With Siberian winds & the threat of snow gripping the streets of London this weekend, the thermostat has been turned up to the max across the capitals clubbing circuit, Disco Matt checking out the hottest action across Soho, Vauxhall & Shoreditch with his Best Bites choices of where to be & be seen on the scene.
While we may be coughing & spluttering our way through this current working week, confining ourselves to the keyboard & away from the peddles has meant we are back in the driving seat with our weekend recommendations. So, while the last one was busy enough what with the return of Matinee, the superb Sharp Tidy event, a breathtaking Beyond and that special back-to-back set from Jamie Head & Mikey D at Later (and that was just Vauxhall), this weekend looks like measuring up to be just as good, some new starts & some old favourites vying for our attention. And having given away a special bite to Blitz, here we pick out our choice three, one each from Soho, Vauxhall & Shoreditch, we also peeping through the looking glass to some upcoming events that have made the DM dance diary.
In Love With Profile
So to Soho first and we were initially pointing in the direction of Charing Cross, but with so much going on across at Wardour St, it had to be Profile & Lo-Profile that got our Best Bite pick again this weekend, not least that our own temperatures (and something else) were risen on Tuesday over a sociable drink, one of the gorge new(ish) barmen very much tickling our fancy. So naturally, Profile gets our full-on attention first, not just because of the delicious treats behind the bar, but plenty in front of them, not least in the D.J. talent that will be taking to the Profile decks this weekend, tonight (Thurs 2nd) seeing the pint sized powerhouse that is Renato Porto sorting the pre Society sounds, while tomorrow (Fri 3rd) sees favourite & our premier protégé player, Zach Burns, turn out the tunes & turn up the heat, very much getting you in playful mood for the saucy going’s on downstairs. But with your Saturday being superbly steered by none other than Jamie Head, we can’t think of a better place to be in Soho between 8 & 11.30 p.m. when the boys bang out the beats. However, with a heavenly happy hour that includes cocktail pitchers at just £15 & 2 4 1 double spirits that along with a food offer that makes us lick our lips with hungry joy, the comprehensive bistro menu extending to lunch specials with two main courses for just £12, the now famous Tuesday steak night, & 2 4 1 burgers on Wednesdays, while watch this space for news on a new “Masala Monday” offer & for Profile’s special “Valentines Day” feel the love meal for two offer and there’s definitely a lot going on at our Best Bar 2011 winner, more info on all these offers & happenings available at http://profilesoho.com.
Spyce Up Your Playtime Life
To Lo-Profile now and like it’s little sister upstairs, there’s a lot going on here too, home-grown brands “Society” and “Playtime” both doing extremely well, the former welcoming Tony English & Fabio Luiggi to the decks tonight (Thurs 2nd Feb) while the real focus lands on “Playtime” at its host Jay Roberts, this Friday night foray currently one of the (in our view “THE”) best in town, attracting capacity crowds week-in week out, the playful element extended beyond the dancefloor & the podiums into Jay’s backroom boudoir, tomorrow night (Fri 3rd Feb) sure to be no different, Nick Evans & Alessandro on deck duty from 10 till 4 a.m., while Mr Roberts welcomes playful boys Martin Kandra & Florent Leturmy to spice up proceedings and in Jay’s are boys “…who are gonna show you what real men like…” (boudoir here we come!). But the “Playtime” playing field has just got a huge extra pitch in the form of Europe no less, Jay & his porn-tastic team of Gabriel Cross & Danny King, along with D.J. & cheeky boy Steven Artis kicking off their tour of the continent with a trip to gay Paris tomorrow night (Sat 4th Feb) when Playtime takes over Spyce Bar in the French capital’s Le Marais quarter, while the favour is returned on 25th Feb when Spyce land in on London at the new Lo-Profile “ClubNation” Saturday (more of that coming up). Indeed talking of Saturday, in advance of “ClubNation’s” launch next week, when they welcome international megastar D.J. Wayne G to the decks, this sees “Global Blitz” boy’s Brent Nicholls & Paul Heron play for the opposition, Paul hotfooting it from Charing Cross in time for his 1 a.m. deck date, while the first half is down to Mr Nicholls and with Lo-Profile’s doors opening at 10 p.m. on each of the three nights & running to 3 a.m., 4 a.m. & 5 a.m. respectively, door entry varying from anything between £3 & £8, check out http://loprofile.com for more details.
