http://seenqueen.com/clubs. Plus they have their own take of The Week at Fire this coming Saturday, with their recent blog post, plus plenty more besides, not least a nifty video capturing some of the highlights of the coming autumn in gAylist capital clubland, all played out with a superlative soundtrack, recognise it??

Right folks, that’s it for another weekend and while The Week at Fire on Saturday is a major part of our schedule, we will try & fit in a trip to Beyond afterwards, although with bags of writing commitments, not least five reviews & three previews, it will be a relatively quiet one out on the scene for us. However, whatever you do, have a brilliant time, if you see us out somewhere do come say hi and as we always say.....Go There! Be There!

xDM

Weekend Focus - The Week

“UNDER A WEEK TO THE WEEK”
THE WEEK AT FIRE – SATURDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER
WEEKEND FOCUS


It may have been made in Brazil, but come this Saturday, The Week will be storming London’s weekend and bringing more than a slice of Sao Paulo, Rio & Florianopolis to Vauxhall & Fire in particular, as the man behind Lovechild, As One & plenty more besides, Alex Erfan, imports this institution of a club that not only rules supreme in its home country, but is making an ever increasing splash across the globe. Now, we covered not just the clubs history & placing within Brazil, but also delved deep into The Week’s first visit to London in our preview “Sourced In Sao Paulo, Landing In London”, which you can view via direct link to http://discomattpreview.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-event-preview.html and whilst we were simply going to bring you some final details in an “Extra Bites” post, such is the magnitude of the event and the further developments, that we though a full focus was required.

So, what are these developments we are deluding to? Well, first of all, news has come our way of incredible developments with the main room at host venue Fire, the venue ownership & management already having employed considerable upgrading to both the space & equipment, short of transforming the look & feel of the room. From what we have been told, the changes simply have to be seen to be believed, which includes a new “fully open” D.J. booth, repositioned towards the back of the newly extended space to give both clubbers & the D.J.’s a much better view & perspective on each other, and a new video wall installation which will make a considerable splash. However, exclusively for The Week, Alex & his team have employed the services of OBsqaure, who will be flying in direct from New York to add to this dramatic change to Fire’s main room, with yet more laser & lighting installations for which this expert in the art has become famous for, clients in London including The Gallery club event & also The Super Club. Plus, in an exclusive discussion just today, it is confirmed that OBsquare will be installing over 70 separate pieces of equipment, not just in the main room, but right across the club, very much evoking the feel that The Week has in its primary home back in Sao Paulo.

But more is to come as this all things Brazilian & carnival event will have production & decor oozing out of it, as the team have not only been using resources close to home, but The Week team themselves will be importing effects from Brazil and we have even been informed that huge feathers ala carnival style have been sourced from South Africa, all hinting that this will be a no holds barred effort to dazzle & wow you from the minute you step foot into Fire on Saturday. Yet, if all that wasn’t enough, inbound Australian choreographer Ashley Swift, the man behind many of the stunning shows at Sydney Mardi Gras, will be heading up the creation of a whole string of shows across the event, not just ensuring that the costume design the myriad of gorgeous dancers will be incredible, but the shows themselves will be highly visible and, as he has been quoted as saying, “...will have elements of OTT carnival and Bate Cabelo, combined with very modern dazzling pieces...”. Expect the hottest Brazilian dancers ever seen in the capital, plus with special input & collaboration with Michael Mau of Paris’s Supersized Pool Party (who host The Week at their own event on Sat 25th Sept) there will definitely be the feeling that you are in the thick of Rio at the height of carnival.

Now, we covered the music & the D.J. line up in great detail in our preview, although there is some fresh news to bring you as we can re-confirm that special guest D.J., Per Q.X., will not only be playing in the mirrorarch room, but will, within his set, be presenting a live performance of his smash hit “Blow My Trumpet”, the latest news being that top saxophonist Sandra Grant, will be on stage blowing he sax to the track. Joining Per in the mirrorarch will be Paul Heron, who is no stranger to the Week, having played for them in Sao Paulo on a number of occasions and in yet another exclusive discussion, he has confirmed that his set will be littered with new & vibrant sounds, very much in The Week style and may include a re-work of “Happiness”, which we featured in our last report. More news on the D.J. front is that this event will boast a back-to-back set by Steve Pitron & Mikey D, Mr Dower truly excited about his inclusion, especially on the back of his new compilation release, “Lose Control” which is out now at http://mikeyd.podomatic.com/, which is his much awaited solo release follow up to “Get Lifted” and, for us, is even better & very much worth the wait. The mix is well worth a listen and gives a distinct nod to the kind of music to expect from Mikey on the night, which will no doubt also steer Steve in the uplifting direction. Add to all this the inclusion of scene favourite Brent Nicholls in the line-up, as well as inbound The Week resident, the gorge Leandro Bekker, superstar Spaniard Gonzalo Rivas & London based Brazilian Doug’ Uim and the music will be absolute top draw for sure.

