Bucking the trend & still pulling in the punters, WE Party London’s organisers, having hosted yet another party premiere here in the capital, should be pleased as punch with the terrific turnout, The Coronet once again packed out & witnessed another WE wonder, but what did we think of this “Bitches On The Beach” bash?
In a period in the capitals clubland that is, without doubt, one of the toughest we have seen in the many moons we have been treading its dancefloor boards, it is a relief to see that when it comes to the big events, the is still a penchant for pitching to a party. And while some brands have faltered, Salvation one example, where turnout for their 14th birthday was at all all-time low, Matinee, having made it back to London already looking as though it has hit a partying plateau, others such as Onyx having downsized, the boutique brands such as Room Service, WAR & SOS reaping the benefits of a shrinkage in the scene. Yet, while there are parties that have dropped off the clubbing circuits calendar’s completely, Circus, Lovechild & SuperMartXe springing immediately to mind, more than a handful struggling to pull in sufficient punters, conversely there is one big brand that, like its boutique brethren, continues to sail strongly against the wind of change that has hit London in recent months. And that brand?, well WE of course, the Spanish super club that pretty much stole the show from SMX just over two years ago and, some 12 or so parties in, still manages to attract a considerable crowd, the element of fun, the luminous LED stage shows & the marvellous mix of music just three of many more draws, London continued to be rated second only to the brands home in Madrid, despite WE having toured to all four corners of the globe in its short but spectacular two year history.
Indeed with London placed on such a prominent pedestal by WE’s promoter Victor Pallas, the capital, The Coronet & London organisers The Orange Group have benefitted from staging no less than five premiere’s of new themed events this year alone, “Safari” the first, then “Pharaoh”, “Fluro”, “Fast Food” & “Hi Japan” and now they have added “Bitches On The Beach”, to their feathered cap. However, “Safari” set the showcase standard very high indeed, both visuals & costumes the most impressive we have seen of any WE yet, while having missed out on “Pharaoh” which, we were told exceed even the previous party, it would be fair to say that, in our eyes at least “Fluro” was a bit of a flop, technical issues with both the Spanish D.J. & the stage shows themselves causing frustrating delays which, from our privileged position on the stage had us caught up in it all, the result & consequence denting our enthusiasm for the brand. As a consequence we missed out on “Players”, our stay at “Fast Food” was pretty brief and were somewhat bemused by “Hi Japan”, yes we had a brilliant time, probably one of the best at WE yet, not least due to the company we were keeping & yet another privileged position on the stage next to Steve Pitron & then Carlos Gallardo, we couldn’t have asked for more, yet the theme left us confused as we couldn’t really see it apart from a handful of LED visuals.
So, if we were honest, were weren’t that enthused about “Bitches On The Beach” although with the prospect of another privileged position perch, albeit towards the end of the event, Steve Pitron taking up the final set of the night, we put best foot forward, heading for The Coronet for a fashionably late arrival of 1 a.m., the chilling breeze blowing up out short jeans far from the beach weather befitting this bash, while we weren’t in the best frames of mind, all that shortly to change with the warmest of welcomes from Ben Kaye & co on the door, even the usual overzealous security fabulously friendly, a better start we couldn’t have wished for. But it was to get even better as, after just a short wait to drop off our coat, despite the long queue which was managed extremely efficiently, we were inside & straight onto the VIP deck vantage point, a flock of familiar faces saying hi & a champagne glass pushed into our hands, we weren’t going to say no, those faces including Jonny Marsh, Jay Roberts, JJ Clark, well a load of J’s really, we looking over a packed main room dancefloor, swathes of bare torso’s swaying to the brilliant beats of D’Johnny.
