Archive for June 5, 2011

 

Scorcher Of A Start

Looking back across the last few weeks of our clubbing schedule, we can count on less than one hand the number of Beyond parties we have failed to attend, in fact since returning from South Africa in March, we count just three that have missed our rapturous radar. And during that time we have experienced some truly tremendous turns by this awesome afterhours, each & every party seemingly getting better & better, or at least matching our excitable expectations. That said, Beyond has not been out of our firing line either, certain developments in recent months not going down that well with us & many others, but with much, if not all of those issues now put to bed, some already reported in our most recent fresh felt reflections, this weekend was to prove the opening of a new chapter in our love affair with this, our favourite club of all time. And what a weekend to open this new chapter, as Beyond was celebrating its summer season start and one that should see the brand go from strength to strength, not just here in the capital, but internationally, as Beyond continues its 2011 world tour.


But, while reports were coming in about how prolific Paris was for Beyond just hours before in the French capital, it was London we were concentrating on, the now familiar messages from our pal & dream team resident D.J. Steve Pitron, enquiring as to our whereabouts, saw us surprise him at Area’s entrance just in advance of his set start, a tricky negotiation of the new security support staff slightly halting our main room advances, this distraction allowing us to catch up with both Jamie Head & Jonny Marsh in the newly named “Classix” Terrace. But with our ears already pricking up to the pumping Pitron purge, we quickly found our spot & was quickly as swiftly noticed by the main man along with Brazilian Bel, who was already whistling (or was that tweeting) her way through Steve’s superb selections, while Smalls was also adding her own magical touch to the amazing Area lighting. Finding our dancing feet with relative ease we soaked up what can only be described as two hours of towering tracks from the man in charge, our emotions ranging from complete laughter as cries of “MAATT” kept coming our way, to those trademark tears as Mr Pitron pulled out tracks that he knew would fray our fragile feelings, “Offshore”, “Starry Eyed” & “Waiting For You” to mention a few, while another invite into the D.J. booth doing just that. But with this elevated spot sounding more like an aviary, Brazilian bird Bel tweeting with her mouth while we tweeted with our phone, this Beyond summer season opener couldn’t have gotten off to a more scintillating start.


Dream Team Boys

With our other tip top dream team resident Mikey D back with a bang, his arrival erupting even more of our emotions and with Steve stunning set over, Mr Dower delighted a packed & pulsating main room, drenching us & them with track after tremendous track, one choice very much summing up our euphoria with his delightful delectations, “Feelin Good In Every Way” just minutes in yet signalling a remainder of his set that was staked with scorching sounds, Area’s main room now at full tilt, the lighting the atmosphere & the dancers all playing there prolific part in making this yet another  brilliant Beyond to add to the trophy of terrific turns over the last few weeks. And the magical moments were being crammed in too, not least as Mikey dipped his head over the D.J. booth and exclaimed “where are the tweets”, to find us responding, “we are right here tweeting for you”, but also by the beautiful Naomi Ruiz, a welcome return to the Beyond fold, who continued her hilarious bowing at our feet, the call of “Emperor” erupting our laughter, while Bel’s whistle tweeting was the best, that “aviary” comment from Steve up there as another classic. But with The Sharp Boys doing Beyond main room every bit of justice as had the two boys before them, while Fat Tony turned out truck loads of terrific tunes in the Terrace, very much affirming his position as a rightful dream team resident, plus with Tom Fuller’s tom foolery keeping us entertained till well gone midday. Add to that a sea of familiar faces that passed by our spot to say hello and we couldn’t have asked for anything more, save a liaison with Paul Heron which we were also graced with, this international playboy D.J. making a bee-line for us in a hugging embrace just before our Beyond curtain call at not long before 1 p.m. (yes you heard it right!)

Well, what did we think of this Beyond “Summer Season Launch”? Well, it’s probably plain to see that we have a truly terrific time from start to finish, from the minute we stepped into that marvellous main room, until the minute we left it, each & every moment was as magical as the club is colossal. It was so good to see promoter Jonny Marsh on duty for most if not all of the morning, it was great to see the return of Naomi Ruiz to the fold and it was amazing to see new team members, heavenly hostess Altina Ha & delightful dancer La Menor, adding their own dynamism to the exciting new Beyond chapter we find ourselves in. But moreover, this scorching summer season opener has to be down to the scintillating sets from all of the D.J.’s on duty, each & every one of them deserved of their places in the dream team of residents, we finding it difficult to separate the stack of superb sets we were so privileged to enjoy, and whilst there have been some truly spectacular Beyond parties over the last few weeks, this one ranks with the best of them and on reflection was probably the best for so many reasons. (DISCO MATT)

Nibble Size Review Tweets

Postscript

Having re-styled our fresh felt reflections into this new “Bite Size Review” format, we have moved away from quoting much of our nibble size review tweets verbatim. However, these remain an important part of our new review process, ones which you can follow at http://twitter.com/discomatt by either tuning in live or by checking at your leisure, even adding your own live responses, leaving us to say, make sure you “Go There! Be There!, Tweet Tweet!!!”

