You have all heard of the phrase, “when it rains, it pours” and the same could be said for our lives at the moment, as having waved goodbye to October, which was probably our worst month of the year so far, this first week in November is looking no better from a personal point of view. Then we look to the scene & it seems that a certain clubbing group find themselves in a similar situation, although like we are trying to do, they are accentuating the positive and putting in plans to turn a bad situation good. So with that thought very much in our minds, we have dusted ourselves off, picked ourselves up and popped our recommends hat on to take a whistle-stop look through our choices of where to be & be seen on the scene across Soho, Vauxhall & Shoreditch, the three recognised hotspots of activity, although Southwark also gets a look in too.
Prolific Profile
So, with time against us, let’s press on and head to Soho first where we find Profile & Lo-Profile topping our tree once more, this brilliant combo of a bar & club complex on Wardour Street really going from strength to strength at the moment, the Lo-Profile having stretched its appeal across all three days (& beyond) while Profile continues to prove a wonderful & welcoming warm-up for the action below. So, what does this weekend old in store?, well upstairs its tonight (Fri 4th) and tomorrow (Sat 5th) that gets our immediate attention, D.J.’s on deck duty being resident regulars & favourites Zach Burns & Jamie Head respectively, both sure to get you in the mood for more partying downstairs, all this while you take advantage of Profile fabulous food & thirst quenching drinks, their happy hour worthy of a mention, which runs daily from 4 till 7 p.m. & includes cocktail pitchers at just £15. Lunchtimes are great too, a Saturday refuel serving up two meals for just £10, while it’s always worth starting your Sunday with a traditional roast before heading downstairs for “Secret Sunday’s (more on that in a mo). But while this may be a “weekend” newsletter, Profile also serve up plenty of temptations during the week too, info on all of this available at http://profilesoho.com.
The Secret's Out
Moving downstairs to Lo-Profile and their weekend already started last night with a busier than usual reported “Society”, the social soiree splendour that has moved from Friday’s to fill the gap left by Gigolo. However, its tonight (Fri 4th) when things really hot up as promoter & host extraordinaire, Jay Roberts, brings you another “Play Time” party, this week drawing on the talents of the D.J. duo of Paul Heron & Nick Evans, who just happen to be best pals too, Nick taking up the first slot & Paul carrying you through till 4 a.m., all this magnificent music back dropping the drop dead gorgeous & sexy studs Gabriel Cross & Gio Cruz, Jay added his own twist to this porn-tastic experience by tempting you into the “Play Time” bedroom where you get the chance to play with all three of these handsome hunks. Now Friday partying certainly doesn’t get better than this & would it not be for our commitments down Vauxhall way, we would be there with knobs on. But the weekend doesn’t stop there as the filling in the three day Lo-Profile sandwich is Saturday, with scene stalwarts Brent Nicholls & Rob Sykes very much doing the filling, in their case of your boots with beats, while it’s Sunday that is becoming a real humdinger of a day for the club, “Secret Sunday’s” very much drawing in a crowd. And with platinum selling & Brit award winning singer Nerina Pallot performing, while resident D.J. & Gaydar Radio presenter Phil Marriott sorts the sounds, we cannot think of a better way to finish a wonderful weekend, details of all of this out at http://loprofile.com.
So those are our Best Bites, what about some Short Shouts?, well Rupert Street (RS) gets first mini bite at the cherry, their weekend full of D.J.’ing action to match the masses that always pack out the place, tonight (Fri 4th) seeing our foxy female D.J. Minx take to the decks, while the dynamic D’Johnny sorts the sounds on Saturday, resident star turn Alessandro serenading your Sunday, more details on all the happenings down RS way available by hitting their web page at http://rupertstreet.com.
Inferno Ignites
Next up is Ku-Bar, or should we say bars, as both the Lisle & Frith St operations are worth a peek or three, the former’s highlights being “O Zone” tonight (Fri 4th) with Dusty O in charge of the pop parade of tunes, while transgender talent Lady Lloyd rolls out another “Hit Factory” session on Sunday, Firth St offering D.J.’s in their dinky downstairs place across all three days, while attraction plenty of boy candy to tempt you in, more details on all happenings Ku style out at http://ku-bar.co.uk.
