Of all the venues currently on the circuit in the capital, Area seems to fit us like a glove more than any other, as not only does its history hold magical memories for us, not least through the early days of just plain old Area in the hands of Crash supremo Wayne Shires, probably our most respected & revered club promoters of all time, then the amazing afterhours, Ultra, which cut a swathe through Sunday’s at the time. But times move on & oh has Area changed, now sporting Friday night phenomenon, Onyx, but also the biggie, Beyond, we having waxed lyrical about this in many a review & post, this brilliant brand having risen above all others as our favourite club of all time, quite a statement really, but when you think of all the amazing parties it has been responsible for over the years and, in Area, Beyond sporting “our spot”, a mystical yet surreal creation that has gained a reputation as strong, if not stronger than our “Doing The Disco Matt” dance craze, it deserves this amazing accolade.
So that is Area and we kind of know it as the home of Beyond, indeed whilst Onyx is extremely successful and a great club in its own right, there is something that sets Beyond apart and, like the Area glove that fits us, it also seems to fit Beyond too. However, come this Saturday (22nd Jan), another club night looks like getting in on the Area act, as Amsterdam’s answer to Megawoof, Bear Necessity, hits town for the third time, although finds itself in a new home, yes you guessed it, Area, this burly brand starting 2011 as it means to go on, stretching its legs & upping its offer to really stamp its authority on the capital’s clubbing circuit. But if you were expecting a straightforward Bear Necessity party, thing again, as this third instalment looks like being an absolute corker, of the caged variety of course. Why “Caged”?, well the team will be importing a specially made & constructed cage to form the centre-piece of Area’s main room, filled with a feast of sexy muscle-bear dancers to drool over, whilst their will be plenty of performing besides, the podiums filled with hirsute & horny hunks to delight in, along with the odd fire eating & angle grinding display to add some extra spice to the shows.
In terms of music, its set to be just as muscular as the men, with Bear Necessity Amsterdam resident, D.J. Rado taking centre stage, an antipodean (there seem to have been a few this month already!) that moved over to Europe to cut a career behind the decks just three years ago, choosing the Dutch capital as his home, although he was a feature in most of the major clubs & events back in Australia before he moved to Holland, including “Queen” & “Indulgence” at Midnight Shift, Sydney’s amazing afterhours club, “Phoenix Rising”, along with appearances for “Mardi Gras”, “Sleazeball”, & leather pride parties “Manhole, “Ascension” & “Inquistion”. Indeed Rado has a bit of a passion for leather, so landing a residency at Bear Necessity was a natural move, although he has stretched his talent around Europe, to include clubs like, “Naughty” in Brussels, “GreenKomm” & Nightcontrol” in Cologne, as well as “UC” in Frankfurt. However, this is one D.J. that has never really craved fame like so many others, rather channelling his passion into the music he plays, very much transcending the genres, between progressive tech, deep house & tribal, the underlying feature of his sets being the creation of energy and, as he puts it “…selecting the sounds & the right tracks that deliver the emotional state I believe they search for & what fits the moment…”, so a man after our own heart really.
So, this is one set & performance you won’t want to miss, Rado being joined in the Bear Necessity main room by clubland favourite Brent Nicholls, who will, we are sure, feel right at home rubbing shoulders with a fellow & familiar Aussie (they are taking over!!), but also making a welcome return to Area, his last appearance being for the Beyond/Pervert party last March, although he was always a feature of Area events when it was under the steership of Wayne Shires. Also joining the men from Oz, are Italian Mickey Galliano, resident of Rome’s “Muccassassina” club, as well as a host of others right here in London, including “Queer Nation”, while making up the quartet is an Alex Erfan find, D.J. Isavin having made his London debut at “Lovechild” and is sure to get the party going in style. Now, whist we can’t share music from Rado (we will be pressing him for a podcast), Micky has a new release well worth a listen at http://mickygalliano.podomatic.com, while Isavin’s podcast very much belies his uplifting & energetic musical style, also worth checking out at http://isavin.podomatic.com, Brent having well over 20 recordings from the last twelve months alone, all out at http://djbrentnicholls.com/music (ooh, what’s that latest one!?!?!)