Right, now to the important detail and The Week takes place this coming Saturday (18th September) at Fire in Vauxhall, doors opening at 11 p.m. and the event running through until 7 a.m. Advance tickets have been selling well & with plenty of promotional activity around, there is a real buzz about this one. So, we suggest you go grab your tickets as soon as you can, either by going online direct to http://clubtickets.com/gb/2010-09/18/the-week, or get yours at outlets Prowler, Clone Zone or DV8, all priced at £10 (plus booking fee where applicable, although more will be available on the door. Add to that, free entry to Beyond for the first 100 through the doors at Fire and this is one Saturday/Sunday that you won’t want to miss. More details on this special The Week event, should you need them, can be found at http://alexerfan.com/. Plus, why not check out the official trailer for The Week tour, covering London & Paris (but mainly London!) at http://youtube.com/watch?v=IkMhrk5_a6M.

So, it goes without saying that this coming Saturday will be all things Brazil & Brazilian down at Fire, with The Week looking set to dominate the weekend in gAylist/land London. As the promoter sums up, “...we are getting ready for one massive party...” so recommend you book your place in this carnival of an event and join us for what looks like being THE place to be & be seen on the scene. Go There! Be There! (DISCO MATT)

Extra Bites - "Matinee Music at MOS"

Hey Folks,

Well, for once its seems the BBC were actually quite accurate with the weather forecast for a change and the sun is shining this morning, as promised, although we never wish to take them on their word, so have popped out to check for ourselves & the sun hitting the face is very pleasant indeed, meaning we will be braving this September Sunday with shorts, Addidas high risers &, of course, our latest t-shirt.

So, by now you have probably guessed that it is their “Open Air Summer Party II” at MOS where we will be heading today and with the weather pretty much sorted and all the other details covered off in our post “Simmer Smash Second Coming”, we thought it appropriate to share with you some tasters of what to expect on the music front, the line-up of Leandro Kloppel, Paul Heron, J Louis, Alessandro Londra, Nick Tcherniak & Pagano, which not only promises much but is sure to deliver.

And kicking off our mini look at Matinee’s music, first up is the Logan Presents September podcast, which very much has this Spanish super clubbing brand in mind, this 111 minute collection of music compiled by Tony English, kick starting as it means to go on with Rebekka Brown’s brand new track “Get It On”, a storming euro beat blast that very much sets the tone, Tony then diving straight into the mix for 25 minutes, before handing over to J Louis, who will take the helm on the Terrace straight after PA Vanessa Klein’s performance (more in that in a sec). So, go grab this latest in the series of Logan Presents podcasts at http://loganpresentspodcast.podomatic.com and get warmed up for J Louis’s set in the best possible way.

Right, onto Vanessa and she will be treating the packed out terrace at MOS with her two smash hits (both Matinee anthems over in Spain & Ibiza), “Pray” & “Keep Hanging On”, both tracks evoking everything that is magnificent about Matinee. Now, if you haven’t heard the tracks, where have you been? But we are sure you have, especially when you check them out via these links, “Pray” at http://youtube.com/watch?v=MeaFf4VH1eo and “Keep Hanging On” at http://youtube.com/watch?v=hGrIO4Zye9s, this one very much having the J Louis stamp on it, which should very much set the scene for his set.

But inside and guest D.J. Nick Tcherniak makes a welcome return to the Matinee decks and has plenty of musical tricks up his sleeve, including his new track “Deep Water”, a collaboration with studio partner & pal, Steve Thomas, Nick remarking “...check out Matt Smallwood’s excellent remix of Steve & my “Deep Water” track feat Wilmien, the remix package is out today on Sorry Shoes recordings I'll definitely be spinning it at Ministry of Sound, London this Sunday afternoon for Matinee, can't wait!...” and nor can we, so will definitely be trading out for in during Mr Tcherniak’s set for sure. Now, are keeping you in suspense about “Deep Water” as will leave it to Nick to treat you to that, but just had to share with you a fab mix of their previous smash “My People”, re-worked by Alan X, which is an absolute corker and is sure to be in Nick’s set. Check it out both on Nick’s compilation mix “Trade, DTPM, Red & Blue In Reverse” at http://nicktcherniak.podomatic.com, a snippet also available at http://youtube.com/watch?v=2lc8fZBZVm4, recorded following Nick & Steve’s back-to-back set at Casanova during this year’s Circuit Festival in Barcelona.

