When two magical musical minds meet, serving up stacks of superb sounds in the studio it is one thing, but when the rare opportunity to see them perform together live presents itself, it is a tingling temptation too much to resist, Saturday being one such occasion when the recording partnership of Steve Pitron & Max Sanna captivated ClubNation, we in the thick of the beautiful back-to-back beats action to resplendently reflect on it all.
Over the years while cavorting around the capitals clubbing circuit, we have been fortunate to witness a number of prolific partnerships behind the D.J. decks, some which have stood the test of time, The Sharp Boys without doubt the most notable one, while there have been plenty of others, Brent Nicholls & Paul Heron the dynamic D.J. duo that will, for us, be indelibly linked to the superb Thursday night soiree, Industri. But there are plenty more, The Oli & Paul Martin one that many often overlook but were prolific when playing together at Later & Orange, while Bills & Hurr are a duo, like The Sharps Boys, that are hardly ever apart. And more recently we have seen a handful of residents from our beloved Beyond emerge as playing partnerships, David Jimenez & D’Johnny one such, while Verity Mayes & Bryony Masters is an obvious duo as they are partners in life as well as behind the decks, one solid friendship that has also formed the occasionally playing bond is Fat Tony & Boy George, even Alan K not escaping this so called “back-to-back” D.J.’ing format, his recognised partnership with Paulo Moreno having been born in Beyond just under a year ago, Hfi Sean & Severino another that also extends into the recording studio, while a fair few have also fallen by the wayside, Kris Di Angelis & Tom Stephan having gone their separate studio ways.
However, of all these playing partnerships, one that tends to fall under the clubbing circuit radar is that of Steve Pitron & Max Sanna, a studio recording relationship that has been in existence for four years, but has only in 2012 seen the capital clubbing circuit light of day (or is that dark of club night?), the Saturday sortie ClubNation, born out of the Gaydar radio show of the same name, having seen this delightful duo play together back in March, Steve & Max repeating the affair in August. And with a studio recording affair that has produced towering track remixes of huge dancefloor & mainstream hits, Kelly Rowland’s “Commander” one of their biggest, while our all-time anthem, “Release Me” has also been slanted with the Pitron/Sanna sound style, others including Florence & The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love”, 50 Cent’s “Baby By Me”, Anastasia’s “I Can Feel You”, Robyn’s “Indestructable” & Jessie J’s “Do It Like A Dude” there are more. Then there are the remixes Steve has tapped into with fellow D.J./Producer friend Taito Tikaro, this Spanish superstar having allowed the Pitron/Sanna partnership to work on a couple of his tracks, most notably “Sine On Me”, all this hinting towards a duo that should prove dynamic behind the live D.J. decks, so how did it pan out at Lo-Profile and what made it another marvellous meet to memorise?
Having received the now customary five day warning that our presence in a Pitron playset was required, but with a whole host of added tasty temptations to trap us in his naughty net, not least the third back-to-back outing with Max Sanna, plus the exciting opportunity to once again connect with a new found & formed friendship with our “disco babe” (his phrase not ours) James, this the perfect opportunity for us to make it up to him for the muddled mess of missing meeting him at beyond the previous week, that along with a bevy of the Brazilian bunch & others on Pitron fan following duty, including Celso, Bel, Mhardeen, Waverton, Sophie, Steven & Julia, this was a night we were not going to mess up or miss. Indeed, with our week having been completely consumed by Steve’s new compilation and the promise of a play of some of our favourite tracks of now, like the previous five days, it was very much an event that would had the hallmarks of being emotionally enthralling & erupting, those trademark tears that we have spilled at Lo-Profile on many occasions before, sure to show their hand again. Then there were likely to be incidents of the now infamous chases, which began in Barcode & Beyond, but have been a feature of Lo-Profile (and particularly PLAY>TIME), the nooks & crannies served to heighten our hysteria, this playful Pitron ploy leaving us often squealing (as our pal Zach Burns always says) like a pig.