Our final Short Shout goes to the Shadow Lounge, which, after the success of new night “XXtra”, which held their “Shutdown” event last night, the Shadow team are back in business tonight with another “Therapy” session, resident D.J. Sonathque spinning the sounds, while tomorrow night (Sat 5th) it a bonfire bash “Inferno” style, Andrew Elmore putting the bang into the beats, which, given the forecast wet weather, should be the place to be. Plus, not forgetting their cabaret & karaoke Sunday soiree “Confessions”, for more info, go check out http://theshadowlounge.co.uk.
Right to Vauxhall and my has it been in the news & spotlight this week, predominantly due to the temporary closure of Fire, the club which boasts regular weekly outings Gravity, A:M, Later & Orange, but often serve up much more. Now, there has been a heck of a lot of rumours & hearsay flying around regarding both this closure & the on-going survival of Fire, something we wanted to put completely straight by issuing a special report “In the Line Of …”, which is well worth at read at http://discomatt.com/web/2011/11/reports-in-the-line-of-fire-the-closure-the-issues-wednesday-2nd-november/. However, it will come as no surprise that, while Fire is closed, this six week closure running
Brilliant Beyond
to Friday 15th December, the team have acted quickly, finding a new temporary home for all four clubs at Factory on Goding St, so just a hop, skip & jump away, we bringing you full details of the switch in another report, “All Change Please”, due out a little later today. In the meantime, it is all steam ahead at Area, The Orange Group’s two biggest & best brands (in our view at least), Onyx & Beyond, serve up twelve hour spectacular’s each, Onyx welcoming A:M into the fold for this weekend, but also boasting international D.J. superstar Wayne G to the decks, this truly un-missable event & all its details covered in our Focus post “Globetrotting G Lands In London” at http://discomatt.com/web/2011/11/recommends-globetrotting-g-lands-in-london-onyx-vs-am-friday-4th-november-weekend-focus/. As for Beyond, well it’s another “Midnight” party this Saturday (5th Nov) with a Guy Fawkes theme, promoter Mauricio Ortiz & his terrific team pulling out all the stops to, in their own words, “…celebrate fireworks night with a pyro-tastic, super-sized production party at London’s biggest & best afterhours…” they adding “…expect massive bangs galore, with rockets, confetti bursts, sparks and more, plus incredible laser shows, CO2 and stunning dance shows from Elektra Paris & Shaun Capewell..” while the D.J.’s on duty will include Alan K, Mikey D, Jamie Hammond, Jamie Head, D’Johnny, Jonny M, Hifi Sean, Paul Christian, Fat Tony & The Oli., entry a mere £10 in advance which you can grab at http://orangenation.clubtickets.com/gb/2011-11/06/beyond-afterhours, as well as the usual Soho outlets and one definitely worth a full-on visit, this Area combo of Onyx, A:M, & Beyond very much our Vauxhall Best Bite choice of this weekend.
So to some Short Shouts and Bear Necessity is back this Saturday (5th Nov), although at a new home, we giving it some Extra Bites attention in our post “Out Of Hiding In Hidden”, which is coming right up, while the bear action also extends to Friday’s, courtesy of Toner at the Eagle, who have a special “Big Bonfire Bash”, promoter & D.J. Tim Jones, welcoming special guest, the legendary Alan X to the decks, his set a sure-fire winner, while what could be better for the Tonker bears than a midnight pizza buffet, straight after a fireworks display in the Eagle garden at 11.30 (please stay dry!), more info on Tonker’s goings on available at http://tonker.co.uk.
Bonfire Birthday Burn
To The Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT) now and they have another fun filled weekend packed with goodies, “Rooster” kicking off this venerable institutions three days tonight (Fri 5th) with the likes of Timberlina, Jonjo providing the entertainment while D.J’s Come&Turn spin the sounds, the two weekend regulars of “Duckie” on Saturday & “S.L.A.G.S./Chill-out” on Sunday pulling in the punters and making sure it’s another weekend to remember on Kennington Lane (grassy knoll of not), more info out at http://thervt.org.uk.
For our final Vauxhall Short Shout, we wiz back to The Eagle, as Saturday is a special night, monthly outing “Carpet Burn” celebrating its 3rd birthday with a euphoric event, Jakie Graham taking centre stage, this superb singer sure to steal the show, although D.J.’s Dave Kendrick & Martin Fitzgerald will be doing their best to keep up with stacks of sparkling sounds, while free shots should seal the deal on this glorious gathering, more info on this & Sunday night regular “Horse Meat Disco” a click away at http://eaglelondon.com.