As the for others, well we know that Alessandro, Pagano & Paul have been busy in the studio working on new tracks & compilations, so watch out for some special new material, plus Leandro is very much in the zone following the Matinee pre-party at the Box on Friday, all meaning that the music is sure to mesmeric at MOS from start to finish. So, if you haven’t booked your place yet, what are you waiting for, het online, go to http://loganpresents.com and book your ticket to Matinee magnificence, which gets underway in less than two hours.

As for us, our passage is safe, our journey planned & our arrival timed for about 4 p.m, so if you see us out at this “Open Air Summer Party II”, then come say hi, but in a change to our usual finale, we say “forget the pink and head for the red, you know where to be”.

xDM

Extra Bites - "Matinee at MOS"

“SUMMER SMASH SECOND COMING”
MATINEE LONDON “OPEN AIR SUMMER PARTY II” –
SUNDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER
WEEKEND EXTRA BITES


To be blatantly honest, what we have said about Matinee in the past still rings true, this is by far our favourite overseas clubbing brand of all the recent protagonists to infiltrate the capital in recent times, as not only does it continue to compete with Beyond for our affections, but it retains an air of quality that others simply aspire to rather than achieve. Yes, Matinee has been through the mill a little, its fortunes waxing & waning, moves here & there never really giving it a firm foundation, thereby confusing & bewildering some of its most ardent of followers, even disenfranchising & alienating its audiences, allegiances splitting and mix messages meaning this massive worldwide clubbing brand’s reputation & survival in the fierce clubbing climate in the capital was at stake.

However, in its current incarnation & home at Ministry Of Sound (MOS) and following the highly successful first party back in July, Matinee seems to have found new favour & steam, especially given its new timing on a Sunday afternoon which went down an absolute storm with all that attended, the party being very much our highlight of the year so far, you only have to read our review at http://discomatt.blogspot.com/2010/07/splendid-sunday-sunshine-soiree-matinee.html to realise just how. But, don’t just take our word for just how good the party was, the feedback the team behind the new look Matinee, Logan Presents, received was nothing short of euphoric, even the fiercest of protagonists admitting that Mr Schmitz & his team pulled of something very special that Sunday back on 11th July, even the scores of people we spoke to following the event agreed, Matinee definitely struck new ground & injected new life into a scene desperate for something a little different.

So, the reaction & response to the second party, which takes place tomorrow (Sunday 12th Sept) has been incredible, even given the fact that there is a realisation that the weather will have its hand in the success of the “Ibiza Terrace” theme, although looking at the forecast, all seems set fair for Sunday, dry weather & temperate conditions on the cards, so with the sun shining as it is expected to do, it will be down to the team of D.J.’s t turn up the heat on proceedings, which definitely looks like happening given the impeccable line-up. So what is this superb selection of delectable D.J.’s? Well, out on the Terrace, Brazilian wonder Leandro Kloppel will be kicking off proceedings at 2 p.m., and what a brilliant start it will be, especially if his storming set at the pre-party last night is anything to go by, his magnificent music matching his stunning looks. Then, international megastar Paul Heron hits the decks running, taking the middle slot this time, which is sure to be a very popular move and he will have MOS absolutely pulsating by the time Matinee Spain resident J Louis arrives for duty, accompanied by superb P.A. for the event, Vanessa Klein, who should set the place well & truly on Fire, Vanessa armed with her hot new hits “Pray” & “Keep Hanging On” and Mr Louis suitably equipped with all the latest euro beats, Ibiza anthems & plenty besides to delight.

Inside and it is just as good, with Matinee London longstanding resident Alessandro Londra getting you right into the groove from the off and having been with him just this last Wednesday, we know he has be delved through 100’s of new tunes & racks to make up his set at MOS, so we know you will be in for a treat. Then, fresh from a Barcelona trip, Nick Tcherniak will take charge, he himself armed with loads of new beats, not least tracks “My People” & “Deep Water”, both produced in collaboration with studio partner Steve Thomas, the latter having held sway at a special launch in Barcode Vauxhall last Saturday. Rounding off the line-up inside is Italian stallion Pagano, who also has plenty of new tricks up his sleeve, he on the cusp of launching his first compilation “Digital Generation”, so will be chomping at the bit to share some of the tracks with us.