So with the scene set although with James on hat party duty, we arrived at Profile at just turned 10 p.m., just ahead of Mr Pitron, connecting with Julia first, a packed bar succumbing to the sounds of Rob Sykes, although it wasn’t long before Mr Pitron, true to form, in playful mood, arrived and almost immediately started teasing us with his tickling attacks, even employing the services of Brazilian babe Bel, we on a knife edge of nerves even before we descended into the club space below. But with some technical issues with the D.J. deck equipment, it was to be a good ¾ hour before Mr Pitron would start spinning his sounds, so it was inevitable that, not only would more chases around a virtually empty club space ensue, but we would also partake in the tasty tradition that has become shots of Sambuca with the clubs marvellous manager Fausto De Sordi, this always setting us up for a night full of fun frivolity, emotions & entrapments. And this night was to prove no different, in fact those trademark tears were to tumble on the first Pitron play, a simply stunning & tumultuous tune that gripped us from the minute we first heard it just four days previously, the brilliant “Beautiful Mind”, as enthrallingly emotional here in the club as it is on Steve’s colossal WE compilation.
With Max having arrived by now and the witching hour fast approaching, ClubNation was definitely heating up with hoards of party heads intent on honing in on the heavenly house sounds of this delectable D.J. duo, the boys switching deck duty on a rotational rota of roughly 20/30 minutes, while we were watching our clock a little, simply as we were waiting on the arrival of our “disco babe”, James very much in our mind as we popped upstairs for a calm down Cigarette break, those chases we have already talked about, having carried on without respite, the naughty Mr Pitron having played us with staff & customers alike to huge hilarity & amusement. And we were to be blessed with the text message confirmation that our new found fabulous friend was on his way, we quickly re-engaging with the Lo-Profile proceedings below having caught up with the head door person Hazel whom we have known for many a moon, James’s arrival literally minutes later nevertheless catching us by surprise as he too pounced on us tickling our torso, no doubt pushed on by Pitron, Celso also arrived, Steve & Sophie too, the venue’s General Manager, Kerry Chapman not far & Bel’s Brazilian bunch all in cavorting carnival mood.
So it was now time for us to let down our hair, Max & Steve’s superb sounds hitting our heavenly house music mark with repeated regularity, Mr Pitron particularly playing it our emotional weaknesses with recent renditions such as “Finally I”, “I Do” & “To The Moon & Back”, while firm favourite’s were to send us into a dancing spin, “So Much Love” & “Release Me” among them, James in close call throughout & even persistent with pushing us up onto the podium, a position we rarely indulge in these days, but was a magical moment which many captured on their phones. But the track of the night in amongst many other gems was to prove “Beautiful Lie” Steve serving & treating us to it twice, the second time beckoning us into the D.J. booth and in doing so, exacerbating our emotions to the enth degree, those tears tumbling virtually uncontrollably, Bel by our side as we spilled in the spotlight, this intermixed with plenty more ducking & diving on the dancefloor with our “disco babe”, James playing a prominent part in our Profile proceedings, his close call company driving our dextrous dancing displays more & more. But with this spectacular six hour sortie fast running out of time, we finding ourselves on the last leg as Steve, Celso & our fab friend James melted into the night, we succumbed to the superb singular sounds of Mr Sanna, he going a little deeper into tech tunes to trap us for a marvellous mound of minutes, before we to made our way home to rest & reflect on this, another brilliant bounty of beautiful back-to-back beats.
So what was our verdict on this latest ClubNation outing of ours? And what were the handful of heavenly highlights? Well, while we have to admit that this was not one of the busiest Saturday’s we have seen at Lo-Profile, perhaps due to it falling on the weekend before many people’s pay days, while, having seen little or no advertising for the event, perhaps the team were relying & resting their laurels on the inevitable foot fall that streams around Soho on a Saturday. That said, there were plenty of punters packing out the place to arouse an amazing atmosphere, one that was heightened further by those brilliant beats of the Pitron/Sanna studio partnership which, as with their previous two ClubNation deck duty outings, proved one that worked like a dream live, their hypnotic hits & superb sound selections very much part of our huge highlight package. But as has always been the case in our times on the capitals clubbing circuit, but particularly in a troubled 2012 in our lives, it was the fabulous friends around us that made the party to palatably prolific, special mentions going out, once again, to Celso, Bel, Sophie & Steven, while making up for lost Beyond ground with James, a more enthralling dancefloor engagement we couldn’t have wished for and one we are sure to repeat sometime soon. But the last mention has to go to Steve & max, who masterminded a magnificent meet that will sit in our memory banks for many a moon, meaning we look forward to their next joint jaunt with accelerated anticipation. (DISCO MATT)
