Finding ourselves on the cusp of another wonderful weekend within the capital’s clubland circuit, with the New Year now started in earnest, it seems that brilliant brands & birthday’s will be taking centre stage across Soho, Vauxhall & Shoreditch, Disco Matt picking out his choices of where to be best seen on the scene.

 Well, it seemed that a sizable section of our scene were suffering from a post NY dip in their dancing dervishes last weekend as it felt more luke warmish out there compared with the usual heavenly hot happening feeling, we ourselves only managing a nibble size visit to Beyond. But with reports that A:M was amazing, Lo-Profile pumping & East Bloc brimming, there were pockets of the scene that bucked the trend. But as we take a peek into our forthcoming weekend looking glass, we have a couple of real gems along with two usual suspects to include in our Best Bite choices of where to be & be seen on the scene.

Yummy Yellow

So let’s get to it and mosey on down to Soho first and to our usual yet spectacular Best Bite suspects, as in Profile & Lo-Profile we have two of our favourite hip & happening hangouts, not least for the warm welcome we receive from the second we step into their doors, both venues really pressing all our buttons when it comes to music, dance & socialising (oh & drinking on the rare occasion we indulge in a tipple), Profile impressing just as much now as it did when it opened just under three years ago. And with regular D.J. line-ups each weekend, it isn’t just food & drink they have become famed for, although with a menu that ranges from light bar snacks to full bistro brilliances, Profile is a perfect place for that lunchtime stop off, an early evening refuel or even dinner with friends. But is more the music we are talking here and tonight (Fri 13^th Jan) sees the o of its favourite residents hit the decks, Zach Burns selecting plenty of uplifting disco drenched dreams to get you in playful mood, this cute yet commandingly capable chap sure to fill your Friday with towering tunes, while on Saturday, the exceptional Nick Evans sorts out the sounds to get you in magnificent mood for the audacious action ahead. Plus with the venue’s superb Sunday roast rounding off their weekend and the venue open daily until 11.30 p.m., catch details of this & all the above by going to http://profilesoho.com.

Playful Pitron Party

Let’s head downstairs now and to Lo-Profile, bigger brother of its bar bedfellow and one that continues to pull in the punters while others struggle, both Friday’s & Saturday’s proving particularly popular, although with home-grown brand “Society” having found its Thursday feet & Monday’s “Beartrap” also filling a niche, it is the porn-tastic & pumping “Playtime” that is this Wardour St. wonder’s biggest mover & shaker on the scene, host Jay Roberts bringing a stunning selection of stars to beef up the podium proceedings, while his back room boudoir also gives the lucky few chosen ones a private audience with the weekly porn stars. Then you add in magnificent music and it is no wonder why Lo-Profile has stolen a significant amount of steps on its close completion as well as draining dancers from Vauxhall. So tonight (Fri 13^th Jan) should be no different as Mr Roberts drafts in Bruno Knight & Gio Cruz, both handsomely hunky & perfectly playful too, while playing the magnificent music is superstar Steve Pitron, who takes up the reigns from the 10 p.m. start, while the cheeky Steven Artis carries you from 1 till 4 a.m., entry a mere £3 before midnight or £8 thereafter. Then on Saturday, it’s the turn of Crash residents of old but still cutting a significant stride on the scene now, Brent Nicholls & Jamie Head to swing you into Sunday spinning to scores of superb sounds, Mr Head in a purple patch at the moment and still smarting from a trip to the mecca of tech hours & techno, Berghain in Berlin although will be tempering his tunes to fit the Lo-Profile occasion, no doubt begging you to do it all again with him at Later the following day, more info on Lo-Profile, its offers, prices & running times out at http://loprofile.com.

Delightful Deviation

Moving down to Vauxhall and the first of our gems which finds its own individual feet after a sequence of collaborations & parties at a handful of host venues, Deviate sets it stool at Factory this Saturday (14^th Jan) in what will hopefully mark its season of solo spectacles in the heart of a venue that started the whole clubbing movement in this part of the capital. So, having headlined at Heaven, barnstormed Barcode & an alliance with Area, promoter Francesco Pagano is keen to deliver a further new dimension to his loyal Deviate disciples as well as broadening the appeal of the club as a standalone entity. Yet, having joined forces with amazing afterhours Beyond on three occasions during 2011, that marriage of musical minds along with other developments in the Vauxhall scene, has resulted in Deviate benefitting from the infrastructure & support from The Orange Group, who now manage Factory as a venue. So that’s the backdrop but what about this event? Well, the team behind this dancing deviation have told us, “…we are thrilled landing back in London with our extravaganza with the ultimate electrifying lurid party concept…” adding of their parties, “…on every occasion the Deviate team delivered a new dimension of clubbing but now we have found a perfect location for our solo spectaculars…” also being proud to state that “…we take music and hedonism very seriously when putting on a party. So we are bringing together some of the freshest talent around as we concentrate not only on the DJs, but also on bringing cutting edge visual art and performance artists to create the craziest party around…”.