Now the shrewd Mr Schmitz informed us in an exclusive chat that “...contingencies for the weather have been made and we are prepared to switch outside for in dependant on conditions...” adding that “...should we need to move the music & partying indoors, then the MOS main room (known as The Box) will be ready to take the place of the Terrace...”. And we know that, following the issues with the outside setup at M.O.S.T. and with the MOS venue management having wiped the egg off their faces, all the stops will be pulled out to ensure Logan & his team have the logistical support they need for a quick transition if it is necessary.

Right for that all important last minute detail and if you are one of very few that have not yet decided to add Matinee to your weekend of activity, you can still grab advance tickets either online at http://loganpresents.com/ or at usual outlets Prowler, Clone Zone, DV8 & Solar Station in Soho and The Box & Santos & Mowen in Covent Garden. However, more will be on the door, this second Matinee “Open Air Experience” getting underway at 2 p.m., with the new extended midnight ending looking like being a very popular move indeed. Again, having spoken to Logan, he has advised that “...door entry will run till necessary, probably 8 or 9 p.m....”, but we know anyone & everyone will be there much earlier, as the action not to be missed will be outdoors during sunlight, although the superb Terrace lighting means the place will be swinging all night & that’s just outside!!

So, it goes without saying that this latest Matinee party looks like being THE hot ticket of the weekend, many saving themselves, others adding it to a hectic weekend of partying (us included in that) and all that remains to say, is that whilst there maybe be something happening up in Soho, we suggest you forget pink and head for red, as Matinee will once again paint MOS with picture perfect music & entertainment that no other club brand can, you know where to be!! (DISCO MATT)

Extra Bites - "Soho Pink Sunday"

“PRIDE IN PERSEPTION? – REGULARITY IN REALITY?”
SOHO PINK WEEKEND – SUNDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER
WEEKEND EXTRA BITES


Now, everyone that was around in the capital this time last year, will remember Soho Live, the replacement for Soho Pride which fell by the wayside for a number of reasons, some “official”, others revealing the actual position with regards to lack of funding and the reticence for many of the businesses that benefit from such an event, not being prepared to put their hands in their pockets & cough up the necessary pink pounds to ensure this most popular pride event would go ahead for the seventh year. However, with former success put to sleep, in stepped massive multifaceted & multinational company, Gaydar, who did what others were not prepared to do and put their money where their mouth was, the fanfare which followed being Soho Live, a concept that was intended to deliver exactly what Soho Pride had done so successfully, but with one subtle difference, the event would be in September rather than August. And in reality, that was set to be its misfortune, as the a-typical British weather failed to deliver, a cloudy & cold day seeing little or no activity until 5 or 6 p.m., there also being claims that lack of advertising & awareness was its downfall, but whatever the excuses, Soho Live failed to deliver, leaving many disappointed & disenfranchised.

So, a year on and where are we? Well, despite continued pushes & enquiries from the late spring, all our efforts to see if a new Soho Live would emerge or indeed whether the full-on Pride would return, fell on deaf ears and so we, like many, threw our energies into the more traditional yearly events like London, Brighton, Madrid & Cologne and averted our minds away from what had always been our most favourite event, Soho Pride. So why was Soho pride so good? Well, it was the combination of all business coming together for one day, the streets being converted into one huge party piece, with stalls, shows & spectacles a plenty, but especially, it was the music from the various stages on Rupert St, Soho Square & Frith Street that really hit the mark & made the day, a Sunday event, very special indeed. So, given all of this and, in the knowledge of what the winning formula is, what will Soho Pink Sunday be delivering, as our title suggest, is it “Pride in perception?” or is it in fact “regularity in reality?” and have some of the lessons from Soho Live been learnt?

Well, the first thing we have to make clear is that, there are NO plans for any sort of outdoor stalls or stages as, we understand, the necessary approval and licences have not been sought or granted. Instead, what Soho Pink Sunday is delivering is some extra pomp & circumstance (quite apt given the last night of the proms!) within the confines of your favourite bar hangouts across the gay village & slightly beyond.