So down to the dancefloor we went, although wiggling our way through the WE crowd was quite a task, although one familiar face after the next caught us on our trail to our now usual Coronet spot, yes you guessed it, D.J./stage left where the welcoming arms of Celso, Peter & Fabio were waiting to greet us, the playful & excited Jeovane ready to rock & roll with us in extrovert dancing style, not 24 hours after we had caused a rapturous riot at PLAY>TIME, we being chased from top to bottom of the club by our Brazilian buddy & Mr Pitron. But Jeovane wasn’t the only one in playful mood, as Peter was raring to repeat his performance at beyond the previous week, although unlike our spot there then, there was barely room to swing a cat here, so the leg pole dancing had to wait till later. But what didn’t wait were the continual appearances of a flock of friends including Steven Galo, little Nilsson Junior and more while the stage was ready to burst into action too, we catching the dancers preparing with the corner of our eye, D’Johnny’s trademark euro tech beats intermixed with vocal injections & classics rehashed set the scene superbly.
Now “Bitches On The Beach” was alight, the pyrotechnics pluming from the front of the stage doing just that, while well over a dozen bronzed beauties adorned the stage in the skimpiest of swin & underwear revealing pretty much all, even if the stage dressing & production had no real resemblance to either bitches or beaches. However, the spectacular statement the LED displays were shouting was, once again, the focal point of this latest WE outing, our cameras snapping at every opportunity possible, while we, unlike any event this year so far, were determined to take it in from all angles, a tour of the club ensuing, catching up with more familiar faces, Chris Jepson, James Marsh, Vinson Chee, Summer Doll Nguyen, even taking in the Toybox second space for a short while. But the inevitable draw of the main space saw us back before long, Manuel De Diego in charge of the tunes now and serving up a much more accessible & pleasing to the ear performance than the last we witnessed, our attention diverted by Jamie Head, whose set we had sadly missed although his company we were to keep for much of the remainder of this party. That said, our tour of review duty was not over yet & outside we went too, catching up with further friends Luis & Michele before calls for us to return our spot eventually dragged us away.
Back down on the dancefloor and Jeovane came to our dancing rescue although we were feeling a little club rusty by now, close on five hours already chalked up and with the usual retreat stalled by the prospect of a Steve Pitron set performance that would, for us, once again steal the show, it would be the VIP balcony where we would lay our “Bitches On The Beach Hat” for the remainder of our stay, Jamie joining us, as did Fabio & Peter, that leg pole dancing never far away, while Mr Pitron was in close call too, our privileged stage position however off the cards, this a great opportunity to see the master at work & his adoring audiences reactions from this VIP vantage point. And he didn’t disappoint, a clutch of new tracks kicking off what would be a fabulous finish to the WE party, crowd pleasers “Spectrum”, “Someone I Used To Know”, & “Turn Up The Radio” among many others that had the remaining revellers reaping the benefits of his brilliant beats, while it would be a new rendition of “Time & Time Again” followed by Nero’s “Must be The Feeling” that erupted our trademark tearful emotions, by which time we were close on seven hours WE deep, our steam having virtually run out, meaning it was a swift exit in the cold of this October Sunday morning, requests to be at Beyond turned down in favour of our duvet, although not before a final WE surprise & thrill sharing some lovely moments with delectable dancer Le Menor on our way home.
So what was our verdict on “Bitches On the Beach” and had did it compare to previous 2012 WE parties? Well, there was no denying that the crowd once again made this an enjoyable & entertaining experience, although with our mindset really not right from the start, it simply couldn’t compare with the sheer splendour of “Safari”, for us the best one yet, while “Hi Japan” also exceeded this outing in virtually all respects. That said, taking in the views of many as we duty toured around the club, combined with our observations of the audience, everyone seemed to be having a terrific time, although with yet another theme lacking the production of identity that always used to be a feature of WE, it leaves us thinking whether, like we did towards the end, the brand is losing its head of steam. Perhaps, like so many clubs & events in recent months, perhaps WE is feeling the austerity effect and so has its own budget issues to deal with, but that lack of stage production save for the visuals which, if we were to be honest, were brilliant as simply WE, made little or no reference to the “Bitch On the Beach” theme, while it was the music that made a stronger statement this time round, sterling sets & performances from each & every D.J. from Messrs Head to Pitron, Steve ticking our beats boxes the best and so leaving us to conclude that while we walked away thinking WE could have been more wonderful, it was the music the was the answer & the antidote to the missing magic. (DISCO MATT)