The Legend That Is Lottie
So onward to Vauxhall and while a certain weekly rag may be avoiding them, we certainly are not as The Orange Group top our pile of premier picks once again this weekend, although with so much going on, it was a difficult choice to decide which of the six club events to focus on here. Would it be Onyx, Beyond Midnight, Later or Orange?, each worthy of our attention, and while we will be devoting a special post to beyond, when it came down to the final choice, A:M squeezed out the others, not least as this weekend (well the whole of February actually) looks like being a corker for promoter (ours of 2011 in fact) Steven Sharp & the A:M team, as they welcome iconic D.J. Lottie to the decks, very much headlining what has come a weekly “Headliners” happening down at Fire now that Mr Sharp is in charge, his extensive contacts within the scene & D.J. circuit, bringing some exciting names to the fore. As for Lottie, well having played with some of the finest and indeed mightiest names in the business, Steven rates her as “…a headliner who we are just so excited to be welcoming to our gracious “A:M Headliner” decks…”. And for good reason, as she has played alongside the likes of Daft Punk, Felix Da’ Housecat & Josh Wink, as well as Layo & Bushwacka, all recognised as masters in the art of tech & electro house music. But more than that, Lottie has appeared on the covers of magazines (how does the song go???) including Time Out & I D.J., while the London clubbing scene will know her as the co-founder of the fantastic Friday nighter Gallery, that on top of filling the shoes of Radio 1’s Pete Tong for his Friday night slot, an accolade indeed meaning, as Steven rightly say’s “…we have the red carpet out…”. But with an all-star cast of A:M residents that include D’Johnny, Guy Williams, Jamie Head, Fat Tony & David Jimenez, plus with door hostess Hrh Minty & club host Danny Boyce, this is one A:M, you won’t want to miss, doors opening at Fire from 3 a.m. this Saturday (4th Feb), the club running through until a monumental & mad 11 a.m. finish, entry a mere £8 before 5 a.m. (make sure you grab a Boyz ad or an A:M flyer) or £12 for others, we reckon it’s a small price to pay for a headliner like Lottie, more info out at http://fireclub.co.uk/gayparties while pencil the 18th & 25th Feb in your dance diaries as Steve Thomas & Pagano respectively fill the A:M Headliner boots.
Earthlings Excitement
So across we go to Shoreditch and reigning supreme in our choice picks is the City Rd splendour East Bloc which has a lot going on this weekend, Sunday seeing it open its doors on a regular basis for the first time, while two giants of the venue’s weekly come monthly schedule return to serve up plenty of alternative action. So, like the best of award ceremonies, let’s talk about the happenings in reverse order, although there is method in our madness as this means we focus on Sunday (5th Feb) first, this the new entrant to the East Bloc clubbing calendar, as the new “Bloc Party” launches on a weekly basis following the highly successful pre New Year event in December, although this first outing will see Joelle Hyland & BOY London take over with models a-plenty sporting their wares & and loads of limited editions items on sale. But the music will also be doing the talking & walking (well dancing actually, as with the best in RnB, Hip Hop Basement & funky house from the likes of Kartel Brown, Jeffrey Hinton & Miguel Dare, this is alternative with a capital A, hosts Mark-Ashley Dupé, Richard Logins , Jake Cook & Kwame Suaavve taking care to make sure to have a brilliant time, East Bloc opening its doors from 10 p.m. till 4.30 a.m., entry free until 12.30 a.m., & £5 thereafter, more info up at http://facebook.com/events/320359361335631/. So we come to Saturday (4th Feb) and the truly terrific “TheMenWhoFell2Earth” which returns for its monthly meet, the team exclaiming “…Right then, are you all done with the de-toxing? Good. Well here’s a night out for those of you who think it’s about time you had one and those of you who never stopped anyway…”, which sums up this alternative antic better than we could in as many words. And as the TheMenWhoFell2Earth beam back from outer space on another earth bound party mission, they bring with them favourite fella Erol Sabadosh, with internationalist Francine Bacon from Berlin, both who will fill your musical boots with barnstorming beats of the punk funk, dirty disco & remixed rock N roll in room one, while over in the second space it’s all about “Sink The Pink” who describe their “Boy Box” band in the form of Hot Fuss & James Phillips as a duo that will “…whip you into a musical melting pot, pulling out the trashiest, dirtiest, most shameless music ever made in one dark, sweaty room full of fun..”. Well, enough said really and if you haven’t got the idea by now, go check out http://themenwhofell2earth.co.uk for more info while East Bloc welcomes this outer space outrageousness from 10.30 p.m. till 6 a.m., entry a mere £8 on the door. So that leaves Friday and another weekly session of Larry Tee’s madcap meet, “Super Electro Party Machine”, electro music the backdrop and played out by Larry & guests who this week include Tania & Calum’s for the debutant party (don’t ask!) in room one, while Nan Atichatpong & friends sort the sounds in the second space, this another 10 p.m. till 4 a.m. event, all for just a fiver and with plenty of drinks offers to boot, further detail on this “…coolest of East End weekly…” out at http//facebook.com/groups/233646343355718/.
Well, that’s it for our Best Bites choices for another weekend, but with part two of our weekend newsletter coming up, namely our “Short Shouts”, fear not if you haven’t yet had your fancy tickled, as we have plenty more offerings up our scene sleeve. However we reckon that there is definitely a “Lottie” going on right here and with our premier picks including “Playtime”, “A:M” & “The MenWhoFell2Earth” you have at least three exceptional excuses to be seen on the scene, naturally making sure that you “Go There! Be There!”. (DISCO MATT)