The second is that the advertising has been somewhat muted, or at least lost in translation, meaning many may be unaware of the event of what it stands for. The perception by many, some D.J.’s included, is that they will be involved in a similar festival to Soho pride, but not at all, as the entertainment will be confined to the indoors, the bars & the clubs and NOT on the streets.

Yes, Soho is definitely going to be looking pink, as all the bars will be making extra effort & splash with decor & production to tempt you into their doors. In addition and what comes naturally with such a special event, is that all the businesses involved will be raising money for worthy & related causes, The Albert Kennedy trust being the main benefactor, but others include The Elton John AIDS Foundation & THT, so there is an underlying opinion that there is value & meaning in what Soho Pink Weekend sets out to do, apart from the scores of claims that it will, like events of the past, bring the Soho community together, as a well known gay weekly put it in their own perception, “...the community spirit of Soho well & truly comes alive with a celebration of all thinks pink, gay & Central London...” it further claiming that “...Soho Pink Weekend involves various bars, clubs, restaurants & shops, pulling together to create one memorable day...”.

However, reading between the lines, what will actually be happening is that bars & clubs will be making the most of the day to boost money in the till, although we really do hope some of that extra cash will go to the charity(s) that are supposedly benefitting from the Soho wide event. Yes, there will be music entertainment & a bit more, but nowhere near on the scale of Soho pride and, in our view, not really standing for the “community spirit” which some care to paint it.

So what is this memorable day going to deliver? Well, looking through the various offerings, it seems pretty clear that the emphasis is on entertainment within the bars & clubs of Soho & slightly further a-field, those that stand out in the list of 18 involved venues being Barcode, Profile/Lo-Profile, Rupert Street & Shadow Lounge, although efforts are being made by others, such as CXR79 & Comptons, to offer something a little more to the regularity of a spot of Sunday socialising. Therefore, given this and in typical style, we pick out our best bits across Soho Pink Sunday, first taking a look at Barcode, with three D.J.’s mixing up the magical music, the pop/electro-tastic Tasty Tim headlining the offer up on the ground floor, who will be joined by Jo Publik, while Barcode favourite & cheeky monkey Steven Artis spins the sounds down in the basement. In addition, the team will serve up drinks offers at £2.50 for anyone wearing pink and in addition, should they be brave enough to be photographed, names will go into a draw to win the new i-pod touch, wow! Over on Wardour Street, Profile will be transformed from yellow to pink for the day, resident D.J.’s Rob Sykes & Jamie Head ensuring you keep entertained, while downstairs in Lo-Profile, the doors are opened at the usual time of 10 p.m. for this special day, Rob Sykes & Alessandro delving into their D.J. bags for the dance hits. Having the inside track on Rupert Street as we do, we know the team have something very spectacular to dazzle you, both the specially commissioned pink decoration and the music hitting the high notes just as much as the “Hot Pink” theme of the day, with resident Alessandro Londra being joined by a team of jocks that includes scene favourite Brent Nicholls, while Shadow Lounge also have their say, with Tuesday night “OMFG” taking over proceedings, Kris Di Angelis & Munroe Bergdof heading up an cast including Lady Lloyd & Mikey Kardashian.

Other highlights of the day can be found at Village with the pink-tastic Heidi Liscious & her gorgeous go-go boys entertaining, Comptons, who have D.J.’s Littlejohn, Grant Wilkins, Zach Hadley & Paul Short making sure the music is top draw & on-stop all day, Ku Bar on Frith Street throwing on a special “Pink Priscilla Day” which includes a spectacular performance from some of the cast of the West End stage adaptation of the film, between 5 & 7 p.m., while CXR79 have a camp comedy & drag cabaret from 3 p.m., including Mandy Gap, Rose Garden & Bette Rinse. Slightly further a-field & The Box in Covent Garden have the hunky & gorge D.J. Dimitry K on the decks and having caught up with him last night, he tells us that he has some exciting new sounds in his bag, so should be a set not to miss, while Kudos have a pink filled day with their team of go-go’s spinning around the dance poles in tiny pink shorts showing off their assets, while free pink shots & all that eye candy should get things pretty red hot down on Adelaide St.