But Bear Necessity (BN) doesn’t stop there, oh no, as Tim Jones’s musclebear brand “Tonker” takes its rightful place in proceedings, the man himself behind the decks in the second space, with some surprise guest to boot, while the BN team will be rolling out a special beer (or is that bear) garden, slap bang next to the “Tonker Terrace”, where you can grab a beer & a boogie, the beer being of the draught variety (yum yum) so as to satisfy those bear-tastic thirsts, this whole Bear Necessity “Caged” spectacular kicking off at 11 p.m, & running through until an advertised 7 a.m. Advanced tickets are on sale at the usual Soho outlets, plus online at http://clubtickets.com, all priced at just £10, while more will be available on the door but for more.
However, what about Beyond we hear you cry?, well fear not as both Bear Necessity & your favourite afterhours dovetail with each other from 5 a.m., Beyond kicking off, as usual in the “Future House Chapel”, where resident Paul Christian will be joined by the jocular jock, Hifi Sean, who very much comes into his own in this room & is sure to hit the high notes like he did for us on 2nd Jan. Then, as the BN crew melt away from the main room, they will be replaced by Beyond all-stars Steve Pitron and Alan K, we very much looking forward to assuming (or will that be reassuming?!) “our spot” in time for another precision Pitron performance at 7 a.m., while special guest Paul Heron sandwiches the regular Beyond boys, making this , in his own words “…my first gig back in London after Australia for NYE/NYD…” (well, he was playing at Industri on Wednesday, but maybe that doesn’t count!), so is sure to whip up an uplifting progressive & tech storm of a set. Then, to round off what will be a 14 hour back-to-back bash, Beyond’s main room couldn’t be in better hands than the multi-mixing master himself, Alan K making a most welcome return & to the place where he truly belongs (Beyond management please note!), no Sunday morning afterhours at Area worth its salt without Mr Adams on board.
Add to all that the music from the “Sunrise Terrace” with what seems like the Orange’s Group’s busiest & most used D.J., Fat Tony, along with Beyond regular’s D’Johnny & Jamie Head (yes Jamie is back!), along with the main room madness that will be awash with laser lighting, yes even more than usual, the theme of the night centred around that cage installation which the BN crew will have already made use of. However, for the fresh faced fanatics landing on Beyond, it should be pretty much of an eye opener, while dancing choreographers Elektra Paris & Shaun Capewell promise some dazzling displays and drop dead gorgeous guys & girls on the stage & podiums, we hope movin & grooving a bit more than they usually do. Plus, reading through the press release lines, it looks like there may be a prison theme running through Beyond (maybe Cell Block H with all this Aussie influence in the air!), your warden (or as we prefer to call her, hip-hop hostess) for this Beyond “The Cage” affair, being Chrissy Darling, who will be shepherding you all in beautifully while our Tom is still lying on a beach. Now, the news on the ground is that, if you have been at Bear Necessity, then you can stay on for Beyond free of charge (fabulous), although if not, it will be £12 in advance, tickets on sale online at http://clubtickets.com, at the usual outlets in Soho, plus over the bar counter at Rupert St, while Chrissy will be armed with plenty of discount passes at the “official” pre-party at Lo-Profile on Sat night (22nd Jan), where D.J.’s Nick Evans & D’Johnny will feature.
So, all in all, it looks like Area will be stealing the show this Saturday & Sunday and with a cast that includes Brent Nicholls, Steve Pitron, Jamie Head, Paul Heron, Alan K, Hifi Sean & Micky Galliano, wild horses won’t be keeping us away, ear problems or not, as we are destined to resume “our spot” for this epic enclosure times two and we think, if we can, you should too. (DISCO MATT)