There could have been no-one more shocked than us when the news came through that Alan K was hanging up his D.J.’ing boots and disappearing into the disco sunset, the news of his departure from the scene leaving us pinching ourselves to make sure we were not dreaming. But sadly, the reality soon dawned that the man, whose multi mixing talents impressed us from the very first time we met him way back when at Later one Sunday afternoon, would no longer be around to entertain us, whether it be gyrating at Gravity, being audacious at A:M, or pumping at Popcorn. However, all those outstanding outings aside, it is Beyond where Alan’s tremendous talent will be missed the most and we find ourselves still imagining what the landscape at this award winning afterhours will look like without him, days after this shocking news broke.

So, with the sad truth that Alan will be curtain calling his D.J.’ing career at Beyond on Sunday morning 13^th March, a final gig we will be missing as we will be about 35,000ft up in the air, given our absence we had to toast his farewell in our own special way. Therefore, marking the momentous occasion of his departure at this awesome afterhours, we have decided to commission a special tribute to the man, his music & those magnificent multi mixing skills for which he will always remain in our memory. And it seems fitting that, while we will be in the upper limits of the atmosphere come 13^th March, Alan will surely have the crowd in Area totally stratospheric with another of those scintillating sets that we have so often savoured from our spot in Beyond.

Now, given how much he has impacted the scene with his towering talent, we will be splitting this special tribute into three parts, the first looking at the “the man & his mixing”, highlighting the superb skill he posses through extracts from some of the focuses we have done and the biography pieces commissioned. Then in part two we will hone in on his music & his live performances at clubs, “the man & his music” sharing further extracts, this time from reviews that recapture a whole load of those magical moments we savoured in Alan’s heavenly house hands and also touching on music compilations related to his performances. As for part three, well its seems only right that it is devoted to “the man & his Beyond”, a club with which Alan is synonymous, we hitting the pinnacle by showcasing the man at his brilliant best at Beyond, sharing snippets of our reviews of Alan in action and finally toasting this towering talent.

So, sit back and enjoy our trio of testimonials on the man, his music, his mixing and his mastery behind the decks, as well as what Alan K meant to us & many more, concluding why he will be so sorely missed. (DISCO MATT)