The day was Saturday, the time was 10 p.m. & the place was Lo-Profile, the dynamic studio recording duo of Steve Pitron & Max Sanna making a welcome return for a special back-to-back set at ClubNation, the weekly party born out of the radio show of the same name, we on our spot ready to soak up the full six hours of splendid sounds, captivating company & amazing atmosphere on this super Saturday in Soho, but what made this the best Saturday night out in months?
There was a time when the capitals clubbing circuit was absolutely brimming with pulsating parties on a Saturday night, the lion’s share of the biggest brands choosing this time of the week as their clubbing trump card, the likes of Action, Crash, Horizon & Juicy coming from a time when weekly clubs were very much the norm, while with the advent of the super sized theatre style affairs like Matinee, SuperMartXe and now WE have certainly set the Saturday scheduling on a different course, many other following their irregular outing route. So, with the bigger names only showing their faces once a month or even less often, it seems that more boutique bijou club branding is winning the day, Shoreditch’s East Bloc one example, while the Soho scene that used to sport venues such as The Hippodrome & Astoria, now very much relies upon bars & similar size venues to attract an audience, although the jewel in the west end crown, certainly on a Saturday, seems to be the wonder on Wardour St. that is Lo-Profile.
Having been strutting its stuff for just under five years, former incarnations including Sweet Suite, the ill-fated Shadow Lounge type affair, in the hands of gigantic & global group Gaydar, this sophisticated spot on Wardour St has gone from strength to strength, the addition of smaller sister Profile Bar, which used to be streets away, now literally above the club, making for a destination offering that is hard to beat. Indeed, it has been since the merging of the two into virtually one that has seen Lo-Profile benefit even more, the usual traffic from around Soho added to by those wanting to continue the party vibe which the bar creates, particularly on a Friday & Saturday. Plus with home grown branded parties such as Society & Play>Time, as well as other club’s joining forces for either parties or pre-parties, the likes of SuperMartXe, La Demence & even Beyond having used Lo-Profile for their purposes, its popularity has only gone one way, up. And with the introduction of ClubNation, a party off-shoot from the very popular Gaydar Radio house music show, Saturday’s, like Friday’s & Thursday’s now has an individual identity, attracting the cream of the D.J. scene to play its decks.
Yet this Saturday was to be a super one, as not only did we have the return of Steve Pitron & Max Sanna to ClubNation, but Junior Moura was warming things up in Profile, added to which we were planning to pop around Soho to some short stints with two other premier players of ours, Adam Turner & Zach Burns, playing at Circa & The Edge respectively. However, escaping the clutches of Steve Pitron was always going to be a challenge, this super Saturday finding him in particularly playful & attentive mood, we expecting to succumb to “the chase” on at least one occasion, even though we had made a specific request to the contrary. And true to form, as we arrived at Profile for the 9 p.m. start to our super Soho Saturday, the command “get him” saw us slide into a running & screaming frenzy around the bar, the look of amazement on the faces of staff & customers saying it all, the phrase “what must people think” springing to immediate mind. So, with a quick cool off round at Circa & a brief liaison with Adam Turner over, we were back into profile to warm up for the main event downstairs, Junior Moura (aka Celso) on the decks and promising plenty of new tunes from his Circuit Festival trip to Barcelona, rich fodder for us as we found ourselves back in the company of Steve & the mini Pitron posse that included beautiful Brazilian babe Bel & the marvellously masculine Mateusz, our name sake (ish), he also fresh from Circuit, looking trim & toned. And with Naomi Ruiz now also part of the posse, Profile now packed with post park party goers & pre-club cavorters, the drinks flowing faster than Usain’s bolt
Talking of bolt, that was exactly what the time was doing 10 p.m. arriving & passing like a flash in the sky, meaning that a move downstairs was quickly on the cards, we definitely feeling the gravitational pull towards ClubNation & Steve Pitron who was getting things going in superb style, sending us on a pseudo Crash memory lane journey with his tune choices, the shouts of “MAAAAATTT” sending us into a spinning frenzy on our select spot by the D.J. booth, while we could also feel our now trademark emotional eruptions about to consume us. However, with the night still young & the usual call of Sambuca shots drawing us to the bar, our favourite Italian liqueur going down a treat, neatly followed by what is fast becoming one of our tip top tracks of the year, “In The Heat Of The Night”, we were well into our super Soho Saturday stride, Steve selecting “Fusion”, another towering tune that has made its mark on us in 2012 & was doing just that again tonight. With the atmosphere building brilliantly & the clubbing crowd gathering generously, it wasn’t long before we were joined by Naomi, Bel, Mateusz & a smattering of the Brazilian bunch including Dudu & Celso, while the biggest surprise of the night would come in the form of handsome hunk Guilherme, another Brazilian whom we had acquainted literally twelve months previously here in London, he back on a short but pleasantly surprising stay.
