Welcome back, once again, to this very special tribute marking Alan K’s retirement from the D.J.’ing clubbing circuit and having covered “the man & his mixing” in part one, then following it up with “the man & his music” in part two, now we toast a fond farewell to this multi mixing master with a post dedicated to “the man & his Beyond”, this colossal club holding its own special place in his heart, let alone in ours & scores of people besides. Sharing extracts of Beyond reviews, music mixes he has pressed with Beyond in mind, then giving our own perspective on just why Alan will be sorely missed, perhaps here more than anywhere, we will round off this third & final tribute with our own fond farewell.
So, let’s first paint the picture of the relationship between Alan K and Beyond, giving our own take on what had become such a magical marriage of musical minds.
Now, if there was anyone in Beyond’s history, particularly in recent years at host venue Area, that deserves to rank as one of its true legends, it is Alan K, no event as euphoric, no party as prolific & no outing as outstanding without his inclusion in this amazing afterhours. To describe in words just how intrinsic Alan has become to Beyond would take a stack of superlatives, although in saying that the final slot in the main room belongs to him, pretty much sums it up for us, the reaction of the crowds when he steps up & onto that elevated D.J. booth in Area, speaking volumes and then what follows us pure & unadulterated exuberance. There is always a sense of disappointment when we look at the line-up and find him absent, yet when he is present and we are in our spot, the magic of the brilliant Beyond comes alight, the occasional nods over the D.J. booth in our direction just one of many moments that make Beyond the best when Alan is around. And, it’s not just us that feels it, not a performance of his going by without scores of people craving for his attention, the whole main room atmosphere lifting that all important notch or two as he selects his sounds, so for sure, come Sunday 13th March, the queue of people wanting to get a final piece of an Alan K pulsating performance will no doubt be massive.
To further highlighting just what Alan has meant to Beyond, here are a handful of extracts of just some of the Beyond reviews he featured in, plus a slice from his biography, all demonstrating why he will be missed and perhaps Beyond not the same without him.
Beyond – 19th Feb 2010
“…we were far from ravaged with sadness & deflation, as Alan K assumed the decks and not just took over in style from where Steve had left of, but grabbed hold of a main room crowd that had pure energy seeping out of their pores, his brilliant mixing of not one, not two but three & sometimes four tracks keeping our toes on tips and our minds dazzled by the perfect blend of tunes…”
Beyond – 21st March 2010
“…aided even further by the arrival of Alan K, who was delighted to see us dancing away, remarking that yet another Sunday looked set to be superbly special. And it was, as Alan took up the mantle left by Steve and treated us some a whole host of his multi-mixing skills, the main room crowd not waning in any way, rather taking up the challenge Mr K was laying down to make it through way past mid-day, all helped along by some rapturous records, especially an awesome self made mix of Zoe Baldwin’s “Release Me” that short of blew the roof off Beyond at Area…”
Beyond “The Love” – 19th May 2010
“…especially when the star resident jock that would see us into Sunday afternoon arrived, Alan K popping his head above the D.J. booth parapet, spotting us and then jaunting out to say hello with the look of pure excitement on his face and ready to increase the pace of our already chanter pumping heart with his unique and skilful multi mixing, which on this occasion had the added dimension of a D.J. pal (the name escapes us) going back-to back with him during what was a totally fun filled & frenetic remaining two hours of our stay at Area. Not only were we treated to some wonderful Alan renditions of hands in the air floor fillers, mixed in with new versions of old classics from his partner in D.J. crime, but when yet another new & incredible mix version of Zoe Baldwin’s huge hit was lined up, the whole main room once again exploded in roars & cheers to what has become probably the most prolific & popular tune that, in over twelve months since its release, still captures the imagination and invokes the biggest reaction of any record we know, “Release Me” hitting our sweet spot every time and one which we never become bored of being all the more brilliant in the hands of the mixing master that is Mr K…”
Beyond “Tokyo” – 21st Oct 2011
“…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…”
Biography Extract
“…But Beyond remains a club where we continue to witness Alan really come into his own, the electric atmosphere that both the brand & its home, Area in Vauxhall create, being the perfect backdrop for his prolific multi mixing work and the reaction he gets from his audience simply has to be seen to be believed. The list of mixing gems of his is endless, although Alan’s creations on massive dancefloor anthems “Release Me” & “Underground” are becoming legendary and with the latest addition to this exclusive family “Acapella”, literally exploding the mind, body & the soul, no Beyond Sunday morning is quite the same without the inclusion of Alan K. So much so, this prestigious talent has been chosen to headline the core team of D.J.’s that will tour the brand overseas, upcoming gigs including Amsterdam & Paris…”
With Beyond clearly a big part of Alan K and Alan K a big part of Beyond, it comes as no surprise that he has laid down a collection of compilations devoted both to the club and his performances there, all that further paint that prolific picture of “the man & his Beyond”. Starting with his “New Year’s Day” devotion, 2010 alone saw four special mixes from Alan, mentions being linked in our previews, reviews & other reports. Indeed, Alan was part of a two special music posts devoted to Beyond, yet again reflecting on his intrinsic inclusion with anything related to the club. In terms of further compilations, two “Live At” mixes literally transformed us onto the Area dancefloor, Alan’s devoted in March & July 2010 essentials for any collection, while we are pretty sure he will mark his final farewell to Beyond with another extract from his live performance. However, in the meantime, his current four Beyond devoted podcasts are still available to download or play by going to http://djalank.podomatic.com and worthy additions to your collection, not least to recapture the memories of Alan in action.
With that link to Alan’s music creations rounding off this, our final third special tribute to the multi mixing master that is Alan K, we take the opportunity to wish him well for the future, one which will see him devote much of his energies to his growing family, not least the newly born Daniel who entered this world back on Sunday 19th February. Indeed being by the side of his wife during the birth meant that Alan was unable to make it to Beyond “Erotica”, yet while we sorely missed him being at the last opportunity for us to see this master at work, his devotion to his family is entirely understandable and the main reason behind his decision to bow out of D.J.’ing duties, one we entirely respect. Yet, as we say that, we cannot escape the fact that he will be missed at Gravity, Later, A:M & elsewhere, but mostly for us, Alan K will be sorely missed at Beyond, that final slot in the main room belonging to him and no euphoric end to this amazing afterhours ever being as awesome unless orchestrated by Alan.
So, let’s end this special tribute on a high by celebrating the man, his mixing & his music as we hope to have done across all three parts, then finish by saying that Alan K will forever remain in our memories. And for those of you that are around Area come this Sunday morning (13th March), make sure you get yourselves into Beyond to witness the last prolific performance of this Multi Mixing Master Missed. (DISCO MATT)