Further details of these & other offerings across Soho Pink Sunday can be found in the popular press & in the events pages of social networking site, Facebook, but suffice to say there will be plenty of action inside your favourite hangouts to keep you satisfied. However, undeniably, people will be spilling out onto the streets and looking at the forecast, the sun will be shining, so people will naturally gravitate outdoors, although, like London Pride, do not expect any form of alfresco entertainment, well apart from loads of people in pink having a superb social schmoose and with no plans to close off any of the streets, restrictions will be in force in exactly where you can booze & schmoose. As for us, well, our diary is pretty much full with other things, although we may be able to squeeze in a quick early visit to Rupert St, but take the opportunity to wish everyone involved, especially those raising money for good causes, a hugely successful Soho Pink Sunday, which many bars & clubs will hope is the business success they want it to be. (DISCO MATT)

Weekend Best Bites - 10th to 12th Sept

Hey Folks,

Well, where has the week gone, a blink and we find ourselves on the cusp of another weekend & what a great one it looks like being, so we just had to share as much as we could, although with time running out, some “focuses” may have to become “extra bites”, so watch out for slots on “Matinee”, “Soho Pink Sunday”, & “Sweat”, although we will be getting a full focus out on “Bear Necessity”.

In the meantime, it’s time to take our “best bites” looks at what’s on offer across the weekend, in what looks like e quite an active one, although a couple of events very much down to the weather, while other tried & tested offerings should prove popular on this second weekend of September.

So, looking at Soho first and naturally Sunday dominates the schedule, as its “Soho Pink Sunday” in our favourite gay village in the capital and we will bring you full details of the places to be & be seen in this latest incarnation purporting to be a replacement for oho Pride. However, Looking at Friday (10th Sept) & Saturday, top of our pile once again goes to Lo-Profile, who are serving up the Beyond resident mixing maestro’s Mikey D & Steve Pitron, Mr Dower have literally just released his new compilation mix “Lose Control”, so we expect that the control tethers on his performance will we & truly be off, no doubt aided & abetted by Mr Pitron who is sure to treat us to some superb sounds in response, maybe even the new funky version of “Release Me” we heard just last night at Industri. Saturday at Lo-Profile sees another Beyond resident hit the decks, joined by a recent Beyond guest, as tech house champ D’Johnny takes up the late slot, while Rupert t regular Alessandro Londra gets things going in sparkling style, while Profile upstairs is always a good warm up run for clubbing exploits with bigger sister, Phil Marriot returning for another “clubnation” session on Friday, while Saturday has Rob Sykes warming up proceedings as he knows best. Shadow Lounge keeps things on the straight & narrow with their regular slots “Therapy” on Friday & “Inferno on Saturday (you know the score by now), while our other two highlights go to The Box on Friday, who are gripped with Matinee fever as the Spanish giant of a club brand prepares for its “Summer Closing Party” on Sunday with a pre-party extraordinaire, the magnificent Mauricio masterminding proceedings and Leandro Kloppel supplying the sounds. Saturday is very much all about Barcode, as scene favourite Brent Nicholls returns and, given his bag of trucks at Industri last night, including that fabulous “Release me” mix, this should be an uplifting session & a half. Don’t forget folks, that “Soho Pink Sunday” will get our full treatment tomorrow.

Right, turning our attention to Vauxhall and with new night “Bear Necessity” getting our full focus, this Amsterdam import taking over Fire on Saturday (11th Sept) The Orange Group family of events looks like be sure-fire winners once again, as “Onyx” kicks off the weekend tonight, the highlight being a special b2b set by promoter Johnny M and regular resident Lee Harris, whom we included in our DM Does the News music m=newsletter earlier this week, so if both his dedicated compilation & live performance at “As One” a couple of weeks ago are anything to go by, Mr Harris, together with Mr Marsh, should be a set to savour. “A.M.” follows, with the team very much gearing up for the re-launch at the beginning of October, although current resident regulars D’Johnny, Gonzalo Rivas & Alan K will be joined by Beyond blackbox boy Paul Christian, while the vinyl lounge has The Oli & Jamie Head this week. Jumping to Sunday and “Beyond” gets its belief extension treatment with all our favourites behind the decks & more, while “Later” then rolls into a special “Booster”, when promoter Romain Lopez shakes it up with two new D.J.’s in the form of Dan K & Jo’z, joining regulars Ferno, Heidi Liscious, Jason Prince & James St James, also replacing the fog like smoke with fulsome foam which should be fun. Having said that, Barcode will certainly be giving the competition a run for their money this weekend, as Friday sees another monthly “Funkarama”, the D.J. line up including Megawoof’s Leonardo Glovibes & Daz Saund as well as star of Queer Nation last week at Area, Micky Galliano who has also been on the compilation release trail with his new one entitled “Feel The Rush”, which we will be featuring in the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Saturday is also quite special as the Italian stallion, Pagano, takes to the decks for a five hour special set, following up on his “Digital” performance at Onyx a couple of weeks ago, this set in the re-structured dance bar at BCV likely to be full of Francesco classics, with some newer tracks hinting towards the final line-up on his compilation “Digital Generation” which is due for launch on 2nd October. Of our other “best bites”, well Friday goes to “Kimono Krush” at The RVT, with plenty of alternative retro pop & electro, while on Saturday “Carpet Burn” at The Eagle have Prince Nelly also taking it a tad retro & electro with the accent on 80’s inferno, then no Sunday would be the same without a “S.L.A.G.S./Chill-out” session with the incomparable DE Experience & her chill-out D.J.’s boys to steer you into the new week.

