The last couple of months have been a strange old time in our clubbing world, as whilst we have been as busy as we have always been, there has been a definite missing link in our clubbing calendar. Yes, we have had a slice of Spanish with a magical Matinee party, we have done the Brazilian thing with The Week, tucked our forelock in the direction of NYC underground house with Paradise 45 & even gone French continental with The Supersize party in Paris. But while an Onyx outing, a hook up with Hype & an afternoon with As One have touched our dancefloor lives recently, there being plenty more besides, one club has not figured as large as it normally does. Yet, when we sit here kick starting our review of this amazing afterhours, we have amazed ourselves at just why it hasn’t been part of our landscape, well since July in the capital & August in Brighton.
Beyond has been an intrinsic part of our lives now for close on a decade now, even given the fact that it took a short break back in 2006, although since establishing itself at current home, Area in Vauxhall, this amazing afterhours has gone from strength to strength, for us hitting a real purple patch earlier this year, when our weekly homage’s just seemed to get better & better in unrelentless fashion. Although, like an over inflated balloon, the pop was inevitable and extreme elation turned into deflation when an unfortunate incident (no fault of the club we must stress) left us not only nervous of a re-visit, but saddened that something so important to us & our weekly existence was destined to become just another also ran club in our calendar. But, such is our passion & love for this very special brand & the people involved, that a return was always on the cards, so just why did the re-engagement happen & how did we find Beyond having been absent for so long?
Having been plagued with one bad piece of news after the other, what was looking like becoming a busy weekend for us, deteriorated rapidly, trips to both fetish club Hotwired & SuperMartXe’s “Porno Star” event(s) aborted, well they didn’t even start if the truth be known, but there was something in the back of our mind that said we needed to make Beyond, so an alarm call at 5 a.m. rose us from our slumber & we headed down to Vauxhall and a liaison with our favourite club & all friends connected with it. And indeed, on checking social networking updates, it became apparent to us, that, not only was this latest Beyond party a special, with a Japanese theme, we spookily having left the house & the Japanese F1 Grand Prix on the T.V. screen, but more importantly for us, we simply had to be there to mark the occasion of promoter Steven Sharp’s last event in charge of this Sunday morning phenomenon.
With the usual pleasantries with doorman extra-ordinaire Tom & plans for our concert visit later that evening pretty much sorted, we were in the considerable queue to get into this special “Tokyo” event, waiting patiently to gain entry to what looked like an incredibly busy Beyond already. However, it was a shame that one such individual didn’t have the patience, pushing & shoving his way past, with an attitude to match his barging, very much giving Latino’s a bad name, although, having exclaimed to us, “who are you?!” his face was an absolutely picture when a beaming Steven Sharp plucked us from the queue & led us straight into the club, past the coatcheck and into the main room, red carpet service indeed.
Having taken a moment to commiserate with him on this, his last Beyond, we left Steven, drink in hand and headed down the packed main room, aiming for our spot which everyone who knows us at Beyond will recall is right next to the D.J. booth. And there we found ourselves, very much back with a bang, especially as the maestro was at work, Steve Pitron bopping up & down and beating out a never-ending succession of truly amazing tracks, many Beyond anthems and a-typical Pitron style. Rather than attracting his attention, it was clear we were attraction n many others, a stream of familiar faces passing us by and pausing to say hello. To say we were overcome with emotion at being back in our favourite club & being around so many friendly clubbers, was an understatement, our fragile state tinterring & we fighting back the tears with determined dance moves to banish all thoughts of our bad week from our minds.
So, the scene was set for a morning filled with incredible music & all the magic that Beyond at Area is renowned for, the best lighting, pyrotechnics & effects in the business, undoubtedly some of the best D.J.’s in town & even all the new additions to the venue, not least the massive elevated stage at the far end of the main room. With Steve in full flow and we going absolutely nowhere, rather burning up our corner with exuberant dancing dervishness, even the incredible heat in the place was not stopping us in our tracks, the only slight halt to our movements being the never-ending stream of people cramming into the room to lap up what was becoming the best Beyond we had been to in a long time. And it was going to get better, as not only did a succession of dancers hit the main stage, but then we were treated to a P.A. performance by Hadley, to compliment the striking dancers both Shaun Capewell & Elektra Paris were co-ordinating.