Bye Bye "Preview The Reviews"

If there is one place where we find the most inspiration & then come with our ideas, it is the clubbing dancefloor, this morning being no exception, as we pondered over the continuance of our “Preview The Review” (PTR) reports. Now, while they have proven really popular and have also given us a vehicle where we can report on our clubbing cavorting much more swiftly than we did with our full reviews, the last two months have seen these PTR’s take the place of our full length versions, which have somewhat fallen by the wayside. Mind you, this is no surprise, as life in Disco Matt land has become incredibly busy in the last few months, the demands on our time stretching substantially, meaning that certain parts of our activity have suffered under the strain, our full length reviews one such area.

Hello "Bite Size Reviews"

So with an overdue list stretching back to Barcelona in April, we thought it was high time to take some action by re-adjusting the balance of our review reporting, thus changing the angle of our PTR style reports to make them more like our full length versions but in mini form and what we will now term as “Bite Size Reviews”. Now, if you have been keeping in touch with our PTR’s, which were devised in February, the bite size phrase will be a familiar one to you and one which we feel ties in well with our nibble size reviews, delivered via Twitter tweets, another invention (thanks to a dear D.J. friend) which has really taken off since we launched it in Beyond on 2nd May. Plus with that full reflection backlog growing by the day, we thought it was high time we gave the bars, clubs & events we cover a little more justice in our fresh felt reflections, rather than having them wait for the full review, a wait which has become far too long for some.

Welcome "Full Size Reviews"

That said, we will be continuing with our traditional length reflections, which we will now term as “Full Size Reviews”, proper service on these being restored as soon as possible, although, as demand dictates, we may need to pick & choose which bars, clubs & events get this full size review coverage, thus the need to up the ante with re-styling our PTR’s. In the meantime, we are committed to delivering the following overdue ones to you, although they will most likely be simple extensions of our existing PTR’s to include those all important intro & outro paragraphs, not least to speed through the delivery of this now considerable backlog.

 

Delice Dream Festival – “Captivating Clubbing In Calella – 16th to 20th April (feature length)

As One – “Sound Spoils The Show” – 23rd April

Beyond – “All About Steve” – 24th April

Orange Ascension – “Sweet Dreams Of Citric Bliss” – 25th April

Later – “Afternoon Appreciation Times Two” – 25th April & 2nd May (feature length)

Booster – “Braving The Bash” – 25th April

Beyond vs La Demence – “Blended Brilliance” – 1st May

Downtown – “East End Boys Meet West End Girls”– 1st May

WE Broadway – “Wow Factor Wandered” – 1st May

Beyond – “Waiting For You” – 8th May

Meat – “Monumental Mash-up” – 14th May

Gigolo – “Brilliant Burns Beats” – 19th May

Muccassassina – “Rapture In Rome” – 27th May

WE Candy – “Where Were We” – 28th May

Beyond Supersize – “Huge Holiday Highlight” – 29th May

Salvation The Future – “Stunning Stage Sparkles” – 29th May

As One – “Banking Branded Brilliance” – 30th May

Room Service – “Delightful Delectations At Diu – 2nd June

 

Plus we have two special reviews to still ring you, firstly our full size review of Roger Waters in concert at The O2 Arena from 15th May, plus a feature length full size review of our three day sortie around Soho during the first week of May, this one to be titled “Soho Society Social Soiree Showdown”.

Continuing "Nibble Size Reviews"

So, we definitely have our review work cut out, this being no better a time to address the backlog, plus re-adjust our reflections and make the flow much more smoother, that flow henceforth being from nibble size, to bite size, to full size, all meaning that our review coverage will be as complete & conformist as can be. And having nibble size review tweeted our way through Beyond this morning, where the inspiration for this change came from, what better way to kick off than with our new style bite size review of Beyond’s “Summer Season Launch”  which, like all our reviews from now on, can/will be found  in our “Review” section ONLY (makes sense we think). Plus, as if we need to remind you, don’t forget you can follow our nibble size review tweets by going to http://twitter.com/discomatt and tuning in live or even becoming a full on follower & checking at your leisure, leaving us to simply say, make sure to “Go There! Be There! tweet tweet!!! (DISCO MATT)

This Is Disco Matt
Who Is Disco Matt?
Disco Matt is London’s original party boy and independent journalist who previews, reviews & recommends London's best gay clubs, events & businesses, links to & reviews the scene top D.J.’s and generally covers the gay scene including international gay clubs & events.
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