As for our alternatives, well The Dalston Superstore is right up there again, especially now that we know exactly where it is, struggling as we did last Friday to find it, but eventually thrilled to have done so, as it is a real hip hop of a hangout & well worth the journey (more on those all important directions in a mo). Now, things get going on Friday, with new(ish) night “Charity Shoppe” returning with plenty of flea market pound shop pop & junkyard house, D.J’s Nasty Mcqauid and John & On joining Trailertrash's Ian Robinson & Jonjo on the decks, while on Saturday, the ever & very popular “Hot Mess” makes its mark, when Fil Ok & Holestar very much mix it up messy style with anything from electro to heavymetal downstairs, while oldskool is the name of the game upstairs and very much in the “NagNagNag” way with JoJo De Freq rekindling this legendary electroclash bash. Sunday (12th Sept), sees the return of a Dalston Superstore institution as “Tutti Frutti” takes centre-stage with resident D.J. Squeaky setting the scene with sweet soulful sounds to soothe you into Monday, also throwing in handfuls of disco diva dance tunes for good measure to keep your toes tapping & your hips hopping and as for those directional details, just make sure you don’t make the mistake we did & look for this Superstore splendour on Kingsland Road, as it is on Kingsland High St, a subtle difference that actually makes all the difference (in our case about 2 miles), so head for Dalston Junction & you can’t go wrong. As for our other best bites offerings, well “Disco Fag Bar” has to be in our choices, not least after a spectacular re-launch last Friday, when special guests Princess Julia & Tasty Tim pulled out all the stops to make it the huge success it was, this week seeing Gibson & Ganio return, with Laurent C getting his say and a possible appearance by none other than Luke Howard to serve up loads of electro disco, synt pop & even some hi-nrg house in this East Bloc NYC style venue on Old Street. As for Saturday, well Amy Lame’s “Duckie” celebrates a special birthday, while on Sunday, it is all about retro-tastic tea dancing at The White Swan on Commercial Road, as they roll out another “Strictly Sunday’s” session.

Further details of all these, our best bites for the weekend, can be found in the pages of the popular press & vuia the events on social networking site Facebook.

Now, as always we get a squeeze in for tip top clubbing site SeenQueen, who have just updated their club diary with events stretching into October (they are always well ahead of the game this lot!) and have plenty of news in the new(ish) style blog page, as well as a special feature on the changes happening to the building fabric of Fire & Area in an interview with Craig Elder. Now, not that we are bitter or anything, but they got in before us, again, although keep a watch out for our own take on all this in a special “Disco Matters” out in the second week of October. In the meantime, get your arses onto http://seenqueen.com/ and see what the team have to offer, it’s hot & it’s happening in SeenQueen towers for sure.

Right, that’s it for another best bites look and on a weekend that looks like being another hectic one for us, it already having starting in a divine Disco Matt dancing dervish at Industri last night (hope no-one took any photo’s), but carries on tonight (Fri 10th Sept) at Matinee’s pre-party, which will also include celebrations for hot go-go dancer Luke’s birthday, then we get all hot under the collar with a trip to Suzi Krueger’s “Sweat” on Saturday, preceded by a drop in on Brent Nicholls at Barcode Soho. Sunday morning starts early for us with a call at beyond, before quickly refreshing ourselves for the main event that will be Matinee, so if you see us out come say hi, if you don’t then enjoy what your weekend has to offer, but as we always say....Go There! Be There!

xDM

Weekend Focus - Leather Megawoof

“BEEFCAKE BEATS”
LEATHER MEGAWOOF (“LEATHAWOOF”) – SATURDAY 4TH SEPT
WEEKEND FOCUS


If there is a club that quietly goes about its business continuing to attract a healthy crowd month after month, bridging the gap between the outright gAylist events that are the likes of Lovechild, Matinee & SuperMartXe with the more bear-tastic XXL, then it is Meagwoof, the inspiration of promoter Daz Saund, Diddy & co, At the time of its conception back in the days of Crash, the team behind this popular monthly outing saw the need to mix the muscle mary alley element with the bear & cub crowd to produce a unique blend of horny up for it hairy hedonists that were very much into the full on underground house sounds that the more mainstream gAylist clubs were serving up at the time, yet also pandering to needs the macho bear types penchant for the more commercially intended disco house that is very much the byword of capital beat brand leader XXL.

