Avoiding Alfresco Antics

Having been consumed in all things Pride, we find ourselves in catch up mode and looking back on the previous week which proved another quiet one in Disco Matt land while we continued to rest & mend our broken bones, although with Wimbledon dominating our airwaves, we had much to keep us amused while our eyes & ears were checking out the movers & shakers on the scene, including a new international entry that made a superb splash out in Ibiza.

Nathan & Jamie In The Gigolo House

So let’s get straight to it and look back to Thursday 23^rd July, Gigolo entertaining a considerable crowd with two Lo-Profile favourites, Nathan Six & Jamie Head on the decks, Nathan kicking off with some superb uplifting & disco tipped sounds, while Mr Head turned up the house heat with a brilliant blend of classic disco heaven with tougher tech that really hit the spot. With both David & L.A. keeping the offer really fresh, transforming the host venue to give it an individual & refreshing feel, Gigolo has very much earned its place on the clubbing calendar and with Nathan back for more this week (Thurs 7^th July) along with the cute yet capable Zach Burns, this is a “Fever” frolic you won’t want to miss, DM there to report on it all & more details on Gigolo available at http://gigolodisco.com

Ibiza Send Off Smash

Onto the other big Thursday hitter, Room Service, Jodie Harsh & co very much in Ibiza mood with a warm up session for their launch on the white isle (more on that in a mo), legendary D.J.’s Fat Tony & Ariel very much doing the business with bags of brilliant beats to give Jodie, Kris & co the best “Ibiza Send Off” they  could have wished for, while the Manhunt men provided plenty of eye candy as well as stacks of super give-aways, even the Room Service crew getting in on the act with special Ibiza t-shirts (where’s ours?!?!) along with more of the spectacular same social soiree splendour that has become a trademark of this magnificent weekly meet. And having been there to report on Room Service’s “WE Heroes Pre-Party” last Thursday, watch this space for DM’s Bite Size review “Pitron Posse Pack A Punch”, out shortly, while tonight (Monday 4^th July) Kris Di Angelis heads up the 2^nd Ibiza outing at Aura, then Thursday seeing Jodie host a “Go-Go” inspired party in London, Severino & Dmitry Struigen serving up the sound, more info on these & future Room Service events a click away at http://clubroomservice.com.

Society Soho Soiree

Onto Friday and it seemed that the quietist one of the month was proving to be just that, “Society” at Lo-Profile reporting average attendance, although both Nick Evans & “Society” new boy Zach Burns certainly impressed with scores of superb sounds, the team behind this Soho smash, upping the ante just last weekend with a Brazilian themed party, while we enjoyed our own slice of Sao Paulo, as one of Brazil’s best exports, Junior Moura made his Profile (that’s upstairs) debut, the second of our weekend reviews, this one titled “I Want My Porridge”, including Junior’s pulsating performance here. As for this Friday?, well it looks like being hot, hot hot, as Beyond boy Steve Pitron & the cute yet capable Zack Burns both make a welcome return, DM out for the 2^nd night in a row to report on it all, while more info on Lo-Profile can be found on their fab website at http://lo-profile.com

Other movers & shakers on Friday were very much on the alternative circuit, as “Marvellous” ended up a manic mash-up with a packed out Royal Vauxhall Tavern seeing Joan Dairy Queen host a hip hop happening, the D.J. duo of Jonny Slut & Dawn Right Nasty mixing the music into a wash of punk, soul, rock, disco & funk, the midnight strip show popping plenty of eyeballs, while over in Dalston, the Superstore boys welcoming new night “Breed” with energetic electronic the name of the music genre game, deck duties performed by the creative combo Rufus & Bambi, along with promoter Rex The Dog (say no more!). However, with many eyes on alfresco antics the following day, it was The Two brewers in Clapham that showed the way, Manager Jimmy Smith (is he still going?!) reporting a huge turnout for the “Drag Idol” final hosted by the one & only Titti La Camp & sporting one of the strongest contestant line-ups in years.