Promoter Pagano

So we couldn’t have said it any better really, the reputation of Deviate as a club that breaks from the norm, mentions of banana bending & thrilling theatre all intermixed with hedonistic house music and you have one of the most diversely dynamic dance delectations that is a resounding representation of the superb diversity of a scene that is London. And that diverse Deviate package packs a punch in terms of talent, starting with the D.J. team headed up by Pagano who needs no real introduction, although having made it huge in The US during 2011, he is unquestionably one of the biggest names on the capitals clubbing circuit, so we are honoured to be in his presence, yet our Italian Stallion is humble enough to have deviated from his own usual norm in compiling a podcast (can we use that word?!) to mark Deviate’s new direction & one you can grab now at http://soundcloud.com/pagano/deviate-with-dj-pagano. But the team on Saturday also includes fellow Italian Marco Gee in the main room, along with Nic Fischer (of Gutterslut fame), while over in the second space, the iconic Tasty Tim joins Deviate regulars Massimo Paramour & new to the team Borja Pena, the accent here more on indie dance, nu-disco & electronic, rather than the tech come techno & deep house that marks the main room music. The add in extrovert entertainer Jonny Woo with his Prick Image lot bringing “…muscles, drag queens and dominatrix…” to the party, along with hip host Antonio Gigoltta, and you have Deviate petty much summed up, Factory’s doors opening at 11 p.m. & running through to a planned 7 a.m. finish, advance tickets at just £8 available via http://orangenation.clubtickets.com/gb/2012-01/14/deviate-factory, while entry on the door will be an option too, the party continuing at Beyond, the Deviate team arranging discount passes which will be available during their event, more details out at http://deviateuk.com, leaving the team to simply say “…get ready for a theatrically engineered hot mess with sexy music as we  DEVIATE from the norm..”. 

A La Carte Clubbing

Now to Shoreditch & our second gem of the weekend and a new clubbing concept to boot, as “Dish” steps out of the significant shadow left by the marvellous “Meat”, one of our favourite clubs of 2011 (more on that is our club review of the year coming up) and marked the first joint clubbing venture between the D.J./Producer combo that was Tom Stephan & Kris Di Angelis. But while 2012 marks both setting sail with separate parties, Kris heading off with his “Blue Jeans” & “Delirium” (there are more from our own Shoreditch son), Tom has opted to stick with Meat’s venue host, East Bloc, the hip & happening hangout on City Rd that also links Mr Stephan with his promoter pal from the days of Crash, Wayne Shires. But while the winning Meat formula will clearly be running through this new party, what is delicately different is Tom’s promoting partner, Borja Pena stepping into Kris’s shoes and lining up in the “Main Course” room with Mr Stephan where tech house is the dish of the day, while in the “Side Course” space, you can pick through the musical menu that will include old skool house and r&b served up by Scott Webster & El Moreno. Then, with Tom’s usual twist on proceedings including sexy video’s saucy cubby holes & gyrating go-go’s, added to which a tasty trio of host treats in the form of Kane Luke, Melvin & La Pequeña will make sure the service is of sliver quality, in addition to exceptional value drinks prices & a mere £5 entry all night, that being at East Bloc (217 City Rd, Shoreditch, nearest tube Old St.), doors opening at 10.30 p.m. & the club running through till 6 a.m., more details available on their event page at http://facebook.com/events/101830959937889/.

Well, that’s just about it for our Best Bite choices for this second weekend in January, but just time to re-introduce our mention for tip top clubbing website SeenQueen, who are in the depths of their “Your Disco Needs You” poll for 2011, more details on this & their own (as they call them) gAylist choices of where to be & be seen on the scene, along with much more, up at http://seenqueen.com. Plus, we just want to squeeze in a mention for the adorable Andrea (yaaaah!!) who rolls out her now annual “Andrea Fest” (well it started already actually), Deviate, Beyond & Later on the roster, very much marrying our own, although we add Lo-Profile tonight with Steve Pitron erupting our emotions with (no doubt) “track 3” amongst many others. So, with the traumas of the last 36 hours behind us, we will be stepping out in style, so if you see us come say hi, but whatever you do & wherever it finds you this weekend, please be safe, but remember that, to be seen on the scene you need to “Go There! Be There!” (DISCO MATT)

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