So Megawoof was born and has continued to bridge that all important gap in the market through times at Crash, then Colosseum, before finding its latest legs & home in Hidden across the other side of Vauxhall, the place that also sports fetish frolic Hard On!, as well as having graced a welcome to hard house outfit Hook’d, the Megawoof muscle-bound brawn mixing perfectly with the hairy beefy boys & plenty in between to superb effect, creating, as the team love to describe them, a following of “Hunks Who Funk” . Having dived in with both feet at events in Colosseum & Hidden, we can certainly vouch for the mix in the crowd, which for us works like a dream, as does the delightful blend of disco, tech, progressive & electro beats that the team of resident D.J.’s regularly turn out to exemplary effect, meaning the popularity of the club, despite the difficult times we are faced with, is as strong as ever.

And perhaps one of the team’s most popular party themes for Megawoof is the leather element introduction, this month seeing another instalment of this much loved macho cum fetish side to the brand. So, Leather Megawoof, or as we prefer to term it “Leathawoof” (do we get a prize Mr Daz?!?) hits Hidden running this Saturday (4th Sept), combining the tight black trouser crowd, with the chaps & jeans brigade, as well as plenty of harnesses, collars & cuffs for good measure, with those not quite so disposed who prefer the more regular garb (no strict dress code is enforced folks), with the regular fix of “beefcake beats” served up by the team of jocks that this time round include the crowd favourite & Italian stallion, Pagano, whom we are reliably informed will not be playing a five hour set, although will definitely be treating us to some “Digital Generation” tracks of his, not least we hope hits like “Drama On The Dancefloor”, “Loca” & “Back To The Future” (no Francesco set would be the same without!) and maybe even an airing of his latest studio work “Don’t Want Another Man” (no pressure Mr Pags). After his stunning showing at Onyx last weekend, this will very much be the highlight of the evening we think, so our top tip will be to hunt him down in the Black Room.

As the for rest, well Daz Saund, Tim Mcloone & Leonardo Glovibes will be playing it a bit more uplifting & commercial (their word not ours!) in the Red room, while the cooler cuts from Rob & Massimo in the Blue room, will mean that the booze & cruise atmosphere of this centre space will continue to be as popular as ever. However, with the full on tech & progressive beats of Pagano added to by Diddy over in the Black room, next door will be a brand new porn & cruise room set up, which we are told, will present a few extra special surprises & treats (whatever could they be?!?!), not to mention Hidden’s myriad of cruisy corridors to delight, on top of the extensive outside area where you can grab a breather from the macho & muscular music & hairy horny action inside. And if that wasn’t enough, keep your eyes peeled for the gorgeous hunks behind the bar, deployed especially for the night by the Megawoof team, not to mention a bunch of beefcake brawn looking after your podium bound eye candy attention.

As for the all important detail, a reminder that Leather Megawoof comes at you this Saturday (4th Sept) at Hidden in Vauxhall, doors opening on “Leathawoof” at 11 p.m, with the club running through until 6 a.m. Advanced ticket sales are available in a few ways, either in person at Soho outlets Prowler, Clone Zone & DV8, or online via direct link http://ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&event=406687&interface although these are all priced at £14. However, if you are a Megawoof member, then go to the official site, http://megawoof.com, to buy your £10 entrance, or failing all that, turn up on the door where a flyer will get you reduced entry at £13 before midnight. Plus make sure you check out with the door crew the special discount priced tickets to beyond afterwards, which makes for the perfect Megawoof after-party, especially as one Simon Patrick will be continuing his Hidden birthday celebrations on at Area.

So, if you are hot under the collar & craving for your own slice of Megawoof’s “Beefcake Beats” now, make sure Saturday at Hidden is a date, don your leathers or other hunky gear, get down to “Leathawoof” to fulfil your fantasy’s. (DISCO MATT)