Squeezing Onto SW4 Street

So we move to Saturday and with the weather improving by the hour, come 3 p.m. the sun had definitely got his hat on in time for the “7^th Annual Clapham Street Party”, the queue to get a squashed up spot on Edgerley Street next to Kazbar, stretching right up towards The Two Brewers, who themselves had sealed off the street next to the pub which was also packed. With the world & his wife on the London gay scene descending on SW4, those who were wise enough to arrive early, or lucky enough to get in, enjoyed the best in cabaret & entertainment from scene stars including Maisie Trollette, Lola Lasagne, Dave Lynn & Rose Garden,  while Loose Women’s stars Sherrie Hewson & Carol McGiffen provided some celebrity clout, this spectacular street shindig hosted with the incomparable Sandra, Drag Idol winner, Son Of Tutu made a impressive start to her cabaret career. However, with this prolific party seemingly getting bigger & bigger every year, we are hopeful that the organisers have similar plans to accommodate the numbers next time, as many, ourselves included, came away without gaining entry.

Prolific Pre-Pride Party

With so many clubbers having landed in south London, there was a wonderful winner as a result, many moving in on Vauxhall & Fire for their “Pride Pre-Party”, news hitting our desks pretty quickly that the club enjoyed one of its best Saturday turnouts in many a month, close on 1000 revellers packing out the two rooms of fun, the likes of Mikey D, Fat Tony & Leandro Kloppel rocking the main room, while the delectable DouGuim sorted the sounds in the Ku-Bar lounge, also pulling in the punters with a prolific performance that makes him one of our D.J.’s of the moment. Having played on the “free” theme for a second time, it seems this formula is working, while we know the team have a few plans for Saturday’s up their sleeves, so watch this space for news on those, And with Fire having hosted the “official” post Pride party, Liberation, this last Saturday (2^nd July), this coming weekend sees A:M return to its rightful slot, while Alex Erfan takes over the club for the welcome return of Lovechild to the clubbing circuit with their exceptional event “Super Lovers”, DM giving it the full Weekend Focus exposure within his special preview post “From Fire To Fever”. More information on all events at Fire can be found at http://fireclub.co.uk.

Beyond On the Radio

With Sunday seemingly dominated by more alfresco antics as the mercury zoomed close to 30 degrees, Beyond remained reasonably buoyant, though resting our repairing bones meant we could tune into the “Beyond On The Radio” show, savouring the sets we had missed the previous weekend, not least a precision perfect Pitron performance that included tracks, “Offshore”, “Bitch Lady”, You’ve Got The Love”, Music In My Soul”, “Waiting For You” & the Pitron/DM anthem “Stronger”, leaving us in as much of an emotional state as we would have been on our spot, there being no better was to savour a slice of this awesome afterhours, either as a warm up for the real thing, or as a look in on the brilliant Beyond beats, by tuning in every Sunday morning from zero o’clock to 7 a.m., at http://gaydarradio.com. However, we were back at beyond just yesterday (Sunday 3^rd July) for their “Super Pride” event and managed plenty of our “Doing The Disco Matt” moves, as well as a number of Nibble Size review tweets, our Full Size Review, “Rapturous Return Erupts Emotions” due out a little later this week.

Last Dance Lamenting

With the usual suspects ending the weekend, Orange sending party heads deep into Monday morning, Monday night saw “Citric” at Ku-Bar & “Popcorn” at Heaven show the scene that it simply doesn’t stop, while our week was fast forwarded to Wednesday, as we gave our night away to social soiree splendour Industri, as it bowed out of the clubbing circuit with its “Last Dance” event, this curtain call on this three fabulous years attracting many of faithful to toast it a fond farewell. And with Minty in charge of the hosting, while the duo of Brent Nicholls & Paul Heron were back together, treating us to a ton of terrific tracks in a back-to-back set to savour, this last ever Industri event in Soho had the feel of Vauxhall days of old, we sitting & quietly observing the shenanigans from the sidelines & then reporting on it all in a Bite Size review reflection, out via direct link http://discomatt.com/web/2011/07/reviews-bitter-sweet-soiree-swansong-industri-the-last-dance-wednesday-29th-june-bite-size-review/. With Minty Brent & Paul promising to be back with a successor soon, it seems the new breed of social soirees, Room Service & Gigolo, will be hogging much of the limelight for now, kind of bringing us full circle on this weekly round-up.