Now ClubNation was really warming up, the other half of the D.J. duo for the night, Max Sanna having arrived just as Steve selected the brilliant “Bitch Lady”, one which now ranks alongside “Release Me” as a DM classic and never fails to get a hilarious reaction from us, not least due to the hidden meaning (it’s a long story), Mr Pitron’s picks bringing us bang up to date, a succession of summer 2012 inspired sounds then signalling Mr Sanna’s first stint in the six hour set. And our Sicilian star took to it with gusto, serving up a splendid assortment of pumping progressive come tech tunes with uplifting vocal injections & even a sprinkling of trance for good measure, Max clearly revelling in the moment, very much holding his own in comparison to his production partner, this creative combination proving yet again what a formidable force they are, both in the studio & live. But with Steve back on the decks & the witching hour right upon us, we made an attempt to sneak out to see our other premier players as promised, but was immediately caught in the act by Mr Pitron who ordered us back onto our spot, his commanding finger leaving us with no choice but to obey, although the reward was to come in the form of terrific tunes , “Somebody I Used To Know” & “Must be The Feeling”, the crowds reactions reflective of the amazing atmosphere that was nothing short of stratospheric.
So, with our sortie around Soho suspended, the fun & frivolity looked like being confined to the four walls of ClubNation & host venue Lo-Profile, although with a couple of “the chase” attempts around the club space aborted, it was just a question of time before they spilled onto the outside upstairs, Steve requesting a moments respite from the merriment below, only to draw us into a tickling frenzy trap, dodging between the busy traffic advancing up Wardour St, yet more looks of amazement on the faces of people around, he even employing the services of a stranger to try & corner us we diving behind the masculine Mateusz for proportionate protection. With our defences drained it was inevitable that we would tumble into a trail of tearful emotional eruptions, the copious amount of alcohol not helping the situation, while successive Steve selections, many caught up in the latest gagging order slapped on us, were, while wonderful, a little too much to bear upon our fragile state, even our usual flood of nibble size tweets down to a trickle, the flood coming from our eyes as we struggled to keep a check on our emotions. That said, the company we were holding couldn’t have been more captivating and the music more magnificent, we happily wiling the rest of our Super Soho Saturday superbly soaking up the scintillating sounds of Messrs Pitron & Sanna, moving & grooving with Guilherme, Celso & co, before eventually, with our emotional eruptions over what was a most excellent evening’s entertainment, erupting far too erratically, we headed for home to shake off what would be an inevitable hangover from this heavenly happening.
So what did we think of ClubNation as part of what we labelled our Super Soho Saturday? And did it fulfil all our elevated expectations? Well, we remarked of the event at the time, “…it is absolutely crazy here, the best Saturday night we have had all year…”, the awesome atmosphere created by the cavorting clubbers & by prolific players Steve Pitron & Max Sanna very much sealing the deal, Lo-Profile certainly attracting a considerable crowd while neighbouring venues were reporting lower than usual turnouts, perhaps an indicating to the pull of the dynamic D.J. duo as well as the fact that, as a venue, this Wardour St wonder sits neatly between the full on clubbing experience & a more sociable shindig. And while ClubNation as a brand & offering relies pretty heavily on the music makers, the lack of production, stage shows & special effects pretty evident, what you get as a result, is a relaxed & inviting experience where music, dance, socialising and just pure unadulterated pleasure from start to finish. Yes, ClubNation will never live up to the might of Matinee, the size of SuperMartXe, or the wonder of WE, but while it lacks the pomp & circumstance of its peers, it shines with its sheer simplicity, harping back to the days when clubbing was about the clubbers & the comradery that they created, this latest edition to the Lo-Profile family of brands living up to its name in more ways than one, meaning we will surely be back for more before you know it. (DISCO MATT)