Now, it has to be said that we are never that keen on P.A.’s in Area, mainly because all they seem to do is interrupt the flow of our morning and, to be honest, this was it same, the whole situation not being helped by technical issues with her mic, but in typical Pitron style, Steve carried on regardless, made the best of a bad situation & soon we were back into our stride, especially when he pulled out our record of now, “Happiness”, this once again bring tears of eyes, although this time tears of happiness, Steve even looking over, spotting us & giving us a huge thumbs up. With a few hello’s to the Orange Group top brass, Alex Erfan, Jonny Marsh, Dave Cross, & Jay Vokins, all who were strangely present & on cue. But the music was our real devotion & with Mikey D soon taking over the reins, what had been a truly exceptional set by Steve, was to be equalled in every way & even exceeded in some, a small refreshment break, finding us rejuvenated & ready for another non-stop two hours of moving & grooving to Mikey’s music.
To say that by now we were losing control only referred to the fact that track after track reminded us of Mikey’s brilliant compilation “lose Control”, we in absolute heaven with every track he was choosing and very much in our element in our most favourite club, every moment just getting better & better, the crowd one of the most jovial friendly & good looking we had seen in ages. So good was our experience becoming, we felt compelled to tell the world, remarking on our experiences via our mobile & social networking sites, the pitch hitting a true crescendo when Mr Dower played the magnificent “Elevated”, the track an absolute reflection of our mood & what Beyond had transformed from a downbeat & fragile individual, to a determined & ecstatic person.
Being back to our comfortable self, the morning only going to improve, with Steven Sharp passing by & escorting us to the Terrace for refreshments, where we caught up with Hifi Sean who was preparing for his set, taking over from Paul Christian, while the duo of David Jimenez & D’Johnny (we affectionately label them D.J.’s D.J. & D.J….get it?!?!) playing a storming back-to-back set in the new extended middle space, now called The Chapel Bar, very much re-kindling this is a creditable dance room. Whilst Sean was a little tired, having flown in direct from Athens to play at this special Beyond party, it certainly didn’t show in his music, a sparkling set of sounds that he aptly termed teriyaki tech, it certainly touching our sweet spot perfectly. But, with a serious eye now on the clock & with Tom’s 12 midday deadline ringing in our heads, we dived back into the main room to catch up with Alan K, although such was the brilliant & euphoria of his set, we simply couldn’t tear ourselves away, only eventually doing so under duress at just before the 1 p.m. closing, leaving Area behind to reflect on a simply scintillating session at Beyond.
Well, what can we say, apart from the fact that Beyond Tokyo was, for us, probably THE best one this year. Yes, we had not witnessed much of the August Bank Holiday Super Size party, which so many people remark as being the best, but if it was anywhere near as good as this one (which we doubt) then it also is top of the tree. From the minute we were whisked out of the queue, till the moment we left Area’s doors, not only were we made to feel well & truly welcome by so many people, but we felt so much at home & ease with the club that has meant & means so much to us. Finding the exact words to describe just how magical it all was is difficult, but Beyond just seems to have that all important edge over any other experience & Sunday mornings surely now have to begin with B & end in D and no longer T & E as what was previously our tip top afterhours experience, Trade, having had its crown well & truly stolen by the might of Craig Elder’s creation.
As for Steven Sharp, like our journey on this special Tokyo event, from the minute he took over as Beyond promoter, till the final moments of his tenure end, you couldn’t ask for a more charming, generous, kind & thoughtful individual to run the club. His dedication to his audience & his customers has been immense and he knows exactly how to pitch his presence perfectly, this care for what he does showing through in bucket loads, his popularity with the punters speaking for itself. All this means that, like when Steve, Mikey, Jamie or Sean are not at Beyond (no offense to the other D.J.’s of course), it is never the same for us and without Steven there, it won’t be the same, so we just hope that whoever takes over the club has the same care, consideration & dedication, but with Beyond Tokyo being such a good party, we will be back regardless. (DISCO MATT)
Postscript
If you were unfortunate enough to miss out on this brilliant Beyond bash, then you can always get a slice of the action through three tremendous compilations, one a direct recording from his set at “Tokyo”. So, let’s cover that one off first, as Alan K treats us to yet another beyond mix, which you can grab now at http://djalank.podomatic.com. As for the other two, well we have mentioned them before, but they are so good & evoke so many great memories of this & previous Beyond parties, you simply have to add them to your collections. Steve Pitron’s “Summer 2010” has become a classic & is still available at http://stevepitronsessions.podomatic.com while Mikey D’s rare but latest offering “Lose Control” has his performance at Beyond Tokyo written all over it, so is an essential mix for any Beyond main room enthusiast which you can grab at http://mikeyd.podomatic.com.