Shoreditch Summer Show

Now to some news and to two alfresco antics that we definitely won’t be avoiding, the first being “Summer Rites Remixed” which takes place this coming Sunday (10^th July) in Shoreditch Park from midday till 10 p.m. With over 12 bars & clubs involved including Salvation, XXL, Popstarz, Trannyshack, Meat & Gutterslut, this outdoor event looks to re-emulate those halcyon days when Pride park events were all the rage & Summer Rites itself shone superbly, paving the way for other outings such as “Purple In the Park”. And this “Remixed” affair looks like a corker, all set in the relative intimacy of Shoreditch park in Hoxton, but sporting seven separate dance/entertainment tents, along with a “Bootylicious Bus”, dodgems rides & the usual bar & refreshment facilities, making this “…the latest gay festival to hit the UK, but seeing London’s original boutique clubbing festivals return after more than a decade of never having been bettered, all set in one of the trendiest neighbourhoods in the capital…”. Now, while that’s what is says on the tin, we will bringing you our own take on this terrific turn, devoting a Weekend Focus recommends post to the event, although in the meantime, to grab your tickets & for more information now, go now to http://summer-rites.co.uk.

Superb Sunny Sunday Session

Then the following weekend, the focus moves across to Victoria Park as “Lovebox” rolls into town for a three day festival that takes outdoor music eventing to a new level, the gay perspective very much being on the Sunday (17^th July) when both Horse Meat Disco & Circus fill fabulous slots in the schedule, but with our eyes also on the main stage as The Scissor Sisters, Blondie, Robyn, Kelis, & Marc Almond star, while Jonny Woo also makes his presence felt. Now, tickets for Sunday are still available via the official Lovebox website, http://lovebox.net, although be warned that the prices are creeping up all the time, standard tickets now at close on £50 while VIP ones are nearly double, but well worth the spend as you get fast track entry, a bespoke VIP area with a cocktail, wine & spirits bar, luxurious (in park perms) lavatory facilities, a dining area selling fast foods from Jamie Oliver’s “Fabulous Feasts” brand & a dedicated music programme thrown in, not to mention preferential seating in the main arena, so very much a bargain in our books. Indeed having booked our place, DM will be there on the Sunday, along with the Pitron posse to report on it all, while a Weekend Focus post will be out sometime this coming weekend.

Right to our moment, our track & our tweet of the week, much of our own action concentrated on the Wednesday night at Industri, although the moment coming from the comfort of our study when we tuned into that Beyond radio show & heard the succession of superb sounds from Steve Pitron’s set, very much erupting us into a pool of tearful emotions, as if we had been right there on our spot,  while our tweet of the week came from Industri & the last ever tweet for the club, as we lamented, “…Disco Matt can feel the tears about to erupt as Industri “The Last Dance” plays its last ever record, so now we have to be “Stronger”…”, not forgetting you can follow all our live Nibble Size review tweets at http://twitter.com/discomatt.

Nibble Size Review Tweets

As for our track of the week?, well it  simply had to go to the heavenly “You’ve Got The Love” which featured large, not just in that Steve set, but at Industri’s “Last Dance” during Paul Heron’s majestic final minutes of magnificent music, as well as throughout the week & during the creation of our special Beyond inspired music newsletter. Having been given the 2011 treatment by Mark Knight, this classic track is getting airplay on dancefloors here, there & everywhere & has featured in our “Summer Scorcher” top ten list, the full 8 minute version having been released on Beatport just over two weeks ago, but available to view at http://youtube.com/watch?v=QY3rrKnZ58k.

Disco Matt

So, that’s it for another weekly round-up report, with the next one hot on its heels and due out before this weekend, when we will pick up on Room Service’s “WE Party pre-party, Profile Bar, Barcode Vauxhall, The Fire Dance Stage & Beyond “Super Pride” among a host of other bars, clubs & events, reminding you that that if you want us to shout out for your favourite bar, club or event that rocked & rolled in the coming week, then link into us via our main Facebook page at http://facebook.com/discomattlondon and plaster our wall with your details or then drop us a line now at matt@discomatt.com.  (DISCO MATT)

Weekly Round Up Wrapped Up