Delirium
We are on the home stretch now and heading to Shoreditch for our final Best Bite of the weekend, which this time round goes to The Dalston Superstore (DSS) who have two absolute corkers to tempt you away from the west end, tonight (Fri 4th Nov) seeing promoter Rex The Dog bring back “Breed” for its third DSS outing, he telling us that “…we are bringing back the laser powered beats & baselines to DSS’s basement…” regular D.J.’s Rufus&Bambi, Pleasure Cruiser &, naturally, Rex The Dog himself, making sure the promise is delivered, while upstairs gender bender boys (or is that girls?) John Sizzle & A Man To Pet host the upstairs place. Plus with no less than 50 “Breed” t-shits to give away & a Robo Rex model on offer too, heading to http://twitter.com/Rexthedog1980 could secure a prize, also remembering to get to the DSS early, as with entry free, it should fill to capacity quickly. Moving onto Saturday (5th Nov) and Shoreditch son Kris Di Angelis pulls another party out of the bag (where will this man’s ingenuity end), Kris also getting in on the act by telling “Delirium is an uncontrollable state of happiness, deep energising and filled with beautiful house music that will have you wearing the kind of smile that no-one can fake…”, so definitely sold on us and should be you too, especially when you consider that Kris is joined on the decks by South African joy, James Pople, along with James Ritchie, Cathy & Tony Dunne, among them boasting appearances for “Circus”, “Meat”, “Room Service” & “Disco Discharge” to name just a few. So, with that delightful draw, you can expect this to be a roadblock event, entry free before 11 p.m. or £5 thereafter (you know what to do), “Delrium” running through till 3 a.m., while another “Tutti Fruitti” with Squeaky & guests rounds off the DSS weekend on Sunday, more info on the whole lot available by tracking the boys tweets at http://twitter.com/dsuperstore.
East Bloc Excelence
To just one Short Shout (although one sized up) to round off our looks at where to be & be seen on the scene this weekend and we head down the road to East Bloc who play host to the wired but wonderful “The Men Who Fell 2 Earth” this Saturday (5th Nov), the team welcoming special guest Mark Moore (of S-Express fame) to the decks in the main space, while room two sports, Another Night, the concoction of punk funk & dirty disco sure to please the punters, especially as the team are celebrating their first full year pushing the eats boundaries at East Bloc. However, the venue’s top cheese Wayne Shires helps to start you weekend off in style as he welcomes back the Super Techno Party Machine team, who will be holding their “New Stars Of London” party tonight (Fri 5th), who tell us, “…it’s time to get YO look ON…”, and for good reason as Brazilian photographer Eric Phillips will be pointing his lens at the contenders he rates for an inclusion in Carnage Magazine’s feature “New Star Of London”, while a free bar from 11p.m. till midnight plus terrific D.J. talent to carry you through till the 5 a.m. finish mean East Bloc should be on your calendar cards, more details on this & all happenings down City Rd way available at http://eastbloc.co.uk.
Solar Powered Sun
Now, just before we go, two quick mention’s the first for tip top clubbing website SeenQueen, who like us, have focussed on the happenings in Vauxhall, their own take on Fire’s closure along with an interesting poll point worth a glance, while the site is packed with plenty of other features, video clips, music links & photo galleries of the London scene, all a click away at http://seenqueen.com. Then, while last weekend marked the official end to the British summertime, it shouldn’t mean the tan you worked so hard for is left to fade, a trip down to Solarstation on Archer St in Soho providing the remedy you are looking for. Having increased their capacity & installed fresh tanning tubes, it’s definitely worth grabbing a piece of feel good factor, slapping on the factor, more details out at http://solarstation.co.uk.
Right, that’s it for another weekend and one that should be full of banging beats in true Guy Fawkes night style, especially if you find yourselves at one of our Best Bite or Short Shout choices. As for our weekend?, well it looks like Onyx vs. A:M is our singular dancefloor devotion, so if you see us out come say hi, while if not you can follow the live nibble size review tweeting action at http://twitter.com/discomatt, although wherever this bonfire weekend takes you, have a tremendous time, of course making sure you “Go There! Be There!” (DISCO MATT)